  Singer Mariah Carey’s drunken acceptance speech at last month’s Palm Springs film festival is one for the books. (QMI Agency File Photo) |
HOLLYWOOD — We may be five weeks into the new decade, but it seems as if a notable number of celebs haven’t stopped toasting the new year.
You’ve no doubt heard about Rip Torn’s recent little incident — where he was found barefoot and armed with a loaded handgun after having broken into a Connecticut bank.
Apparently, he was so intoxicated at the time he thought he was actually in his own home.
While the occurrence has inspired no shortage of jokes, late night and otherwise, the truth is Torn’s latest brush with the law follows numerous DUI charges over the past several years.
But Rip hasn’t been the only one ringing in the new year, ripped.
Those who attended last month’s Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala were taken aback when Mariah Carey staggered up to the stage to accept the Breakthrough Performance Award for her daring turn as a drab social worker in Precious.
It quickly became apparent she had neither her shoes nor her restrictive clothing to blame for her compromised motor abilities.
Slurring her way through her scattered acceptance speech, even she at one point acknowledged the problem, announcing, “Please forgive me, because I’m a little bit … uh … yeah.”
A few days later it was Golden Globes emcee Ricky Gervais’ turn to, to quote Jamie Foxx, blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.
Caught by the cameras hoisting a bubbly golden elixir, Gervais quipped, “Honestly, I like a drink as much as the next man — unless the next man is Mel Gibson.”
Presenter Gibson was a good sport about the dig, even feigning being tipsy, and the off-the-cuff remark gave Gervais one of his biggest laughs of the evening.
But nobody was giggling about a week later in a screening room on the Warner Bros. lot where a preview of Gibson’s new movie, Edge of Darkness, was being held.
Shot during the fall of 2008, it was Gibson’s first movie appearance since his well-documented 2006 drunk driving conviction, and when he initially shows up on screen you could actually hear the gasps from the audience.
Those years of unsuccessfully battling the bottle had visibly taken their toll on a face that was alarmingly ravaged with deep, craggy wrinkles that made the former heartthrob look decades older than his 54 years.
As to whether Gibson has been able to keep his demons in check, the bigger issue is, has Hollywood taken a cue from his issues or is it, based on the past few weeks, in the midst of budding boozing epidemic?
Could the current stigma attached to prescription drug abuse be causing addictive types to hit the bigger bottles, figuring that, as long as they don’t get behind the wheel, there’s something amusing and charmingly old Hollywood about being a lush?
We hope not.
It is, after all, awards season, during which the spotlight extra tends to shine extra brightly on some of those who aren’t comfortable just being themselves while making acceptance speeches.
And maybe Rip and Mariah are just isolated incidents in a year otherwise certain to be filled with good behaviour and clean living.
Then again, British bad boy comic Russell Brand is about to start filming that Arthur remake…
