Michael Douglas gets defensive when asked about alleged sex addiction

Michael Douglas may be willing to revisit the messier parts of his past, but he isn't willing to accept every story that has followed him.

During a new interview tied to the release of his memoir, the Oscar winner became noticeably tense when the conversation turned to his dating history and a long-running rumor that he once went to rehab for sex addiction.

Douglas first pushed back when the interviewer suggested his book contains extensive material about women.

“No, no, it’s not what it was,” he said after being reminded that he writes about ending several relationships before becoming serious with Catherine Zeta-Jones .

He explained that Zeta-Jones had simply made her expectations clear.

“What Catherine said is, if we’re going to continue this, then I want it to be monogamous,” Douglas said. “And so I therefore, that evening, you know, made some calls to some people I was seeing, and that was that.”

Sex addiction story was never true

The tone shifted further when the interview moved to reports from the 1990s claiming Douglas had sought treatment for sex addiction. He denied the story outright.

“A British tabloid editor came up with this story, which, thank you very much, here we are talking about at 82,” Douglas said. “It happens with the tabloids and, well, I won’t blame your country alone, but you’re probably better known for it than most. It wasn’t true.

“I was a healthy product of the ’60s,” he added. “My curiosity is why, of all countries, of all the press that I do, why are the Brits so consumed with the issues of sex?”

The memoir reportedly puts his denial in even blunter language, with Douglas writing that he “was never a f**king sex addict.”

Memoir doesn't avoid complicated relationships

Douglas isn't pretending his romantic history was simple. In the book, he acknowledges a relationship with Romancing the Stone co-star Kathleen Turner , describing their connection during the 1984 film as a “magic spell” and more than a “fly-by-night affair.”

At the time, Douglas was married but separated from first wife Diandra Luker . He later divorced Luker in 2000 and married Zeta-Jones later that year.

The interview also returned to Douglas and Zeta-Jones ’ brief separation in 2013. When asked how he “won her back,” Douglas again challenged the premise.

“It was mutual… You know, we had our problems but I love her dearly and, 25 years, you know,” he said. “Marriage is a lot of work, you know. And so, you know, we’re good. We’re in good shape. It’s all I can say.”

The exchange offered a clear sense of Douglas ’ approach to the memoir: he is prepared to revisit old stories, but only on his own terms.