Cleveland artist Kid Cudi has revealed that he suffered a stroke while in rehab for depression and drug addiction in 2016.

Nearly six years ago, the musician and actor (real name Scott Mescudi) confirmed in an Instagram post that he’d entered a rehabilitation centre after experiencing “depression and suicidal urges”.

He said at the time that he felt “ashamed” about his struggles, but promised to “be back, stronger, better”.

During a wide-ranging interview with Esquire, Cudi discussed having a stroke two weeks into the programme, which affected his speech and movement. His manager and childhood friend, Dennis Cummings, encouraged him to take a break from music.

The star spent the next few months in physical rehabilitation before improving greatly in 2017, when he felt well enough to audition for a Broadway play, Lobby Hero, with Michael Cera. Cudi had to memorise a large amount of dialogue, and the role ultimately went to another actor.

“I proved to myself that I could do it. I needed that at the time,” he recalled, positively. “I was happy. Like, damn, my brain is still strong. I didn’t lose something in that shit that happened.”

The US star opened up about his mental health in 2018, saying that “for a long time, I wasn’t happy when I woke up in the morning”.

Cudi’s seventh and most recent studio album, Man On The Moon III: The Chosen, arrived in December 2020 with several tracks - including album opener ‘Tequila Shots’ - tackling his internal struggles.

Mescudi’s new animated Netflix series, Entergalactic, is due to premiere on September 30 along with an accompanying album.

In 2020, Cudi starred in the third season of Westworld, and last year joined Ariana Grande in the cast of Adam McKay’s Oscar-nominated Netflix doomsday film Don’t Look Up. The pair also released a duet for the project called ‘Just Look Up’.

The rapper this year appeared in A24’s new horror film X, which led to him landing a role in Brittany Snow’s forthcoming feature-length directorial debut, September 17th.

In March, Cudi told fans he'd signed on to make his directorial debut with another Netflix title, Teddy, in which he’ll also star.

Elsewhere in his Esquire chat, Kid Cudi commented that he’s “done” with Kanye West after the pair fell out again earlier this year.

Cudi said, "It's gonna take a motherf***ing miracle for me and that man to be friends again. I don't see it happening. He gonna have to become a monk."

"I'm not one of your kids. I'm not Kim. It don't matter if I'm friends with Pete or not friends with Pete. None of this s**t had anything to do with me," Cudi added of Ye. "If you can't be a grown man and deal with the fact that you lost your woman? That's not my f***ing problem. You need to own up to your s**t like every man in this life has."

He replaced headliner Kanye after he dropped out of Rolling Loud festival last minute earlier this year, only for bottles to be thrown at him while on stage, leading him to walk off.