A True Hollywood Story

About two years ago I found myself rushing home after work to watch Oprah. Now I’m not a huge fan of The Mighty O, but that day her guest was comedian Dave Chappelle. At this point in Dave’s career he was coming off two very successful seasons of Chappelle Show. His DVD sales were the number one TV show DVD’s of all time, not to mention he just inked a $50 million dollar deal with Comedy Central. It sounded like Dave was living the life all comedians wanted. While filming the third season of his hit show, Dave abruptly left the United States for South Africa. This

The Oprah interview would be the first time that we would hear from Chappelle about why he left his highly successful show. His appearance on Oprah would earn the interview “do not delete” status on my TiVo.

Queen O begins the interview asking Chappelle what most viewers wanted to know, “Why did you walk away from $50 million dollars?” Chappelle replied, “I wasn’t walking away from the money. I was walking away from the circumstances that came with it. I’ve been in show business since I was 14 and it was completely out of my frame of reference what would happen when you break through to the next plateau. I’ve seen the stories and heard the stories. Mariah Carey signs $100 million dollar deal and three months later she goes crazy or Martin breaks through and is found waving a gun on Hollywood blvd screaming.”

He went on to say numerous times in his interview that the environment was “extremely stressful”. If we rewind back to 2004, during a stand-up Chappelle reportedly told a crowd that the show was “ruining his life”. Let me get this right. You have a number one show, number one selling DVD, a $50 million dollar deal in place, and you feel like your life is ruined. Something has to be missing. I decided to do a little research of my own to see what is about Hollywood that is making people crazy.

Martin Lawrence
1996 – After the success of his TV show Martin, Lawrence was starring in A Thin Line Between Love And Hate. He reportedly began having violent outburst on the set and taking drugs. His strange behavior continued after he was seen brandishing a pistol and screaming , “they are trying to kill me” at tourist on Hollywood’s Ventura Boulevard.

Mariah Carey
2001- Carey signs a reported $80 million contract with Virgin Records. A few months later it is reported that she suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. Carey also left very personal messages on her website saying that she was overworked and was ending her relationship with boyfriend Luis Miguel. Carey would later show up on MTV’s TRL in a bath robe handing out popsicles and began what would later be described as a “striptease”. By the end of that month she was checked into a hospital.

2002- Carey is bought out of her contract for $28 million. She would later go on to say that her time at Virgin Records was a “total stress fest”.


You may be wondering why this sounds familiar. That’s because we’ve seen it happen more and more in recent years. Former teen queens Brittney Spears and Lindsay Lohan have taken a turn or the worst. Their stories are so similar that it’s almost scary. Teen stars trying to change their image and be taken seriously, spiral out of control with bizarre behavior, and eventually end up in rehab.

Brittney Spears

2002- Spears very public relationship with fellow pop star Justin Timberlake ends after four years. Timberlake releases his hit song “Cry Me A River”. Most people speculate the song was about Spears being unfaithful since video featured an actress resembling Spears.

2004 – Spears marries childhood friend Jason Alexander at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas. The marriage ended in annulment three days later. Six month later she announces her engagement to Kevin Federline after dating for three months. The two would be married later on in the year.

2006- Spears appears on The Late Show with David Letterman and announces her second pregnancy. She also conducts an interview for Dateline to discuss rumors of a divorce and motherhood. She stated in the interview, “I see a bunch of photographers and I’m scared”. Spears would later file for divorce from Federline, citing irreconcilable differences. According to reports, the divorce caught Federline by surprise.

2007- Spears checks into a drug rehab facility. She is released the next day and is seen shaving her head bald. A few days later she checks into another rehab facility. This erratic behavior continues as she checks in and out of rehab centers. Her antics came to a peak as she was filmed attacking a paparazzi vehicle with an umbrella.

2008- Forbe’s Magazine reports that Brittney Spears has a net worth of $100 million. Police were called to her home after she refused to relinquish custody of her children. Spears was hospitalized after she appeared to be “under the influence”. She was held on involuntary psychiatric hold at UCLA Medical Center.

Lindsay Lohan

2004- Lohan is in three widely publicized car accidents. She suffered minor injuries and was not sued for a any damages related to the accidents

2006 – Lohan tells Allure magazine, “I hate it when people call me a teen queen”. She hoped to be taking seriously as an actress after the success of teen movies Mean Girls and Parent Trap.

2007- Forbes issues a list of Young Hollywood Stars, ranking Lohan #3 at $6 million a year. Lohan would later check herself into the Wonderland Center. She makes the statement that she, “made a proactive decision to take care of my personal health”. A few months later Lohan is in another accident. Police found a “usable” amount of cocaine in her vehicle. She would be arrested for a DUI and later check herself into Promises Treatment Center. In July of 2007, police found Lohan having an argument with a young woman in a parking lot. Lohan refused to take breathalyzer but failed the other sobriety test. While conducting a search police found cocaine in her pocket. She would be booked on felony charges of possession of cocaine and transportation of narcotic.


These stories are all too familiar in today’s Hollywood scene. Recently Eva Mendes checked herself into rehab for “substance abuse”. She admitted needing a drink before filming love scenes for her films Trust The Man, and We Own The Night.

Grey’s Anatomy star Justin Chambers checked himself into a Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA to “get help for a pre-existing sleeping disorder”. He was found reportedly clutching a red bull and stomping on a box of donuts. I have sleep problems too, but I’ve never went Savion Glover on a box of Krispy Kremes.


So what’s making these stars self destruct? Is it the stress? Is it the people around them? Is it the us, the fans? These stars have personal problems like the rest of us. The difference is that their issues are magnified because of who they are. They Lohan’s of the world have to deal with their issues privately and at the same time watch them play out publicly. If you take something as simple as a relationship. If you’ve ever been in a relationship you know how hard it is to maintain them. You couple that with speculations of your boyfriend/girlfriend cheating on the set of their new movie or rumors that your substance abuse is the real reason you aren’t married yet. I don’t know anyone who likes to feel like they are under a microscope.

In Chappelles interview with Oprah he also said, “When you are a person that generates a stream of income, people have a vested interest in controlling you”. Why would anyone want to see someone go through an ordeal like that? If you think about it we’ve seen other stars rebound from bad press. From Robert Downey Jr’s drug issues, Dru Berrymore’s troubled past, to Hugh Grant and his women “issues”. Like the old saying goes, “The only bad press is no press”. My friend pointed out that a Hollywood star may stand to gain from a stint in rehab. I think he’s right! Maybe five years from now we’ll be reading Lindsay Lohan: From Car Accidents to Academy Awards. It’s the American Dream! Fallen star picks him/herself back up and has a successful career. I smell a E! True Hollywood Story coming on.

I think the biggest issue is us, the public/people/fans. We buy all of this crazy behavior and we buy by the boatload..There is a room in my office that is full of People, US Weekly, and In Touch magazines. When you flip through them you get the feeling they build these stars up just to tear them down. It’s as if subconsciously we have some equation in our head that says: tragedy = a good news story. I couldn’t believe that everyone wanted to read about Owen Wilson’s attempt at suicide. It wasn’t as if they were concerned for him, people just wanted to read how crazy he was. Don’t believe me? Websites like TMZ, Concreteloop, and Bossip are becoming increasingly more popular . As long as I can remember there have been tabloid magazines when I check out at the grocery store. Somebody has been buying those magazines because they don’t pay for themselves. The fact that most of these publications are weekly is the most ridiculous part. These writers have to come up with material every week for a 160 page magazine. I wonder what sort of pressure they are under.

We put a lot of pressure on our stars. They know that they are one YouTube clip away from ending their career. Nobody cared to YouTube me falling at the gym the other day. That same clip of Beyonce gets 1,000 views in less than an hour (we’ll at least until her “people” snatch if off the internet). Now we have every cell phone being made with a camera in it. There is really no place for them to hide. Poor Tom Brady couldn’t even bring his girlfriend flowers in peace.

I don’t know if there is an answer to why this is happening. There are a lot of factors to consider and a ton of information to go through. Maybe they are just regular people like you and me, with the same stresses, frustrations, and struggles that we all deal with. Maybe the only real difference is them being household names or having all of their trials play out in weekly gossip magazines and on Entertainment Tonight.

Hopefully things can change for the better. I would hate to see Chris Brown on the cover of People with the headline: Chris Brown – The Real Story of his fall from fame. My niece loves Chris Brown. It would break her 10 year old heart. Let’s pray things change before that happens.