Stigma and Survival in the Shining City

Hunter Biden Speaks to the Silent Struggle That Killed My Friend

A Quick Note:
I first published Stigma and Survival in the Shining City exclusively on Medium back in November 2023. As I move away from that platform in May 2025, there are a few pieces I feel too strongly about to leave behind — and this is one of them. It’s personal, it’s painful, and it’s still just as important to me today.

Thanks for reading. —AG

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Let me be clear: I hold no brief for Hunter Biden.

He is a troubled, controversial figure in a family that I see as genuinely good people. And I’m not here to argue about politics, mostly because Hunter Biden is not a politician. He is an addict.

And he just said a couple of things that brought me back to the friend I just lost:

“I am not a victim. By any standard, I grew up with privilege and opportunity, and fully accept that the choices and mistakes I made are mine, and I am accountable for them and will continue to be. That is what recovery is about.

What troubles me is the demonization of addiction, of human frailty, using me as its avatar and the devastating consequences it has for the millions struggling with addiction, desperate for a way out and being bombarded by the denigrating and near-constant coverage of me and my addiction on Fox News (more airtime than GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis) and in The New York Post (an average of two stories a day over the past year).”

Biden, a son of privilege who had his share of grief and loss, nearly killed himself with drugs and alcohol. My friend Robert just lost a similar battle.

Let me tell you about him.