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Rob Lowe Calls 1988 Sex-Tape Scandal ‘The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me’

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Updated on July 6, 2023

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Rob Lowe has discovered a silver lining in his late-’80s career-threatening scandal.

A private sex film featuring the actor was released to the public more than two decades ago. Lowe stars in a steamy session with a then-16-year-old Atlanta girl named Lena Jan Parsons and her 23-year-old pal Tara Seburt in the grainy footage.

He reportedly picked up Parsons and Seburt at the adjacent Club Rio, an upmarket Atlanta nightclub, on July 17, 1988. Lowe then allegedly drove them back to the Atlanta Hilton, where he recorded the subsequent sex session with what appeared to be their consent.

When the video was leaked soon after, it was discovered that Parsons was just 16 at the time, something Lowe said he was unaware of. Lowe, now 55, was never prosecuted after settling a lawsuit with Parsons’ family.

Lowe sat down with SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show” to promote his new stage show, “Stories I Only Tell My Friends: LIVE!” He explained how his sex tape changed his life for the better.

“It’s one of the reasons why I got sober. I woke up one day and I was like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ I’m 29 years in and like people talk, but it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Honestly, I do because it got me sober, sober got me married. I’ve been married 29 years and I have two great sons. I don’t think any of that happens without going through that scandal,” said Lowe, who has two sons with wife Sheryl Berkoff, Matthew, 26, and John, 24.

“It’s not a great recipe for success to give an 18-year-old male fame, money and drugs and expect there not to be something that goes wrong,” Lowe said Cagle, reflecting on his early successes. “I talk a lot about recovery in the show because it’s good to see the example… I needed the examples when I was trying to change my life. It’s moving because it’s a serious — literal life and death issue — but it’s also really funny, I do a whole thing about how I loved going to rehab that I’d suggest if Christmas break you’re thinking about going to Cabo San Lucas or rehab, I’d pick rehab.”

Lowe became sober in 1990 and celebrated 29 years of sobriety in May on Instagram.

“Thank you to all those who have inspired me on this wonderful, challenging and life-changing journey,” he captioned a photo of his younger self. “If you, or someone you know, are struggling with alcohol or addiction, there CAN be a future of hope, health and happiness. And it comes one day at a time. #recovery #ItWorks.”