Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of substance abuse and death. Reader discretion is advised.
Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, was married to the late singer for two years between 2007 and 2009. Fielder-Civil was a production assistant when he first met Winehouse in 2005, reported The Independent. The two dated briefly before tying the knot in 2007. However, throughout their married life, the couple dealt with their respective drug addictions. They divorced that same year but continued their on-again-off-again relationship in the following years.
The Guardian stated that Fielder-Civil claimed his family and Winehouse’s family made them end the marriage. He said the singer’s father Mitch told him, “If you love her really you’ll divorce her. I spoke to Amy about it and we sort of agreed that it would get everyone off our backs at least you know and we’d probably remarry.”
Amy Winehouse died of accidental alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011, at her Camden, north London, home. She was 27 years old at the time. Her life and music career have previously been depicted in the 2015 documentary titled Amy. A recent biopic, Back to Black, also looks into Winehouse and her ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil relationship over the years.
Was Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil “responsible” for her death?
According to People Magazine, Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, claimed he believed people considered him “responsible” for the singer’s death. After Winehouse died from accidental alcohol poisoning in 2011, people accused Fielder-Civil of supporting her addictions. For years, he also faced blame for exposing the singer to harmful drugs.
Fielder-Civil told Good Morning Britain in 2018, “The drug thing is something that’s been attributed to me for years,” while revealing that he and “Amy only used drugs together maybe six months of our marriage. That was it.” He added, “And before that, Amy didn’t use drugs. She smoked cannabis, [and] I did heroin maybe four or five times. People don’t realize Amy didn’t do anything Amy didn’t want to do.”
Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband was still feeling the burden of her death back then. He said, “I’ll always carry a burden of guilt because I should have acted.” The Independent stated that in 2007, the singer had said their “whole marriage was based on doing drugs.”
In a later 2023 interview with the program, Blake Fielder-Civil expressed feeling like he was the only person to have “held any accountability,” per People Magazine. Fielder-Civil said that while he “can’t change how other people feel,” he has stopped “carrying that cross on my own.” He added, “I’ve carried that burden myself for over 10 years.”
In the interview, Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband admitted that he accepted that he made “huge mistakes,” explaining, “I was a 20-something-year-old drug addict. So I had absolutely no idea how to make myself clean, let alone somebody else who was a big cog in a machine for a record label.”
Recently, Blake Fielder-Civil once again talked to Good Morning Britain following the premiere of the new biopic Back to Black. The Independent reported that he talked about the film’s more “accurate representation” of his time with Amy Winehouse. The biopic not only focuses on Winehouse’s music career and life but also on her tumultuous relationship with her ex-husband.
Fielder-Civil added, “As much as that might have been the salacious headlines, and the paparazzi’s goal, there was addiction, but it was only an aspect. The relationship started like every relationship does.”
The Guardian stated that Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, had two children in another relationship after his divorce from the singer. He has served time in prison and has also been to rehab thrice due to his struggles with drug addiction.