Alexandria “Lexi” Zahra Jones, the daughter of rock legend David Bowie and supermodel Iman, is speaking candidly about a period in her teenage years that she says changed the course of her life—and kept her away from her father when he died.
According to Newsweek, the 25-year-old artist took to Instagram to detail her experience being sent to a wilderness therapy program as a teen, describing it as both formative and, at times, deeply unsettling.
While she made clear she grew up in a loving home, she said the weight of being the child of two globally recognized figures took a toll early on.
By her account, emotional struggles began around age 10, eventually escalating into self-harm and bulimia. When Bowie was diagnosed with cancer during her early teens, Jones said she turned to drugs and alcohol as a way to cope.
“For me, it wasn’t about fun,” she said. “I wasn’t experimenting. I was escaping.”
Her parents sought help, which led to her placement in a wilderness program. Jones described being taken from her home without warning and transported to a remote outdoor setting.
“I felt like cattle,” she said. “I felt stripped of any right to stay in my own life.”
The program, she explained, involved survival-based routines—building fires, cooking outdoors, and constant supervision. While she acknowledged that some aspects of therapy were beneficial, she also described parts of the experience as “dehumanizing,” even as she noted she did not endure the more severe physical abuse others have reported.
After several months, Jones was transferred to another treatment facility in Utah, where she continued therapy and built relationships that she says helped her grow. But during her time there, her family suffered a major loss.
Bowie died from cancer complications in January 2016 at age 69. Jones said she found out through a public post announcing that he had passed “surrounded by his whole family.”
“It made me physically ill,” she said. “Because… the whole family was there. Except for me.”
Grieving from a distance became part of her treatment, folded into the structure of the program. When she eventually returned home, she said the transition wasn’t easy, and she struggled without the rigid framework she had been living under.
Still, Jones framed her story as part of a larger conversation rather than a singular experience.
“This happened to me and to a lot of other kids that deserve better,” she said. “I finally get to define healing for myself.”
That broader conversation has been gaining momentum in recent years, with other high-profile figures sharing accounts that are strikingly similar. Paris Hilton has been one of the most outspoken critics of the so-called “troubled teen industry,” alleging abuse at multiple facilities and later taking her advocacy to lawmakers through her #BreakingCodeSilence campaign.
Chet Hanks has also spoken about being sent to a wilderness program, describing the experience as intense and suggesting families are often persuaded into these systems without fully understanding what happens inside them.
Even Paris Jackson, who has been part of discussions around the same network of programs, has added to the growing scrutiny surrounding how these facilities operate—especially for young people already dealing with mental health challenges.
