#91: Todd Bridges’ Drug Woes

Todd Bridges paved the way for future f*cked-up child stars, carving out a destructive trail of drugs, violence, and murder that standardized the destiny of kid actors — especially those on his own hit show. The adorable teen — who ended his run as Willis Drummond on Diff’rent Strokes in 1986 — was busted just two years after the show’s end for attempting to murder a drug dealer while crazy on a coke binge. The actor was acquitted, but found himself facing the same charge in 1997 after attacking someone with a car — and was acquitted once more, making him one of the only child stars ever to experience good luck in later life.

Co-stars Dana Plato and Gary Coleman also endured the rough reality of post-sitcom fame. Dana posed for Playboy, was busted for drug possession a few times, and OD’d in 1999 at age 35. Gary went bankrupt and was nailed for assault while working as a security guard. But it was Todd — the first of the three to fall — who would prove the only one to come out OK on the other side of disaster.

The actor finally got sober and now spends his time speaking to kids about the dangers of drugs (he’s an expert, clearly), and attempting a second go at fame on shows like Skating with Celebrities and Everybody Hates Chris. Of his murky past, Todd admits, “The bottom line is I’ve made stupid choices. But I got my life together now and that’s the difference. I’m not the same idiot I used to be.”

As the first NBA player drafted right out of high school, Kobe Bryant was living the epitome of a perfect life — Prom with Brandy! Hot teenage wife! $40 million a year in pay and endorsements! — when he suddenly and stupidly f*cked up all his fame and fortune in an instant. On July 18, 2003, while in Colorado for surgery, Kobe banged a 19-year-old former cheerleader working at his hotel. Shortly after the incident she came forward and charged the Lakers star with sexual assault, throwing a wrench into his perfect world.

Bryant admitted to the adultery, and — in the most pathetic and pricey attempt at an apology ever — bought his wife a $4 million 8-carat diamond ring so she could wear his shame on her finger. Everything from the victim’s semen-stained panties to Kobe’s kinky fetishes (such as grabbing the victim’s neck while penetrating her from behind, then asking permission to ejaculate on her face) was fair game in the trial. But the baller denied the charges of assault, and the case was dropped when the victim refused to testify. She later brought a civil suit against Kobe, which was “resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.” In other words, she got some cash ya’ll!

As the scandal dust settled, Kobe’s star rose again thanks to his MVP status and his feud with ex-pal Shaquille O’Neal — and, of course, that massive diamond ring.

By the late nineties, Diddy, then know as Puff Daddy, had already endured his share of scandals, mixed with massive success. After thriving as an intern-turned-executive at Uptown Records, he jumped shipped to start his own label, Bad Boy, which launched countless hip-hop stars. Diddy also found fame as a rapper, and was soon wildly partying in Hollywood, the Hamptons, and St. Tropez. Bad Boy’s growing rivalry with West Coast label Death Row exploded with the 1997 shooting of Biggie Smalls. It seemed as if Biggie’s tragic death (and that of Tupac Shakur) would inspire Diddy to finally drop the drama and settle down.

Instead, he hopped in bed with bombshell Jennifer Lopez, who was quickly rising to the top of the tabloids as a talented triple-threat. On December 27, 1999, the pair was out at Club New York in Manhattan with Diddy’s crew, when gunfire broke out. The mogul, along with his then-protégé Shyne, was arrested after his driver turned him in, accusing his boss of attempting to bribe him into taking the weapon used in the shooting. The seven-week trial in 2001 hogged headlines across the country. Diddy, obviously exhausted, was shaking as the jury handed down their decision: acquittal. (Shyne’s fate wasn’t nearly as blessed; he was found guilty of weapons charges and assault, and landed in jail.)

Diddy later declared that the two-year ordeal had “made me deeper.” It also turned him back into a single man–he and J. Lo parted ways a few weeks later.

J-Lo and Diddy [Photo by Scott Gries/ImageDirect]

J-Lo and Diddy [Photo by George De Sota/Newsmakers]

Diddy and J-Lo [Photo by Brenda Chase/Getty Images]

Diddy and J-Lo [Photo by Kevin Winter/ImageDirect]

In October of 2004, conservative Fox News host Bill O’Reilly was sued for sexual harassment by Fox News producer Andrea Mackris. According to Mackris and her attorneys, O’Reilly’s abusive conduct included talk of vibrators, phone sex, a ménage a trois, the size of “not-so-little-Bill,” vivid sexual fantasies involving hot falafel-on-vagina action, and how the guy that runs Fox News was going to have Al Franken assassinated.

According to the lawsuit, on at least one occasion, O’Reilly used the vibrator on himself while on the phone with Mackris. It doesn’t say how exactly he used the vibrator on himself, but putting it in his butt and/or fellating it are not explicitly ruled out in the filing.

Much of the abuse detailed in the lawsuit allegedly happened after Mackris returned to Fox News after a brief stint at CNN. Mackris and her attorney never admitted to having taped any of these conversations, but based on the detail contained in the lawsuit, Fox most likely believed O’Reilly had been caught in the act. It’s doubtful that the following passage where O’Reilly gets a loufa confused with a falafel could have been made up:

“So anyway I’d be rubbing your big boobs and getting your nipples really hard, kinda’ kissing your neck from behind … and then I would take the other hand with the falafel thing and I’d put it on your p*ssy but you’d have to do it really light, just kind of a tease business…”

O’Reilly eventually settled out of court, agreeing to drop his own extortion suit (which was actually filed first) against Mackris and her attorneys. O’Reilly never admitted guilt and never apologized.

Notorious bigmouth Rush Limbaugh began his career in radio as a DJ in Pittsburgh, and didn’t start clogging the airwaves with Righteous blabber until the mid-eighties. His show went national in 1988, and when the Republicans swept Congress in ‘94, his fat-cat pals named him “honorary member of Congress” in thanks for all he did to ensure their majority rule. And with that, the King of the Conservative Party was born.

But just because this cigar-fiend dished a diehard conservative creed didn’t mean Rush lived by his own rules. In October 2003–the chunky chat-man confirmed National Enquirer reports that he was addicted to prescription painkillers and was headed for rehab. When prosecutors lobbied the court to trash his doctor-patient confidentiality rights so that they could interrogate his docs, Rush found an unlikely ally in the ACLU, who went to bat for him. He was eventually busted for “doctor shopping” (visiting multiple providers to score prescriptions) and turned himself in on April 28, 2006. Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges if he’d cough up $30,000 to cover the investigation’s costs, undergo therapy for 18 months, and submit to regular drug testing. Rush took the deal, and the case was closed.

While Limbaugh’s drug disgrace could have ensured his downfall, the hoopla surrounding his shady pill obsession proved to be a lot of hot air–just like him! In July 2008 Rush signed a contract extension that will keep him gabbing through 2016–for a record-breaking $400 million.

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In July 1991, Mike Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, but he was about to face the bout of his life–and give credence to his nickname of “Baddest Man on the Planet.”

Asked to judge an Indiana beauty pageant, the 25-year-old Tyson allegedly invited the 18-year-old Miss Black Rhode Island, Desiree Washington, back to his hotel room. From there, reports differ as to whether the sex was consensual or not, but on March 27, 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape and sentenced to ten years in prison, with the judge suspending the final four years. Tyson served half of his six-year-sentence, during which time he converted to Islam and reportedly endured the company of quite a few non-fans.
Since his release, the lisping pugilist’s career has never fully recovered, and has hit many major roadblocks–in the form of drug arrests, bankruptcy, and a face tattoo.

By the mid-1990s, Hugh Grant had weaseled his way into our hearts, thanks to his bumbling courtship of Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Throw bombshell girlfriend Liz Hurley into the mix, and Hugh had it all. Imagine the shock when he stopped stammering long enough to be arrested in the company of Hollywood sex worker Divine Brown in June 1995. She was polishing Mr. Grant’s knob at the time. Overnight, he went from Hugh Star to Lewd Grant–but his Oxford education didn’t go to waste.

Grant went on Jay Leno to tell all. “I think you know in life what’s a good thing to do and what’s a bad thing, and I did a bad thing,” he said. “And there you have it.” Hugh also served up mea-culpa on Larry King. “I don’t have excuses,” he shrugged. The PR offensive worked. Fans held up billboards reading, “I would have paid you, Hugh.”

Still reeling from the incident, Grant and Hurley split up five years later. Grant’s career hasn’t been the same since, and he still cries himself to sleep thinking about films like About a Boy, Love Actually, and Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Watch Hugh Grant sing:

[Charles Bottomley]

For stirring up controversy, there’s nothing like implying that African Americans are only a spit watermelon seed’s distance from the jungle. But nothing quite approaches the fury that gripped America in 1910, when boxer Jack Johnson became the first undisputed black heavyweight champion of the world.

In those unenlightened times, a desegregated fight was unheard of. But after years of dodging Johnson’s challenges, honky champ James J. Jeffries came out of retirement, “for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro.”

When the pair squared off in Reno, the crowd chanted “Kill the nigger” and the ringside band played “All Coons Look Alike to Me.” And then Jeffries threw in the towel in the 15th round. When the news broke, riots and lynchings around the U.S. claimed the lives of at least twenty blacks and two whites.

Johnson was hounded out of the country for marrying a white woman in 1911, lost his title in Cuba in 1915, and spent the remainder of his life as the kind of fallen spectacle we now call “Mike Tyson.” Racism, as ever, remains the hardest palooka to keep down.

Watch Jack Johnson fight in 1909:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp20AKdyyXg

-Charles Bottomley

It’s always the icy fembots. Martha Stewart bewitched a nation with her monotone instructions for wrapping birthday gifts. Then, in 2001, the homemaking empress was toppled from her throne when it emerged she was as crafty at Wall Street fiddles as she was at making prom corsages.

At issue was Martha’s sudden unloading of her ImClone shares the day before an FDA ruling sent the stock into free-fall. “Isn’t it nice to have brokers who tell you those things?” she said. But it sucks when they bring you down with them. The subsequent trial exposed America’s favorite homemaker as a devious scamster.

Likening herself to Nelson Mandela, Martha spent her five-month sentence at West Virginia’s Alderson Federal Prison Camp, scrubbing floors and reacquainting herself with the daily life of women who don’t have a TV show (or K-Mart line). She was called the “Contraband Queen” for making egg salad in her cell. She even suffered the indignity of losing a Christmas decorating contest.

Martha emerged from prison more popular than ever. The Martha Stewart Show returned to the airwaves. She launched her own brand of wine. A Martha Stewart housing development even sprung up in North Carolina. And her clothing line is still available at K-Mart. We love a scandal with a happy ending!

Watch some of Martha’s most embarrassing moments:

[Charles Bottomley]

In 2007, Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick was busted for running a dog-fighting ring in Surry County, Virginia. It was alleged that Vick and his associates organized bouts at the Bad Newz Kennels, bet on the fights–and executed the dogs.

The nation was divided. Dog lovers were appalled to learn that canines had apparently been hanged, drowned, and even electrocuted. Sympathizers argued that Vick and his fellow defendants had grown up in a culture that condoned the blood sport. Like in most debates, there were no easy answers.

Angling for a light sentence, Vick pleaded guilty, swearing that he’d never a) gambled on the bouts, or b) killed any dogs. But during sentencing, he ran into trouble when a drug test turned up traces of marijuana in his blood. He was sentenced to 23 months in prison.

This didn’t sit well with the Falcons, who in 2004 had signed Vick to a 10-year contract worth $160 million. Vick has been suspended by the NFL, and ordered to pay back the Falcons a portion of his earnings. In July 2008, Vick filed for bankruptcy.

[Charles Bottomley]