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Variety Confidential · Aug 22, 2025 · 43 min

The Icon

With only 14 film credits, River Phoenix has left an indelible mark in Hollywood and beyond. In “The Icon,” the fourth episode of Variety and iHeart Podcasts’ “Variety Confidential,” host Tatiana Siegel talks to Variety’s Owen Gleiberman and Brent Lang about the phenomenon of a Hollywood life taken too soon while Dr. Drew Pinsky explains how River’s untimely death reshaped the conversation around addiction. For a full list of sources and citations for this episode, visit https://variety.com/h/variety-confidential/. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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With only 14 film credits, River Phoenix has left an indelible mark in Hollywood and beyond. In “The Icon,” the fourth episode of Variety and iHeart Podcasts’ “Variety Confidential,” host Tatiana Siegel talks to Variety’s Owen Gleiberman and Brent Lang about the phenomenon of a Hollywood life taken too soon while Dr. Drew Pinsky explains how River’s untimely death reshaped the conversation around addiction.  

For a full list of sources and citations for this episode, visit https://variety.com/h/variety-confidential/.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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