*Nicole put down the pipe*

Many Celebrities have shown us that even though they have fame and fortune, their lives can still be out of control. One case of this would be Nicole Richie. Nicole's story is a little different though, because she has managed to turn her life around in a positive way since her legal issues.


I'm sure most of you know that Nicole is the daughter of singer Lionel Richie. She moved in with Lionel when she was 2, and was adopted by him when she was 9. Nicole started going to therapy when she was 3 years old, and continued to attend weekly sessions throughout her early childhood. The reasons for these sessions are due to her family life-before Lionel came in to the picture. There is still debate on who Nicole's birth father is. Some reports say that Nicole's real father was part of Lionel's band when he performed. I assume that they figured the therapy would help her cope with whatever emotional issues she might have been feeling when her birth father was out of the picture. After Nicole was adopted, news surfaced that Lionel Richie had been having an affair, which I'm sure turned their household upside down.


So from an early early age, Nicole had to deal with being a kid, having an adoptive father in the spotlight, dealing with Lionel's affair, and dealing with her estranged birth parents. I guess it was safe to assume at the time that Nicole might end up being effected by all of this. Most people didn't really know who Nicole was until she starred in the reality show 'The Simple Life,' with Paris Hilton. The funny thing about Nicole being on the show, is that she had just left rehab when she first appeared on the show (which is one reason she claims that she was a little heavier in weight). She was arrested when she was 20 for a DUI, and had lost control with drugs, so she decided to make a move and go to rehab.


Unfortunately, rehab didn't help her for that long. She was arrested after a 'brawl' in 2002, and then in 2003, she was arrested for possession of heroin. Oh, and I forgot to mention that when she was busted for heroin, she was driving with a suspended license. She ended up posting a $10,000 bail so that she could continue to film the reality show. As if she hadn't already learned her lesson, Nicole was arrested in December of 2006 because several witnesses had spotted her car driving the wrong way on an exit ramp. After she was pulled over by a cop and failed a sobriety test, she admitted that she had taken vicodin and smoked marijuana beforehand. About 6 months later, she was sentenced to 4 days in jail, but due to overcrowding only served 82 minutes.


Nicole also had rumors going around that she was anorexic or bulimic. She claimed that she did not have an eating disorder, and that she looked a lot smaller then when she was on The Simple Life because she had gained weight from rehab right before appearing on the show. The funny part is that Nicole checked in to weight-loss rehab in 2006 because she had gotten down to about 87 pounds. Now I don't know if she had gotten that skinny because she wasn't eating, or because she was using heroin. Either way, she ended up leaving rehab after less than 4 days because she wanted to go shopping. Finally something clicked and she re-entered rehab in 2007. I suppose the second time around did the trick, because there haven't been any more reports of her eating or dieting habits.


Somehow, Nicole ended up cleaning up her act and focusing on a more important thing, family. She started dating the lead singer of Good Charlotte, Joel Madden. It is really odd to think that her relationship with Joel, an ex-heroin user himself, is the one that helped her get her head on straight. I suppose that Nicole decided to grow up when she found out that she was pregnant in 2007. She now has two children and seems like a completely different person. I think that she is proof that people are not perfect and we all may stumble off on a bad path. However, she has shown that people have the strength to get their heads on straight and give up bad habits for the ones we love. I'm not saying she is a saint for quitting heroin or anything, but she is definitely showing how much she cares about her family by getting her priorities straight.




Here is the happy family. Nicole, Joel, their son Sparrow, and daughter Harlow.


Thanks for reading,
Samantha