A Meaty Goodbye: Real World Hollywood’s Joey Kovar

44 Comments

1. 1
   Gypsy
   Posted August 22, 2012 at 4:35 am

   Not sure if it’s been said but didn’t he make a cameo on the BGC and sleep with that Big Boobed replacement while donning some serious old school grey sweats and a black tank top?

   If he was gonna live life fast at least he got in as much as he could.

2. 2
   queenofthesouth85
   Posted August 22, 2012 at 7:33 am

   yeah he dated ashley the replacement from season 3 of bgc

   http://thedirty.com/2010/01/joey-in-sex-rehab/

3. 3
   ChaCha
   Posted August 22, 2012 at 8:37 am

   Speaking as a longtime recovering person, I don’t think that being on reality TV tips a person who’s an addict into early death. The addiction does that. Thousands die every year of their addictions and they never got near being on a reality TV show.

4. 4
   suedisco
   Posted August 22, 2012 at 8:43 am

   I guess I look at it through the lens of having watched both “Intervention” and “Celebrity Rehab.” I think in both cases you’re viewing someone who’s suffering as an addict and doesn’t really have the tools or people around him or her to get well on their own, and in that way both shows offer the addict in question a glimmer of hope. In the case of “Intervention,” however you’re not dealing with people who ON TOP OF ADDICTION issues also desire fame. I think it’s the super-destructive combo of the two that makes “Celebrity Rehab” both super watchable and super ghoulish. Aside from the usual treadmill of addiction, you’ve got the treadmill of celebrity narcissism and the hangers-on/party lifestyle to try to wean yourself off of as well.

5. 5
   JudgyWudgy
   Posted August 22, 2012 at 10:23 am

   That’s pretty much exactly what I said in the RIP thread. I feel like those people were grasping at fame and a paycheck rather than being focused on recovery.

6. 6
   Robin
   Posted August 22, 2012 at 4:41 pm

   It is also dangerous to plop a bunch of money into an addict’s lap. It is too tempting.

   I have thought that perhaps they could set up a type of “trust fund”. 3 mos clean = $ 6mos=$ and so on. If money is the motivation in the begining, maybe after being clean and sober for a period of time it is possible that the money will become less an issue and sobriety will become the goal.

   Again, I think dropping cash at them all at once can be as overwhelming as the treatment. Most of these folks on Celebrity rehab have had money and most dont have it anymore. Cash can be as intoxicating for them as a drug. Put the two together and it is probably what got those folks in the position they are in the first place.

   TC, Robin

7. 7
   Gypsy
   Posted August 23, 2012 at 1:15 pm

   Hey OT-There aren’t poor addicts in the world? I’m confused Robin.

   I see homeless addicts every day on the way too and from work. You can’t cure addiction, it’s a disease and using money as a dangling carrot will only entice them to spin dry.

   Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about and have never met an addict or know anything about the disease itself.

   I don’t believe these kids get cash dropped on them. I think a Real World stipend is around 5k and they have to work for it. Joey was also out of the house pretty early on his season.

   May I suggest you pick up the Big Book (no, not the bible) or attend a NA or AA meeting before you start surmising. You’re completely out of your element OT!

   And, that chaps my ass something fierce.

8. 8
   NotwithoutmyTV
   Posted August 23, 2012 at 1:41 pm

   Gypsy, I’m not sure the McJobs MTV finds for these kids can really be classified as “working”. And some of them even blow off the McJobs for longer than they should get away with.

   This kid was a dillhole sprinting toward his own self-destruction from the start. He would have achieved it whether he got his 15+ minutes of fame or not. We just wouldn’t have ever heard of him if he hadn’t died after being on Real World.

   I can’t in good conscience really blame Dr. Drew–if junkies go on Celebrity Rehab it’s not because they really want to quit. You can’t save people from themselves. You can make money and become a household name by creating a show in which you PRETEND you want to save people from themselves, but Dragon Ball Z hair and his three dead junkie contemporaries prove that you’re foolish if you start really believing it.

9. 9
   Gypsy
   Posted August 23, 2012 at 1:51 pm

   My point is the producers aren’t making it rain all over these kids. They get very little if anything, I believe.

10. 10
    SuburBint
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    According to a Village Voice article from 2011, Real World cast members get paid $2500 for reunion specials (which they are contractually obligated to appear in for up to 5 years after the show wraps), and $750 for any book and/or home video projects (for up to two years after the show). Considering that they throw $100,000 at Snooki every time she farts, the Real World kids are definitely not making a killing off of being on that show. Even if they are making $2500 for each episode, that’s still only what, 32K + for their season, plus a couple grand (if they’re lucky) for appearances until they’ve lost their shiny newness and the new season is on.

11. 11
    Robin
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 3:48 pm

    “Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about and have never met an addict or know anything about the disease itself. ”

    I attended Ala-Teen meetings in the 70′s, back when it wasn’t cool. Clearly, you have no idea who you are talking TO.

    Robin

12. 12
    captain save-uh-ho
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 4:01 pm

    Suburbint- has about the right idea. If anyone thinks that these kids are making big bucks to be on RW, they are sorely mistaken. I often wonder how these kids can afford to drop their lives and be on the show for a few months with such a minimal “stipend.”

    I think Robin’s point, and I don’t mean to misinterpret, is a fair one… Shows like Celeb Rehab DO pay big bucks to get “celebs” on the show. Whether they go on the show just for another 15 minutes, another paycheck, to recover, or all of the above, I don’t think it’s out of line suggesting that shows like those don’t necessarily encourage a healthy recovery environment. Money shouldn’t be a catalyst in recovery, although sadly it is.

13. 13
    Robin
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 4:02 pm

    I think there is some confusion. My “trust fund” comment concerned celebrity rehab, I mentioned it in my post. But apparently I didn’t make it clear.

14. 14
    SuburBint
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    @ Robin — I didn’t understand that your trust fund comment was in relationship to celebrity rehab, but it makes sense now.

    I think the whole celebrity/addict relationship is a circular argument. Did these people become addicts because of their celebrity lifestyle or did they pursue celebrity as another way to fill the emotional holes in their lives that led them to pick up a bottle/pills/whatever in the first place? It’s hard to say, but I think the ones who would have been addicts no matter what are generally the ones who do turn up dead in a hotel room.

15. 15
    Robin
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 4:45 pm

    @SuberBint,

    I agree. But I was thinking that while these folks are waiting for the next “sobriety “check” to come, the money may become less important and continuing sobriety will be the goal after living a sober life.

    Just a thought.

    Robin

16. 16
    sarcasatire
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 5:14 pm

    @Suburbint, I agree. When Joey came on the Real World, he was already a raging addict. As a matter of fact, the show probably saved him for a few years, because they were the ones who suggested rehab. He did 30 days and was out. It’s up to him to continue with sobriety and after-treatment, but he didn’t. He ended up in rehab again, this time with Dr. Drew. And while Dr. Drew recruits celebrities, you can’t convince me that the likes of Joey Kovar and Frankie (keisha cole’s mom. Who?? Exactly.) were getting big checks to be on the show.
    Maybe Tom Sizemore and Heidi Fleiss because of name recognition(and history), but the bulk of these “celebrities” were so rockbottom, they’d come on the show just for relevancy, free room and board, and unlimited cigarettes. Producers aren’t stupid..the less they can pay, the better.

    And if one considers that many of these people had been to rehab before, how is Dr Drew to blame and not the other rehab centers that “failed” them? Sure, he’s an opportunist. Possibly exploitative. But it’s not like he strung Mackenzie Phillips out on heroin and then taped her sobriety for cash.

17. 17
    SuburBint
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 5:16 pm

    That’s an interesting thought; I would guess that for a lot of them, their newfound “poverty” (which is relative, I know) would be an excellent excuse to start using again. In my experience, addicts don’t really commit to sobriety until they’re actually, finally, really, truly ready to do so, no matter how many “rock bottom”s they’ve had. I suppose the saying could go, “Some are born sober, some achieve sobriety, and some have sobriety thrust upon them,” and people in the last category aren’t going to try to stay sober for very long.

18. 18
    sarcasatire
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 5:35 pm

    “some have sobriety thrust upon them” is the most apt description of the people who went on Dr. Drew’s show. You just know their agents were like “this is the only thing I can get you booked on, so do it!! Who cares if you can stop at anytime, just go with the flow. We need to build your profile. They film a few therapy sessions with Drew, tell him a sad part of your past (dad left? Good, use it.), then do a few team building exercises like painting and such. That’s it. Then you’re done. Cool with that? Okay, sign here.”

19. 19
    SuburBint
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 5:42 pm

    “Some have sobriety thrust upon them” describes a large number of the current non-celeb rehab population as well, when you take into account the people who are there because their parents or the court put them in.

20. 20
    snowshoecat
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 5:54 pm

    The epis of Joey were the saddest I have ever viewed. Chemicals–drugs, alcohol, ‘roids– who knows– contributed to his behavior, and “fame” of any sort sure didn’t help.

    What we’ve been missing here is the alcoholic personality. Beyond curing, or at least curbing, the addiction is the kind of person who becomes an abuser in the first place. In too many cases the individual becomes a “dry drunk” with so many untreated problems.

    Joey was beyond any kind of help, and I think that was evident in the episodes we saw. I just wonder about the ones who could be helped beyond drying them out and turning them loose. Can programs like Celeb Rehab have a social value? have any value beyond lining Dr. drew’ pockets and stroking his enormous ego?

21. 21
    sarcasatire
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 6:14 pm

    Scaring the crap out the rest of us who thinks recreational drug use can’t get out of control. There’s definite some value in that. I’ve never had a desire to do meth anyway but after seeing Heidi Fleiss in HD…yikes!!
    I’m convinced. Drugs are bad.

22. 22
    Robin
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 6:37 pm

    ” Can programs like Celeb Rehab have a social value? have any value beyond lining Dr. drew’ pockets and stroking his enormous ego?”

    Thats the part that has always bothered me, SSC, I am conflicted. Everytime we go to the Doc we are lining their pockets. Whats the difference? Sometimes I think that Doctors are just legal drug dealers.

    Remember when Janice Dick had a fit? They shoved drugs down her throat. She walked around like a zombie. She is attending meetings to quell her drug addiction..but what the hell, give her a sedative so we dont have to deal with her. I hate that show.

23. 23
    sarcasatire
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    Um, you have to medicate habitual drug users during withdrawal. Anti-siezure medication for alcoholics, methadone for opiate addicts.

24. 24
    Robin
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 7:09 pm

    She had been there for weeks. Certainly enough time to have already gone through withdrawl.

    My point was that it seems they give drugs to folks so they dont have to deal with them, next day, there is a drugs are bad meeting.

    Robin

25. 25
    begonia skies
    Posted August 23, 2012 at 7:27 pm

    many of these drug and alcohol abusers have underlying psychiatric illnesses and require mood stabilizers or anti psychotics to function. unfortunately they also often turn to abusing other substances instead of or in addition to their medically necessary medications. i honestly think this is the case for someone like janice dickinson. and as a nurse who works with a lot of people with psychiatric illness (who mostly have a past of drug or alcohol abuse as well) it isn’t a matter of shoving “drugs down her throat” but rather a way of keeping her mentally stable and safe. it benefits no one to be in a manic state, especially the patient. maybe it wasn’t the right dosage for her if she was acting like a “zombie” but it can be difficult for doctors to find the right drug and dosage for someone with psychiatric illness. especially a drug abuser.

26. 26
    Gypsy
    Posted August 24, 2012 at 6:51 am

    Is your ass jealous of the shit that comes out of your mouth OT? Seriously.

    OMFG OT, YOU literally have no idea what you are talking about and it’s clear you are being antagonistic at this point. If you had any clue at all, now the “OT of Al-Anon”, you’d know there is no exact expiration date on when a patient goes off of withdrawal medication. There are significant reasons for patients/addicts to be put on maintaince medication as many posters above have mentioned previously. Unless you perscribe to Pax’s theroy that addiction can be cured at Passages in Malibu. Go have a look see or just look a Lindsay Lohan, either proves my point.

    I lived with an addict he couldn’t get off of his maintaince meds ever, addiction is not something you cure. Sobriety is to be guarded and maintained and money sure as hell is not the almighty motivator to keep said addict sober. Quite the opposite. Do you realize what you type and how uneducated you sound? Do you care? Or, like I said in the begining are you just looking for a rise out of us? Go change your depends, your 14 hour all nighter is about up. You should take your meds Sugar; get some rest.

    And no, I do not know you, thankfully. And, you do not know me. Or Joey Kovar for that matter.

    For the record, I highly doubt it’s ever been considered ‘cool’ to attend a 12 step Al-Anon or otherwise. Who says things like that?

    (Let the cutting and pasting begin)

27. 27
    SuburBint
    Posted August 24, 2012 at 10:50 am

    Now there’s the Joey Kovar thread I was looking for, chock full of high-running feelings, with an animosity chaser!

28. 28
    Robin
    Posted August 24, 2012 at 6:13 pm

    “For the record, I highly doubt it’s ever been considered ‘cool’ to attend a 12 step Al-Anon or otherwise. Who says things like that?”

    I say things like that. Because they are true.

    In the 70′s there was a certainly a stigma. Thankfully, nowadays it is more socially acceptable to ask for help. Back then, things pretty much stayed on the QT.

    Again, society has totally changed for the better concerning this and kids dont have to be as secretive as we used to be; I told very few friends. Nowadays the kids have conventions etc. And Yes, in a way, they are pretty fucking cool, because they are there to learn how to deal with things instead of whatever alternative.

    I wasn’t talking about maintenence meds. Janice was given some strong shit to calm her down. I saw it. She was pissed one min and stoned out of her goard the next. And that is all well and good. But, the very next day they had a meeting about how bad drugs are and she is still recovering from the benzoes they gave her the night before.!

29. 29
    Lelianna
    Posted August 25, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    ChickBomb (really?) – anyway, to you, thank you for proving again what typical American’s are turning into. Gosh this site used to rock. Now this is what’s published. Nice move – let’s discuss with zero concern a guy that you know nothing about and who was someone’s son. Actually quite narcissistic of yourself, don’t you think? Discussing this so callously in your dumb blog. You’re pitiful. Find something of substance to do with yourself instead of looking for attention and being such a jerk to people that are hurting.

30. 30
    JudgyWudgy
    Posted August 26, 2012 at 3:52 pm

    Meh. Pitiful people wouldn’t even have the option to discuss him so callously in their dumb blogs if he hadn’t sought fame and to expose himself on TV. He’s not completely innocent.

31. 31
    Robin
    Posted August 27, 2012 at 10:00 pm

    There is a whole bunch of blame to go around.

    Including the idiot that got pregnant by him Twice and now has two children left without a father when the writing was on the wall the whole time.

    Just had to get that off my chest..

    TC, Robin

32. 32
    sarcasatire
    Posted August 27, 2012 at 10:22 pm

    So, you say you went to Ala-teen meeting in the 70′s..

    I was under the impression that Ala-teen was either for young alcoholics or for the children of alcoholics. If it’s the latter, then one of your parents is/was an alcoholic. Would you want someone to call your other parent an “idiot” for having children with an alcoholic?

    Or are we just singling out Joey’s girlfriend like her story is unique?

33. 33
    Robin
    Posted August 27, 2012 at 10:38 pm

    “So, you say you went to Ala-teen meeting in the 70′s.. ”

    Yes. Every Weds.

    “I was under the impression that Ala-teen was either for young alcoholics or for the children of alcoholics.”

    You are halfway right. Par for the course.

    “If it’s the latter, then one of your parents is/was an alcoholic. Would you want someone to call your other parent an “idiot” for having children with an alcoholic? ”

    That’s a Low blow, even for you.

34. 34
    sarcasatire
    Posted August 27, 2012 at 10:57 pm

    You called Joey’s girlfriend an idiot for having a child with an addict. You also said you attended Ala-teen meetings as the child of an alcoholic. I just found your judgement of Joey’s girlfriend particularly harsh when the same thing must’ve occurred in your family. I’m not judging..I’m just curious as to your perspective on the two situations. How are they different?

35. 35
    Robin
    Posted August 27, 2012 at 11:44 pm

    I called her an idiot because she is an idiot. She should have scotch taped the pic’s of him drinking, the pic’s of him snorting and the pics of him roiding on her headboard every night and tacked a condom on it as a real reminder.

    “I’m not judging”. ..I’m just curious as to your perspective on the two situations. How are they different?

    Yeah right, you aren’t judging…pfft

    The difference is one parent cared enough not to die and the other one had enough sense not to have another child while things were in turmoil.

36. 36
    Robin
    Posted August 28, 2012 at 12:13 am

    All I said was this anyway; and I still agree with my opinion.

    “There is a whole bunch of blame to go around.

    Including the idiot that got pregnant by him Twice and now has two children left without a father when the writing was on the wall the whole time.

    Just had to get that off my chest..”

    TC, Robin

37. 37
    sarcasatire
    Posted August 28, 2012 at 12:54 am

    “The difference is one parent cared enough not to die.”

    Succumbing to the disease of addiction means one doesn’t “care?”

    Wow. Compassion in aisle six!

38. 38
    Robin
    Posted August 28, 2012 at 1:12 am

    “Succumbing to the disease of addiction means one doesn’t “care?”

    I guess you could look at it like that.

    “Wow. Compassion in aisle six!”

    WOW. GTH!

39. 39
    Robin
    Posted August 28, 2012 at 1:50 am

    kathy – Try these steps one at a time until the book shows up:

    1. Turn on wireless and do a sync and check for new items
    2. Next, look in your Archives and see if it’s there – if so click on it and it will download
    3. Go to your Manage Your Kindle page at http://amazon.com/manageyourkindle, click on the Actions button next to the title and select send to Kindle (make sure you select the correct Kindle if you have more than one registered to your account), then turn on your wireless and do a sync and check for new items
    4. Reboot your Kinde (hold power button in for 30 seconds), then start at step 1
    5. Try to send it to your Kindle via USB cable (http://amazon.com/kindletransfer)
    6. Contact Customer Support

    To Contact Kindle Customer Service:
    Click on the big orange ‘CONTACT US’ button to the right.
    You may have to sign in. I recommend you use your reg sign in. I also hold the power button for longer than 30 seconds. It cant hurt.
    If y

40. 40
    Robin
    Posted August 28, 2012 at 5:47 am

    Darn, Sorry Flip.

    I rekon I didn’t mult-task well.

41. 41
    sarcasatire
    Posted August 28, 2012 at 7:04 pm

    Shall we schedule another intervention?

42. 42
    Robin
    Posted August 28, 2012 at 7:46 pm

    WTF are you talking about?

43. 43
    sarcasatire
    Posted August 28, 2012 at 8:36 pm

    

44. 44
    Robin
    Posted August 28, 2012 at 9:04 pm

    Yeah, that answered my question..