Robbie Williams has hit back at an “assertion” made about his drug addiction in a new documentary about boybands.
On Saturday (16 November), episode one of the three-part series, titled Boybands Forever, placed the spotlight on the struggles members of Take That and East 17 faced while riding high in the charts.
Williams, whose most controversial moment will be depicted in a forthcoming biopic about his life, appeared as a talking head on the documentary, which also featured Nigel Martin-Smith, who managed Take That in the 1990s when Williams was a member of the group.
In the BBC doc, Williams addresses his drug addiction, which began when he was in the band. Mr Martin-Smith claims that the singer was “smart and quite clever” to blame his drug-taking on being “in this band where he couldn’t have girlfriends or couldn’t go out”.
At one stage, he says Williams acted like a “w***er” and that the singer painted him as “evil” – but Williams has now hit back at this assertion in a post shared on Instagram on Sunday (17 November), accusing Mr Martin-Smith of “gaslighting” him.
Williams, in an open statement to Mr Martin-Smith, wrote: “Hope all is good in your world and life is being kind to you. Just thought I’d jot down a few thoughts about our appearance together as talking heads on the boyband doc.
“I was equal parts terrified and excited to be sharing a screen with you again. Excited to see where we both are on this journey and terrified in case old emotions would be triggered and I’d still be in a place of anger, hurt of fear.
“As it happens, it would appear that time has done its thing and I guess the wisdom it brings has taken its mop to a few nooks and crannies here and there. I guess not every nook has been bleached, though.”
Williams then wrote out Mr Martin-Smith’s comment about his drug-taking, adding: “Allow me to respond to your assertion. My drug taking was never your fault. My response to the warped world that surrounded me is solely my own. How I chose to self-medicate is and was something that I will be monitoring and dealing with for the whole of my life. It’s part of my makeup and I would have the same malady had I been a taxi driver.
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“I just got there quicker due to having the finances while trying in vain to counteract the turbulence of pop stardom’s matrix-bending washing machine.”
He continued: “If you are following the story closely, you can’t help but notice a pattern emerge. Boys join a boyband. The band becomes huge. Boys get sick. Some are fortunate through a series of self-examinations and help to overcome their experience. Some never quite manage to untangle the mess of the wreckage of the past.
“I’m not breaking anyone’s anonymity by sharing the side effects of boyband dysphoria that relate to just us lads. I will also remind you that the person acting like a ‘w***er’ was 16 when he joined the band and 21 when he left. That was the last time I saw you.
“I hope I have more grace and understanding when and if any of my own four children at such a vulnerable age behave in the same manner.”
He said of Mr Martin-Smith: “Nige, you continue to not come across as a relatable character and could do with a glow-up where redeemable features are concerned. Therefore you play into the narrative you don’t want for yourself.”
Urging Mr Martin-Smith to take accountability for some of the struggles Take That faced behind the scenes, Williams said: “Everyone will understand and appreciate that level of self-reflection. It’s OK to admit your shortcomings. No one is going to sue you for not knowing or understand[ing] the psychological effects everything was having on everyone.”
In 2023, Williams opened up about his history of mental illness and self-harm in a frank discussion ahead of a new documentary chronicling his life.
The four-part series, simply titled Robbie Williams, saw the “Angels” and “Let Me Entertain You” singer provide commentary as he watched footage from the early 1990s right through to the 2010s, showcasing his stratospheric rise to fame and the numerous obstacles he faced as a result of his struggles with depression and addiction.