AJ Daulerio: Recovered Man

AJ Daulerio, writer, and creator of the excellent recovery newsletter The Small Bow, returns to Tell Me About Your Father for a second time to discuss our recent episode on Shia LaBeouf. That episode, which also focused on Shia's fellow recently canceled peer Armie Hammer, examined Hollywood's need to quickly forgive famous men who have done bad things. (Shia was sued by ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs in 2020 for sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. Their trial is slated for April 2023.) AJ was especially interested in coming on to discuss our take on a two-hour interview Shia gave to fellow actor John Bernthal for his "Real Ones" podcast, wherein he manically talks about being a recovering addict, liar and abuser, all while balancing new roles as a husband and father. AJ, who also became a husband and father very soon into his sobriety nearly 7 years ago, could relate to some of the cringier aspects of Shia's obsession with what Shia calls "e-masculine" behavior, a hyper-awareness of the “defects of character” (to use recovery speak) that have always been synonymous with men behaving badly. But AJ also thinks it's rare and significant that Shia is making an effort to get to know himself and the roots of his anger and self-loathing. AJ tells us how he's continuing to change as a person since his own public trial (the most important First Amendment case of the internet age in 2016) and why it's his tendency to want to help other men who are undergoing a similar public shame.