Zac Efron made an appearance in gossip circles yesterday thanks to a sketchy weekend situation. He’s been in and out of rehab (for cocaine) a few times and has clearly struggled with sobriety. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt as with any actress. Many of you said what I was really suspecting, which is that Zac was trying to score drugs.

To recap, Zac’s original story says he and his “bodyguard” were randomly driving through Skid Row when their car broke down. They were waiting for help when Zac dropped a bottle out the car window. A transient bloke felt threatened and punched Zac in the mouth. At least five people were involved in the “full-blown melee.” The police arrested no one because it was “mutual combat.”

Hardly anyone believed that Zac would drive through Skid Row unless he was looking for drugs. Zac’s nameless “bodyguard” has stepped up to take the fall for Zac. He says Zac was the hero of the day and a life saver. I’m excerpting this story in full because the details are so outrageous. This is like Skid Row fanfiction:

Zac Efron was a hero who risked his own life to save the life of his “bodyguard” — so claims the bodyguard.

We spoke to the “bodyguard” who says he and Zac were “cruising” around downtown L.A. Sunday at 12:30 AM, when they suddenly ran out of gas and rolled to a stop at the bottom of a downtown L.A. off-ramp.

Later in our conversation, the man — we agreed not to use his name — said it wasn’t so much “cruising” as it was going to a restaurant in Little Tokyo in the downtown area.

TMZ broke the story … Zac told cops they had run out of gas and for some reason threw a bottle out of the car which shattered and angered some nearby transients. Zac claimed the transients attacked the man and as Zac went to help him a transient viciously struck Zac in the face.

He tells us … the transients actually went after him with “a spear” — like a shank — and stabbed him in the face, stomach and chest. He says Zac then got out of the car and swung a vodka bottle at the transients to fend off the attack. He says Zac actually thwarted the attack and saved his life.

So the man says the bottle Zac claimed to have thrown out the window wasn’t really thrown at all. He says Zac used it as a weapon during the attack.

BTW … we checked, and the “bodyguard” has a criminal record for drugs and violence.

[From TMZ]

This version of events is actually very exciting. Too bad it’s completely made up by a guy who won’t even put his name on the record. The story gets even sketchier with TMZ’s latest update. Their sources say Zac’s friends are “worried sick” about him and don’t believe the sushi story. They think it’s completely ridiculous: “Zac’s a loner. He goes out rarely and the idea of him driving for miles to go to some sushi restaurant in downtown L.A. after midnight is preposterous. ” TMZ also crushes the long-standing story of Zac’s rehab visits, which they say never happened. TMZ’s sources say that Zac only received private therapy. No rehab.

One more thing: Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Zac’s “bodyguard” was not bleeding AT ALL when they arrived on the scene. You know, despite being stabbed three times. The changing stories are only making things worse for Zac. Now we’re all wondering how he really broke his jaw last year.

Photos courtesy of WENN