Filthy rich superstars whose silver spoon kids spun off the rails into drug addiction

They enjoy celebrity status, luxurious lifestyles and massive wealth – but having a famous mother or father does not guarantee happiness.

While their parents may have had to work hard for their success or money, that’s not always the case for their children who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

Despite never having to worry about money and the mere mention of their celebrity connections opening doors for them, having a famous mum or dad sometimes isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

READ MORE: Katie Price says drink-drive crash was suicide attempt as exes ‘pushed her over the edge’

These kids who have superstar parents all went off the rails in spectacular fashion after developing crippling addictions to hard drugs.

Marco Pierre White Junior

Sharing a name with his celebrity chef dad didn’t help the drug addict son of Marco Pierre White as he’s currently serving a prison sentence imposed in August 2022.

Marco Pierre White Junior, 27, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to 18 months for 14 offences, including possessing a knife, possessing heroin, shoplifting and a racially aggravated public order.

All the crimes happened at stores in Bath at various periods in 2021 and earlier this year.

During the court case, White’s lawyer told how because his dad was “well-known and wealthy”, White Junior was being bullied and attacked in jail.

White, who also appeared on Big Brother in 2016, has been battling heroin addiction since a car accident aged 18, the court heard.

His solicitor said that when White is released from prison next year, he has been offered a chef’s position at his father’s restaurant and he was determined to get clean.

Cameron Douglas

Hollywood A-lister Michael Douglas’s eldest son Cameron from his first marriage has a long history of drug abuse.

Cameron, 43, served a seven-year prison sentence in 2016 for drug-related offences which included heroin possession and dealing methamphetamine and cocaine.

While behind bars he was also found to be smuggling drugs into prison, for which he had his sentence lengthened.

After he was released, in 2020 Douglas told a TV interview how he started using drugs as a teenager.

“I felt lonely, uncomfortable in my own skin and it [drugs] sort of soothed that for me and it allowed a connection to a peer group,” he said.

“After years and years of leaning on that and using the addiction as a crutch, it starts to consume you and then you can’t tell yourself apart from it.”

It was while in prison that he realised he had to turn his life around which he now appears to be doing – staying clean, taking up a career in acting and having two children with his girlfriend.

Hunter Biden

The son of the American President, Hunter Biden has spoken openly about his long standing drug addiction.

Aged 52, he is Joe Biden’s only living son, after his brother, Beau, died of a brain tumour in 2015.

Hunter’s mother and Joe Biden’s first wife, Neilia Biden, were killed in a car crash in 1972, along with his sister Naomi. The crash left Hunter with a fractured skull.

Despite having a privileged life thanks to his father’s successful political career, Hunter’s life soon spiralled out of control.

He started drinking as a teenager and then got addicted to cocaine at college, both addictions saw him go in and out of rehab and also got him booted out of the US Navy Reserve.

Hunter got divorced from his first wife, Kathleen Buhle, in 2017. It was an acrimonious split, with Kathleen accusing Hunter of “spending extravagantly” on drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, strip clubs and gifts for his lovers.

As well as his three children with Kathleen, he also has an illegitimate child by an exotic dancer, and also had a relationship with his dead brother’s widow.

He married again for the second time in 2019 after a whirlwind six day romance and they have a two-year-old son.

Speaking out in 2019 on his struggle with addiction, he said a lot of it stemmed from the crash which killed his mother and sister and also the death of his brother in 2015 made him relapse.

He said: “You don’t get rid of it. You figure out how to deal with it”.

Despite all the negative publicity and heartache it has caused the family, Joe Biden is standing by his son, saying “My son – like a lot of people – had a drug problem. He’s fixed it and worked on it, and I’m proud of my son”.

Nicole Richie

Lionel Richie’s adopted daughter Nicole was one of the celebrities who led the “famous for being famous” phenomenon.

Richie and his first wife Brenda Harvey adopted her when her biological parents admitted they couldn’t afford to provide for their young child and she went on to grow up in the spotlight.

Lionel and Brenda got divorced and he went on to marry again and had two more children, Miles and Sofia. Nicole took her adoptive parents’ divorce badly and turned to drugs.

The star of reality show The Simple Life said she turned to heroin as a way of “numbing out the pain of being in the eye during her parents’ split.”

Her foray into heroin was short-lived in 2003 and she has remained clean ever since.

She has been married to Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden since 2010 and they have two children together aged 14 and 13.

Chet Hanks

While his dad Tom Hanks is regarded as one of the good guys of Hollywood, the same cannot be said for his son Chet, one of the actor’s four children.

The 32-year-old is the self-confessed black sheep of the family thanks to his long-standing drug addiction.

His last episode of shame happened in 2015 when he was wanted by police for allegedly causing £1,200 damage to a hotel room.

He was accused of ripping a TV off the wall and smashing glass all over the place at the Arora International Hotel, prompting police to issue a public appeal to find him.

Chet, whose mum is actress Rita Wilson, has also got into trouble as his alter ego rapper Chet Haze, when he used the N-word on social media.

He admitted using the offensive term while “on a lot of drugs” and has spoken openly about his battles with cocaine addiction and checked himself into rehab.

In February this year, he admitted that growing up with a famous dad had “been complicated” and left him “f*****d up”.

But he said his family had supported him every step of the way with his drugs battle and he’d been clean since 2015.

“I love my parents so, so much,” Chet said. “They did a really, really good job raising me. Good dad, good mom, period. I’m extremely blessed just to have great parents”.

Weston Coppola Cage

One of Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage’s two children, Weston’s long-term drug use hit the headlines in 2017 after a car accident.

Weston, now aged 31, crashed into a stop sign, a street sign, parked cars and multiple post boxes before coming to a stop into a tree in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles.

A blood test revealed he had drunk nearly double the legal limit. He was charged with driving while under the influence, as well as two counts of hit and run.

He has spoken about his struggles with substance abuse, but said it was the birth of his son Lucian with his wife Danielle in 2014 that was the turning point.

“It got to the point where people thought I was digging my grave,” he told one interviewer. “Lucian’s saved both of our lives and we’re blessed to have him.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk