Jason Wahler Defends 'Hills' Co-Star Lauren Conrad After Post About Addiction

He initially posted a reflection on his life which was mistaken as a direct shot at his ex-girlfriend and one-time co-star Lauren Conrad. Now, "The Hills" star Jason Wahler has come out and defended his former flame, telling fans he did not mean to insinuate that she had played a role in his former struggles with addiction and alcoholism.

In an initial collage of photos posted to Instagram on Friday, Wahler shared images of himself throughout the years, including one of himself and Conrad at a red carpet event together, a second of himself sticking his tongue out with the word "drunk" on it, a third where he looks more svelte and well taken care of, and a fourth from his 2013 wedding to wife Ashley Slack.

The initial photo, which did not feature a caption, led to speculation that Wahler was taking a direct shot at Conrad, and somewhat blaming her for his struggles with addiction. He then took to Instagram again to add a caption to the collage, clarifying that had never been his intent, and he had only wanted to show that recovery was possible. He admitted he saw what others had seen, but he had never intended to imply that Conrad was responsible for his descent into struggles with addiction and other issues.

"I can now see how some of you are viewing this photo... I apologize if I offended anyone one. Lauren, had nothing to do with my alcoholism or addiction!! However my addiction became very public during my time on 'The Hills,' hence the reason for the photo in the top left. Again, I am sorry if I offended anyone, I just want to show RECOVERY is possible, he wrote, along with tagging two sobriety accounts and the hashtags #recoveryispossible and #Mymessismymessage.

He again cleared things up with a second post, this time featuring a collage of four photos of himself, captioning that photo "Since a few people took offense to the last post maybe this is more appropriate."

Wahler has been very open about his past struggles with addiction over the years, and even admitted in 2016 that he had hit a low point back in 2009, where he even attempted suicide because he had let things go so far.

"My addiction drove me to suicide," he said at the time. "Not contemplation. Actually attempting suicide. And somebody found me and that's why I'm still here today. I'm very grateful for that."

He also admitted that his alcoholism definitely played a huge role when it came to his tumultuous relationship with Conrad, which ended for good in August 2006.

Since the show however, Wahler became clean and sober in 2010, and in 2015, he opened his own sober living facility in Orange County, California. He wed Slack, whom he met less than a year after becoming sober, in Oct. 2013. Conrad, meanwhile, married William Tell in Sept. 2014. They welcomed a son together, Liam James tell, on July 5 of this year.