Singer is 12th cast member of VH1 show to die – The Ashley’s Reality Roundup

Seth “Shifty Shellshock” Binzer— best known as the singer of the band Crazy Town and as the lead actor in Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew— has died. He was 49.

Shifty reportedly died at his home in Los Angeles on Monday. No cause of death has been released as of press time. TMZ reports that an investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of Shifty’s death.

Eight years after Shifty and his Crazy Town bandmates released their hit “Butterfly,” Shifty appeared on the very first season of “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” in the hopes that the reality TV doctor and his team could help him overcome his cocaine addiction. (Shifty admitted to using both powdered coke and crack.)

At the end of the season, Shifty checked into rehab, but eventually relapsed. He appeared in the second season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, as well as the show’s spin-off. Sober Housewhere he suffered another relapse. He then appeared on Sober House 2 in 2009.

In the years following his appearance on Sober House 2, Shifty continued to struggle with addiction and also had legal troubles, including arrests for cocaine possession and assault. His most recent arrest was for drunk driving in 2023.

However, eight weeks ago, Shifty posted on Instagram and used the hashtag #Sober

“I’m more of a lover than a fighter…but the one I need to love more than fight with is myself…Mr. Shifty True Love #Sober,Alive and Grateful,” he wrote.

In October 2023, Shifty went on the Perfectly twisted Podcast about addiction.

“I’ve found along the way that nobody is perfect, and addiction affects so many families now, so I work really hard to be transparent,” he said. “I’m not a straight-A student; I’m not someone who got sober and stayed sober all these years, and I beat myself up about that because I think I’m my own worst critic. But a lot of people have the same problem… I’m learning my limits and learning how to deal with my emotions… I have access to rehab and things that a lot of kids don’t have access to.

“I really want to use my experience to help other people because I think it took me years to find peace,” he added.

In the same interview, Shifty stated that he is working on starting a nonprofit organization to help children with similar problems.

Sadly, Shifty is the twelfth cast member of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew to die after appearing on the show. While some of the deaths were not related to the cast members’ addictions, others – like the one from Season 1 – were Joanie “Chyna” Laurer and Season 3 Mike Starr – were related to drugs.

Other deceased “Celebrity Rehab” actors include Shifty, Joanie and Mike, as well as the “Grease” star Jeff Conaway (whose doctor stated that medications contributed to his death); Rodney King (who died by accidental drowning with drugs in his body); Nikki McKibbin (who died of a brain aneurysm); actor Jason Davis (who overdosed); former star of The Real World Joey Kovar (whose death was caused by an overdose of opiates); singer Mindy McCready (who committed suicide); actor Tom Sizemore (who died of a brain aneurysm); reality star Frankie Lons (who took an overdose); and Yellow-brown Daycare (whose death was caused by heart disease).

In 2013, Dr. Drew confirmed that he was “done” with Celebrity Rehab and its spin-offs, largely because he was blamed every time a cast member died or relapsed.

“I’m sick of being pressured all the time. It’s just ridiculous,” Dr. Drew told radio show hosts in 2013. “For people to question my motives and target me because people are getting sick and dying because they have a life-threatening illness, and I take the blame? Rodney King has a heart attack and I take the blame?

“These are really sick people, that’s why they’re dying,” Dr. Drew explained. “These are people with life-threatening addictions.”

More recently, however, Dr. Drew – who is both an internist and addiction medicine specialist – seemed open to rebooting the show. During a 2022 appearance on Teenage Mother 2 star Kail Lowry‘S Hardly famous Podcast, Dr. Drew – who Teenage mother reunions since the show premiered in 2010 – said he would like to see “Celebrity Rehab” return, especially if the new version of the show also focused on the mental health issues of the famous contestants.

“Not only would that be important right now because substance abuse is not as prevalent right now, but we have new treatment options,” Dr. Drew told Kail. “We can show people new things and give them new hope so they understand what’s out there.”

Dr. Drew explained that VH1 still owns the rights to “Celebrity Rehab,” so the network would have to either participate in the reboot or release the rights to the show so Drew can take it to another network.

Dr. Drew has not yet commented publicly on Shifty’s death.

RELATED STORY: Kail Lowry and Dr. Drew Pinsky discuss trying to reboot ‘Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew’ to address reality TV stars’ mental health issues

(Photos: Instagram; MTV)

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