After an interview with Dr. Phil in which she walked off set following the realization that she was expected to go to rehab, Kim Richards has gone to rehab. It’s unknown if Dr. Phil is paying for it, although reports suggested that his show would fit the bill. Richards was of course arrested for being drunk and belligerent about 10 days ago at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She was charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest and assaulting an officer. This was after she refused to leave a bathroom at the hotel, and then kicked the officer who tried to arrest her.
Dr. Phil’s interview with Richards will air on Tuesday. Advance details of the taping revealed that Kim was resistant to attending rehab again (her last stay in rehab, reportedly her third, was in 2011) and that she used the excuse that she didn’t want to miss her daughter’s second wedding. We heard that Kim’s arrest makes her an insurance liability and that producers on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills were threatening to fire her. That may have been what convinced her to finally go:
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kim Richards has entered rehab, PEOPLE has learned.
“Kim went to rehab finally because she got arrested, she humiliated her kids and she wants to avoid jail,” a source tells PEOPLE.
“If the arrest hadn’t happened she wouldn’t be going to rehab; it would be business as usual. She’s in denial that she has a problem.”
The catalyst for her entry into a treatment facility following “increasingly out of it behavior,” as a source close to her family told PEOPLE, was Richards’ arrest on April 16 at the Beverly Hills Hotel for public intoxication.
At least Kim is in rehab now, and at least she’s accepted responsibility for the night she was arrested. She’s said that it was her fault and that “none of this would have happened if I didn’t drink.” Kim has previously admitted to being an alcoholic so it’s curious that she’s in denial still. Maybe this stint in rehab will work for her. All we’ve been hearing from her up until now have been excuses, deflections, blaming and denial.
Here’s the preview for Kim’s Dr. Phil interview:
Well that’ll work out well for her
The perpetual victim. I have very little patience with her. I feel for anyone struggling with addiction, but she has really obliterated her entire adult life, and I don’t think she will ever change. She enjoys feeling sorry for herself too much.
That’s literally addiction exactly. She is struggling with her addiction and as such has obliterated her entire adult life trying to sustain something that is ultimately, unsustainable (using). The addicts in my family become black holes for attention and caring and prey upon those who engage with them, but also, I’ve seen people I’ve worked with or been related to come back from 30+ years of substance addiction of one kind or another. You never know. I haven’t lost the faith that she could, too, but only time and her personal resolve will tell.
I am happy this woman is on TV if only to inform people of what addiction really looks like. It destroys your life and everything in its path until you decide enough is enough and get help. Looks like Ms. Richards is in the middle of it right now.
You’re right, it’s never too late to change. I should have said she has a lot of inner work to do and I’m not sure she has the will to do it, but you never know.
As somewhat of an expert in this field (hello, 12 Steps), this season was nearly impossible to watch. I kind of think this is a good thing because OMG why do I watch this crap?
Anyway. Kim came up a few times in my meeting circles because it was so incredibly obvious that she was using again, based on her behavior. A classic example of untreated alcoholism, what with the obvious lack of serenity and fighting and paranoia. It’s exactly how I act when I do not take care of myself, and sometimes doesn’t even have to involve drinking.
Kim is obviously very sick, and I hope she comes to see that. It was really great that one season when she came back from rehab and you could see the sobriety on her face. It scares me to see her now and it reminds me exactly where I’d be if I take my eye off the ball for one minute.
First of all, thank you for sharing and I wish you well in your journey. Second, I find this comment so insightful. Having grown up around addiction, I kept finding her behavior odd as well but I didn’t know exactly what was wrong, just that it was off. Third, I doubt this stint is going to work because she’s just doing it to keep her job on RHOBH. Sigh. Her poor kids.
Much respect to you, Bananapants. I lost my brother in law a couple of years ago. He was a raging alcoholic. He was in and out of rehab, although he never, ever entered voluntarily and he was very clear that he had no intention or desire to stop drinking. He would get out of rehab and go straight to the liquor store. He was catholic and suicide is a sin, so he couldn’t just kill himself. In his twisted way of thinking drinking yourself to death isn’t the same a suicide. It was a horrible end to what had previously been a nice life. My husband and his other brother both carried so much guilt, thinking they should have been able to do something to save him. I think (hope) they both now realize that his death was his own choice and they couldn’t have done anything to prevent it.
I hope that Kim takes rehab seriously. She has a lot to live for.
Thank you for sharing your story with us. I wish you continued success with your health and life in general. Kudos!!! God Bless You.
BananaPants, you are awesome! Keep on keeping on.
She hasn’t accepted responsibility and she isn’t going to stop because this is clearly just a celebrity attempt to avoid jail.
Wouldn’t it be nice if kids from east LA or Compton could play the same game as some washed up 9 time rehab failed doesn’t care won’t stop Beverly Hills housewife.
If this one doesn’t work out for her, maybe her family can get some help and save themselves. I had to deal with this for a short time on a small scale and it was unbearable. Unimaginable what this must be doing to her kids displayed as it is for the whole world to see. Tragic.
I’ve witnessed rehab work for those in denial before. I’ve also seen severe addicts lock themselves in a room and kick heroin. With continued therapy, all of these people have become pillars of strength and compassion. I really wish the best for her. I wish the best for all addicts.
That lazy eye in the bottom photo is a dead giveaway she’s been off the wagon for some time. It’s much more pronounced.
Long ago in the second (?) season when she admitted her problem (and I was actually still watching this mess), It seemed to me and those I know that it was a HUGE mistake for her to continue doing that show. She needed to focus on her recovery and not be involved in situations that could inflame her emotions to the point where she feels compelled to drink. The show, of course, is not why she drinks, but quitting the show would have been an act of self-preservation as she focused on recovery. There’s always hope, though, so it ain’t over till it’s over.
I thought so too. She shouldn’t be around drama, even fabricated drama. And, her sister’s continual story line of being the good sister to Kim’s being the bad sister is NOT good for Kim.
Wonder what kind of a low bottom she’s going to have to hit before she let’s go of her victimhood and gets enough willingness to do the work. While all sobriety is grace and you never know who will “get” it or not, there also needs to be a crack in the denial system. Kim was sober for a while, I think, but if there is one single predictor of people going back to drinking or drugs it’s the failure to go to meetings, meetings, meetings. That’s the medicine. You have to take the medicine: Meetings and spiritual practice. I can imagine that being involved with reality TV, it’s easy to go off track. Plus it always seemed that Kim’s problem was more than the alcohol she owned up to, it seemed to be pills/drugs. Pills are insidious, dark and get a stranglehold on the soul. Alcohol alone is much much easier to beat. The other thing with pills is that they always lead back to the drink. She seems a lost soul to me. There’s a point where only the professionals can do any good.
This is very sad.
She isn’t going to rehab for the right reasons but at least she’s where she should be. She’s entered rehab because she is unsurable in showbiz right now and because she’s facing charges for public intoxication, assaulting an officer, resisting arrest. Her plea will be guilty but due to impairment. A judge is only going to give her a break if she’s already taken steps to address any possible alcohol addiction before she goes to court. It’s what they all do. I hope it’s more than a means to an end. I hope, even though I sense she really doesn’t want to deal with it, that being there will influence her enough, that she does actually try.
Sober or not, Kim Richards strikes me as a total A**hole.
Spoiled rotten as a child star, and totally pissed off about it when her time passed.
Though some people say that Kim is blaming everybody else for her addiction, I’ve never seen that.
I’ve seen her in denial, but I haven’t seen her say it was somebody else’s fault. I’ve seen her blame herself for her insobriety though.
The following is all my opinion:
I read House of Hilton. It seems that Big Kathy always put the idea of fierce competition against each sister in their minds. This is, imo, one reason why Kyle can’t seem to let Kim get compliments about how big Kim’s career was without her (Kyle) getting all riled up with jealousy and bragging about her own career, even though it wasn’t anything compared to Kim’s. I’ve also noticed how Kyle loves to portray Kim as the Big Bad and the anchor around her neck while Kyle plays martyr and saint. Again, I think this may be Kyle’s way of telling the world that she won over Kim. Again, all of this is jmho.
So I think Big Kathy’s implanting the idea that each sister has to be better or more perfect than the others in order for each to strive to get more money, either through their careers or marriages, may be just one reason why Kim can’t admit to being ‘less imperfect.’
I also think that Kim idolized her mother too much. She took care of Big Kathy financially and through her (Big Kathy’s) final illness. I think Big Kathy made Kim way too dependent on her in order to keep her cash cow close to her. I think this is why Kim can’t fully grow up until she realizes that her mother was wrong in this competition she created amongst the sisters. Kim now has to realize that there is no competition and that it’s OK to admit being ‘less perfect’ and thus be able to be fully honest about her situation.
Anyhoo, I hope Kim can get a better grip on her problem and learn to be able to better cope with stress. She needs to make it a way of life and continuous and daily mantra on how to do so. She has so much to look forward, especially with four children and future grandchildren.
I am 15 yes clean and have been surrounded by people just like her. I always say as long as a person is drawing a breath of air, there is hope for recovery. She is signing a death sentence if she stays on that ridiculous show. The people that watch are shallow and totally judge a person on how they appear on that drama show then, send endless hate filled tweets to the housewife they decide to hate. She will never be able to build self esteem & change those negative tapes if she doesn’t step away. Her sisters are both full of themselves, their status, and their money. They make her feel less than in her mind. I would guess unless she changes everything about her life we will be reading about her death soon.