Pubdate: Wed, 06 Dec 2000
Source: Village Voice (NY)
Copyright: 2000 VV Publishing Corporation
Contact:  36 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003
Feedback: http://www.villagevoice.com/aboutus/contact.shtml
Website: http://www.villagevoice.com/
Author: Coco McPherson

LAW-BREAKING CELEBRITIES LIKE ROBERT DOWNEY JR. ARE IN THE NEWS AGAIN

Interested? Stars and Bars

Michael Anthony
Age 37
Resides Bronx
Occupation Artist

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I know about Robert 
Downey and Darryl Strawberry, because we all live vicariously through 
celebrities. On a broader level, drugs are being used to scapegoat 
people and to create a class of bogeymen. Instead of being focused on 
treatment, we put certain people in jail. It serves some kind of 
purpose.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? Cigarettes. I 
kicked them, but obviously I'm smoking again.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? Teddy Pendergrass and the 
drag queen. Eddie Murphy and the drag queen who mysteriously "jumped 
out the window" and died after saying she was going to write a book 
about her experiences with Eddie.

David Jackson
Age over 18
Resides Pine Plains
New York Occupation Substance abuse counselor

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I'm aware of 
celebrities because of the news and because 20 years ago, I made some 
of the best meth on the West Coast. You did that and a little grass, 
and it would really take the edge off. This was before I became a 
drug counselor and an ordained minister. We're currently trying to 
overturn the bill passed in 1995 that stressed prison terms over 
rehabilitation.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? China White 
heroin. I was in the army, and the U.S. government supplied me with 
all the heroin I needed.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? Nixon's famous declaration 
that there were no American prisoners of war left in Cambodia and 
Laos.

Amanda Yonker
Age 21
Resides Manhattan
Occupation Student

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I buy People magazine 
sometimes, and relish the misfortunes of others, just like everyone 
else. It's sad, because we criticize the press, and yet we buy right 
into what they're selling.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? Smoking. I started 
when I lived with someone who smoked. I've never been able to kick it.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? The Clinton marriage. All 
those pictures of Bill and Hillary at the beach. This was when the 
Monica scandal was starting to brew. Then his bombing of the Sudan 
and his search for "terrorists" to cover it up.

Harun Jordan
Age 20
Resides Manhattan
Occupation Dancer

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I buy People and watch 
Entertainment Tonight once in a while. If people pretend they don't 
care, it's because it conflicts with their image of the celebrity 
involved. Eddie Murphy's arrest, for instance, challenged the black 
community's beliefs about heterosexuality and African American 
masculinity.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? Smoking. I can't 
quit because I'm too mean when I don't smoke.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? The election. Whose brother 
is the governor of Florida?

Lesia Pupshaw Age 18 Resides Manhattan Occupation Interior designer

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I get the news whether 
I want it or not, because I constantly listen to the radio.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? Heroin. I've been 
clean for nine months.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? Pee-wee Herman's arrest.

Alphonso McGriff Age 40 Resides Connecticut Occupation Hair stylist

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I know about them 
because I don't have a choice.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? I never smoked or 
drank or got high, but I am trying to work out why I can't be with 
just one woman.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? This election.

Christian Czyz
Age 44
Resides Manhattan
Occupation Medical consultant

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? Like everyone else, I 
read the paper and watch TV. The news is based on one of five or six 
things: tragedy, obesity, marital disharmony, some guy frozen in ice 
in Times Square, and a couple of other conditions.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? I tried everything 
once, but I never became addicted.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? It would be a tie between 
what's going on right now in the presidential election, which 
represents all kinds of millennium shit, and Clinton's lying to the 
grand jury about Monica Lewinsky.

Tell us what you think.  ---
MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer