Yesterday we saw Ryan O’Neal on The Today Show trying to get us all to feel sorry for him. He was promoting a memoir about his life with Farrah Fawcett, but somehow he made himself into a victim of Farrah’s moods and made her death all about him. When it came to talking about his kids, he admitted that he probably was a bad parent, but said that his children were all adults now and were responsible for their own lives. He barely remembered to mention his youngest child, Redmond, 27, with Farrah. He may have been joking when he said “Who’s the other one? Redmond.” Either way, it came across as cruel.

Ryan, 71, is suffering from prostate cancer and leukemia and to be frank he’s probably at the end of his life. That doesn’t give him a pass for the things he’s said and done though. I was familiar with how he was partying with Redmond and probably supplying him drugs prior to Redmond’s multiple arrests and stints in jail. Some of you mentioned that you’d read his daughter Tatum’s biography A Paper Life and that Tatum detailed the neglect and physical and emotional abuse she suffered as a child. Tatum wrote that a friend of her father’s molested her, and that at the age of 12 she was taken to an orgy by then 17 year-old Melanie Griffith, who was dating her father at the time. Ryan would have been 34.

Without getting into other known details of what a terrible father (and person) Ryan is, it’s just safe to assume that he’s treated his children awfully. He’s also continuing to use them to promote his book. On the Today Show yesterday, Ryan detailed a scene from his past with Farrah in which then 6 year-old Redmond held a butcher knife to his stomach in a very sad attempt to get his parents to stop fighting. Well Redmond is a private person, and according to sources quoted on Radar Online he’s telling his father to stop bringing him up in interviews. This book has got to hurt then. Here’s more:

As Ryan O’Neal continues his publicity tour to promote his memoir, Both of Us, My Life With Farrah, Redmond O’Neal, his son with the late Charlie’s Angels star, has begged his father to stop talking about him publicly, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

As we previously reported, the one-time Hollywood hunk came off as a broken man during an interview on Today on Tuesday morning, admitting his failure as a parent and his profound loneliness without longtime love Farrah.

During the interview, O’Neal was asked by Matt Lauer about an incident that the actor chronicled in his book in which a then six-year-old Redmond begged his parents to stop fighting and threatened to stab himself with a knife if they didn’t.

“Redmond talked to his father on the phone on Tuesday and asked his dad to stop talking about him during interviews,” a family source tells RadarOnline.com.

“Redmond isn’t a public figure, he shuns the spotlight and is extremely shy, and just wants to keep his private life out of the public domain. Luckily, Redmond is in a safe place right now and can deal with his feelings in a healthy and controlled setting. Redmond’s complex relationship with his father is one of his triggers in his drug use. Redmond is going to need to come to grips with the fact that his father isn’t going to change and will need to set boundaries…”

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Redmond and Tatum don’t think their father’s memoir is an honest account of their relationship with him.

“Redmond absolutely hates the press and just wants to live his life out of the spotlight,” the source says. “He is trying to stay sober and having his father out there talking about his life isn’t helping Redmond. He just wants Ryan to shut up about him,” the insider says.

[From Radar]

I missed this earlier story from Radar where Tatum and Redmond were slamming their father’s new book. In the book, Both Of Us, My Life With Farrah, Ryan claims that he got busted with meth in that 2008 raid because he took some of Redmond’s stash away and kept it in his own room for safekeeping. Just like the cocaine in Lindsay’s pants was someone else’s, right? A source close to Redmond counters that the drugs “were absolutely 100% his, and not Redmond’s.”

In regard to the story where Ryan hit on Tatum, his own daughter, at Farrah’s funeral, he tries to reframe that as well. Ryan admitted in Vanity Fair back then that he didn’t recognize Tatum. He said “I was just trying to be funny with a strange Swedish woman, and it’s my daughter. It’s so sick.” Only in his book Ryan tried to play it off like he was making a joke. He (or his ghost writer, to be accurate) wrote “Following Farrah’s death, one magazine suggested the unthinkable: that I actually had come on to Tatum. It was an innocent private joke between the two of us. Ever since she was a little girl, Tatum and I would play this game pretending we’d just met. It was silly and sweet.”

I can’t imagine having a father this neglectful and narcissistic. It must make it so much worse that he’s famous and is now dredging up past family pain and reframing it to make him sound innocent and misunderstood. I hope Ryan at least apologizes to his children at some point, although it sounds like he’s still pretty oblivious about the effect he had on them.

Redmond and Ryan are shown out together in January, 2010 outside a store and in June, 2010 visiting Farrah’s grave on the anniversary of her death. Credit: FameFlynet and PCNPhotos

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It’s been almost three years since Farrah Fawcett died, but that time frame seems off to me somehow, like she passed either just a year ago or over five years ago. I’m not sure how to explain it. Well since Farrah has passed her family has been truly struggling, especially her son, Redmond, who has been in and out of jail and rehab. Redmond’s dad Ryan was a piss poor parent to to say the least. Ryan and Redmond, now 27, were arrested for drug possession, including meth, in 2008 before Farrah passed. Redmond had to get a pass from jail to attend his mother’s funeral, and he went in shackles and a jumpsuit. Ryan also had a domestic abuse incident in 2007 against his older son, Redmond’s half brother Griffin. Griffin later claimed that Ryan first introduced him to cocaine when he was just 11 years old, and that Ryan regularly did drugs with Redmond. He also said that Ryan often cheated on Farrah and that he was so sweet to her later in life because he was hoping to be put in her will. (He wasn’t, Farrah’s estate went to charity and to Redmond.)

Ryan has a new memoir out chronicling his life with Farrah. He’s also suffering from prostate cancer, he was just diagnosed, and leukemia, which he’s had for years. Ryan was on The Today Show this morning, having canceled yesterday’s interview after a panic attack. He said it was his first panic attack. During the interview he seemed very pitiful and kind of lost. You could tell he was having trouble explaining himself and that he was unprepared to answer questions about the book. He hedged and changed the subject quite a few times. Here’s more on what he said about his kids, thanks to Radar:

In a sad segment on Tuesday’s Today Show, one-time Hollywood hunk Ryan O’Neal came off as a broken man, admitting his failure as a parents and his profound loneliness without longtime love Farrah Fawcett, as he himself now battles cancer.

Ryan — who abruptly left the show’s New York set for a scheduled chat Monday — said he’d “just broke out into a terrible sweat.

“You wouldn’t have wanted me,” Ryan said, looking tired with a bandage on his nose after a recent procedure.

Asked if he’d indeed had a panic attack, O’Neal said he assumed he did, though he “never had one before.”

The subject of his kids came up and it made for extremely uncomfortable TV: The father-of-four — Patrick, Tatum, Griffin and Redmond — was honest in assessing his accountability in the the addiction issues of the latter three, and past jail histories of the latter two.

“Were you a bad parent?” Lauer asked the Love Story star, who said contritely, “Looks like it, doesn’t it? Sure looks like it … I suppose I was.”

Ryan said he “wasn’t trained” to be a father, and can’t continue to be held accountable with his children all adults.

“Griffin is 45, Tatum is 49, who’s the other one? Redmond is 27. They have to take hold of their own existences.”

He joked, “Even with those kids … I never suffered a panic attack.”

[From Radar]

Radar didn’t recap the things that Ryan said about Farrah. That was truly hard to watch. Lauer questioned Ryan about allegations he made about Farrah in the book, that she was obsessed with her appearance as she got older, and that she suffered from mood swings. He hedged and skirted around the questions, and I found it particularly sad the way he addressed the question about her moods. That’s at about 4:20 in the video above:

On if Farrah sought treatment for mood swings
“No. I felt that she was uncomfortable with me and that maybe I had grown boring to her. It was tough.”

See, he didn’t really answer the question at all and turned it around to where he was some kind of victim. At about 5:10 Ryan looked confused and said that “she loved me, she said so. She said so. I couldn’t write a book if she hadn’t.” It seemed kind of heartbreaking. He just looked down the whole time and barely looked at Matt Lauer in the eye.

I got the impression that O’Neal used a ghostwriter for the most of the book and didn’t realize everything that was in it. He came across as ashamed about his life and not sure how to explain things. I also got the impression that he felt sorry for himself, and that his grief over Farrah was something of a put on. I’m not saying he didn’t love her deeply, just that it seemed like he was trying to get us to feel for him. Maybe he’s just very sick and confused, though.

Photos are from yesterday in NY. Credit: Diane Cohen/FameFlynet Pictures

After Amy Winehouse died and everyone said all those thoughtful things about addiction (at least some people did, others remained clueless) I began to take a different view of it. It just seems freaking sad to me and so useless. This story in particular makes my heart hurt a little. Redmond O’Neal, who had to to attend his mom Farrah Fawcett’s funeral in handcuffs, was arrested on possession of heroin yesterday. He was in violation of probation for an earlier arrest for drugs and was sent to jail without bail.

Redmond O’Neal has another mug shot to add to his portfolio and RadarOnline.com has the latest.

The 26-year-old was arrested in Santa Monica, Calif. on Tuesday after he ran a red light and police found heroin in his car during a routine inspection.

“At approximately 8:45 a.m. a motor officer observed an argument at a store on Lincoln corner of Michigan,” a police spokesperson told RadarOnline.com. “O’Neal was one of those involved in the argument.

“The officer then watched as he got into his vehicle. He proceeded to go northbound on Lincoln before turning west bound on Olympic, it was at this time the officer observed him going through the red turn arrow.”

The spokesperson continued: “The officer stopped him for the traffic violation. A search of his vehicle was done and narcotics were recovered.”

O’Neal is currently being held without bail.

[From Radar Online]

I tried to review Redmond’s storied history with the law and the details were so complicated it was hard for me to figure out which arrest he was in violation of. Here’s a partial recap. He was arrested in September, 2008 along with his dad, Ryan O’Neal, when cops raided the home they shared, (as part of a probation investigation, natch) found meth, and charged them both with possession. (The Enquirer ran a follow up story claiming the two did drugs together regularly and that Ryan was incredibly abusive to his son. Another one of Ryan’s sons, Griffin, claimed on Larry King that his dad gave him cocaine when he was just 11.)

Redmond was ordered to rehab for meth possession for that charge while all Ryan had to do was attend some drug awareness classes. Redmond was arrested again in April, 2009 when he tried to bring heroin with him to visit a friend in jail. (This seems to be the charge he violated probation for with this latest arrest.) His mom Farrah died in June, 2009.

While on a 24 hour pass from court-ordered rehab in December 2009, Redmond used drugs. He was sent back to jail for 30 days, and then went back to rehab yet again, graduating from his court-appointed drug program in August, 2010. So the kid went to rehab many, many times after multiple arrests and he was supposedly clean last year.

Redmond’s mom Farrah left most of her $4.5 million estate to him, leaving nothing to her parasitic boyfriend, Ryan. So we have a young man who is a millionaire addict who lost his mom to cancer and has an abusive druggie for a dad. Maybe his siblings can reach out to him, but it doesn’t sound like he can be helped much at this point. Like Lilo, jail may be the best place for him. Oh and Redmond’s older half brother, Griffin, was hospitalized and released yesterday after a car accident in Escondido, CA. He seems to be ok now though.

Header photo is Ryan’s mug shot. Photos above are of Ryan and Redmond paying respects to Farrah on the one year anniversary of her death on June 25, 2010. Credit: Fame

Redmond O’Neal, the troubled son of Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O’Neal, is back in a detention center after getting busted for using drugs. Redmond had just returned to Impact, his court-ordered, in-patient rehab treatment center, when it became obvious that he’d been using while out on a 24-hour pass. Sadly, Redmond had received the 24-hour pass from rehab for good behavior. It didn’t take him long at all to blow it, and now a judge has ordered him back to jail for violating the terms of his probation.

Redmond O’Neal was arrested again on drug-related charges while on a 24-hour pass from drug rehab, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

The son of Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O’Neal was taken into custody on Dec. 29.

He is in court Tuesday for a status update on his rehab. Now he’s facing up to six years in prison because his latest arrest violates probation terms of a previous drug offense.

Redmond had been clean for six months after battling drug problems for years.

When Redmond returned to Impact, a drug and alcohol treatment center, after his 24-hour pass, the staff noticed he seemed altered.

This was his first 24-hour family pass out of the facility.

Redmond was ordered into rehab by a judge because of his many previous offenses.

A judge Tuesday ordered O’Neal back to Wayside Detention Center for at least thirty days, where he will focus on relapse prevention following his December 29th arrest involving drugs.

Wearing jailhouse blues, O’Neal appeared in court Tuesday morning before Judge Michael Tynan for a status update on his rehab.

Prior to his latest arrest, Redmond had been clean for six months after battling drug problems for years.

As Redmond appeared in court on Tuesday, Judge Tynan read a letter that O’Neal had written the judge. The letter appeared to be at least 4 pages front and back. “I read a rather thoughtful letter,” the judge said. Tynan said he “wouldn’t go into the family stuff in the letter, but you (Redmond) mention pride and how proud your family, friends, and girlfriend are of you and then you let them down.”

Tynan said that “home” is the trigger for Redmond’s recent relapse. “You are going to stay somewhere at some point. Recovery isn’t a walk in the park, you have a responsibility to yourself to stay sober, not your family.” Redmond said, “I have to go somewhere on my own.”

He’s now facing up to six years in prison because his latest arrest violates probation terms of a previous drug offense.

O’Neal’s next appearance in front of Judge Tynan will be on February 2nd.

[From RadarOnline]

I think the judge hit the nail right on the head when he said “home is a trigger,” especially since Redmond shares a home with his druggie dad, Ryan O’Neal. I think Redmond would have had a better chance at a clean life if he’d had a feral cat for a dad instead of this jerk-off. Without his mother in his life, this kid is even more lost than ever. If you recall, Ryan was busted along with Redmond last year, shortly before Farrah’s death – but somehow, dad walked away scott-free. I don’t think it’s any coincidence at all that the minute Redmond goes home, he is able to get his hands on some drugs. The only shot this kid has is to get as far away from his dad as possible.

Redmond 2008 mugshot & Redman & Ryan O’Neal in court on November 13, 2008, credit: PCNphoto.com

Farrah Fawcett has left longtime boyfriend Ryan O’Neal out of her will. The late actress left a majority of her estate to the couple’s troubled son, Redmond, as well as her father and her ex-lover, Greg Lott. It’s rumored that Farrah and Lott had reconnected near the end of her life, but that Ryan was trying to keep them apart. If you recall, all of Ryan O’Neal’s children- Redmond, Tatum and Griffin- slammed the actor publicly after Farrah’s passing, claiming that the only reason he came back to Farrah in the end was because he was hoping to be included in her will. Perhaps Farrah knew that – and made sure he wasn’t.

Farrah Fawcett left $4.5 million to her son Redmond, $100,000 to an ex-lover and nothing to long-time love Ryan O’Neal and the other cast of characters who fought over her cancer documentary during the star’s final days.

RadarOnline.com has exclusively obtained a copy of Farrah’s will and it reveals that she did not get her final wish – to die at home.

The will was updated for the final time on August 9th, 2007. Farrah died from anal cancer on June 25, 2009 at age 62.

In the will Farrah made clear that she wanted to die at home.

In paragraph 5.2 a the will states: “”Settlor (Farrah) declares that she wishes to remain at home for as long as possible during any period of illness or incapacity and to die at home.”

The former Charlie’s Angel star passed away at St. John’s hospital in Santa Monica, California.

In addition to leaving the bulk of her fortune to son Redmond, the official documents reveal Farrah left $500,000 to her nephew Greg Walls, $500,000 to her father James and $100,000 to ex-lover Greg Lott.

Ryan O’Neal, Craig Nevius and Alana Hamilton all were not named in the will. Alana filmed much of Farrah’s final documentary and wants to release a part two. Ryan claimed he asked Farrah to marry him in her final days and made several tearful TV appearances.

Nevius claimed that O’Neal and Hamilton pushed him out of Farrah’s cancer documentary in her final days.

Lott spent the past few months claiming to various media outlets
that he was Farrah’s secret boyfriend. He told a British newspaper he last spoke to her April 9 and says that Ryan banned him from seeing her.

[From Radar]

In an August 2009 Vanity Fair article, Redmond has this to say about his father: “All those crocodile tears! My dad’s only goal was to make sure he would be in the will. It was so disgustingly transparent as soon as he found out she was terminal. I consider him a vulture presiding over a carcass. Ryan thought he was going to get everything.”

This is also the article where Ryan tries to excuse cheating on Farrah with a girl young enough to be his daughter by blaming it on Farrah having menopause! God, he’s a jackass. I’m happy he didn’t get a dime of Farrah’s money, but I do wonder if giving millions of dollars to a junkie doing jail time was such a good idea. Perhaps a cancer research charity would have been a better way to go. I know Redmond is only 24, but he kind of seems like a lost cause at this point. I predict he’ll burn through that money in a year. But hey, it was Farrah’s final wish, and since she didn’t get to die at home like she wanted, her other requests should be granted. The only hope for this kid is to stay as far away from his father as possible.

Ryan O’Neal has reportedly brokered a deal for his son, Redmond, to appear in his own reality show once he’s released from jail in four months. This story originates in In Touch, so let’s hope it’s not true. They’re reporting that once Redmond gets out of jail he’s planning to live with his drug supplier dad, Ryan, who will also appear on the show. They don’t say if it will be a typical reality show, meaning skewed to show some kind of manufactured plot, or if it will be documentary-style like his late mom Farrah Fawcett’s show, “Farrah’s Story.”

Ever since Farrah Fawcett’s final days were turned into reality television for the documentary “Farrah’s Story,” it’s become tougher to determine what’s acceptable documentation of struggle. So it’s hard to know what to make of her adult son Redmond O’Neal’s new reality show plans.

The troubled son of Fawcett and Ryan O’Neal will reportedly chronicle his struggles with addiction in a new show. Filming is set to begin in four months, once O’Neal is released from the California detention center where he’s serving time for possession of narcotics and bringing narcotics into a jail facility.

“Redmond has signed the deal that was brokered for him by his dad,” according to a source that spoke to In Touch. “Ryan will be on the show, too.”

The magazine goes on to say that Fawcett, who died of anal cancer on June 25 at age 62, is the inspiration for the show.

“Redmond wants to do this to honor his mother. He really wants to get better to honor her memory,” the source told In Touch.

The magazine goes on to say that Redmond will only receive the inheritance left to him by his mother if he remains sober.

[From MSNBC]

The thing that bothers me about this story is that after Redmond gets out of jail he’s going right back to the dysfunctional home where both he and his dad were busted for meth possession last September. Ryan’s half brother Griffin O’Neal told Larry King Live that he often fought with his father over enabling Redmond’s drug use. Griffin said that Ryan and Remond often partied together and that “Redmond hung out with Ryan a lot, because Ryan allowed the drug use… in the house.” At least they’ll have to hide it when the cameras are rolling, but I doubt Ryan has changed at all after his girlfriend’s death and his son’s incarceration.

Ryan and Redmond are shown outside court on 1/9/09. Credit: Fame Pictures

The Daily Mail reports that Griffin O’Neal, Ryan O’Neal’s son with his first wife, dropped some bombshells about his troubled childhood on Larry King Live last night. One of the most shocking claims, and the one the Mail leads with, is that Ryan gave Griffin cocaine when he was just 11 years old. This quote isn’t the transcript of the interview on CNN’s website, but it’s in the podcast around the 14:00 minute mark, and The Daily Mail gets the quotes right:

Ryan O’Neal’s eldest son Griffin claims his father destroyed his life by giving him cocaine when he was just 11.

The actor said O’Neal’s party lifestyle encouraged him to take drugs, which left him and his siblings battling lifelong addictions.

In an interview with US chat show host Larry King, 45-year-old Griffin said: ‘I have had a lifetime of hellacious nights crying, staying up too late, wondering what I did to my life. It destroyed me. It wasted many, many years of my life.

‘I was 11 years old when he gave me cocaine and said we are going to see a long movie called Barry Lyndon.

‘He said “It is a very long movie. Maybe this will help you”. I was 11. I could never, never ever do that to my child.’

Griffin, O’Neal’s son from his first marriage to Joanna Moore, is estranged from his father and was barred from attending stepmother Farrah Fawcett’s funeral last month.

He also claims to have doubts that his father’s public outpouring of grief was genuine.

‘All those crocodile tears! My dad’s only goal was to make sure he would be in the will,’ Griffin said.
‘It was so disgustingly transparent as soon as he found out she was terminal. I consider him a vulture presiding over a carcass.’

He also claimed O’Neal was responsible for the drug problems of his sister Tatum and half-brother Redmond, who inherited the bulk of his mother’s £3.65million estate.
Redmond, 24, has battled drug and alcohol addiction for most of his life and is currently in a Los Angeles prison for drugs offences.

Tatum O’Neal has also fought substance abuse and last year was arrested for buying drugs on the street.

The 45-year-old, whose mother, Joanna Cook Moore, died from lung cancer in 1997, has since insisted that she is clean.

Griffin said: ‘Redmond hung out with Ryan a lot, because Ryan allowed the drug use. He allowed the drug use in the house.

‘They party together. They were both arrested. My dad had more dope on him than Redmond did.

‘And that was one of the reasons me and my dad fought. I said, “You know what? You are killing your son. I don’t think you know what you’re doing”.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Griffin also talks about the terrible fight he had with his dad Ryan in 2007, in which his father stabbed him with a fireplace poker, slashed his eight and a half months pregnant wife in the face with it, and tried to shoot him. He says he hasn’t talked to his dad since and wasn’t able to visit Farrah, who he considered like a step mother, since the day before that incident. Griffin and Ryan could have potentially have run into each other at Farrah’s funeral, but Griffin was turned away after driving 300 miles to get there.

In a portrait of severe family dysfunction and addiction, Griffin says that he tried in vain to save his younger 1/2 brother, Redmond, from his father. Ryan regularly did drugs with Redmond and gave him money to enable his habit. Redmond and Ryan were both arrested for meth possession last September, and Redmond remains in jail. Not only was Ryan a despicable father, claims Griffin, he was also a terrible boyfriend. Griffin says that Ryan was around Farrah in her final months primarily because he wanted a piece of her estate. Farrah loved him, but never wanted to marry Ryan as he claimed, according to Griffin. Ryan regularly cheated on Farrah when she was healthy and when she was sick. She knew all about his infidelity and even walked in on him once with another woman.

Let’s hope that when Redmond gets out of jail he’ll go live with either Griffin and his family or with his half sister, Tatum. Griffin says he’s been sober for four years and couldn’t be happier with his wife and two year-old son. You can tell he cares about his brother and he said he visited Redmond in jail a couple of weeks ago. If Redmond goes back to live with Ryan it will undoubtedly be more of the same for him, and by Griffin’s account that’s just awful.

Griffin, his wife and youngest son are shown outside Farrah Fawcett’s funeral on 7/1/09, where they were turned away. Credit: Juan Rico/Fame Pictures

Ryan and Redmond O’Neal appeared in court in Malibu yesterday to face felony drug charges.

The father and son duo were arrested this September after an unannounced sheriff’s sweep of their Malibu home turned up narcotics thought to be Redmond’s and methamphetamines in Ryan’s bedroom. Ryan, 67, claimed the drugs were not his. Police officers were searching to home to see if Redmond, 23, was in compliance with his probation from a DUI and drug possession conviction from June.

At the hearing yesterday their arraignment was postponed until January 9, 2009.

Redmond O’Neal is thought to be sober after successfully finishing a court-ordered by two week drug detox last month.

The arraignment of Ryan O’Neal, 67, and son Redmond, 23, on drug charges was postponed from today until after the new year.

“It was continued until Jan. 9,” Malibu Deputy District Attorney James Garrison told E! News, adding that the postponement was granted at the request of the O’Neals.

Attorneys asked for the additional time to more closely examine new evidence brought forth by the prosecution. It’s unclear what the new evidence is.

The elder O’Neal faces one felony count of methamphetamine possession stemming from their joint September arrests at his Malibu home. Officers conducting a routine probation checkup for Redmond (for previous drug-related charges) found the illicit pharmaceuticals. Ryan’s lawyer has claimed the Love Story star was hiding the drugs from his son.

Redmond also faces the felony possession count, as well as two additional misdemeanor counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and illegal possession of pepper spray.

[From E! Online]

As we mentioned in earlier coverage of this story, Ryan has four children by three different women and three out of four of his children have been arrested for drug-related offenses in the past three years. His daughter, actress Tatum O’Neal, 44, was busted trying to buy crack and cocaine in NY in July of this year. Ryan and his various wives and children have a long and checkered history of domestic problems and assaults. His current long term partner is actress Farrah Fawcett, who was home in bed at the time of the September arrests.

You wonder if Ryan is ever going to own up to possessing meth or if he’s going to keep trying to pin it on his troubled son. The two sure look upset in these photos and maybe this arrest has been a wake up call for them.

Ryan and Redmond O’Neal are shown at the Malibu Courthouse yesterday. Credit: Bauergriffinonline

Redmond O’Neal, son of Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett, has been sentenced to a court-ordered two-week rehab program as the result of a drug bust at the home he shares with his father in Los Angeles. Given the long history of drug abuse in this famous family, is two weeks really going to be enough?

What Redmond O’Neal called a “major misunderstanding” is starting to make a little more sense.

The 23-year-old son of Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett, who was arrested along with his dad last month on suspicion of methamphetamine possession, was ordered into a two-week treatment program Wednesday after admitting that he had relapsed.

“You’re a stand-up guy to come here and deal with your problem,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Millington told Redmond, who also checked into rehab in 2004 to treat a heroin addiction. “I want you to stay clean…You better stay clean or the hammer is going to fall.”

An attorney for the O’Neals didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

No criminal charges have been filed against either Redmond or his dad in connection with their Sept. 17 bust at the elder O’Neal’s Malibu home during a routine probation checkup. Officers allegedly found Redmond to be in possession of what looked like meth, as well as a small vial of the stuff in his father’s bedroom.

At the time of their arrest, Redmond was about two months into a three-year probation sentence for DUI and possessing heroin and crystal meth.

Ryan O’Neal has maintained his innocence in the affair, his lawyer telling reporters that his client would no doubt be vindicated.

“Those were not Ryan’s drugs, he doesn’t use drugs, and has nothing to do with them,” attorney Mark Werksman said. “It’s a dangerous assumption for deputies to have arrested Ryan just because he was in proximity to the drugs.”

[From E!Online]

It certainly would not be unreasonable to assume that Ryan O’Neal was in possession of drugs. The guy is a notorious substance abuser and has passed it on to his children, including adult daughter Tatum O’Neal, who ended up losing custody of her children over her heroin habit. I’d say the best chance young Redmond has of staying clean is to move out of his father’s home and stay in a place where the people around him won’t be enabling him. Two weeks in rehab is a joke.

Redmond O’Neal is shown outside the home he shares with his dad on 09/18/08. Credit: Fame Pictures

Ryan O’Neal, 67, and his son Redmond, 23, were both arrested and charged with drug possession last Wednesday after cops found crystal meth in both the father and son’s bedrooms during a routine sweep of the house. Redmond is on probation for another drug charge, which is why the police searched the Malibu home he shares with his father and his mother, actress Farrah Fawcett, who was said to have been home and sleeping at the time.

Ryan’s lawyer told the press that it was all a misunderstanding and that the drugs were in no way Ryan’s despite the fact that they were found in his room. An eyewitness quoted by the National Enquirer says otherwise. The person claims to have done drugs with both Redmond and his dad, and to know that Ryan also routinely hired hookers for his son. Ryan did have some standards, though – he told his son he could snort meth, but not smoke it. He also got his own dealer when he realized his son was hoarding drugs and keeping them from him.

The witness quoted by The Enquirer says that Ryan punched Redmond in the head right in front of him, and that he also gave him his credit card to hire hookers:

“I’ve known Redmond since seventh grade when we were doing a lot of cocaine and crystal meth…

“About four years ago, Redmond and I were doing crystal, and we took some up to his dad. Ryan scooped some up, crushed it into a line and snorted it…

“Ryan didn’t mind us snorting crystal – with or without him – but he warned us not to smoke it. He thought that was much worse, but we’d break up a sack of crystal and snort it and drink a beer with him, and then go downstairs to Redmond’s room and smoke and get high.”

For a while, O’Neal let his son – who’s been in rehab 12 times since the age of 13 – buy drugs for him from a dealer, explained the friend.

“Then Ryan found out Redmond was ‘shorting’ him – keeping some of the drugs for himself or stealing his money – and he got his own dealer,” confided the friend…

“Once I slept over, and Ryan was driving us to McDonald’s…

“Redmond had been snorting coke all night. He was in the passenger seat and he grabbed Ryan’s gym towel and blew his nose on it. It made a horrible mess.

“Ryan was furious! He punched Redmond in the head so hard that he flew up against the car window and started crying.”

O’Neal also encouraged the two pals to hire prostitutes for sex, claimed the friend.

“When I was over there once, Ryan gave Redmond his credit card and said, ‘Why don’t you guys get yourselves some girls?’” the friend divulged.

“We didn’t take him up on it, but recently Redmond has been using his father’s credit card to pay prostitutes $200 a time to come to the house.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, October 6, 2008]

That’s pretty despicable if it’s true and hopefully Ryan will get some sort of court-ordered treatment after this mess. His son is old enough to take responsibility for his actions, but it’s easy to see how he got so screwed up in the first place with a drug-addicted, abusive, enabling father.

Ryan O’Neal is shown on 9/20/08. Redmond O’Neal is shown on 9/20/08. Credit: Fame Pictures