Columbus Short: Scandal Did Not Throw Me to the Curb

It's been a rough six months for Columbus Short. The actor's arrest for public intoxication over the holiday weekend was just the latest in a string of incidents for the former Scandal star.

In a new interview with Access Hollywood, Short opened up for the first time about his drinking problem and being fired from Scandal after several run-ins with the law.

"The last three months have been probably the most trying times of my life," he told Access Hollywood's Billy Bush. "[But Scandal] did not throw me to the curb like trash. That's my family. They knew that I was going through a tough season and rallied around me and wrapped their arms around me, from Shonda to the craft service man," Short said. "We're a family and I think at a certain point when you're getting a barrage of stories after stories, ABC justifiably would want to distance themselves.... They did the right thing, but I think it takes time to rebuild."

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As for his drinking, Short admitted he struggles, but doesn't offer any excuses for his recent behavior. "To be honest with you, I struggle with medicating with alcohol I think, and that's a real truth," he said. "If I want to be truthfully honest, I think dealing with the stress of the situations that I've been going through, medicating with anything, I think is dangerous because it becomes a crutch. But it doesn't change it, the situation. That's the funny part: I'm in a season where that's not a part of my life— alcohol, drugs, those kinds of things aren't around me, aren't in my life, so it was an unfortunate event that happened [on July 4]. Still yet, I think in the past that was definitely a struggle for me."

Short's wife Tuere Tanee Short filed for divorce in April and currently has a restraining order against him.