Stephen Fry Nearly Died After 1992 Drug Binge

In his memoir What Have I Done?, Ben Elton recounts rushing friend Stephen Fry to hospital after a 1992 night of heavy drinking and cocaine use, saying doctors warned Fry was "minutes away from permanent brain damage — and not many more minutes away from death." Elton says the incident occurred after dinner and an afterparty at Douglas Adams's Islington home, where Fry — who was house‑sitting — drank rare Belgian beer, smoked and snorted cocaine until he began to wheeze and collapse. Elton says he feared telling medics about the cocaine because it could have led to Fry's arrest and damaged his career, and described Fry's near‑lifeless appearance in A&E. Fry has previously written about past drug use in his 2014 memoir More Fool Me. The revelation has resurfaced amid Fry's recent appearance and elimination from the TV series Celebrity Traitors.