Antonio Banderas: Skiing Accident, Surgery & Pain Meds Lead To Melanie Griffith Entering Rehab

Skiing accident, pain meds and surgery led her down the path to addiction, Banderas said

Updated 11:15 AM EDT, Wed, Sep 9, 2009

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Antonio Banderas is setting the record straight on wife Melanie Griffith's recent trip to rehab.

"It's not a rumor," Antonio told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview airing on Wednesday's "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." "It was said actually in some magazine that I said that I gave an ultimatum to my wife. That I [presented] the matter of divorce because she has been involved in addictions and blah, blah, blah. Melanie has been addicted for many years and we always came out. We said it out loud. It was OK, we were never embarrassed of the situation."

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The actor told Ellen a 2007 skiing accident and subsequent surgery contributed to Melanie's battle with substance abuse.

"What happened, she was clean and sober for six years. She had a crash skiing in Aspen a year-and-a-half ago and she went through three operations in her knee. She [was] obligated to use narcotics. In March, she came to me and said, 'I'm feeling a little bit weak in my determination for this,'" he explained. "So the whole entire family is supporting her and I am supporting her and at this particular time more than ever. I'm very proud of her."

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Antonio said he hopes his wife's struggle will inspire others to seek help.

"The whole family has been there. We have been following some type of therapy with other families. There are a number of invisible heroes working in AA all around the world," Antonio told Ellen. "I just say to families, don't get embarrassed, just confront this problem head-on. And don't hide from that because there is a beautiful gift at the end of this tunnel and it is the person that you love back and that is what I am searching for. I am very proud of my wife."

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Star magazine reported that the 52-year-old actress is at the Cirque Lodge in Utah, the same location that previously treated Lindsay Lohan.

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In 2000, Melanie was treated at the Daniel Freeman Hospital, in Marina Del Ray, Calif., for a painkiller addiction, E! News reported.

She previously entered rehab in 1988 at the Hazelden Clinic in Center City, Minn., Radar Online reported.

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