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Columbus Short: 'I Struggle With Medicating With Alcohol'

The actor opens up about his multiple arrests and sudden departure from Scandal.

Scandal favorite Columbus Short has taken a turn for the worse. All spearheaded by the infamous bar fight in March, the actor has quickly become known as a hot-head, prompted by allegations of domestic violence involving his soon-to-be-divorced wife, and, most recently, a July 4 arrest for public drunkenness. Speaking with Access Hollywood, the actor finally broke his silence, "The last three months have been probably the most trying times of my life," he said. "I think there's a time when your personal life gets magnified by who we are as celebrities."

Speaking on his relationship with his estranged wife, Tanee McCall-Short, and the recent domestic abuse allegations that followed their union, the actor denied his involvement. He further confirmed that their marriage is over.

"Me and my wife, we're going through problems. Serious, serious problems," he said. "However, the domestic [violence] part of it... I'm not a physically violent man... I've never put my hands on a woman... This chapter is closed."

When asked of his most recent arrest for public intoxication, the actor claimed he was not "acting intoxicated," and ultimately stating that he was just angry.

"I wasn't acting intoxicated," he said. "I had a couple of drinks, but whatever, I was angry and I used vocabulary to kind of fight that... I didn't get into a fight."

Pointing out that much of Short's run-ins seem to stem from some sort of alcohol consumption, Billy Bush, the leader of the segment, asked the actor if he has a drinking problem, to which he made an interesting revelation.

"To be honest with you, I struggle with medicating with alcohol I think, and that's a real truth," he said. "I think that deserves more looking into... I think dealing with the stress of the situations that I've been going through, medicating with anything, I think is dangerous because it becomes a crutch."

When speaking on his untimely Scandal departure, Short clarified that he was not maliciously booted from the popular TV drama, but was let go due to the coherent concerns of the larger ABC network, itself.

"They did not throw me to the curb like trash — that's family," he said. "They knew that I was going through a tough season and rallied around me and wrapped their arms around me, from Shonda to the craft service man... I think at a certain point when you're getting a barrage of stories after stories, ABC justifiably would want to distance themselves."

Due to all of the negative press that has been surrounding both the professional and private aspects of his life, Short has been blacklisted by much of the public, and he considers that the only unmerited part of the situation.

"I lost a lot of things due to these ugly stories," he said. "Whether they are true or not, the allegations just put an ugly, nasty taste in people's mouth and that's the unfair part that I've had to weather."

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(Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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