Don't Confuse Casey Johnson With Some Other Over-Indulged Heiress
It's easy to categorize the death of Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson as another privileged girl who sought fame but was swallowed in the process. But this would miss obvious evidence that she was a relatively normal girl thrust into the spotlight by birth, who showed tell-tale signs of mental illness. Her wealth and title only ensured her troubles played out in a bizarre public setting.
In the end, there was no glamour. She died penniless, having been cut off by her parents who were desperately trying to force her to seek help. One can only imagine their horror as they watched their daughter be preyed on by vampires such as Tila Tequila who sought to shamelessly exploit Casey's vulnerable state for personal gain (and continues to do so on twitter). For people like Tila, Casey's death is simply a PR event, one where the biggest question is what to tweet next. Mind you, although Tequila was Casey's self-professed fiancee, she hadn't seen Casey for five days prior to her passing.
Unfortunately, this distasteful sideshow, along with Casey's name brand heiress status eclipses the unglamorous reality of girl who clearly couldn't sort herself out health-wise, and sought refuge in increasingly destructive and public manners. By several accounts, she didn't seem to care all that much about money or fame, and even turned down a role on The Simple Life which propelled Nicole Richie along with Paris Hilton into celebutante stardom.
Perhaps if money was her driving force, she would have done her best seek treatment, even if halfheartedly to turn back on the money spicket and position herself for some sort of career. But she didn't. Or perhaps she would have sought treatment so she could have regained custody and care of her adopted daughter. But she didn't. Why not? Perhaps because those who are mentally ill are unable to reason rationally.
What everyone will see is the red carpet pictures, the beautiful dresses, the shots with childhood friends Nikki and Paris Hilton, and the "crazy" sideshows, but what they won't see is the inner turmoil that this girl dealt with which included being diagnosed with diabetes at an early age. They probably won't cut through the social facade or block out all the buzzwords such as "socialite" and "heiress" that her life invoked. They no doubt will read the inevitable society piece covering her "charmed" life in Vanity Fair, but alas they most likely loose sight of the fact that her undoing was not some over-indulged death spiral, but rather untreated health issues.
Cynics will say, so what? Many people deal with these ailments and don't have a fraction of the padding of wealth and means. But this would miss the point entirely. Her wealth could do nothing to improve her quality of life or protect her well-being. It was and is irrelevant. She had to make a choice to seek help, and she was unable or unwilling to do so. It's easy to see how meaningless material things are to someone dying of cancer, but much harder to grasp this concept when it involves an intangible disease like mental illness.
What is certain is that she will inevitably be overshadowed by her death and the circus that preceded it. Friends and family will have to endure seeing who they know being depicted as who the media wants to see. Was she a nice person? Was she a good person? You'd have to ask her family or one of her friends. But perhaps avoid asking one of the Hilton sisters, try asking a grade school teacher.
Vassili Verrecchia Shows Off His Favorite Things In His Paris Home
While his brother, Timothee, runs the NYC office, Vassili takes on the Paris-based side of things. To gain some insight to what inspires such a creative and entrepreneurial spirit, we asked Vass to show off some of his favorite worldly and sentimental possessions in his Paris home. See where Vass's travels have taken him...
about 6 hours ago
about 8 hours ago
about 16 hours ago
02:56:54 PM May 21, 2012
02:35:16 PM May 21, 2012
11:01:39 AM May 18, 2012
09:45:07 AM May 18, 2012
UpperEastSideBlonde
January 6, 2010
8:21pm
its "spigot" you moron -- not a "money spicket" LOL. God what is happening to our country
UpperEastSideBlonde
January 6, 2010
8:28pm
ouch---this writing is painful. "...fraction of the padding of wealth and means." This phrase is just a hot mess. "What is certain is she will be overshadowed by her death"===um, yes, I do think that one's death DOES have a tendency to overshadow life as it effectively ends life, no?? my suggestion: skip the flowery long sentences and mashed up metaphors and stick to simple clean English
Stanely Stuyvesant
January 6, 2010
8:32pm
@UpperEastSideBlonde: whoops, I guess you have never made a typo before! Shame on me ;-)
Stanely Stuyvesant
January 6, 2010
8:39pm
@UpperEastSideBlonde: If you think death in general overshadows life, you are sorely mistaken. What a sad and sorry viewpoint. Your logic that death necessarily overshadows life because it marks its end is hollow at best. Have you ever heard of a "legacy"? One's "life work"? Sure, in the case of someone like JFK it factors in heavily, but for many it is their life and work that is remembered. I'm sure the most salient point re: Beethoven is how he passed away. You know how he died right? No you don't, but you've probably heard his 9th Symphony.
downtowner
January 6, 2010
8:46pm
Casey Johnson became ill in a way in which modern science cannot fully comprehend yet. Some people get cancer or break and arm and we can point to it. This we can not. No social or demographic group is immune. This should be the centerpiece of this tragedy, not class, money or upbringing which are simply red herrings.
Patrice
January 6, 2010
8:49pm
You hit my sentiments on Casey head on, Stanley. Most of the "party girls" invoke disgust. She however genuinely made me feel sad for her. She just radiated not being well the past year.
SF Social
January 6, 2010
11:07pm
Thank you Stanley for putting the UpperEastSideBlonde in her place! How stupid to think a person's death always overshadows their life! You don't even have to look to historical people to figure that out. If you've ever lost a loved one, is it not the memories you've shared that you hold on to and not their final moments?
tuktuk
January 7, 2010
12:53am
UpperEastSideBlonde: "Spicket" for "spigot" is a stupid spelling error, but what about the following sentence -- "They no doubt will read the inevitable society piece covering her "charmed" life in Vanity Fair, but alas they most likely loose sight of the fact that her undoing was not some over-indulged death spiral, but rather untreated health issues." Aside from using the word "but" two times in the same sentence, this moron writes how people will "loose sight" instead of "lose sight." Hahaha. What an uneducated cretin! He makes Tila Tequila's tweets sound like Ernest Hemingway. Even better, the masthead lists him as "Stanley" but his own byline reads "Stanely" How about "INSANELY"?
RaeberD
January 7, 2010
6:37am
It is not surprising. Though it seems she had access to the kind of fast cash Croesus would dream of, and some people have done an incredible amount with hardly anything, even with all that privilege she was amounting to nothing. The world, sadly, will never know. Casey Johnson was about to be married to Tila Tequila. As a lesson, we should live our lives for a purpose.
AbbyNormal
January 7, 2010
7:23am
So the writer has imperfect grammar and spelling. You miss the point that wealth (if she had sought treatment she would have regained access to her trust fund) cannot solve life's problems, in particular mental illness and substance abuse.
justagirl
January 7, 2010
7:51am
I liked the article. And to UpperEastSideBlonde if you want to correct someone's grammer then stop using "LOL" that is about the dumbest thing I have ever seen. It should only be used by teenagers. Not grown adults. On the subject of Ms. Johnson, I completly agree with the writer about Tila Tequila. How in the world can you be engaged to someone and not freak out if you have'nt seen or heard from her in 5 days??? If I had'nt heard from my boyfriend in one day I would be beating down his door to make sure he was okay. Money grubber is what she is.
snuffmonkey
January 7, 2010
11:56am
@UpperEastSideBlonde: You missed the forest for the trees. I suggest you stick to Dorrian's and Lily Pulitzer and stop trying to call the Grammar Police on Stanley.
chigirl
January 7, 2010
4:17pm
So what that the writer can't put a proper sentence into words? Poor grammar AND spelling?? This person is getting PAID for this crap?? How can you make something you utterly suck at your career? The run-on sentences are unnerving. In second grade I was writing better than this: "..she would have done her best seek treatment.." I guess no one over there has ever heard of spell-check nor do they proofread anything. And ending it: "But perhaps avoid asking one of the Hilton sisters, try asking a grade school teacher." That's the shittiest end to an article I've ever seen. Even a semicolon wouldn't have helped much! Ugh. Disgust!
LOL
January 8, 2010
6:04pm
Somebody needs an editor. And exactly what was the point of this article? Mentally ill people often can't make proper life choices? Ground breaking!