Jim Carrey has been sued for allegedly obtaining drugs under a false name for his ex-girlfriend, who died of an overdose last year.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Cathriona White’s husband, Mark Burton accused the actor of ‘using his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case deadly, controlled substances.’
The 30-year-old Irish-born makeup artist was found dead in her Los Angeles apartment in September 2015, in an apparent suicide.
In papers filed with Los Angeles superior court, Burton said Carrey provided the drugs for White despite knowing she was prone to depression, ‘ill-equipped’ to take them, and had previously tried to take her own life, the BBC reports.
The complaint states: “After her death, Mr Carrey took steps to conceal and obfuscate his involvement and culpability in Ms White’s untimely and tragic death.”
Carrey described the lawsuit as a ‘heartless attempt’ to exploit him and ‘the woman I loved’ in response.
He said in a statement:
What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man’s lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world.
I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved.
Cat’s troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyone’s control. I really hope someday soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace.
White had broken up with Carrey a week before her death and left a suicide note addressed to the actor saying she was ‘just not for this world’.
In the lawsuit, the complaint states the prescription drugs that caused White’s death were not prescribed to her and Carrey had obtained them under the fake name Arthur King.
According to a coroner’s report released in July, Carrey sent a text message to White a day before her body was found asking where his painkillers had gone from under his sink.
But Burton claims Carrey’s message was a ‘bogus text … in an effort to cover up his conduct and complicity in her death’ by ‘pretending as though he had misplaced the drugs and insinuating White may have taken them from Carrey without his knowledge’.
He added Carrey had an ‘obsession with controlling and manipulating’ White and used surveillance cameras at her home to monitor her.
The lawsuit – for violation of the drug dealer liability act and wrongful death – seeks reimbursement for funeral expenses, attorney fees and unspecified damages.
