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Flamboyant celebrity lawyer and former Howard Stern guest Dominic Barbara has had his fair share of problems. Barbara was once a high-powered lawyer representing the likes of Joey Buttafuoco, dubbed the Long Island Lolita lover, who had an affair with a 16-year-old girl. That girl then shot his wife in the face (she was left deafened in one ear and her face partially paralyzed.) Real feel good story.
Barbara once drove a Bentley and wore $1,000 suits before opiates spun his life out of control and in 2012 he was sleeping on a friend’s couch. He would often appear with Artie Lange on The Howard Stern Show, where the two developed a friendship.
As you may have heard, Artie Lange was arrested yesterday for skipping a court date in connection with a drug case. This news broke just a couple days after Lange posted an alarming selfie to Twitter, which is all the evidence one needs to know that Artie Lange has hit rock bottom.
Dominic Barbara, who pulled himself out of a dark place, sent Page Six an open letter begging Lange to save his own life.
“Dear Artie, I have been your friend for 20 years. After painkiller addiction, alcohol addiction and almost dying from a stroke, I am five years free of pills and almost six months free of alcohol. I am in a step program at Steve Kennedy’s Incentives [Recovery House] in Boca Raton. He is 33 years sober from heroin and the best man I have ever met. If you want to come, I will come get you and pay all your costs. Please save your life. You have a lot of people who love you. Dominic.”
I hope someone can get through to Artie. If it has to be the sleazy celebrity lawyer, so be it.
[h/t Page Six]