Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, has responded to the claim that he was to blame for her death.
The Back to Black star, who struggled with substance abuse and mental illness, was found dead at the age of 27 at her home in London in July 2011. The coroner attributed her death to alcohol poisoning and reported that no illegal substances had been identified in her system.
During an interview for the We Need to Talk podcast on Tuesday, Blake addressed the allegation that he was to blame for Amy’s untimely passing.
“My stance now is that I know a lot of people, especially people reading media 20 years ago, would have an idea that Amy’s passing is my responsibility,” he said. “As I’ve always said, I never shirk from any responsibility. If I’ve done something, I’ll put my hand up to it.”
Amy and Blake were married from 2007 until their divorce was finalised in 2009. He was in prison for theft at the time of his ex-wife’s death.
The actor confirmed he was with the Rehab hitmaker when she tried heroin for the first time but insisted that she had “started trying cocaine” before.
“I never blamed a person that gave me drugs for the first time,” the 43-year-old continued. “I never understood, do these people think that I forced Amy to do drugs? That’s just not what happened.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Blake emphasised that Amy was a “strong woman” and they were “just young addicts” at the time.
“Amy herself had agency,” he added. “And that is in no way at all disrespecting her by saying that, but Amy did what she wanted to do. And even though the drinking had started to hurt her, she carried on… I’m never, ever here to say, ‘Amy was bad.’ But I know Amy wouldn’t want me to still be sat here 20 years later saying it was all my fault. She’d be saying, ‘Get it right, babe. Come on. Tell them the truth.'”
