KJ Apa praises Cole Sprouse for punching him in the face in wild off-screen Riverdale moment

Riverdale star KJ Apa has opened up about a chaotic off-screen moment with co-star Cole Sprouse, revealing that Sprouse once punched him straight in the face at a strip club after catching him doing drugs.

Speaking candidly about their time filming the hit CW teen drama, the 29-year-old actor told the Wildmen podcast how Sprouse stepped in with some serious tough love during a period when Apa was secretly struggling behind the scenes with the pressures of instant global fame.

During the interview, Apa revealed that the physical confrontation went down inside a strip club after Sprouse spotted him engaging in substance use, deciding to take immediate action to snap his friend back to reality before things got out of hand.

"Cole punched me in the face in a strip club for doing drugs," Apa admitted, before clarifying that there were no hard feelings between the two co-stars over the sudden altercation.

In fact, Apa praised Sprouse for the sudden blow, describing it as a necessary 'love punch.'

“He hit me because we were in a strip club and, at this time, I was doing a lot of drugs and a lot of my close friends were worried about me,” he explained. “And he had learned that I was doing drugs again... It was a love punch.”

The pair formed a strong bond while filming Riverdale ( Presley Ann/Getty Images for Pizza Hut)

He explained that his co-star was simply looking out for his well-being and trying to keep him from going down a dangerous, self-destructive path while navigating their overnight rise to stardom.

Apa has since been open about his journey with recovery and sobriety, previously sharing that he reached a low point where the pressures of work and Hollywood life became unsustainable.

The New Zealand-born actor—who became a father in 2021—has credited reaching out for help and embracing sobriety with helping him completely rebuild his life away from the Hollywood party scene.

However, none of this would have been possible without the support of his friend, Sprouse.

The duo, who played best friends Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones on screen for seven seasons from 2017 to 2023, formed a notoriously tight bond off-camera—even living and quarantining together during the height of the pandemic.

It was the punch from Sprouse that helped Apa get his life together ( Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

While the show was famous for its utterly unhinged storylines—ranging from serial killers, cults, and organ-harvesting rings to time travel and literal superpowers—it seems the real-life drama off-set occasionally gave the writers' room a run for its money.

Thankfully, Sprouse’s blunt intervention clearly worked. Apa credited his co-star's direct approach with helping him reassess his lifestyle choices and prioritize his health, proving that the fierce brotherhood between Archie and Jughead was very much real behind the scenes.

"I needed it," Apa reflected, acknowledging that having a true friend willing to step in when things got rocky made all the difference during those early, overwhelming years in Hollywood.