Former Child Stars Who Went Off The Deep End

Although it might seem like a dream come true to be successful in show business before you're
even fully potty-trained, the truth is, many child stars have a very hard time adjusting
to life inside and outside of the spotlight.
Being the family breadwinner while you're in grade school can put a lot of pressure
on a person.
For these former child stars, growing up has been especially hard to do.
Corey Feldman
Thanks to his prolific presence in over 100 commercials, Corey Feldman was famous when
he was still a toddler and earned starring leading roles in shows like The Bad News Bears
and movies like The Goonies shortly thereafter.
Despite how beloved he was for his on-screen work, though, his life behind the scenes was
falling apart early on.
Feldman has since revealed that he was abused by his absentee father's personal assistant.
Meanwhile, he has also alleged that his mother was abusive, so it wasn't just the unusual
workload on his then-tiny shoulders that made his life miserable.
"This was my dream, my wish."
Feldman says that his need to numb the pain led him to try marijuana and alcohol for the
first time on the set of Stand By Me.
That brush with substance use would mark the start of a very long battle with addiction.
He was emancipated from his folks at 15, but they'd already squandered most of his earnings
by then.
And while he tried to continue carving out a career afterwards, with films like The Lost
Boys, his cocaine use earned him some time behind bars and a trip to rehab.
He's since sworn off drugs, but his attempts to rekindle his career so far haven't worked.
Lindsay Lohan
Nicknamed LiLo by her large fanbase, Lindsay Lohan rose to fame through Disney's remake
of The Parent Trap and became one of the biggest stars on the planet through her lead role
in Mean Girls.
Unfortunately, her downfall was as whirlwind and documented as her rise to fame.
In 2005, signs of trouble began emerging when she was hospitalized for exhaustion and asked
to curb her partying.
By 2007, she replaced her headshot with a rap sheet after being arrested for dual DUIs
and sentenced to probation, with about an hour and a half of jail time thrown on top
of what would otherwise be a slap on the wrist.
The punishment wasn't enough for Lohan to change her ways, though, because she found
herself back in the courtroom in 2010 after violating parole and spent two weeks behind
bars for her mistake.
She went to rehab immediately after release, but even that couldn't convince her to shape
up.
She's since faced various criminal charges and has suffered a host of financial setbacks.
As if her legal dramas weren't enough, Lohan has also brought some very negative attention
to herself by publicizing an actual list of her former celebrity lovers, opening the whole
world up to her private life once and for all.
It doesn't help, of course, that her parents Dina and Michael have made an absolute mockery
of themselves, and her, on the airwaves.
Meanwhile, Lohan's notorious diva antics have made it difficult for her to cash in on a
comeback.
Macaulay Culkin
In the late '80s, Macaulay Culkin was one of the most famous faces in the industry.
Thanks to his leading roles in films like Home Alone, My Girl, and Richie Rich, the
kid was a very sturdy anchor for family films -- even including darker ones, like The Good
Son.
But it all changed when puberty hit and Culkin decided to step away from the spotlight and
the family that was thrusting him so far into it.
He retired from acting at age 14 and got married at 18.
Instead of disappearing from headlines, though, he started making them for different reasons
altogether.
At age 24, Culkin was arrested when police busted him with marijuana and prescription
pills he'd obtained illegally.
Speculation ran rampant, based on his increasingly frail appearance, that he'd become hooked
on even harder stuff somewhere along the way, but he vehemently denied the supposed heroin
use.
He's since kept a low profile but has emerged from his hideaway a few times to participate
in a few zany screen projects and play with his band, The Pizza Underground.
"Never marry your childhood sweetheart."
But his days as the smart little scamp who could pull a fast one on some seasoned burglars
have long since ended.
Amanda Bynes
The decline of Amanda Bynes happened so fast that she became unrecognizable almost overnight.
In September 2012, after a series of minor accidents and an alleged DUI, the former Nickelodeon
star lost her driver's license, though that was reportedly due to unpaid tickets and fines.
After that, her behavior grew even more bizarre.
Bynes' Twitter rants became the stuff of legends, and she revealed she had severe body image
issues.
In May 2013, she was arrested for allegedly throwing a bong out the window of her New
York apartment.
Two months later, she was placed under psychiatric hold after she allegedly set fire to a neighbor's
driveway and nearly injured a dog in the process.
She spent nearly six months in residential treatment afterwards and largely disappeared.
In recent months, however, things have started looking up for Bynes.
She enrolled in school and took leave of social media.
In 2017, she revealed that she'd sobered up and spent her downtime helping out with local
charities.
She also mentioned an interest in reviving her screen career…
"I do miss acting and I actually have something surprising to tell you.
I'm going to start acting again."
... so there's still a chance that she could bounce back from a bad few years after all.
Dustin Diamond
Saved by the Bell star Dustin Diamond may have played the harmless nerd on the show
and its various spin-offs, but that wholesome image has since been vanquished thanks to
his off-screen antics.
Not only did he go onto forge a career in pornography and make a slew of new enemies
during his reality television adventures, but he also got into some serious trouble
in 2014 after being arrested for stabbing a man during a bar fight.
He alleged that he was merely protecting his girlfriend when the incident occurred, but
he was still sentenced to four months in jail for the incident and released early on good
behavior.
"Zoinks!"
Unfortunately, that good behavior didn't last long because in 2016, he was again arrested
after testing positive for Oxycodone and thus violating his probation.
He's also been slapped with a hefty bill for unpaid taxes and drew the ire of his former
Saved by the Bell co-stars for his damning descriptions of the group in his tell-all
book, Behind the Bell.
He's since apologized to the Bayside bunch, but since he's been noticeably absent from
some of their mini-reunions, it's clear that Screech is on the outs for good now.
Jodie Sweetin
Full House star Jodie Sweetin has openly admitted to having a tough time growing up in front
of, and then away from the cameras.
After her long-lived family dramedy series came to an end, Sweetin turned to substance
abuse as a means of coping with the sudden lack of success.
In her 2009 memoir, Unsweetined, she admitted to using methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy,
and alcohol and even said she was using those substances while giving speaking tours on
sobriety.
Sweetin went on to marry three times, become a mom to two daughters, and get clean.
In 2016, she reprised her role as Stephanie Tanner on the Fuller House reboot and got
engaged to her fourth husband-to-be, Justin Hodak, but her personal troubles weren't done
just yet.
Sweetin had to get a restraining order against Hodak after he threatened to harm himself
in front of her, and, after he violated the terms of that court order by showing up to
the house she and her daughters shared, he was again arrested and sentenced to six years
in jail.
Now that her engagement is officially off, but the spin-off if still on, it looks like
things are finally calming down for Sweetin … for now, at least.
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Former Child Stars Who Went Off The Deep End

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