The rare testimony of Rezart Veleshnja: How drug traffickers exploited me

The well-known actor Rezart Veleshnja has returned with a deep and shocking confession, revealing for the first time the reasons that pushed him away from the screen and the wounds that fame has left behind.

In a long and emotional statement, Veleshnja explained that success drew him into a dangerous reality, where people from the world of drugs and individuals with dubious interests tried to exploit his name. According to the actor, they attempted to use his public image to normalize destructive behaviors among young people something he says deeply disturbed him and pushed him away from everything.

His full testimony:

I am Rezart Veleshnja. Today, after so long away from the screen, I think it is time to tell you something I could not say before. I have been a victim of my own success. I know it sounds like an excuse, but it isn’t. It is the truth. Those who have experienced it know: the weight of fame is heavy. Especially when you are young. The euphoria carries you away people talk to you on the street, they stop you, they want pictures, they want you to sit at their tables. And you like it. You like being adored. But what you don’t understand at that moment is that when you’re on television… some people want to use you.

Not everyone, but some. Especially those involved in the world of drugs. They have an interest in involving people from art, sports, politics. Not because they need these people… but because they need their fame. They need it to sell their lifestyle as “normal”. To tell young people: look, this is how everyone lives.

And you believe it. Without realizing it.

They tell you, “This is the life of an artist, the life of showbiz, the life of television. Everyone uses. Even this person… even that person.” And you fall for it. Because at that time you cannot see that these people don’t care about you they want to promote themselves through you.

I spent several years in the Netherlands. You know that the Netherlands is one of the main entry points for drugs into Europe?

Rotterdam. Yet Dutch youth are not addicted to drugs like Albanian youth.

I have often asked myself, why?

Even the port of Durrës today is not far behind Rotterdam… But we do not have Dutch parents. Nor Dutch schools. Nor Dutch opportunities.

What is being offered to Albanian youth? What opportunities does a young person have so that he doesn’t drown his depression in drugs? So that he doesn’t keep his dreams alive with white powder? The costs of fame are high. Moral, family, personal. And when you disappear from the screen, those people who once grabbed you by the arm, who said “you’re one of us,” disappear. You’re no longer useful. No one looks for you. Because they never loved you they loved your status.

And when the status fades… you see that the only thing left is family. Often, family is the only thing that keeps you going.

I have a message for the artists who are today on the same path I once walked, for my generation or for the young people just starting out. When you rise on your own, when you touch fame, you will see many people trying to take advantage of you. They will tell you that “this is life,” “this is how artists live.”

Don’t believe them.

Because tomorrow you might be the one they point fingers at. As they pointed at me. Only that I chose to say it myself. Because I prefer my own truth, rather than their versions about me.

“KORÇA BOOM”