Pete Doherty bared all in a hugely compelling interview with Louis Theroux that will go down as one of the documentarian's most memorable.
The Libertines singer invited Theroux to his Normandy home where they discussed the bizarre, the candid and the deeply complicated.
Throughout the interview, you could tell there was something amiss with Pete who came across as a troubled, tortured soul.
After performing an acoustic version of 'Can't Stand Me Now', Louis asked if it had been recorded around 2004, Pete, tearfully, replied yes.
That was the best Louis Theroux doc in a long time. Something mesmerising about Pete Doherty - even know when he's sombre
— Huge Griff (@HugeGrlff) November 14, 2023
He discussed Kate Moss and how her "asking for coke (the drink) from her assistant" put him off her, then how his current partner got him semi-sober for the sake of their child and how his old "Margate crew" are mostly dead because of heroin use.
Then came the tender topic of Mark Blanco.
He admitted that he ran away on the fatal night when Blanco lost his life in 2006.
The rockstar admitted he regretted running away, yet he fled the scene for fear of being arrested due to his possession of class-A drugs.
He told Louis: "You can't blame her (Blanco's mother) for that. Her son fell to his death and some people, I think, genuinely, believe he was thrown to his death. And then I'm on camera running away.
"I've never met Sheila Blanco, but I can understand her anger. I think her anger at me, well, it is misplaced."
Marco sadly died in hospital from head injuries a day after he was found under the balcony of Doherty's literary agent and friend Paul Roundhill.
"No one knows what happened because no one saw it. I certainly didn't see it", added Pete.
"I probably should have stood my ground, taken a deep breath and had the f***ing balls to stay there, flush everything down the toilet and be there when the police came.
"But I didn't want to see the police. It was a f***ing inconvenience to me and that's an awful thing to say. He's lying dying in the street and I was concerned about getting nicked for possession.'"
Pete admits he "no longer touches the hard stuff" but could still be seen enjoying alcohol here and there in front of Louis.
After an emotional moment between bandmate Carl Barât - another real tear-jerker - Louis is invited into Pete's family home.
Pete at one point gets up mid-conversation with Theroux and takes a swig from a bottle, he then immediately clutches his chest and stumbles around causing the filmmaker to try and help him visibly concerned.
It was from here the conversation turned even more morbid. “How’s your health in general?” Theroux asked, once Doherty had settled back down on the sofa.
“You are looking at a very sick man,” Doherty replied. “I’ve battered it, haven’t I, I’ve f***ing caned it.
Fascinating #LouisTherouxInterviews with Pete Doherty tonight. I took this about 5 years ago, interesting times. pic.twitter.com/uEAGihLYCV
— Mark Tipping Photography (@MMTipping) November 14, 2023
“[The] heroin and the crack… I surrendered to that, and then it was cocaine and the smoking and the alcohol, and now it’s cheese and the saucisson, and the sugar in the tea.”
“It’s all gotta go. They told me a little while ago if you don’t change your diet then you’re gonna have diabetes and cholesterol problems,” he continued. “Death’s lurking, you know what I mean? That’s why I carry that stick.”
Doherty seemed doubtful that he will live to see his daughter, Billie-May, grow up, telling Theroux he would love to hear her say her first words.
“Maybe watch [her] grow up and start a family of her own. That’s 25 years,” Theroux suggested.
“That’s a stretch though, isn’t it,” a doubtful-looking Doherty responded.
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