Back in the 50’s, we came up with a very useful new word: “affluenza.” The word is a combination of “affluent” and “influenza,” and it’s used to refer to the crimes undertaken by some of the wealthiest people in the world. And as you might expect, being connected to those who are rich and famous often helps these criminals get away with quite a bit.
And there is perhaps no city that understands affluenza more than Hollywood. Over time, the children of famous celebrities have engaged in quite a few wild crimes, with their famous parents just hoping the world would forget about what their kids did.
We’re here to keep that from happening. Just what were the most shocking crimes from celebrity children over the years? Keep reading to discover the answers!
Robert Downey Jr.
These days, Robert Downey Jr. is the face of Iron Man and one of Hollywood’s most reliable names for headlining a film. However, this son of a famous Hollywood actor and director once needed every bit of his father’s influence to stay out of jail.
From around 1996 to 2001, Robert Downey Jr. had a problem with drugs. He claims his father was an addict and that he himself has been a drug addict since the tender age of eight, which helps explain why he kept getting arrested for possession of marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. Things got bad enough at one point that he got high and broke into a neighbor’s house thinking it was his own, sleeping there for the night.
This all culminated in the actor being sentenced to three years in the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, but he was released early after only one year, but this didn’t keep him from even more arrests before he got his life and career in order.