Billionaire James Packer teams up with Robbie Williams for a 7News Spotlight story about their depression
Billionaire businessman James Packer will open up about his mental health struggles in a warts-and-all TV interview in which he admits “money is not a guarantee of happiness”.
The 56-year-old’s “raw and honest” chat will air on 7NEWS Spotlight this Sunday in Mr Packer’s first face-to-face interview in more than a decade.
He exclusively tells presenter Liam Bartlett about some of the darkest times in his life, the merry-go-round of medication and doctors who have tried to help, and the daily addiction he can’t shake.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“I’m not here to play the victim … it’s a journey,” Mr Packer says.
“You’re not interviewing someone who’s saying to you, ‘I’ve got it worked out and I’ve got all the answers’.
“I’m not that person. I’m here saying … I’m doing my best.”
Appearing alongside him is close friend and pop superstar Robbie Williams, whose own battles with his mental health have been well documented over the years.
“(It’s) the same sort of illness that we share,” Williams says. “It’s a disease of isolation.”
Mr Packer’s conversation is one of several featured by 7NEWS Spotlight as part of a broader, hour-long special on mental health ahead of the release of Profiles in Hope, a book by John Brogden, the former NSW Liberal leader and now President of Lifeline International.
Bartlett said: “James is quite a complex man who has gone out of his way to deliver a simple message for the purpose of helping others and for that reason alone, he should be applauded.”
