UPDATE 5/28/2019 9:08 pm ET: Kit Harington's reps have since issued a statement to say he "has decided to utilize this break in his schedule as an opportunity to spend some time at a wellness retreat to work on some personal issues." TMZ notes the reps have denied reports he is there for rehab and placed an emphasis on "wellness retreat." The original story appears unaltered below.
Kit Harington, who played Jon Snow on Game of Thrones for eight seasons, has reportedly been receiving treatment at a rehab center for almost a month due to stress and alcohol use.
According to Page Six, the TV star entered the luxury rehab center after the ending of the blockbuster HBO TV series “really hit him hard," according to sources close to Harington.
The 32-year-old Harington apparently secretly checked into the exclusive Connecticut rehab center, Privé-Swiss, in early May ahead of Game of Thrones' May 19th finale.
The Page Six report (by Mara Siegler, Emily Smith and Sara Nathan) notes that "The British actor has been undergoing psychological coaching, practicing mindful meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy to combat stress and deal with negative emotions at the facility, which costs over $120,000 a month."
His wife, actress Rose Leslie (who had played Jon Snow's Wildling love interest, Ygritte, earlier in the series' run) is reportedly very supportive of her husband's treatment.
A friend of Harington's related to Page Six the main reasons behind Harington's troubles, "The end of ‘GoT’ really hit Kit hard. He realized ‘this is it — this is the end’, it was something they had all worked so hard on for so many years. He had a moment of, what next? He’s in the clinic predominantly for stress and exhaustion and also alcohol. His wife Rose is being extremely supportive. Everyone close to him really wanted him to get some rest. Right now, he just needs peace and quiet.”
This is not the first time that Harington has expressed some discomfort with the show's effect on his life. He had recently explained to Variety that he had entered therapy as a result of the attention that he had received when the series had slowly but surely began to center on him as the series went on. He explained that he particularly struggled with the beginning of Season 6, which resolved the previous season's cliffhanger of Jon seemingly being stabbed to death, "It wasn’t a very good time in my life. I felt I had to feel that I was the most fortunate person in the world when actually, I felt very vulnerable. I had a shaky time in my life around there — like I think a lot of people do in their 20s. My darkest period was when the show seemed to become so much about Jon when he died and came back. I really didn’t like the focus of the whole show coming onto Jon. When you become the cliffhanger of a TV show, and a TV show probably at the height of its power, the focus on you is f—–g terrifying. That was a time when I started therapy and started talking to people. I had felt very unsafe, and I wasn’t talking to anyone.”
Harington has been allowed to go on trips away from the rehab center and residents of nearby town, Madison, CT, have noted seeing the star up and about, especially around the release of the finale, where he explained to the townspeople that he was "on holiday."
Via: Page Six