Personal Life
He was married to Julia Bingham. They divorced, reportedly due at least in part to his workaholic habits and drug abuse. Sorkin and Bingham have one daughter, Roxy. For several years, he dated Kristin Chenoweth, who played Annabeth Schott on The West Wing (though after Sorkin had left the show). He has also reportedly dated columnist Maureen Dowd and is now in a relationship with Kristin Davis.
A consistent supporter of the Democratic Party, Sorkin has made substantial political campaign contributions to candidates between 1999 and 2011, according to CampaignMoney.com. During the 2004 US presidential election campaign, the liberal advocacy group MoveOn's political action committee enlisted Sorkin and Rob Reiner to create one of their anti-Bush campaign advertisements. In August 2008, Sorkin was involved in a Generation Obama event at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills, California, participating in a panel discussion subsequent to a screening of Frank Capra's Mr Smith Goes to Washington.
In 1987, Sorkin started using marijuana and cocaine. He has said that in cocaine he found a drug that gave him relief from certain nervous tensions he deals with on a regular basis. In 1995, he checked into rehab at the Hazelden Institute in Minnesota, on the advice of his then girlfriend and soon to be wife Julia Bingham, to try to beat his addiction to cocaine. In 2001, Sorkin along with colleagues John Spencer and Martin Sheen received the Phoenix Rising Award for their personal victories over substance abuse. However, two months later on April 15, 2001, Sorkin was arrested when guards at a security checkpoint at the Burbank Airport found hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana, and crack cocaine in his carry-on bag when a metal crack pipe set off the gate's metal detector. He was ordered to a drug diversion program. Saturday Night Live parodied the highly publicized event in a comedy sketch called "The West Wing" where the U.S. President played by Darrell Hammond does a "Walk and Talk" through the corridors of the White House while tripping on mushrooms, accompanied by host Pierce Brosnan. Sorkin continued working on The West Wing amidst his drug abuse.
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