Cory Monteith’s Mom Speaks About His Tragic Death and Addiction Battle Five Years Later

Cory Monteith

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Cory Monteith‘s mother Ann McGregor opens up again about her son’s battle with addiction in a rare interview five years after the Glee star’s death.

The actor who played Finn Hudson on the show, was found dead in a hotel room in his native Canada on July 13, 2013. He was 31. Cory, who had battled substance addiction throughout his life, was found to have died as a result of “mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol.

McGregor, 67, told People in comments posted on Wednesday that her son had hung out with an older crowd in his early teens, having skipped two grades, and that his battle with substance abuse began at age 13, when he started drinking and smoking marijuana. She said he went to rehab at age 15 and 19 before getting sober and moving to Los Angeles to concentrate on his acting career. She said he admitted to using drugs again in December 2012, seven months before his death.

“He wasn’t ready for the Hollywood world,” she said. “Drugs were his way of checking out.”

About four months before his death, Monteith checked into rehab for the third time. His mother told People that that in the time between the stint and his death, he had “massive” dental work done, which resulted in “a lot of medication in his system, which was not good for his body coming out of rehab.”

“He didn’t have enough drugs in his system to kill him, but for some reason it did because of his intolerance,” McGregor said.

Last week, Lea Michele, who was Cory’s girlfriend, paid tribute to the actor online, as she has done every year since his death.