"But she told me she was never going to drink again"
About this Quote
The key word is “But.” It’s a defense mechanism dressed as narrative. Gest frames himself as the reasonable witness, the one who believed the promise, which quietly shifts accountability away from the speaker and onto the person who broke it. That single clause creates a moral hierarchy: the teller as loyal, the “she” as unreliable, the audience as jury. It’s a line built for talk shows and tabloids because it invites you to fill in the rest: the relapse, the chaos, the humiliation, the “I tried.”
The subtext is less about alcohol than about control. In celebrity culture, declarations of reform function like PR press releases: they’re meant to reset the storyline, reassure the entourage, and preempt criticism. Gest’s quote captures the exhausted hope behind those declarations and the cynicism that follows when they don’t stick. It’s also quietly transactional: sobriety is framed not as a private health battle but as a promise made to someone else, something owed.
Context matters because Gest’s fame was relational, built on proximity and access. This line turns access into authority: he knows the private vow, so we’re meant to trust his version of the public fallout.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Gest, David. (2026, January 17). But she told me she was never going to drink again. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-she-told-me-she-was-never-going-to-drink-again-76382/
Chicago Style
Gest, David. "But she told me she was never going to drink again." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-she-told-me-she-was-never-going-to-drink-again-76382/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"But she told me she was never going to drink again." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-she-told-me-she-was-never-going-to-drink-again-76382/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.




