Jeremy Piven Hasn't Had Fish "In Five Months" Since Mercury Poisoning

Jeremy Piven hasn't "had a piece of fish in five months" after being told his mercury levels were too high. As Usmagazine.com reports, Piven explained on Thursday's Good Morning America that his love of sushi is what got him sick, according to his doctor.

"The only protein I got for 20 years was from fish," Piven said. "I kind of thought I was doing the right thing."While the circulating rumor continues to suggest that his mercury scare was just an excuse to dodge Broadway's Speed the Plow, Piven insistently declares it to be false.

"The last thing I ever thought about doing was not completing this run. I've never not completed anything in my life," he told Diane Sawyer. "They pulled me out of this thing, and that's the truth, Diane. . . . You talk about 'the show must go on,' this is in my DNA. To have the rap be on me that I walked out on this thing . . . this was the greatest moment of my life," he said regarding his acting debut on Broadway.

The Entourage star, who described the illness as "crippling," recalled when he first developed symptoms. "I was losing my balance and my memory. The lights were too bright. I couldn't get enough oxygen," he said. "I ended up passing out in my place when I got home. I ended up in the hospital for three days."

A reassuring assessment from Dr. Carlon Colker, who treated Piven, said that he "will be OK."

"I think it'll take a few weeks to a couple of months," Colker said. "Unfortunately it was like pulling teeth to get him out of the show. This is a situation that I think will resolve as long as he's attending to his health."