Mercury Illness Was Real: Piven

Star defends decision to leave Broadway production
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 12, 2009 2:29 PM CST
Mercury Illness Was Real: Piven
Jeremy Piven arrives at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards yesterday in Beverly Hills, Calif.   (AP Photo)

Jeremy Piven has taken a lot of flak since leaving the Broadway production of Speed-the-Plow due to unhealthy amounts of mercury in his body—including anonymous sources who said medical reasons were a cover for the fact that he was fired—but the condition was real, the actor tells People. “I was brought to my knees by this illness,” Piven says. (More Jeremy Piven stories.)

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