Bravo’s Jackie Warner Reveals Ambien DUI Arrest at Gunpoint ‘Destroyed My Life’
Jackie Warner, star of Bravo‘s Work Out and Thintervention described her aggressive DUI arrest after taking Ambien as being extremely traumatic to the point that inspired her to leave Los Angeles.
TMZ initially reported in 2017 that Warner was charged with assaulting a police officer and DUI. But shortly after the story broke Warner and her attorney cleared up the misconception that she was violent and had taken an Ambien. However, the story went viral, taking on a life of its own. Jobs evaporated for Warner and she revealed for the first time the horrific impact the incident had on her life.
Bravo’s Jackie Warner was arrested at gunpoint
Warner opened up for the first time on the Hot Takes & Deep Dives with Jess Rothschild about exactly what happened and the profound impact it had on her life and career. “What happened to me when I was 50 was I took an Ambien and woke up handcuffed in jail,” she recalled. “I took an Ambien to go to sleep – I’m not kidding about this –this happened when I was 50. It destroyed my life. It completely destroyed my life. I had so many positive things going on. So I can’t sleep. I’ve never been able to sleep, except when I moved here to Ohio because I don’t have to worry so much.”
Warner recalled that she had just finished a business meeting. “And I left there late at night,” she continued. “No drinks. I had no alcohol. I took my Ambien that I’ve been on for three years without any incident that I knew of or was aware of. Now I wonder where the hell was I? I wake up and I’m arrested. I went, apparently, blacked-out got in my car, drove to the 7-Eleven, got some food, got back in my car, and I was filmed doing it. So I was on TMZ the next day. And I got arrested at gunpoint with this really horrible cop. I mean, I was driving a Porsche. I don’t look dangerous. And if you looked at me for two seconds, you see that I was not even there. I have no memory of this.”
Misleading reports flooded the news cycle
“I learned about this from my attorney who went over the police report,” she shared. “I had no idea what had happened to me at all. And they were so horrible. And when they tried to get me to talk at the jail station, they said they couldn’t even get anything out of me because I was completely out of it.”
Warner said the district attorney dropped the three felony charges against her because her attorney explained she had taken an Ambien. But the damage was done. “But it destroyed my life, I’ll be honest. It destroyed my life because it was everywhere. It was on TMZ. And also, I came from a really, really old, classy southern family. And the Warners, we have a lot of respect. So that’s why I started eating. That is when I started eating comfort food. I didn’t wanna be at the gym, it was embarrassing. I was getting looked at constantly wondering whether it’s true or not.”
She also said the initial TMZ report sparked a tidal wave of false narratives that never allowed her to recover. “In their report, which was not accurate at all,” she said about the TMZ story. “They said that the charges were that I had some sort of weapon on me. They said I had a dangerous weapon.”
Warner added that being a health and wellness expert, TMZ “tore” her to pieces. “Then everyone else picked up on it and it was in the news,” she said. “And again it was assault with a deadly weapon. And it was other things too.” She said reports bizarre side effects from Ambien were only emerging at the time, so news of her arrest was referred to as a DUI.
She has PTSD and is working to rebuild her life
Warner said she’s finally starting to come to terms with what happened to her but said she has PTSD. She left Los Angeles because she had no reason to stay in town. “Because all of my opportunities in the entertainment industry dried up. There’s no reason to live in L.A. if you don’t have opportunities. And overnight, every project that I had, that was going to go and be wonderful completely, said see ya later. And so what’s the point?”
Warner moved back to Ohio and is training clients and rebuilding her life. “I’m waiving my consultation fee to train with you over FaceTime for January! Only $50/ session. Text/call me at 323-301-3522 and let’s really commit to a happy & healthy lifestyle in 2022!” she posted on Instagram.
