I wish I was kidding as I write this story, but sadly Ryan O’neal just keeps inventing new ways to make people dislike him even more. He tells Vanity Fair that he is a “hopeless father” and he wished he was kinder to Farah. Ummm sorry, it’s too little and too late. We are all aware of O’Neal’s parenting skills (I use the term lightly) in the last couple of decades.  O’Neal has made quite a name for himself, and that name is not a kind one.You would think that Farah’s death would have humbled him a bit, but his latest interview reveals that some things never change.

Contributing editor, Leslie Bennets, of Vanity Fair interviewed O’Neal for their upcoming September issue. There are also excerpts from ONeal’s other family members as well. It is packed with plenty of O’Neal’s short comings. Gems like son Griffith, who tells of his father giving him cocaine when he was only eleven years old. Isn’t that such a nice father-son activity? I can just imagine what took place… It probably wasn’t ”hey Griffith you want to go pass the baseball in the yard?” It was probably more like ”hey Griff, you want to do a couple of lines man?” Dysfunctional family is a mild term. And when Leslie asked O’Neal about daughter Tatum’s autobiography, he hit the ceiling and said:

“She wrote a book–bitch! How dare she throw our laundry in the street for money!… She didn’t call after Farrah’s show. She’ll have to explain that.”

Tatum’s response:

He has every right to be angry about the book; no parent wants to hear their kid saying shitty things about them… But what I wrote in the book was true. I’ve got a battle with drugs, but I’m a strong, independent person, and I fight for myself, and my father and I butt heads. When I was 16 years old, he and Farrah moved in together, and after that I saw my dad periodically, and that took a long time for me to get over. Would I do that to my kids? No, but I don’t think Farrah was responsible for that. I truly thought Farrah was inspirational and beautiful and kind. Anyway, it’s past; I’ve moved on. I’m older now, and I forgive him.”

Aye-aye aye! What a train wreck. So you may be asking yourself, where does the title of this article come in? At Farrah’s funeral of course. Oh yes, apparently O’Neal hit on his own daughter at Farah’s funeral. WTF? Although O’Neal palms it off as merely not recognizing his own daughter (which was true according to Tatum), but what makes his behavior normal? Hitting on someone at your ex’s funeral?  Or ANY funeral for that matter?

Right after he had put Farah’s casket into the hearse, he hits on a woman and asks her for a drink and if she has a car? Geez! talk about being a complete and utter slimeball. O’Neal explains the situation, and says he was trying to be “funny”. Funny? In the words of the infamous and beloved Jackie Gleason… “Well Hardy… Har-Har”
Sadly daughter Tatum didn’t seem that shocked by it either, I guess over the years nothing about Tatum’s Dad would surprise her these days.

Here is O’Neal’s explanation of the “pick up” at the funeral and Tatum’s reply which was quoted in the Huffington Post:

“I had just put the casket in the hearse and I was watching it drive away when a beautiful blonde woman comes up and embraces me,” Ryan told me. “I said to her, ‘You have a drink on you? You have a car?’ She said, ‘Daddy, it’s me–Tatum!’ I was just trying to be funny with a strange Swedish woman, and it’s my daughter. It’s so sick.”

And what did Tatum have to say?:

“That’s our relationship in a nutshell,” Tatum said when I asked her about it. “You make of it what you will.” She sighed. “It had been a few years since we’d seen each other, and he was always a ladies’ man, a bon vivant.”

A “bon vivant?” Oh Tatum you are way TOO kind. I would of been utterly disgusted and probably would have given him a big giant shove and told him where to go. The relationship he has with Tatum is so sad. One of my all time favorite movies is Paper Moon. If you haven’t seen it, it is SO worth the view. Paper Moon starred O’Neal as Tatum’s father “Mose” and a very young, brilliant and talented Tatum who played his daughter “Addie”.

The two were magic on the screen together. Although Tatum stole the entire movie in my opinion. There was one scene in the movie where O’Neal talks about having scruples, and Mose says to Addie:

“I got scruples too, you know. You know what that is? Scruples?

Addie’s reply: “No, I don’t know what it is, but if you got ‘em, it’s a sure bet they belong to somebody else”

So I guess O’Neal’s scruples have been long lost over the years. I never liked Ryan O’Neal after I learned of his dysfunctional behavior, his drinking and drugging and basically him being a piss poor excuse for a dad. But his latest interview REALLY cinched it. I am puzzled as to why he would want to bury his reputation even further. Perhaps he wants to come clean. Again, too little too late, and I think people will be further disgusted. Sorry Farah, I know he showed up for you in your final days, but where was he when you and your family needed him most? I hate to sound so cliche, but in O’Neal’s case, I think Joni Mitchell said it best:

“Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you got till it’s gone”

Sadly…if O’Neal’s other son Redmond doesn’t get the help he needs and get off drugs, and his Dad continues to alienate other family members while he continues with his bouts of drinking and drugging, then that’s the tune that O’Neal will be singing. Your time to grow up and fly right is way overdue O’Neal. Strap on a pair and man up buddy!

Pin up beauty and former Charlie’s Angels Farrah Fawcett has ended her battle with cancer and has passed away today at age 62.

From Fox News:

Farrah Fawcett, the multiple Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated American actress best known for her role as the vivacious Jill Munroe in the 1970s television series “Charlie’s Angels,” died in a Santa Monica hospital. She was 62.

Her spokesman, Paul Bloch, confirmed that the iconic actress died Thursday morning at 9:28 a.m. PDT.

Her long-time partner Ryan O’Neal told People magazine Thursday, “She’s gone. She now belongs to the ages … She’s now with her mother and sister and her God. I loved her with all my heart. I will miss her so very, very much. She was in and out of consciousness. I talked to her all through the night. I told her how very much I loved her. She’s in a better place now.”

Other “Charlie’s Angels” stars paid tribute to her.

“Farrah had courage, she had strength, and she had faith. And now she has peace as she rests with the real angels,” Jaclyn Smith said.

Said Cheryl Ladd: “She was incredibly brave, and God will be welcoming her with open arms.”

Her former producer Craig Nevius told FOXNews.com, “She will be remembered as
the modern Mona Lisa and so much more. I will remember her as my friend.”

Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in September 2006 and, despite going into remission and enduring extensive chemotherapy and surgery both in the U.S. and Germany, it was revealed earlier this year that the cancer had spread to her liver. She stopped receiving treatment in May.

Farrah will be sorely missed. For a wonderful retrospective look at the icon, please check out Queen’s excellent mini-biography on the iconic Fawcett.

Fawcett was a huge sensation in the early 70’s with her golden tresses and pearly whites and wholesome girl-next-door beauty, and before her acting career took off, she made a name for herself starring in TV commercials. Like the sexy one of her and Joe Namath for Noxema cream and also her famous Ulta Brite TV commercials, just to name a very few. 
Faberge, even came out with Farrah Fawcett Shampoo commercial. This commercial featured her HUGE hair, which became all the rage in the 1970’s and was simply known as “The Farrah”.

It wasn’t long until Farrah’s iconic beauty launched her into major stardom with a very sexy, but tastefully done poster of her in a bathing suit with a Indian blanket backdrop. This poster hung on many teen boys’ and college dorm walls world wide and still remains as the most remembered photo of Farrah today and also the top selling “pin up” poster of all time, beating out Betty Grable and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. 

Charlie's Angels Then

Still Gorgeous Years Later

Farrah’s next big shot of stardom, was in 1976, when she landed a part in Aaron Spellings “Charlie’s Angels” as Jill Munroe along with Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson.  Charlie’s Angels action figures were also made and were on every little girl’s Christmas list.

Farrah only shot one season with the Angels (she was unhappy with her $10,000 per episode) and was replaced by Cheryl Ladd. But within that short time, Farrah already had oodles of fans. The show had quite an impact its popularity continues today spawning the lucrative remake of a Charlie’s Angels big screen action flick starring Drew Barrymore, Lucy Lui and Cameron Diaz.

Today, there are many websites dedicated to the Angels from Charlies Angels Forever to Jack Condon’s website who is the holder of the Guinness World Record for the biggest Charlie’s Angel memorabilia collection world wide.

Farrah also graced the cover of Playboy back in 1978, with wearing nothing more, than a white buttoned down shirt. Throughout her acting career, Fawcett won three Emmys and one was for her outstanding break out performance in “The Burning Bed,” the first movie to ever feature a live 800 hot line for abused women.

Her first marriage was to fellow 70’s star, Lee Majors who played the Six Million Dollar man, and that union lasted from 1973 to 1982. Farrah then went on to a VERY rocky 27 year on again/off again relationship with actor Ryan O’Neal that ended in 1997, only to be revisited later. O’Neal is best remembered for his Academy-nominated performance in the heart-wrenching film, “Love Story” and for playing opposite his young daughter Tatum, who won a Best Supporting Oscar in the film.

Though Farrah and O’Neal never married, they did have one child together, son Redmond. Unfortunately, both O’Neal and Fawcett have made tabloid news in the last few years because of Redmond repeated legal troubles stemming from a serious drug addiction, something which seems to have plagued virtually ALL of O’neal’s kids.

For the sake of Farrah, I won’t get into the abusive escapades of O’Neal’s temper, and his other two children, actress Tatum O’Neal and brother Griffith, from his former wife. That’s a whole other tawdry and sordid tale.

Despite a hiatus in their relationship, Farrah rushed to O’Neal’s side when he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001 and nursed her old flame back to health. The two rekindled at that point, and as the story goes, Farrah simply showed up on his doorstep and wanted to lend support and a helping hand. I think that in itself, showed the class this women has.

Farrah went on to do “Chasing Farrah” a TV Land reality show that aired in March 2005. It followed Farrah in her every day life. The show was only 7 episodes long. During this time it was rumored that O’Neal and Farrah married on one of the episodes, this however was a RUMOR.

In 2006, to the delight of many fans, Farrah was reunited with her Charlie’s Angels co-stars for the Prime Time Emmy Awards, where they paid tribute to the late series creator, Aaron Spelling. Fans of the show were delighted to see the three reunited once again.

Son Redmond, Dad O'Neal and Mom Farrah 2003

Sadly, not all of Farrah’s life has been charmed, besides dealing with her sister’s death from lung cancer in 2001, O’Neal’s cancer and her son’s drug addiction, the blonde beauty also lost her agent and her Mom in 2005. Then the final blow came in 2006 when Fawcett was diagnosed with intestinal cancer.
 
Farrah heroically battled the disease emerging elated and hopeful, on her 60th birthday when she was told that she was cancer free and in total remission. The respite from tragedy was brief because three months later her health took a turn for the worse.

In 2007, it was reported Farrah was seeking holistic treatments for the disease in Germany, as the cancer had returned with a vengeance as rectal cancer. She had her journey filmed and chronicled, as she wanted the world to see her struggle in her terms, and her way, which will air in a two-hour NBC TV special.

News in the past month has stated her cancer has now metastasized into her liver. Family members have stated the star is battling for her life and down to a mere 86 pounds. And those famous locks she’s so well known for? Gone.

Her family is now gathering around her to try and comfort Farrah the best they can including her 91-year old father flew in from her home state of Texas to be by his daughter’s side. 

In an interview with People O’ Neal stated”

“It’s a love story. I just don’t know how to play this one. I won’t know this world without her,” O’Neal, 68, says of his current role as caretaker. “Cancer is an insidious enemy.

Fawcett now spends her days at home, often asleep. “She stays in bed,” says O’Neal. “It’s a nice bed.” She receives visits from a few close friends – including fellow Charlie’s Angels stars Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson and, when able, likes to watch TV, especially Dominick Dunne’s cable program Power, Privilege and Justice.

Another visitor has been Fawcett and O’Neal’s son Redmond, who, behind bars for a drug-related probation violation, on April 25 was allowed three hours at home with his mother to say what might be his final goodbye. In his jail-issued jumpsuit and in shackles, Redmond is seen in the NBC documentary climbing into his sleeping mother’s bed and crying. “Oh my gosh, my gosh,” he says as he hugs the frail figure next to him. “Oh, my gosh.”

“Farrah doesn’t know Redmond’s in trouble,” says O’Neal. “And Redmond is terrified for his mother. ‘I don’t want to be in jail and have some guard tell me she is gone,’ he said to me. I told him, ‘She’s rebounding.’ I lied to him. I lie to her. It’s the best thing.” Redmond, meanwhile, is awaiting transfer to a lockdown rehab facility.

A particularly cruel aspect of the disease is that Fawcett has now lost her iconic golden tresses. “The hair is gone,” says O’Neal. “Her famous hair. I have it at home. She didn’t care. I rub her head. It’s kind of fun, actually, this great, tiny little head. How she carried all that hair I’ll never know. She doesn’t have a vanity about it.”

For now, O’Neal struggles to keep hope alive and to avoid facing the future without the love of his life. “I can’t hear a song, I can’t pass places that we were together, without being stabbed in the heart,” he says. “A week ago Farrah said to me, ‘Am I going to make it?’ I said, ‘Yes, you’ll make it. And if you don’t, I’ll go with you.’

“Farrah has never, ever talked about how unfair it is,” concludes O’Neal. “But I’ve thought about it. She may have thought to herself that she had been chosen to do this, that some higher power had put her in this situation. Because then there would be something positive to come out of it. And maybe that’s true. But I’m just not so sure it’s something positive for Farrah.”

 
What really makes Fawcett’s story so sad is how cruelly and unfairly the ailing star has been exploited by the National Enquirer via leaks from UCLA Health System employee, Lawanda Jackson. Jackson who was identified as the person who’d been feeding information about Fawcett’s condition to the tabloid, ironically died of cancer just weeks before she was to stand trial on felony charges stemming from selling information she obtained from spying on Fawcett’s private medical records. Somewhere in this is a lesson on karma being a bitch.

Oh, we can’t let UCLA off the hook. Beyond what Farrah had already gone through personally and publicly due to their own negligence, the hospital had the gall to repeatedly ask Farrah for donations. They told her they set up a foundation in her name, which was to be called the Division of Digestive Diseases Foundation.  

Here’s a report from the LA Times on this horrific story:

As time went on and more stories appeared, Fawcett said she grew convinced that information about her medical condition was being leaked by someone at UCLA. Whenever she sought treatment there, word always got out. Even when the tabloid reports were false, she said, they were based on a morsel of truth.

When she went in for an eye exam, for instance, “they had to say I was going blind.” When she had a pap smear, “they had to say that the cancer had spread; I was having a hysterectomy.

“I actually kept saying for months and months and months, ‘This is coming from [UCLA],” Fawcett said. “I was never more sure of anything in my life.”

Jackson pleaded guilty in December to a felony charge of violating federal medical privacy laws for commercial purposes but died in March of cancer before she could be sentenced. Prosecutors alleged that beginning in 2006, the Enquirer gave her checks totaling at least $4,600 in her husband’s name.

Fawcett said she realized that she needed to prove her theory. So when she found out that her cancer had returned in May 2007, she deliberately withheld the news from nearly all of her relatives and friends.

“I set it up with the doctor,” she said. “I said, ‘OK, you know and I know.’ . . . I knew that if it came out, it was coming from UCLA.”
Within days of her diagnosis, the news was in the Enquirer. “I couldn’t believe how fast it came out,” Fawcett said. “Maybe four days.”

UCLA began an investigation and quickly found that one employee had accessed her records more often than her own doctors. Fawcett said she asked for the employee’s name, but the senior UCLA official in charge of patient privacy refused, saying, “We have a responsibility to protect our employees.”

“And I said, ‘More than your patients?’ . . .” Fawcett recalled.
At the same time, Fawcett said, UCLA repeatedly asked her to donate money to the hospital for a foundation to be set up in her name.

The university went so far as to give her a prewritten letter that she could sign and fill in a dollar amount for the foundation, documents show. It also created an official-looking proposed announcement that said, “Ms. Farrah Fawcett has established a fund in the Division of Digestive Diseases with the expansive goal of facilitating prevention and diagnosis in gastrointestinal cancers.”

“They’re acting like nothing happened,” Fawcett said with a laugh. “It’s like, ‘This will make it all OK.’ I felt that all of a sudden, they were trying awfully hard to push it. Too pushy. In other words, it made me suspicious.”

After months of requests, UCLA ultimately provided Fawcett’s lawyers with the name of the administrative specialist who had gone through her records. In July 2007, as the hospital moved to fire the worker, Lawanda Jackson, she quit. Federal prosecutors tracked the leaks to Jackson as well.

Fawcett said she decided to speak up about the ordeal because she wants to see the Enquirer charged criminally for inducing UCLA workers to invade her records. “They obviously know it’s like buying stolen goods,” she said. “They’ve committed a crime. They’ve paid her money.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said its investigation was ongoing.

Cameron Stracher, senior media counsel for American Media Inc., the Enquirer’s parent company, declined to discuss the investigation but issued the following statement: “The National Enquirer respects Ms. Fawcett and her brave battle with cancer, and acknowledges, as she has, that her public discussion of her illness has provided a valuable and important forum for awareness about the disease.”

In part as a result of Fawcett’s experience, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law tougher penalties for institutions and individuals that violate patients’ privacy. California health inspectors concluded that, all told, Jackson looked at the records of 939 patients “without any legitimate reason” from April 2003 to May 2007.

Even as her illness progressed, Fawcett was followed by paparazzi, including when she traveled to Germany for treatments. When she returned to LAX in March, after her most recent trip to Germany, photographers snapped pictures as she was taken to her car in a wheelchair.

“I’m a private person,” she said in the interview. “I’m shy about people knowing things. And I’m really shy about my medical [care]. It would be good if I could just go and heal and then when I decided to go out, it would be OK.

“It seems that there are areas that should be off-limits.

The interview was conducted in August on condition The Times delay publication until it received permission from Fawcett or Craig Nevius, an executive producer of the upcoming documentary “Farrah’s Story,” which chronicles Fawcett’s struggle to recover and maintain her privacy. “There will be a good time, and what I have to say then will be more important,” she said at the time.

On April 29, Nevius gave written permission for the interview to be published within five days of the documentary’s broadcast date. The documentary is scheduled for broadcast on NBC on Friday. The Times’ interview with Fawcett was videotaped for possible inclusion in the documentary.

Fawcett’s condition has deteriorated since the interview — the cancer has spread to her liver — and she is now bedridden and has lost her hair, her longtime companion Ryan O’Neal told People magazine on May 4. Her treatment has essentially stopped, he said.

“I’m holding onto the hope that there is some reason that I got cancer and there is something — that may not be very clear to me right now — but that I will do,” she said.

I was shocked when I read how ruthless and callous Jackson, the Enquirer and the UCLA Health System were to Farrah, most
especially at a time when she is fighting to survive.

This Friday, May 15th, NBC is airing a two-hour special on Farrah.

Farrah’s Story: 

“Farrah Fawcett’s battle with cancer is chronicled. Farrah narrates, using video from her own video camera as she receives treatments in the U.S. and Germany and fights to protect her privacy from paparazzi and tabloids.”

We wish Farrah a painless, graceful and dignified exit from this sometimes very cruel world, and we wish her family and friends peace.

Kanye West has something new to complain about:  He has too many fans and that is preventing him from posing naked.  No, I didn’t make that up – The Superficial

JLo has a hankering for rolls at the Golden Globes - Perez

Ryan O’Neal pleads guilty to drug possession and general acting-like-a-jerkness – Popeater

Jessica Alba:  It’s a cruel, cruel summer (and the winter ain’t been too kind either) – Celebslam

Forget the uproar about gas prices and the global threat of terrorism, Obama is having trouble choosing the family pet! – PopCrunch

The inimitable biographer and now gossip sleuth Ian Halperin at Ianundercover.com, points to a video showing rapper Nelly (one of my favorites) talking shoes and some smack Why? Well, apparently growing up in the hood of St. Louis, you were what you wore, and for poor Nelly, what his family could afford was lacking in “style.”

Apparently, so are the shoes NBA great Kobe Bryant created. Watch the above video to hear the hurtful words hurled at Bryant’s not-so-fly footwear, Hyperdunks. Sort of sounds like meth-donuts if you ask me.

On a side note, before the 2008 Olympic U.S. Basketball team brought prestige and glory back to the infamously poor-spirited franchise of previous Olympic teams, I kind of though Kobe was a tool. What, with the whole Shaquille O’Neal in-fighting, the rape/adultery charge and just a general sense of over-inflated self, there wasn’t much to like about Kobe. That said, I think he has matured quite a bit, and has greatly improved his image — as well as — his wife’s jewelry collection.

Just sayin’ is all.

Who said it?

It’s a very screwed-up family….If you want to be emotionally healthy and strong, you’ve got to get out….It’s a truly sad situation.

Answer after the jump!

It’s Griffin O’Neal, talking about his family…you’ll remember that dad Ryan and little bro Redmond were recently arrested due to a parole violation.  See, when you’re on parole, you can’t have drugs in the house.

Griffin has dealt with abuse issues of his own (as has sis Tatum), but he seems to be doing better on that front.  However, he is dealing with Melorheostosis, which may require a leg amputation.

(I know, that quote could have applied to about anyone in Hollywood, huh?)

Wow.  Where does one start with this bunch?  Let’s rewind back a couple of months to actress Tatum O’Neal’s arrest in New York City buying cocaine.  She’s had a long history of substance abuse problems, dating back to her childhood, and has theorized that both nature and nurture has contributed to her ongoing struggle to stay clean.  Tatum, for her part, said that getting busted by the police during this latest chapter saved her life and is still, as of this writing, sober and drug-free.

Not so, it would seem, for her father and half-brother.  Redmond O’Neal, already on probation, was busted during a probation search.  While the police were there, they busted dad Ryan O’Neal as well:

Ryan O’Neal and his son were arrested Wednesday morning after authorities said they found drugs at the actor’s Malibu home during a routine check associated with Redmond O’Neal’s probation.

Investigators suspect both men had methamphetamine, but the substances still need to be tested, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies and probation officers went to O’Neal’s home for a routine check of Redmond O’Neal, who is serving three years of probation after pleading guilty in June to drug possession charges.

Whitmore said in addition to drugs that deputies suspect belong to Redmond O’Neal, deputies also found narcotics in Ryan O’Neal’s living area. Both men were released after posting $10,000 bail and could be charged with felony possession of narcotics.

And you will recall Ryan being arrested last year for firing off a “warning shot” at his other son Griffin after his son started swinging at him with a fireplace poker.  Sounds like the fun never stops at Casa O’Neal.

I could make a really cheezy joke here about “the family that does drugs together, goes to jail together,” but I won’t, because this is no laughing matter.  Cocaine is bad enough, meth will eff you up bad.  That stuff is nothing to mess around with and makes people go totally off their nut…not to mention extremely difficult (although not impossible) to kick.

It puts me in mind of something I observed last night…we ran into a friend of my son’s at the store.  While we were talking, the boy’s father walked up.  I noticed the boy had a new, shiny tattoo on his arm, but didn’t say anything.  When he left, I asked my son if it was real.  My son said yes, and not only that but the dad had a matching one that he got at the same time.  Now, this kid can’t be more than fifteen.  I’m thinking, at what point does the phrase, “Hey, son, you want to get matching tattoos?” come up?  The same with this particular scenario…”Hey, son, should we hide the meth in your room or mine?”  Just when does one work that phrase into the conversation?  But meth isn’t exactly known for making someone smarter.

I’m not trying to be funny, I think it is sad…parents are supposed to help their offspring, even adult ones, avoid things like this, not seemingly encourage it.  I certainly hope that whatever demons continue to plague this family are exorcised soon.  I can remember several years ago seeing photographs of a young Redmond with his parents, and thinking what a cute kid he was and what a nice family they made.  I also remember Tatum as a young girl, cute and full of promise.  And who can forget Love Story?

Sadly, it seems that this story is going to have just as sad an ending if something doesn’t change, and soon.  I hope they can get the help they need to live their lives drug-free.  It’s worth it, it really is.

Tatum O’Neal, an Oscar-winning actress and daughter of famous actor Ryan O’Neal was arrested on Sunday after police caught her buying cocaine on a NY city street corner. O’Neal in her adult life, has become as famous for her substance abuse problems as she has for her stellar acting skills, and sadly, this past weekend’s arrest shows the difficulty of overcoming addiction.

Back in the 90’s after her divorce to tennis star John McEnroe, Tatum’s drug problems became a public issue when McEnroe filed for custody of their three children when he discovered she was addicted to heroin and NOT taking appropriate care of their children. Tatum worked hard to recover from her addiction, and went on to write a book about her life, chronicling her abusive relationship with her father, being sexually abused by a family friend and growing up in the limelight.

Addiction seems to be a family curse, as Tatum’s mother Joanna Moore also battled drug and alcohol abuse and her half-brother Redmond (mother Farrah Fawcett) has made news for having debilitating substance abuse problem (check Glosslip’s coverage of that story here.)

Tatum in recent years has had an upsurge in her acting career, with a regular spot on the Dennis Leary show Rescue Me, and then appearing on the popular ABC’s reality show, Dancing With The Stars. Tatum could have easily had a lucrative and successful film career after her teen years (she won an Oscar for her role in Paper Moon, opposite her father, and was tremendous in Little Darlings) but instead took time off during her marriage to McEnroe, and then sadly, got back into drugs.

This recent arrest, which she claims “saved her life” came on the heels of a difficult time for her having lost her beloved pet. Here Tatum explains:

“There is no excuse for what I did, I lost my Scottish terrier Lena … that sort of set me off.”

Under normal circumstances, I would go into one of our usual tirades, condemning Tatum for a selfish and destructive act (she has children to think about) but knowing her family history and that she’s a recovering addict of many years does make her situation more sympathetic. She also gets credit for eventually coming to terms and admitting she had “no excuse,” but not before pulling out her ‘celeb get out of jail free card’ asking arresting officers “Do you know who I am” and then tried the whole “I was researching a role” excuse. Fortunately, the popo weren’t buying it.

Nowadays, it doesn’t matter WHO you are, in fact, it’s often a disadvantage to be a celeb and get caught doing something stupid. My advice, avoid doing stupid things. Tatum, you can afford counseling, please get help before you really hurt yourself.

New information has emerged on the Ryan O’Neal case, including a “911″ call made from the residence shortly before the police arrived to arrest the 65 year-old actor. A woman identified as JoAnne Berry is the caller on the 911 tape and she is described as a “friend” of Griffin O’Neal. Excerpts from the call to Malibu dispatchers:

“I got hit by something. I can’t see. Help me! Help me! I’m in a lot of pain. … I need an ambulance.”

Ms. Berry, who is seven-months pregnant, did not say who hit her, or what she was hit with. But the report states she was treated for minor injuries and later released. Ryan O’Neal was arrested on charges stemming from the shooting at his Malibu home, and later released on $50,000 bond.

No additional charges have been filed at this time. I cobbled together the following outline, from accounts at CNN and the National Enquirer*, some of the following “might” have occurred.

Ryan’s story: He was out with his former girlfriend Farrah Fawcett where they celebrated her 60th birthday and recent clean bill of health in her fight against anal cancer. (Congrats on being anal cancer-free!) Fawcett is the mother to the couple’s 22 year-old-son Redmond. Redmond is a known crackhead. When Ryan arrived home, his youngest son Redmond was either tied up like a dog in the backyard, or being beaten up by Griffin (his oldest son from an earlier marriage.) Ryan and Griffin argued and someone ended up hitting Griffin’s pregnant “friend” JoAnne Berry, in the face with a fireplace poker.

Both Ryan and Griffin stated the other was playing “pin the dent on the donkey” with the poker.

Griffin’s side: He and Berry were “babysitting” his half-brother Redmond, when they discovered Redmond unresponsive in his room after smoking some PCP. Paramedics were dispatched and a resuscitated Redmond refused to go to the hospital. Griffin, who is known for his good judgment, decided that Redmond needed to be chained up and hog-tied for his own good. When their dad came home, he went beserk at the sight of seeing his youngest son tied up and allegedly attacked Griffin.

Griffin claimed his dad was the one wielding the poker. Griffin also claimed he threw an ashtray at his dad in self-defense, but when Ryan ducked it hit Berry in the face. Ouch!

This is all so confusing, but strangely, not shocking. It’s like some kind of Malibu inbreeding experiment. Did Ryan see Griffin beating on Redmond, or did Ryan see Redmond chained up like a dog? Is it possible that Redmond is actually a dog, but they’re all so crazy no one noticed? Clearly, someone should have called the animal warden to handle this matter.

Oh, and coke-head Tatum O’Neal, Ryan’s daughter, who was not present during the altercation, had this to say on Entertainment Tonight:

“No matter what my dad is saying in the press, Griffin was not trying to start a fight with him. He was attempting to protect Redmond.”

Charlie Mattera, a family friend who showed up on the scene shortly after the incident, had this statement on the matter:

“Griffin attacked his brother, Redmond, smashing an ashtray over his head. Ryan walked into this and told Griffin to get out of the house. He couldn’t do anything but protect himself and Redmond.”

And O’Neal’s manager, Neil Hassman said this:

“I would be hesitant to buy into anything Tatum says about her father, or her brothers for that matter.”

And then some crazy homeless person said this:

“It was the one-armed man who did. And I can prove it!”

And Rodney King says:

“Can’t we all just get along?”

And I say this:

“da bitches can’t handle da smoke, dat’s what it iz.”

And five points to whomever can tell me what movie that last statement was from.

*Source.

According to TMZ, actor Ryan O’Neal was taken into custody by police Saturday morning and booked on charges of “assault with a deadly weapon, and negligent discharge of a firearm.” It would seem O’Neal and his adult son, Griffin, were engaged in a heated argument that turned all kinds of wrong.

Sources stated thatthe only real injury was caused “inadvertently” to that of a 22-year-old female friend of Griffin’s, but we can speculate that some feelings were hurt, and tears were spilt.

This is Hollywood people, even gunfights are full of drama and over-acting.

O’Neal was released on a $50K bond.

It’s kind of too bad he missed. O’Neal killing his loser son would have been fitting closure to this kid’s useless life. Griffin, 42, brother to famous sister Tatum, is a well-known scofflaw whose reckless drug and alcohol use, combined with his crappy boating skills killed Gian-Carlo Coppola, the son of film director Francis Ford Coppola in 1986. How did Griffin show his remorse for taking his friend’s life?

After being fined $200 and sentenced to 18 months probation in 1987, Griffin, who was initally charged with manslaughter, was ultimately only found guilty of negligent boat operation. To add insult to injury, Griffin then spent 18 days in jail for not performing community service stemming from the boating accident.

Now that’s what I call rolling in high style and putting the ass in class.

UPDATE: TMZ is reporting through Ryan O’Neal’s rep that senior O’Neal’s busted a cap in self-defense. He claims Griffin swung at him with a fireplace poker and hit his girlfriend instead. Yeah, I figured this was “Griffin-related” incident. Crackhead Griffin was probably try to hit his dad up for some cash to buy drugs and Ryan told him to beat it -and I don’t mean in the head with a fireplace poker. I hope his girlfriend is okay…and packing heat.