Jim Carrey sued for wrongful death by late girlfriend's estranged husband
WENN.COM
First posted:
| Updated:
This file photo taken on November 20, 2014 shows US actor Jim Carrey poses for photographers at a photocall for the film "Dumb and Dumber To" in London. Veteran comic actor Jim Carrey was sued September 91, 2016 for allegedly procuring drugs under a bogus name for his ex-girlfriend who died of an overdose last year and then trying to hide his involvement. According to the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Mark Burton, the estranged husband of Carrey's former girlfriend Cathriona White, the actor "used his immense wealth and celebrity status" to obtain opioids for White. JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images
Jim Carrey is facing a wrongful death lawsuit from the estranged husband of his late ex-girlfriend Cathriona White, days before the first anniversary of her suicide.
The Irish-born make-up artist took her own life at her Sherman Oaks, California home with a cocktail of prescription drugs in September, 2015, days after she and Carrey reportedly ended their relationship for a second time.
Authorities discovered four different types of powerful medication by her body, as well as a note addressed to the actor, which read: “I’ve spent three days now in disbelief that you’re not here. I can go on brokenhearted and try to put the pieces back. I could, I just don’t have the will this time. I’m sorry you felt I wasn’t there for you. I tried to give you my best part... Please forgive me. I’m just not for this world.”
The Mask star, who dated White on and off since 2012, was left devastated by her death, but the 30-year-old’s estranged husband, Mark Burton, believes Carrey, 54, should be held responsible for the tragedy.
In legal papers filed in Los Angeles on Monday, Burton alleges the actor provided White with the pills she overdosed on, despite being aware she was “ill equipped to ingest and manage highly addictive prescription drugs outside the care of a licensed physician” and that she was “prone to depression”.
Burton accuses Carrey of breaking California law by obtaining the drugs under another name, using Arthur King to hide his real identity.
The suit states: “This is a case about Jim Carrey using his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case, deadly, controlled substances.”
Burton goes on to claim Carrey attempted to “cover-up his conduct and complicity in her death” three days after his ex’s suicide by sending a “bogus text message” saying he had “misplaced” the medication and suggesting White had snagged them without his knowledge.
Representatives for Carrey have yet to comment on the lawsuit, in which Burton is seeking unspecified damages and legal fees.
Burton, a resident of Portland, Oregon, is also asking for Carrey to pay for Cathriona’s funeral expenses, amid claims the comedian had reneged on an earlier offer to cover the burial costs.
Carrey served as a pallbearer at White’s funeral in her native Tipperary, Ireland on 10 October, 2015.
An autopsy report released by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office revealed White had traces of drugs including anti-nausea medication Zofran, beta blocker Propranol, painkiller Percocet and sleep-aid Ambien in her system at the time of her death.