As Democrat Bill de Blasio launched his long-shot bid for mayor, his teenage daughter was wrestling with a far different challenge.
In a startling revelation on Christmas Eve, Chiara de Blasio announced Tuesday that she underwent treatment for depression and drug and alcohol abuse over the past year.
“My mom was trying really hard to help me, any little thing she could, and my dad was doing the same. But obviously, he was really busy. But they were very emotionally committed to some way to get me better,” she said in a highly produced video, complete with strings and a tinkling piano.
For months, de Blasio aides refused to comment when the New York Daily News and other news organizations asked about swirling rumors that his daughter had been treated for substance abuse.
By authorizing the video, which was posted on YouTube by de Blasio’s transition team, the family was able to tell the sensitive story on its own terms as Bill prepares to take office Jan. 1.
Two hours after the video’s release, de Blasio wrapped his right arm around his college sophomore daughter and expressed his support.
“I just want to say that we are incredibly proud of Chiara,” said de Blasio, joined by his wife, Chirlane, and son, Dante, in a show of family unity outside their Park Slope, Brooklyn rowhouse.
He praised Chiara for speaking “with incredible courage and clarity and with a voice, I think, of just incredible wisdom for someone who’s only 19 years old.”
The soon-to-be first daughter spoke briefly.
“I hope that everybody watches the video. I think it speaks for itself,” she said. She wished the assembled media and a live television audience a “happy holiday season” before the de Blasios turned and walked back into their home.
The mayor-elect uncharacteristically did not take questions.
In the five-minute video, Chiara disclosed that she has wrestled with “clinical depression for my entire adolescence.”
Read the story at nydailynews.com
