US Weekly has a big article this week about Heather Locklear’s sad breakdown. I knew she was having serious substance abuse issues, but the details they gave really brought it home for me. Heather just turned 50 last year and recently split up with her fiancee, her former Melrose Place co-star Jack Wagner. She took it extremely hard and has been mixing booze with prescription drugs. We heard that she was hospitalized on January 12 with a potential overdose after she complained of stomach pains. Then the news came out that she’d had a fight with her ex Jack that had come to blows. (Heather hit him across the face, but it was supposedly in self defense when he lunged at her and tried to get her to stay. It’s hard to figure out exactly what happened.) Here’s US’ story, which just makes me feel sad for her more than anything. She’s a starlet who has taken aging and the loss of a once-hot career extremely hard. Heather has a fourteen year-old daughter with her ex, Richie Sambora, and due to Heather’s issues her daughter has been living with Richie.
It was never too early to drink for Heather Locklear. About twice a week, she would leave her house in Westlake Village, California, throw on a pair of dark sunglasses and head to her favorite watering hole along. “She come in around 10:30, 11, sit by the bar and have two or three vodkas on the rocks, easy,” an eyewitness tells Us. “She always seemed so sad and lost…”
“Heather has been a mess for the last several months,” says an insider. And her drinking only escalated after she and her beau of four years, Jack Wagner, split in November, calling off their three-month engagement. “She doesn’t get out of bed most days,” says the source. The situation was so dire, in fact, that her daughter, Ava, 14 has been living with her Bon Jovi rocker dad, Locklear’s ex-husband Richie Sambora. Now that Locklear is home from the hospital, says the source, “her family is terrified. They think she’ll hit rock bottom before she finally admits she needs serious help.”
[From US Weekly, print edition, January 30, 2012]
US goes on to remind us that Heather has been in rehab twice, in 2008 and 2010, and that she even secretly went to rehab in the past few months after she split with Jack. They quote an insider who says “Her drinking led to the demise of their relationship. [Jack] begged her to go to rehab. She entered a treatment program [after their split], which her family was able to keep quiet. But she didn’t take it seriously.”
As for Heather’s career, their insider says “She’s very Hollywood. It drove her crazy that she never hit another big moment after the 90s. She’s always been very emotional. When people saw her as washed up, that made her crazy.”
Heather has a lot of family and friends around her who are trying to get her into rehab, and I’m hoping they’re successful and that she can find some meaning in life. Her identity was so caught up in being a beautiful bitchy TV star that it seems like she’s never been able to move past that.
The article has an inset story about how Richie Sambora and Denise Richards have split up – yet again. They also claim that the fact that these two rekindled their relationship just led Heather to drink more. I’m thinking that US’ source is Denise Richards. She used to be best friends with Heather and was her neighbor for a while. Denise claimed that she was no longer friends with Heather – and that Heather and Richie were separated – when she first hooked up with Richie in 2006. She used to talk about it constantly.
Heather is shown with her daughter at the Breaking Dawn premiere on 11-14-11. Denise is shown on 1-17-12 at The Grove with Maria Menounos on “Extra!” She is promoting her new bag and shoe line. Credit: WENN and FameFlynet
I think Heather has been on a downward spiral for years. I feel really sad for her. She’s still a beautiful woman, and she still has value. Its very easy to feel broken in an industry that is so superficial. I hope Heather gets the help she needs. For herself, and for her daughter.
I seem to remember Heather was offered a role on Desperate Housewives and turned it down. It then went to Terry Hatcher and we all know the career boost it was for her. If my memory is correct, would it be surprising Heather’s downward spiral began with her regret at turning down a role which became so huge??
I wonder if that’s the job she turned down and instead took a bigger lead role in I think some airport TV show, something about an airport. It was cancelled into the first season rather quickly, I think.
I really hope she gets some help; she seems to have had such a rough time of it lately.
I just feel like shaking her….she needs a reality check for her daughter’s sake, if not her own. Go to rehab and take it seriously!!!
Its hard for women to age in Western society…our culture is obsessed with beauty and youth…older women are seen as redundant or at worst repulsive, when nothing could be further from the truth. If you live in Hollywood and work in an industry that values only youth and beauty to the exclusion of all else then it gets even more complicated. I feel for Heather I really do and in a small way, at 46 I can relate. I hope she gets well.
You said it!I also think it is because things have come very easily to her up until recently.You should see her Bio Channel profile.
I haven’t read the article yet, but just going off the headline, I’m gonna say her life sounds awesome.
Awesome? To me it sounds awful, losing your bf, aging and not finding work, having your kid live with your ex, and having a drinking/drug problem. But I think she can turn much of it around if she goes to rehab and takes it seriously. I wish her well, she’s got a tough situation currently.
I said just the headline. As in, I’d love to drink vodka and stay in bed all day.
It was a joke.
Zelda – I thought the same thing. Not seriously, of course. That kind of life would get depressing pretty fast, but for everyone who’s ever hit the snooze button repeatedly, sometimes a day of vodka and tv in bed sounds great.
All this meltdowns really surprised me. I never thought of her as an alcohol addict. Hope she gets some help!
Sounds like Heather is severely depressed. I suffer from depression myself and I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy.
BTW Denises’ shoe line look like hooker shoes.
No shock, seeing as how the Kardashians are associated with Shoedazzle.
More like Whoredazzle.
Yeah, and Denise looks like Rachel Zoe.
I really feel for her, depression is no joke.
Very sad. I hope she gets help. 🙁
I have never been in rehab and dont know anyone who has – so my question is this – what exactly do they do in rehab? Do they deal with the psychological issues/pressures that cause people to abuse alcohol and drugs?
It just seems to me that so many of these hollyweird peeps go into rehab, get out, return to rehab, get out, return, get out.
If the rehab isnt working, then go to a therapist and start dealing with the psychological issues/pressures – learn about yourself and why you do what you do.
It just seems to be a circle which is unsuccessful.
It is not uncommon for addicts to fail several times before finally getting sober. Many addicts have several trips to rehab before finally getting clean. This is just not a Hollywood thing.
I spent five months in rehab a decade ago. It really depends on what the rehab is like: the one I went to was pretty great with a rigorous program of therapy for a month, then a transition period of working and continuing therapy / 12-step programs. My cousin, on the other hand, went to a rehab center in California that was basically a spa with no real substance.
While it is true that a lot of addicts and alcoholics are in and out of rehab centers, I think the fact that most celebrities are surrounded by “yes-people” contributes to the failure rate. People are so anxious to be around celebrities, they’ll give the celebrity whatever they want, even when it’s bad for them.
She has been doing this for several years and just doesn’t address it. Jack must really have loved her to stay with her. He wad a big part on Bold And Beautiful. He still rocks the music. So he has lots of opportunity to date many women. I know her identity was really tied up into being a working actress. She was the go to gal for TV. To have it all dry up and hit 50 and menopause must have really exacerbated her depression and addictions.
I was going to make a joke about lying in bed drinking vodka sounding heavenly to me but after reading the story, I feel bad for her. I hope she gets her poop in a group.
cue the band…
“Just a little vodka,
Early in the mornin’
Beats a cup of coffee
For starting off the day
Just a little vodka
When the world is yawnin’
Makes you feel wake up feeling
Good things are coming your way
This old world
Wouldn’t be half as bad
It wouldn’t be half as sad
If each and everybody in it had, yeah
Just a little vodka
Early in the mornin’
That little extra somethin’
To kinda see them through
Nothing turns the day on
Really gets it dawnin’
Like a little bit of vodka
From some lovin’ someone like you
This old world
Wouldn’t be half as bad
It wouldn’t be half as sad
If each and everybody in it had
Just a little vodka
Early in the mornin’
(Just a little vodka)
(When the world is yawnin’)
Just a little bit of lovin’ ah
Oh, in the morning
Nothing turns the day on
Really gets it dawnin’
Make a little bit of lovin’
It’s so good, it’s so good”
[with an apologetic wink to Dusty Springfield; and Shelby Lynne’s version of it also awesome!]
mmmmm!
Poor thing that she has come to this. She is a beautiful, talented person. It’s sad to hear she supposedly feels “washed up” and cannot get out of bed. How can it get much worse than that?
I feel very sorry for her and wish her well but – what happened to her face?! Don’t tell me that’s aging…
Also, can’t stand Denise!
Plastic surgery and drinking…. alcohol can make you look really puffy and gross looking, see Christina, etc.
Whoa. I actually just saw an episode of Spin City and she looked great. Something is going on in the cheeks/lips/teeth/eyes area that is really disturbing.
I saw her interviewed some years ago, before she and Richie Sambora broke up, and she talked about how seriously she takes relationships, and how hard she worked to keep her marriage to Tommy Lee together. It devastated her when their marriage fell apart. Then she married Richie Sambora, had a child, all seemed fine until for whatever reason (coughcough*deniserichards*coughcough) it came to an end. That seems to be when the downward spiral started. She has always been one of the hardest working and most dependable actors in Hollywood so the break-up of her second marriage, coupled with the inevitable slow-down of her career as she neared middle-age, no doubt led to her current problems. She sounds like a really good person, but she’s lost her grounding and should really go into a lengthy period of therapy to deal with her demons. I wish her nothing but success.
I can relate! personally tho – I prefer white wine with breakfast (yum), the hard stuff is just toooo rough
and, she’s gorgeous!!!! i do’nt care what age she is
I feel for her daughter. But this is what happens when you place your self worth on the external and superficial.
I disagree , John. I don’t think her problems are because she relied on the external and superficial. You don’t have to be a beautiful Hollywood actress to get depressed over the loss of a relationship and a diminished career. Take away that she is Heather Locklear, and imagine she’s a middle aged woman from Ohio facing similar losses, and perhaps you’d have a more sympathetic perspective.
Anyway, I really don’t know why her career dried up. She’s a good t.v. actress. There are plenty of middle aged actors of her generation ( Julianna Margulies, Lea Thompson) who are on successful tv dramas today. I believe she’s someone audiences would still want to watch. I guess her personal life interfered with her career, which is often the case with depression and addiction.
I hope she learns to manage her depression, which may be biological, not just circumstantial. Self medicating with alcohol is not the answer, and I hope she seeks other productive means of managing her sadness.
My comments are based on the “insiders” assesment of why shes depressed. aging & looks? Please. There is so much someone in her position can do and acomplish to have a meaningful life
I really think her career dried up because she refused to play certain parts. Yes I’m talking about mom parts. She’s always played the hot young bitch on every series (with the exception of TJ Hooker and Spin City) so I’m guessing she’s still trying to get those parts. You can tell by the way she dresses. She doesn’t dress like a mature woman. No I’m not talking about her wearing granny clothes but age appropriate clothes ala Julianne Margulies works for her.
TMZ says that the L.A.P.D. has handed all the info over to the DA who is deciding if they will seek charges agains Heather for attacking Jack and him for retaliating.
It is reported that she did go to his house and hit him first, he was defending himself.
She really does look like a Lumbee, it’s weird that I never caught it before. She’s even got THE Lumbee last name! Either way, I wish her well, alcohol and drug addictions are rough. Yes that’s an understatement but I don’t know what else to say except I hope she gets better soon. Oh and I would love to stay in bed all day so I don’t see how THAT’S a problem!
what’s a lumbee?
A controversial group from near Pembroke, North Carolina, claiming to be American Indian — most of them just look black or white. They have been denied recognition by the federal government because they haven’t been able to produce evidence that they are Indian (i.e. there is no Lumbee language, dubious heritage, etc). Many of the Lumbee think that other well-known Indian groups (Cherokee, Iroquois, etc) are working against their recognition as they don’t want federal money spread across more groups.
“Locklear” is a very common Lumbee name.
I think awhile back I read her mother was related to Marla Maples or something like that. Her mother was from the South.
I have always like Heather Locklear. Being a huge Motley Crue fan, I only knew her as the really pretty woman married to Tommy Lee in the 80’s since I wasn’t reaally into any of her TV shows since I was just a kid. I feel bad that she just can’t get it together and I feel really bad that her daughter has to go through this. As the child of an alcoholic, I can say its tough. Hopefully, Heather soon sees the light and cleans up her act.
Hoping she continues to recover. I know that we will never probably know the full details around her private struggles, but in general that industry is absolutely brutal towards women; you would need to be super self-assured and without almost any insecurity in order for it to not affect you significantly in some way.
She looks awful in that top pic. What has she done to herself?? Sooo sad that Hollywood women think they need to butcher themselves to stay relevant. All that injecting, lifting, inserting (boobs) cannot be good for a body!
so sad. i really feel for her and her daughter. growing up with 2 parents who are addicts is no joke…i know from experience.
but, there is hope. long term recover can happen for the whole family.
Gettin’ older isn’t easy, especially when you’re drinking too much to go along with it.
i feel sorry for her. she needs to get it together, realize she has everything in the world she needs! who needs a man? stand up and be strong sister!
I hope Heather can get well. This story just makes me sad.
And folks, Don’t hate on Denise, she is very active with Kidney Cancer fundraising. I am a survivor, so I have a bigger soft spot for her now.
no WAY should people hate on Denise. Richie is/was a grown man responsible for his own marriage. You can’t STEAL someone’s husband. This was all Richie – if it wasn’t Denise, it would have been someone else. Love Denise and Love Heather. Hope Heather cleans up for HER KIDS, that is what is most important.
Denise didn’t break up their marriage. Heather left Richie when she caught him with inappropriate photos of his assistant. They were divorcing when Denise went out with him. The flack was about her going out with her friend’s soon to be ex. Denise said their friendship had already cooled off because Heather was mad she used Richie’s divorce lawyer.
Poor Heather. I hope she pulls out of this.
As for Denise, she’s a lying b*tch. Even if she had waited until Richie was divorce — and she didn’t! — it’s never a good idea to get involved with the ex of a friend. At least not if you value the friendship, which backstabbing Denise clearly didn’t.
I never would have considered her ‘washed up’, I thought she looks fuckin fabulous at 50 and has had a successful career that enabled her to retire for a while.
Good luck Heather, hope you find the will and determination you’re going to need.
I know to most, 50 sounds old but it is not in the scheme of things. One still has a lot of life left to live. Tough I am sure in this youth obsessed society and even more so in Hollywood. Sad part is she is missing out on her daughter growing up and those yrs. go fast. Get healthy Heather and love your kid. Not much more really matters.
She doesn’t look that bad.
Really.
If the stories coming about her boozing is true, that’s a pretty good face for a 50 yr old lush.
I don’t see much, if any, alcohol bloat, so there’s that. (She’s always had a bit of a round face and considering that she’s no longer as thin as during her MP days, I’d put that to fat rather than alkie bloat.)
Seriously, I thought she’d look a lot worse for wear, considering the stories. I’ve seen lushes in their 30’s who look absolutely terrible, with much more bloat than her–and she’s 50!. And bloat is one thing even money has hard time correcting. (Is there even a cosmetic treatment to deal with bloat wihout mangling up the face?!)
All of this stuff going on with Heather is just standard everyday stuff around my house. Nothing to look at … please keep moving … ha ha
So… you feel bad for Heather, but when Christina Aguilera drinks too much we should all just stone her to death?
Denise Richards claims that her and Heather were never very good friends at all>
Denise says a lot of things but this isn’t the only drama she’s been front and center of.
Hopefully Heather will get the help she needs.
she’s still a beautiful woman, she has a very young daughter, she really needs to get help and stay sober! sad really.
i think the reason Christina gets a lot of crap is because she is a divatastic monster, and Heather, on the other hand, has not behaved like a hooligan. her problems are more internal. alcoholism/addiction is a very serious disease, and i feel badly for all who suffer. my understanding is, at the core, there is both a genetic disposition (family history) and a huge loss at (usually) an early age. the black hole seems to get filled up by the substance or object of obsession. depression/anxiety/ptsd all go along with the addictive cycle. i am so sorry for heather, but i am even sorrier for her daughter, and for Christina’s kid. anyone growing up with an addict suffers immensely. the patterns imprint on the kids, and the cycle continues until SOMEONE decides to do it differently. much love to all…
Heather needs to channel her energies into something that will keep her mind off of her fears. She needs to find something she loves (clothes, shoes, bags, cosmetics, creams, etc.,) and emerge herself in it. Susanne Sommers, Christie Brinkley, Marie Osmond has done it. She can also dedicate herself to “pay it forward” by visiting countries dealing with poverty, lack of education, etc.. and fight for their cause by getting personaly involved much like Angelina Jolie has done. This will bring the light back on her in a positive way and will leave a great legacy. She must look forward, leave her past behind and concentrate of being an international role model and mother.