Zac Efron: This Time, It's Personal.

Tuesday I found out that my #1 inappropriate crush, Zac Efron, spent some time in rehab earlier this year. While of course I was happy that he was able to not only admit that he had a problem but to successfully get help, when I found out yesterday just what his addiction was to, I wasn't so happy.

I'll give you a clue.

It ain't cola.

According to TMZ, my boy Zefron was quite the fan of not only cocaine, but "Molly" - a pure form of Ecstasy. He was reportedly into it so heavily that it affected his work on his last movie (with, ironically, Seth Rogen) and he apparently went on a rager with friends at the MGM Grand and did over $50K worth of damage to his room.

I totally bet Lamar Odom was there.

Zac, Zac, Zac.
Happy happy happy that you got help. That took intelligence and strength and bravery.
But dammit, dude. I'm disappointed.
And you know what else? I'm sick of it.
I'm sick of every celebrity doing coke or Molly or Miley or whatever (whoever?) the hell it is everyone's doing these days and thinking it's cool.  Celebrities these days seem to do drugs like I do Target - often and with joy and excess - and it's getting tiresome.

And before some of you get your panties in a bunch and let me have it, I know it's not only celebrities that have addiction problems and I know that addiction is a serious disease and I know that I cannot presume to understand it. But that shitsure doesn't mean I can't be disappointed and sick of it.

Because before it became a disease it was a choice. And maybe that's what I can't get past. I may be in danger of sounding like a good girl (which you know I am) but I just don't get it. I mean, I seem to manage just fine drowning my stress or celebrating my finer moments with a glass (or two) of wine or a pint of Ben & Jerry's or at worst, both of those things plus a Dirty Dancing marathon chased by some REO Speedwagon -- and I don't even make $5m a year. Maybe that's where (and why) I lose compassion.

Listen, I get that it must be terribly hard to be a celebrity; the harrowing pressures of losing your A-list status, being followed by rude and intrusive paparazzi in Whole Foods, the draining social calendar, all the god-damned designer clothes being thrown at you, but get over yourselves. You are not invincible. Drugs will not treat you with the same kid gloves as your handlers do. And also? Being in the industry - hell, being a regular 10 year old kid in 5th grade health class - you know that cocaine and (god forbid) pure Ecstasy will kill you, or at the very least make you the kind of ass-clown who does $50k of damage to a hotel suite.

I'm sick of being pressured to treat the news of celebrity addiction with compassion when being an addict to something (anything) these days is becoming as common and predictable as a Duggar pregnancy. I'm tired of being expected to forgive, because I honestly think that pressure is creating a society that doesn't feel the need to live up to any kind of a higher standard. If we react with anything other than understanding and forgiveness lately we get judged. But you know what? No matter how much I like looking at Zac Efron (shamefully), I'm not going to give him that. He knew better. Am I disappointed? Sure. But I don't feel sorry for him. The kinds of selfish and deplorable choices he made were (at one point) completely within his control. And while I'm certainly glad that he was able to eventually take responsibility, it doesn't, and shouldn't, minimize the fact that he made them, and I'm not going to apologize for my lack of compassion for that.

Enough is enough.

But I think we're all smart enough to know that for celebrities (and countless others) it won't ever be enough.

Who's next? I'm kind of scared to find out.

Looking very glassy-eyed a year and a half ago.
He's "The Lucky One" indeed.

Image source: WikiCommons

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