Artie Lange: I’m not on drugs, but I’m canceling my shows (and not because of coronavirus)

After comedian Artie Lange canceled a series of shows in recent weeks, fans started wondering if he was OK.

Lange, 52, who lives in Hoboken, has struggled with drug addiction for decades, moving in and out of rehab. He has publicly maintained that he’s been sober despite speculation about whether or not he has relapsed. In February, Lange tweeted that he was sick and unable to travel, then performed at a show later in the month.

On Friday, the comedian emerged to offer a clarification about his health and absence from shows.

“I’m not sick and i’m not using (i’d be in jail if I was),” Lange tweeted, sharing a photo of himself flashing a peace sign. “Just have crazy anxiety and i’m fighting it hard. In the past I would have just done drugs and gone to work (or cancel last minute) but I won’t do that now. Instead I cleared my schedule. I’ll be back soon though. Peace."

The comedian’s message to fans — and their ensuing replies — got his name trending on Twitter even as subjects related to the coronavirus pandemic dominated social media.

“I’m just a depressive person," Lange told NJ Advance Media in 2018, saying that if he hadn’t gone into comedy, he likely would have been consumed by the condition.

Lange is best known for being a former sidekick on “The Howard Stern Show." The “MADtv" alum, who has appeared in the series “Norm” (“The Norm Show”) and movies including “Dirty Work,” “Beer League” and “Elf,” also had a recurring role on the HBO series “Crashing” before it was canceled in 2019.

In 2010, after Lange was asked to take a break from “The Howard Stern Show” because of his erratic behavior, he drank bleach and repeatedly plunged a kitchen knife into his stomach. The incident was Lange’s second suicide attempt after an initial close call following a bender in 1995.

“I never really wanted to die, I think,” Lange said in the 2018 interview. He attributed the “so-called (attempted) suicides” to being under the influence of drugs.

Lange’s canceled shows include one the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, Massachusetts on March 14 and one at the Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center in Chester, New York on April 1. He has rescheduled a March 6 show at State Theatre in Portland, Maine for August 8.

Lange, who grew up in Union Township, was also scheduled to have an April 10 homecoming show in at Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway. The box office confirmed that date was also canceled.

Lange has another show at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in Michigan on June 19.

He has also suspended his podcast, “Halfway House," which debuted in December. The most recent episode came out at the beginning of February.

In January, Lange tweeted that he was “one year clean.” He returned to stand-up comedy after completing a rehab program in September.

After Lange canceled a show in February then appeared at a gig a few weeks later, he tried to dispel speculation about his condition.

“Seems like a lot of people on social media have been waiting for the other shoe to drop these past 2 weeks,” he tweeted at the time. “Keep waiting. For everyone else, thanks for the support. Love ya!”

In May, he was arrested for noncompliance with his drug court program at the halfway house where he was living as part of that program and spent 21 days in Essex County Jail. He was then transferred to a new rehab program.

Lange was jailed in 2018 after he tested positive for cocaine for the second time in less than two months, in violation of his probation.

The comedian had been sentenced to four years of probation for heroin possession after State Police pulled him over on the Garden State Parkway in 2017 and reported finding him with 81 decks of heroin and a bag of heroin in his lap with a straw.