Runners-up for top story: Actors Lindsay Lohan, Michael “Kramer” Richards, Daniel Baldwin, Pamela Anderson, Kid Rock and Tawny Kitaen Finley
Actor Daniel Baldwin, arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto. Just a few months earlier, Baldwin made news crashing a rented car into two parked vehicles after speeding at over 80 mph on Los Angeles area streets, which in turn occurred shortly after an arrest on suspicion of cocaine possession, which in turn…well, you get the idea. Baldwin is the brother of actors Alec, Stephen and William.
Actors Pamela Anderson, 39 and Kid Rock, 35 filing for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences”after getting married on a yacht in St. Tropez four months before. Anderson was previously married to rocker Tommy Lee for three years. Theirs is a classic case of alcoholic antics continuously providing fodder for the tabloids.
Actress Tawny Kitaen Finley, 45, a former O.J. Simpson lover, arrested on charges of cocaine possession in the San Juan Capistrano, CA apartment she shares with her two children. It was not clear why there was a delay in filing charges, as the discovery by police occurred months ago around the time “The Surreal Life 6″premiered. While filming the reality show, she claimed to be suffering from a sinus infection, accounting for a runny nose. However, the shows’ producers intercepted cocaine in a shampoo bottle that was delivered to the set and she landed rehab days before the new season aired. Finley was once accused of attacking then-husband former Angels pitcher Chuck Finley with high-heeled stiletto shoes on the drive home following an argument at a steak house. After her arrest for this incident, in which she was also accused of grabbing his ear and twisting it, as well as putting her foot on top of his, forcing the accelerator to the floor, Chuck Finley was granted temporary custody of their two daughters, then ages nine and three.
Actor-comedian Michael Richards, who played Jerry Seinfeld’s eccentric neighbor Kramer on the hit TV show “Seinfeld,”shouting racial epithets at people who heckled him during a stand-up routine at a comedy club in West Hollywood, CA. While later denying he had been drinking, Richards joined a David Letterman interview of Jerry Seinfeld the following night via satellite and looked sick, baffled and contrite over his own behavior”exactly what might be expected of an alcoholic not under the influence viewing his behavior while under the influence. An Internet search found no priors, but it may be relevant that Richards has found little success after Seinfeld’s demise and a number of observers on various blogs point out that he “had”to be blasted. It’s also interesting that except for Seinfeld himself, Richards’ co-stars have stayed mum”as if they know too much. Richards may be reluctant to cop to his having been imbibing, since the Congressman Mark Foley scandal and Mel Gibson arrest shows that almost everyone thinks he’d be using drinking as an excuse. Wrong”it doesn’t excuse misbehaviors, but it does explain them and shows that the abuse is a symptom of addiction. Michael Richards, even though you denied drinking that night and not one pundit pointed to possible alcoholism as the cause of your rage, I have privately confirmed your disease. If you are as aghast at your behaviors as your fans are and want to get better, please come clean. The way to prove there’s a good man under that muck of addiction is to get sober.
Actress Lindsay Lohan, who, according to her publicist Leslie Sloane-Zelnik, has begun attending AA meetings. Sloan added, “…she’s not saying…she’ll stop drinking tomorrow…But…the fact that she’s seeing that there’s something not right makes her smarter than the next person.”[Emphasis added for ease of comparison with the next paragraph.] No, it means that the publicity surrounding her recent antics and reported overdose (see “Enabler of the month,”below) may have created enough pain that she’s open to the possibility that she suffers from the disease of alcoholism. Message to Ms. Sloane-Zelnik: inflating her ego by making her think she’s smarter than other alcoholics doesn’t help. She’s got an enormous amount of competition in terms of intelligence among her fellow addicts.
This is the fourth time Lohan’s name has made it into these pages. Her first mention was in the “under watch”section, December 2004:
“Mean Girls”star Lindsay Lohan, whose partying and multiple car crashes have recently caused friends to describe her as “spinning out of control,”following a magnificently enabling cover-story in the September 6 [2004] issue of People magazine, in which both she and her mother denied that anything was wrong. [Emphasis added.]
By August 2006, she qualified for “runners-upâ€:
Actress Lindsay Lohan, 20, whose “hard-partying”style is taking its toll on her work. According to TheSmokingGun.com, a letter from the CEO of her own production company refers to her behaviors as “…discourteous, irresponsible and unprofessional.”He compares her actions to that of a spoiled child, which “has endangered the quality of”the film she is working on, “Georgia Rule,”for which she is frequently showing up late, if at all.
Lindsay’s mother was honored as an “enabler-of-the-month”in September 2006:
Dina Lohan, coming to her daughter Lindsay Lohan’s defense after Morgan Creek Productions CEO James G. Robinson wrote, “We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so called ‘exhaustion.'”Dina said, “I’m a mother and will do what I need to do to protect my child,”and accused Robinson of being “way out of line.”[I concluded with a message for Dina:] If we are right about Lindsay, your actions are increasing the odds that she will ruin many relationships and even destroy lives, ultimately culminating in her own. My book, Drunks, Drugs & Debits, gives a ‘gut feel’ for addiction and will help you to offer the love she needs: uncompromising tough love.
Message to Lindsay: Maybe there’s a chance you’ll do what’s right, despite the protestations, protections, excuses and lies of the enablers around you. Our best wishes for you on your road to sobriety, Lindsay.
Under watch:
Actor-comedian Michael Richards was in this spot until I privately confirmed his alcoholism (which, by the way, involved a story of similar rage, holes punched in walls, lots of bottles and the stench of vodka). Most of the names in this section would likely end up in “runners-up”if such confirmation was possible with everyone. The Richards story is the sort to which I immediately ascribe an 80% likelihood of alcohol or other-drug addiction and start in this section. Upgrades to “runners-up”are made possible only when people talk, which we need to do more of.