While Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino said many memories were likely "lost to history" due to his severe intoxication, here's what he had to say in his new book about people including Leonardo DiCaprio, The Rock and those who showed concern for him like Jay Leno, Robert Downey Jr. and Whoopi Goldberg. Reality Check: Making the Best of The Situation is available now.
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After the first season of Jersey Shore blew up on MTV, Sorrentino said he ran into Leonardo DiCaprio at Coco de Ville in West Hollywood. "He was there with Bar Refaeli, and when he saw me, he grinned wildly before dapping me up and yelling in my ear, 'GTL all day!'" claimed Mike in his memoir.
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As Sorrentino continued to make a brand out of The Situation, cashing in with sponsorships, partnerships and appearances, he said Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson held up his gate at an airport to talk to him. "'You know, Situation,' he boomed in that famous voice as he wrapped me in a bear hug, 'America loves you. You branded yourself, and no one taught you how to do it. I'm impressed, my man,'" he said Johnson told him. In the book, Mike admitted he had "modeled" his own "character" after Johnson.
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Recalling a time he was "either super high or super tired," or possibly both, Mike said he boarded a plane once and immediately fell asleep in his first class window seat. "Next thing I knew, I woke to the flight attendant laughing to someone, 'I think you have a situation,'" he claimed, noticing a bald man standing over him. "Evidently, I was in his seat, though his big grin suggested he didn't mind. I realized it was Jason Statham, another actor I'm a huge fan of," wrote Sorrentino, who added Statham "laughed and told me to keep the seat, and he took the aisle."
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Sorrentino said some of girls from The Hills "couldn't wait to get a piece of The Situation" at a dinner MTV threw for their talent. "The second we walked in the door, they ravaged me. I mean, ripped my clothes off. Hands rubbing all over my abs and, ahem, maybe some other places too," he wrote, saying he "had no choice in the matter" but didn't mind. "The sad part is the only reason I remember that night is because I have a photo of Kristin Cavallari on her knees, kissing my abs while lifting my shirt up," he added, saying, "Take that, Jay Cutler. You may have beaten me in cornhole, but I, uh, never mind..."
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It was Ashton Kutcher who got The Situation on what was then Twitter, in the early days of the social media platform. He said that in an interview he, Snooki and Pauly did with Kutcher, Ashton recommended they sign up, before creating handles for them on the spot. "My following quickly skyrocketed to well over a million people, and that’s still the handle I use today," he added.
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Mike wrote that he did a number of late night appearances "high as hell" and "stoned on painkillers," but it was Jay Leno who expressed concern after doing an interview for The Tonight Show. "A couple of times, Jay pulled me aside ... I could see the concern in his face. He’d witnessed it before and wanted to straighten me out," he said, adding Leno told him, "You've got to make better decisions" multiple times. "You're never going to last in this business going the way you are," he said Leno told him, with Mike admitting, "He was right, of course, though again, it would be some time before I was ready to listen."
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Someone else who expressed concern for Sitch was Whoopi Goldberg, who Mike felt "spotted the tell-tale signs of my addiction and tried to call attention to my actions" following their interactions in the past. "Many times, she graciously reached out to warn me that I was moving too fast," he wrote, saying Goldberg had "a very loving and caring manner about her that I will never forget."
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In his book, Sorrentino detailed a "meaningful conversation" he had with Robert Downey Jr. backstage at TODAY, which he admitted "left an impact" on him in the long run. "As someone who had gone through the same addiction issues I was grappling with at the time, he recognized the signs: glasses tipped low, pupils pinpointed, my energy douchebag on blast," wrote Mike. Though he said their run-in was a quick one, it was also pretty "serious," as the Iron Man star "showed concern for my condition and implored me to be careful."
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This was just a quick run-in, but while Sorrentino was in New York City to participate in -- and totally bomb during -- Donald Trump's Comedy Central Roast, he was being chased by paparazzi "shouting questions" and ran into Ben Stiller. "He stared at me, kind of in shock," recalled Sitch. "Damn, man, does that ever get exhausting?" he said Stiller asked, before Mike replied, "Dunno. It happens all the time. I barely even notice anymore."
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Another brief interaction was with Mike Tyson, as the pair presented an award together at Spike TV's Video Game Awards back in 2009. Hitting the stage with costars Snooki, Pauly and JWoww, Mike said Tyson "leaned over and whispered in my ear, 'Keep slaying these hoes.'"
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According to Mike, he was rocking sunglasses and a "hat pulled low" while hiding from paparazzi in an elevator -- before looking over and noticing "someone else trying to roll incognito." That person, he said, was Drake. "We realized at the same time we were both doing the same thing -- international stars trying our hardest to escape to our rooms without being noticed," he wrote, "Neither of us could help laughing, and when we reached the top of the escalator, we dapped each other up and took a photo together before heading off to our respective rooms."
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In the book, Sorrentino addressed Steve-O's claims he brushed them off during a red carpet interaction in 2010. Mike said he "never would have knowingly done that," saying he was high on 180 milligrams of Percocet and "was in my own little world while about a thousand people screamed my name and flashbulbs went off in my face." Adding he was "so f--ked up that I was forced to perch my sungasses on the bridge of my nose to hide the fact that I couldn't see straight," he was adamant he "did not try to snub you guys" and still loved them all.
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While competing on Dancing with the Stars, Sorrentino was regularly high on Oxy, but some of his fellow stars had no idea that's what was going on with him. "I remember right before a live show, Rick Fox and David Hasselhoff came up to me backstage. Everyone else was petrified about performing, taking shots and doing anything they could to calm their nerves. Not me," he claimed, saying the pair wondered why he wasn't nervous at all. "I shrugged and smiled. Yeah, because I was high as f--k. I barely knew where I was," he added, saying, "Who knows how I responded, but I didn't tell them my secret."
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While in prison for tax evasion, Sorrentino crossed paths with Billy McFarland, aka the guy behind Fyre Fest. Mike claimed cheese sandwiches were placed on McFarland's bunk "as a joke" when he first arrived, before saying he was "a loner" who "wasn't very social." Mike added there were rumors McFarland was "trying to secretly record other prisoners" behind bars and claimed he didn't respond to an offer to work with him on a new venture. "We didn't think being associated with the next Fyre Festival would be on brand for me," added Sitch.
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Another person Sorrentino spent a little more time with while locked up was Donald Trump's attorney Michael Cohen. He said the two sat together "for every meal, talking about life and politics and all the other things bored, notorious men talk about while being held against their will." He said Cohen "made it clear he was no longer a fan of Mr. Trump" and even gave him advice for how to write a book.