Hollywood celebrities and drugs
Posted on December 17, 2008
Filed Under East meets West | Leave a Comment
For every self-destructive superstar, there are hundreds of Hollywood celebrities who live profoundly dysfunctional, conflict-ridden lives. Drug and alcohol abuse are commonplace in Hollywood and divorce almost the norm. While in the field, reporters often run across celebrities doing everything from smoking pot to snorting lines of cocaine in private parties and clubs. Of course, drug and alcohol use among celebrities is nothing new, but in a frightening turn, it appears to have become more publicly accepted. Yet these people seem to possess everything most of us secretly covet – talent, fame, good looks, wealth, adoration.
Lindsay Lohan admitted to drug use in Vanity Fair; singer Fergie has been candid about her former crystal meth addiction; Justin Timberlake has admitted he was stoned when he recorded his multiplatinum CD Justified; and John Mayer – who dated Jessica Simpson, daughter of a former Baptist minister — gave Rolling Stone an interview while puffing on a marijuana vaporizer. Drew Barrymore is America’s sweetheart with her lineage of theatrical and cinematic royalty. “Little Girl Lost” is the title of her autobiography, and boy was she ever. The cute little star of “E.T.” and “Firestarter” put those rebel girls in “Thirteen” to shame. By 13, Drew had already entered rehab. Tatum had some major pressure on her by the mere age of 9. After she won an Academy Award for her plucky performance in “Paper Moon,”, the daughter of Ryan O’Neal and actress Joanna Moore (who reportedly suffered from drug addiction), Tatum lived the Hollywood life with her younger brother Griffin, who would later have some problems of his own (drug-addled Griffin was involved in the boating accident that killed Francis Ford Coppola’s son). Tatum found fame in the delightful “The Bad News Bears” and grew into a sexy tomboy teen with “Little Darlings.” But her career never made it into the 1980s and ’90s; instead she married the bad-tempered tennis star John McEnroe and attempted to raise a family. Divorce followed and Tatum admitted to past drug addiction.
When actors misbehave, use drugs or otherwise become dysfunctional they are a huge risk and liability to film investors. Too many young actors give way to non-therapeutic drugs and every other kind of stupidity as they bite the hands that feed them. There are legions of great actors that never grab headlines other than for making box office hits like Jodi Foster, Hillary Swank and Clint Eastwood. The miscreant thespians need to be given the bums rush out the door and other actors deserve their chance at the good life.
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