James Packer has revealed his ‘trainwreck’ split from singer Mariah Carey was one of the darkest periods of his life.
The Sydney-born billionaire is set to tell-all in a candid discussion on his mental health, alongside good friend Robbie Williams, in an upcoming episode of 7NEWS Spotlight.
Packer, 56, and Carey, 55, began dating in 2015 and were engaged just nine months later.
But by October 2016, the relationship had unravelled in spectacular fashion.
‘Mariah and I had broken up and she thought I’d planted a story in a magazine, which I hadn’t, and it made her look bad,’ Packer told 7NEWS Spotlight reporter Liam Bartlett.
‘She was threatening to say things about me and so it was um … it was a trainwreck. It was a trainwreck.
‘The times that I’ve been at my worst, you know, I’ve had a lot on my mind.’
Carey did not include any reference to Packer in her 2020 autobiography, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, because she claimed the book only contained ‘relationships that mattered’.
James Packer, 56, and Mariah Carey began dating in 2015 and were engaged just nine months later. But by October 2016, the relationship had unravelled in spectacular fashion
James Packer is set to tell all in a candid discussion on his mental health in an upcoming episode of 7NEWS Spotlight (pictured)
‘If it was a relationship that mattered, it’s in the book. If not, it didn’t occur,’ the US hitmaker told The Guardian in 2020.
When pressed on the fact she had been engaged to Packer, Carey said: ‘We didn’t have a physical relationship, to be honest with you’.
In another preview of the 7NEWS Spotlight episode, which is due to air on Sunday at 7pm, Packer confessed that ‘money is not a guarantee of happiness’.
‘I’m not here to play the victim… it’s a journey,’ Packer said.
‘You’re not interviewing someone who’s saying to you, ‘I’ve got it worked out and I’ve got all the answers’.
‘I’m not that person. I’m here saying I’m doing my best.’
Williams will also open up on his own mental health in which he saw parallels to Packer’s struggles.
‘[It’s] the same sort of illness that we share. It’s a disease of isolation,’ Williams says.
In recent years, Packer has said he is now the ‘happiest’ he’s been, after shedding 25kg in 75 days and ditching the seven mood-altering drugs he was taking to help with his mental health.
‘I’m roughly 130kg now and want to be back to 100kg by the end of 2022. I want to swim with my kids at Bondi when we’re all in Sydney together next year and be 100kg,’ he told The Weekend Australian from his home in in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico at the time.
The businessman said he quit the antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs he was prescribed in March, and is now looking to ‘rehabilitate’ his reputation in Australia.
In the biography, The Price of Fortune: The Untold Story of Being James Packer, the casino mogul discussed the difficulties he faced despite being born into one of Australia’s richest families.
The book outlines how he went from inheriting a fortune to battling anxiety and depression; three times, he has come back from nervous breakdowns.
There were multiple contributing factors that combined to his downward spiral.
Carey did not include any reference to Packer in her 2020 autobiography, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, because she claimed the book only contained ‘relationships that mattered’ (the couple are pictured in happier times)
Scandals marred his jet-set lifestyle, from scrutiny of his political ties in Israel to charges in China against officials from Crown Resorts.
Even his Tinseltown dreams were tainted – with the $100 million collapse of his production company RatPac with Hollywood producer Brett Ratner.
In the midst of his despair, Packer reveals he turned to old friend Warren Beatty, and spent years living in the Hollywood legend’s guest house, eventually calling him ‘Dad’ – though he’s keen to point out that means no disrespect to his late father Kerry.
Packer counts numerous household names among his friends – from Robert de Niro to Leonardo DiCaprio – and since his youth was firmly entrenched in the celebrity set.
He also flirted with Scientology for a time before distancing himself from the religion.
In the book, Packer describes his personal torment, drink and mental issues as ‘very scary.’
Packer confesses that ‘money is not a guarantee of happiness’ in a preview for the episode, which airs on Sunday
Williams will also open up on his own journey, and in the preview said he relates to Packer’s struggles
He says he came to the realisation his problems were only ‘getting worse’ – causing him to be ‘desperately worried,’ according to the extract in The Australian.
Beatty is notorious for avoiding media interviews but he did talk about Packer for the book.
The actor, who was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1960s and 1970s, would be the one who helped Packer finally seek help, referring him to a top psychiatrist who immediately asked him: ‘Are you trying to kill yourself?’
‘I don’t know if I started crying, but I thought to myself, ‘I don’t want to have $1.4 billion of debt any more. Why am I doing this?’,’ Packer said at the time.
The father-of-three said he is now excited to begin his ‘third act’ and plans to ease back into public life in Australia.
Packer has three children — Indigo, Emmannuelle and Jackson — with his ex-wife, Erica.
Crisis Supporter on 13 11 14 (24 hours/7 days)
Text Lifeline on 0477 13 11 14 (6pm – midnight, 7 nights)
Chat online at www.lifeline.org.au (7pm – midnight, 7 nights)
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk