The Laguna Beach Curse: From Lauren Conrad’s Sex Tape, To Jason Wahler’s Multiple Arrests and Racist Tirade
Reality TV may be a fun, guilty pleasure for viewers, but the reality of instant fame and public scrutiny can be less glamorous and a real shocker for regular people turned “stars.”
Much has been made about MTV’s nuptial reality curse. Famous people turning their lives into television shows is one thing, but to suddenly turn famous overnight, is quite another. These people already have a taste of what fame is all about and aren’t walking into this venture unaware of what to expect. When Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey let cameras into their lives at the beginning of their marriage with MTV’s Newlyweds, the end result was a very public and painful divorce. Both have attributed having their lives on display as being a major factor in the demise of their relationship.
Certainly no one can argue with the irony of Carmen Electra and David Navarro’s marriage reality show ‘Til Death Do Us Part, ending in fortunately not death – but with divorce. And now we await the final outcome of Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler’s marriage chronicled on Meet The Barkers, with the two splitting, filing for divorce, but now seemingly in the throes of reconciling. And the verdict’s still out on Bam Margera’s marriage to grade-school friend Melissa Rothstein on Bam’s Unholy Union - they’ve only been married two months. We shall wait and see if they can break the curse.
So with that kind of trag-ik reality tv record for the already famous, it’s hardly surprising that the cast of kids from Laguna Beach, The Real OC, and the spin-off The Hills, are facing their own dose of reality: the unpleasant kind.
It began with Jason Wahler’s arrest in NY back in late August last year for disorderly conduct, possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and bribery. Three weeks later he and a female friend were arrested and charged with attacking a LA DOT employee and a tow truck driver, where he allegedly uttered racial slurs at the two black civil servants. Wahler was then arrested in early March in Greenville, NC. for underage drinking and resisting arrest, and then again this past weekend in Seattle, WA for an altercation at a hotel where he was witnessed wrestling with an unidentified male and for punching a security guard in the face. TMZ has details on the latest incident in Seattle:
Officer DePina, who wrote the report, says when Seattle PD arrived they found a “very intoxicated” Wahler passed out on the floor in a hallway on the third floor. When DePina tried to take Wahler into custody, the former reality star allegedly lashed out, calling the arresting officer “a nig**r, a fag**t, and a poor f**k.” According to DePina, Wahler also stated, “that he was rich and would have my ass.” Wahler, who was described as “belligerent and hostile,” allegedy threated DePina a second time, saying, “Come down to L.A. county and get your ass kicked!”
In the midst of Wahler’s growing arrest record and legal troubles (he’s set to serve 60 days in jail for his attack in LA and must turn himself in by May 4) there’s now the problem of a sex tape. Reps for SugarDVD.com through TMZ, report that they have been contacted by a third party who are looking to sell a sex tape featuring Wahler and ex-girlfriend, LC (aka Lauren Conrad), star of both The Hills and Laguna Beach. Though Ms. Conrad emphatically denies the tape’s existence, Wahler’s rep will neither confirm or deny, and PerezHilton.com claims to have exclusive knowledge that it exists, detailing unsavory inside info about Ms. Conrad.
Lauren, who’s had to weather a storm or two, is probably working overtime to repair the damage that’s being done by these latest rumors, not to mention the drama of the final episodes of this season’s The Hills, chronicling the demise of her friendship with co-star and once BFF Heidi Montag. The two were roommates, but Heidi’s moved out to live with her universally hated boyfriend Spencer Pratt, while LC’s moved in with her friend Audrina Patridge. There was some scandal about Heidi and and LC not actually living together this past season due to their crumbling friendship and were instead shooting at a separate location to give the appearance that they were still roommates – but really, who cares.
From a sociological standpoint, I find these shows wonderful examples of how far our society had declined. If watching privileged teenagers party, engage in promiscuous sex, waste their parents money and stab each other in the back is entertainment, then we are at an all-time low. We all know that teenagers are living examples of how deeply flawed our species really is. Is it really necessary to create a false pretense of reality so we can showcase these “missing links” as they navigate aimlessly from the innocence of childhood to their empty lives as adults.
I think it would be overkill to mention my theory on how instant fame has the inevitable consequence of turning a relative nobody to a completely useless somebody.
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This stuff is so funny from the kim kardashian tape to this, i still think that this wont be better than the kim kardashian tape, here’s the link if needed.
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http://track.vivid.com/vc/ppj/152/130517
Comment by wowman — April 9, 2007 @ 11:01 pm
Your theory has bowls of merit, Dawn. There are days I lament my rather tame youth, and then I read this. Maybe I did just fine.
I’ll have to read the Perez link when not at work, just to be safe.
Comment by Josh — April 10, 2007 @ 7:55 am
Oh, I will just share it with you, he says she (LC) has large “beef curtains” which I took to mean her nethers were kind of “puffy and protruding.” Nice.
I would have gone my whole life not realizing that people judge the nature of one’s labia, but then I read that.
The internet is evil.
Comment by dmdo1016 — April 10, 2007 @ 12:41 pm