Tatum O’Neil is like the female equivalent of Robert Downey Jr. The former child star has been battling substance abuse for years and comes from a family that’s filled with similar problems, including her half brothers, Griffin and Patrick, both of whom have served jail time for drug related charges. O’Neil lost custody of her children with tennis star John McEnroe due to her heroin addiction, and in the years since has worked hard to clean up her act for her kids’ sake. But it looks like she has slipped up again- big time. The actress was arrested in New York over the weekend for buying crack and cocaine.
TMZ has confirmed that Tatum O’Neal has been popped by the NYPD for allegedly scoring crack and coke last night.
The NYPD tells TMZ that O’Neal was “observed” allegedly buying crack on the Lower East Side near her apartment there. She was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and was held at the Seventh Precinct downtown. We’re told that she’s waiting to see the judge now to be arraigned at Central Booking in Lower Manhattan.
Tatum has admitted to battling drug addiction for years. Her rep couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Hopefully, Tatum will get treatment and get back on track. But with the courts involved, her visitation with her children could be at stake. I don’t know how she could risk that over drugs- but then again, I’m not an addict.
I have liked Tatum since she was a kid in movies like “Little Darlings” and “The Bad News Bears.” I read her memoir, and her childhood sounds like it was no picnic- she says she was molested by one of her father’s friends, and both her parents had substance abuse problems. Not that these are excuses for her drug addiction, but there’s a definite pattern of drug use that she grew up around- as evidenced by the similar problems her brothers have had.
Note by Celebitchy: The Today Show had more details this morning. (This is nearly verbatim from the report below.) “She initially told police she was researching a role as a junkie, but when they found crack and cocaine on her she said this was her first relapse. She was arrested three blocks from her house during a drug sweep of the area, and was seen handing money over to a man thought to be a dealer. She was found with two dime bags and a crack pipe. She was arrested with the dealer and will face a misdemeanor charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance.”
Tatum O’Neal is shown with her daughter Emily McEnroe on 4/25/08 at the Tribeca Film Festival, thanks to WENN.
Not sure that I really buy the statement that it was her first relapse, but if it was, the cops were probably doing her a favor.
In listing Tatum’s troubled family you forgot her half-brother Redmond, the son of Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett, who’s been in and out of rehab about 20 times. He was the one Griffin reportedly chained to a radiator to keep him from going out and buying PCP.
Those are some powerful addiction genes…
Relapse is part of recovery, I have nothing but pity for her and her family.
As Whitney Houston said “crack is wack.”
Did Tatum have that daughter with Bruce Willis? Her kid looks just like Bruce and Demi’s daughter Mr. potatoe head….ok looked at the photo again and she looks just like Tatum sans the bad bleach job. Always thought Tatum was attractive by the way…maybe Rumor should dye her hair also,,she def needs some help..maybe a Ken Paves makeover…or pave over..but definitley one of the two.
I actually saw her yesterday on Rivington St. in the Lower East Side! It was about 3:00 and she was sitting at one of those sidewalk cafes.
She looked amazing, and I actually questioned whether or not it was her because she looked so young.
if you´re about to slip and do something stupid like buy cocain…okay. but if you have the crack pipe already on you, you PLANNED to buy stuff. sorry, but no relapse here, she´s been using a while.
No. Tatum’s daughter is beautiful – Rumer Willis is a dog.
tatum’s daughter is pretty….hopefully she doesn’t have the o’neal family genes. wishing tatum the best of luck.
Not that I am promoting drug usage, but what is up with these well known celebrity drug addicts stupidly running around buying the stuff themselves? Isn’t that what assistants are for? I know my loser ex had a dealer who delivered to his house, and my ex sure isn’t a celebrity. It is ashame, however, that Tatum cannot think about her children as well as herself enough to stay off of the crap. With money and a family like hers, she has the resources above and beyond what the average Joe has to get herself clean. I also know, from being involved with someone who is a drug addict, that unless that person wants to get clean and lead a different lifestyle from the one that they have, it is up to them. Still, it is ashame that she is back to her old habits which will cost her precious time with her children and may eventually cost her her life if she doesn’t straighten out!
From the outside looking in, all I can say is that that whole family is tragically broken. Every day must be overwhelmingly painful. The little I read of her autobiography was so alarming. Her father is clearly a complete narcissist (and I don’t mean arrogant–I mean DSM IV character disorder), which is almost as bad as having a father who physically abandons you. Narcissists are simply incapable of understanding other people’s needs and feelings. She seems lonely and pained to me. I’m not excusing her behavior, just feeling empathy for her.
So sad. 🙁
Not again ?! 🙁
Yeesh – crack?! I mean, who the hell buys crack from some guy off a street corner? Especially someone with millions in the bank!
Like MSat said, though, I’m not an addict. Sounds so insane. Growing up, I always assumed crack was for homeless people in the ghetto.
Crack? Wow….she has hit bottom.
oh man, what a sad story. I hope she’s getting help because this is obviously a problem for her.
Its about time she drops the suicide mode she has given herself, and move forward! she needs to treat herself by purchasing a high rise condo with full blown views of the entire Las Vegas strip and Red Rock mountains by contacting the Rockin Realtor of Las Vegas!
http://www.RockinTheHouse.com
Hope she decides to get help. ( Not sure from last comment that Vegas is the best place to find it 😉 )
Stay away from drugs, kids. How stupid are people (and drug use is majorly on the rise) when we see these trainwrecks in the media all the time, and yet people continue to think “it can’t happen to me”? Tatum has had a tough go of it. Hopefully her kids don’t follow her path. Who knows, though. The O’Neal-McEnroe household was quite volatile. I think the daughter is very pretty. She looks just like her daddy.
Crack? That’s disgusting.
She has had these same issues most of her life. I was so happy to read her book to see how far she had come. only she can keep on the right path. I agree if she had possession of the pipe, it is not the first relapse. Predicition of future behavior is past behavior. That is the truth
I feel sorry for her. Her father is a jerk and I hold him responsible. Him and Farrah Fawcett.
Her poor kids…..
Ryan O’Neil sucks.
she had a dad who was jealous of her , she was better then him at acting,so he took it out on her…
what whould you do if your dad hated you………….
just finished her autobiography, and this woman has had some rough shit to deal with.. She has always intrigued me being of the same era, and I hope she finds happiness , sometimes it takes a lifetime.
Do You Think Emily McEnroe is really John McEnroe’s child? She doesn’t look anything like his other 2 children with O’Neal.
Man, I do feel some empathy for this woman, she is clearly broken and afflicted with addiction. 😥
I hope that she can find a way to get clean and stay clean; it is hell the world she is in. hell. 👿
I hope she gets the help she needs for her children. I came from a disfunctional family with siblings with drug addiction and I never chose that path my children came first. I just could never stay in a real relationship until I hit my late thirties. I’m self employed and head strong and gave my kids private school educations for a firm foundation. Because being spoiled made me board and difficult to make good choices in men. I learned alot going to therapy and getting on track with my life for my children.I hope she gets the help she needs build a new foundation its never to late.
Fuck that relapse is part of recovery bullshit. I know they say that in AA and whatever, I’ve heard it myself.
I never went back to drinking or drugging. If you want to stop just man up and stop, if not go ahead and kill yourself. I call it strengthening the gene pool.
And people CAN stop doing drugs and alcohol themselves, you dont need to go to a meeting everyday, that is if you are strong enough and not a weak minded pussy.
I also am a victim of domestic psychological abuse and sick and tired of seeing victims everywhere.
In my case for daring to stand up and denounce my agressor’s threats to rape and kill me before ever letting me leave him, a corrupt Spanish judicial system abducted my children and handed them over to their abusive father, embezzled apx. $1 million from me, then lawyers extorted another $25,000, and I was harrassed by local police and thrown out onto the streets with nothing but the clothes on my back (with the American govt. complacently watching during the entire process.)
My case, however, is far from unusual in judicial systems as I have found in researching this problem, the most recent well known is http://www.bringseanhome.org and http://www.momsforjustice.org, If anyone wants to do something about this pls. visit http://www.stopthetortureandgenocide.blogspot.com, copy and sign the letters, and send them to your representative in Washington and those to whom they are addressed. Ask your friends and neighbors to do the same and then maybe those in Washington will start taking this problem seriously rather than just the usual politically correct rhetoric and ineffective legislation.
Quenby Wilcox
Always enjoyed her movies. Great actress . If u have the fame and money , they should enjoy as they please . People need 2 live and let live . “Mind ur own life and business “!