It's been 15 years since Amy Winehouse was found dead in her London apartment.
At the time, many blamed her ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, for the descent into addiction that eventually claimed her life.
Now, Fielder-Civil is speaking out for the first time about his role in Amy's final days.
In an interview on the "We Need to Talk" podcast, Blake denied any wrongdoing, insisting that "Amy had agency" right up to the very end of her life.
"My stance now is that I know a lot of people, especially people reading media 20 years ago, would have an idea that Amy's passing is my responsibility," he said.
"As I've always said, I never shirk from any responsibility. If I've done something, I'll put my hand up to it."
Blake recalled meeting Amy at a pub in London in 2001, and he remembered believing that she was a "beautiful woman."
While they descended into more serious substance abuse together, Blake maintains that he did not lead Amy down that path.
"Amy herself had agency. And that is in no way at all disrespecting her by saying that, but Amy did what she wanted to do," he said.
"And even though the drinking had started to hurt her, she carried on… She's actually a very strong woman."
To the end, he says, he regarded Amy as his best friend.
"These are memories which are hard for me to revisit. It's hard for me, 'cause she's not here still. That was my best mate, and we were happy. And the drugs was a side of it, eventually," he said.
"[But] our love had nothing to do with addiction. And addiction had nothing to do with our love. That's where it went. It wasn't who we were."
Fielder-Civil admitted to giving Winehouse heroin for the first time, but he says they were both equally complicit in one another's substance abuse.
He notes that Amy's addiction was actually at its worst while he was briefly imprisoned for a bar fight.
"I never blamed a person that gave me drugs for the first time. I've never tried to put that on anyone. Why would I?" he said.
"I never understood, do these people think that I forced Amy to do drugs? That's just not what happened… I'm not shirking responsibility, but this idea of daily facilitating, no. I wasn't the dealer."
Winehouse and Fielder-Civil divorced in 2009, but they remained close until her death, speaking regularly during his incarceration.
Blake was in jail when Amy passed away from alcohol poisoning, but he insists that he "would've never in a million years have let her just sit and get drunk all day."
He was unable to attend her funeral due to his imprisonment.
Amy Winehouse's Ex-Husband Blake Fielder-Civil Breaks Silence: I Didn't Kill … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
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