Following a panicked 911 call for paramedics to attend to a 49-year-old woman - who turned out to be Demi Moore - suffering from convulsions and seizures after she "smoked something" according to her friends, the world got a shocking glimpse into the dark, sordid life the millionaire actress has been living since her split from husband number three, Ashton Kutcher.
Having recently exhibited behaviour that would appear shocking in a woman half her age, Demi had been hitting the LA party circuit with her 23-year-old daughter, Rumer, and apparently indulging in drugs a source derided as "what teenagers take for cheap thrills", as well as refusing to eat and consuming can after can of caffeine-heavy Red Bull. And sources have since come forward to insist that the G.I. Jane star had recently added Adderall into the mix, a drug used to treat ADHD, but which celebrities have welcomed into their prescription drugs arsenal thanks to its appetite-suppressing side effects.
Scene delves into what led Demi to go so wildly off the rails, and reveals whether Ashton's departure is behind the self-destructive pattern, or whether it was her secret life that drove him into other women's arms…
What was she on?
With the 911 callers all admitting that Demi had started convulsing after having "smoked" a substance, one female on the line told the dispatcher, "It's not marijuana. It's similar to incense", revealing that the drug had sent the mother-of-three into "convulsions," a semi-conscious state and that she was "burning up."
And Hollywood-watchers began to piece together what it was the actress took, with most agreeing that it wasa synthetic cannabis known as ‘K2,' ‘Spice' or ‘herbal incense'.
"It's a relaxed high. People who aren't used to it can feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. Others feel relaxed physically," Dr John Sharp, MD, faculty member of Harvard Medical School told Us. With Dr David Sack, MD, CEO of Promises addiction treatment centre in Malibu, adding, "We see a lot of emergency room visits related to ‘Spice' because people start to feel unreal or they hallucinate, or they are very sedated so they become frightened and they have panic attacks."
Also said to have inhaled nitrous oxide - known as ‘Whip-it' - one source insisted, "Whip-it is not a common drug among people of Demi's age and social status. It's typically used by younger people who are looking for a cheap thrill."
And Demi's reaction to the drug is said to have been exacerbated by a lack of food and consumption of Adderall, with an insider spilling, "Demi has been taking Adderall and drinking energy drinks and starving herself and those are some of the serious causes that led her to collapse on Monday night. The pills and starvation destroyed Demi and this has been a problem for about a year." Adding, "She's constantly jacked up on Adderall and combining that with not eating accounts for her loopy behaviour and anorexic body frame. She literally refuses to eat any food."
Behaving like a teenager
With the phone passed between three different people during the 911 call which saw Demi rushed to hospital, the ‘friends' didn't know Demi's age, nor her address when speaking to the ambulance dispatcher - tellingly revealing that the actress appears to be hanging out with a crew of hangers-on who know little about her.
And reports have emerged that the actress was spotted out partying in LA at celeb-fave haunt, Beacher's Madhouse, with daughter Rumer, and Rumer's friends, just weeks before her hospitalisation.
"When she first arrived, she kept to herself... but she started loosening up and getting into party mode," spilled a party-goer, adding that Demi knocked back around 12 cans of Red Bull during the night. "She seemed really happy to be out with her daughter's friends."
And Demi also spent the night eyeing up another toyboy, Rumer's House Bunny co-star, 90210 actor, Ryan Rottman, 27. "She found ways to touch him all night, and at one point when he was in front of her, she was grinding [up against him]," spilled an onlooker. "His shirt came unbuttoned, and she started tickling his bare chest playfully."
Is Ashton vindicated?
After a friend of the New Year's Eve star said that although Ashton was "deeply concerned" about his ex-wife and "still cares about her" but "their marriage is ending and they are both moving on with their lives", the star was slammed for his apparent coldness, until other sources stepped forward to reveal that the actress's troubles had begun long before they wed.
Demi went through a highly publicised trip to rehab back in the 80s, when her St Elmo's Fire director, Joel Schumacher, ordered her to get help or be kicked off the set; and entering rehab for drug and alcohol abuse, the actress managed to kick her addiction to alcohol, instead replacing it with caffeine-packed energy drinks. But sources claim that the actress increasingly turned to prescription drugs in recent years - something her husband of six years, Ashton, struggled to deal with.
"Ashton and Demi both like to party, but she tends to wear it all over her. She can talk too much, get verbally abusive and weigh on your nerves," revealed a friend of the pair, last year. Adding that the Two And A Half Men actor was "embarrassed" when Demi famously got on stage and danced during a Snoop Dogg concert in Las Vegas back in August 2010. Watch it here
"[The prescription drugs] were a sticking point for Ashton," spilled a pal. "He wanted her to take care of herself and get a hold of things, and she wouldn't."
"Ashton has no excuses about his alleged infidelities," insisted a Hollywood-watcher. "But if Demi's behaviour is indicative of what he had to endure throughout their relationship, there are going to be people who will see his actions as those of a man at the end of his tether."
But despite most industry insiders agreeing that Demi's marriage ending was a major catalyst in her behaviour, one pal insisted, "This is not just about Ashton. I'm sure Ashton would like to think it's all about him."
Should we sympathise?
With her rep having cited the fooling-no-one excuse of "exhaustion" for Demi choosing to "seek professional assistance to… improve her overall health", friends have come forward to insist that the 49-yerar-old actress deserves our sympathy because of the "struggle" the millionaire actress faces in Hollywood.
"What she's going through now is not just things not working out with Ashton. It's really more about the toll it takes on an ambitious woman in this town," said one. "Meaning constantly having to prove you're not just a pretty face, but a talented actor, as well. Constantly having to prove you're a good mother, not just a celebutante around town who goes to parties instead of looking after her family. Having to stay sober in a town that's so not. Demi's had a fight in her for many years, before Ashton ever came along."
Whilst another blamed that Tinseltown symptom of pride for the star's downfall - "Demi has had too much pride to come clean about her issues. She wouldn't allow people to talk to her about them."
"She's obviously struggling with some serious emotional issues. Her husband was a disappointment. She's approaching 50, a member of a social order that values youth and the superficial, torn between paying lip service to ‘inner beauty' and yet incapable of submitting to the standards of a shallow industry," said Etalk's Elaine Lui. "And she exists in a reality that's so fragile, supported by fakery and pretension, it cannot support itself when things do go wrong. I do feel bad for her about this. I do." Adding, "But still I am having a hard time suppressing the schadenfreude in favour of sympathy. Didn't [Demi] invite [us] inside when [she] gratuitously tweeted shots of [her][ tight body? Didn't [she] move from Hailey, Idaho, where [she] spent several years away from the glare of the business, taking pleasure in obscurity, only to eagerly return to the cesspool of fame? We are increasingly demanding honesty from our celebrities. I wonder though if it's unreasonable to withhold compassion until that honesty is forthcoming." (Gemma White)
