Oscar-nominated actor and Ally McBeal star Robert Downey Jr has voluntarily checked himself into rehab after being arrested early Tuesday morning on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs. Just hours after the news broke, Ally producer David E Kelley announced Downey had been fired from the hit show, for which he recently won a Golden Globe award.
Downey was walking alone in Culver City near southwest Los Angeles shortly after midnight. “One of our patrol officers observed him and began an investigation after seeing him in an alley,” a police lieutenant said in a statement. “During the investigation, the officer determined that Downey was showing symptoms of being under the influence of a controlled substance.”
The 36-year-old actor was taken into custody and released several hours later to his parole officer. Downey will spend a minimum of 72 hours in a detoxification centre before checking into a live-in drug treatment home for at least six months.
Downey is due in court on Monday for a pre-trial hearing stemming from a November 2000 arrest at a Palm Springs resort. Lawyers for the troubled star are challenging the legality of the hotel-room search in which police allegedly found both cocaine and Valium. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.
The Chaplin star served one year of a three-year sentence after violating his probation by missing scheduled drug tests. He was released in August 2000 and one week later signed for a guest spot on Ally. So far there has been no word on how producers plan to deal with Downey’s sudden disappearance. “We are wrapping up the stories in the final few episodes of Ally McBeal for the season without him,” said the Emmy-award winning producer Kelley.
Downey’s drug dependency first emerged in 1996 when police found cocaine in his car after pulling him over for speeding.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
