Indio Downey, Robert Downey Jr.’s 20-year-old son, was arrested on Sunday for possession of cocaine. He was detained briefly, then he made bail (RDJ may have bailed him out) and shortly afterwards, RDJ made a statement about Indio’s drug abuse and how the arrest was a welcome wake-up call. Apparently, there have been rumors in the past that Indio was following his father’s self-destructive path and that RDJ has been attuned to it but he couldn’t do much about it. Now The Daily Mail reports that RDJ has basically forced his son into rehab (sidenote: it’s disconcerting to hear RDJ referred to as “Bob” throughout this article – do his friends really call him “BOB”?).
Robert Downey Jr was well aware of his son’s struggle with drug addiction and has tried everything to help him, according to a family friend. Now Downey is making sure Indio Downey is getting the treatment he needs. According to sources, Indio is receiving treatment for drug addiction at Cliffside in Malibu. Indio has been to rehab in the past but a family friend says they are hopeful the treatment he will receive at Cliffside will work.
‘Bob not only knows about Indio’s struggles, he’s tried everything, as all parents do, including kicking Indio out of the family home, followed by boundaries and tough love. None has worked,’ the friend explained. ‘Cliffside may work because it’s got an approach that Indio will hopefully not resist. Indio is his father’s son. They both don’t go for controlled orders about praying to a ‘god’ for help and the 12 steps, the way Downey sees it, is requiring you to believe in God, and though both Downeys may believe, they don’t want it forced on them for sobriety purposes.’
Cliffside uses a different model in it’s attempts to help addicts recover that does not involve the 12 steps. The center offers ‘cutting-edge, evidence-based, life-saving, holistic treatment in a luxury estate setting’, run by ‘industry leading professionals’. Each patient is given a dedicated therapist ‘helping you uncover the deep underlying issues that caused addiction in the first place, and healing your mind, body and spirit along the way’
‘That’s why Bob put Indio in Cliffside,” says the friend. But, and there’s a big ‘but’ here, Indio didn’t go into rehab completely willingly. ‘His dad’s lawyers are insisting in hopes of a plea bargain when court time comes. This means that since Indio is not choosing to get clean on his own but is somewhat forced to, the sobriety may not stick.’
The friend added that Indio has been using drugs for eight years but hasn’t been able to stay clean.
‘Indio’s been using drugs and hard drugs as well for eight years so there’s been a million interventions and conversations and threats and AA meetings and sponsors. The list goes on. None of it took, for the simple fact that Indio enjoys getting high and he found no compelling reason to not get high. It hasn’t affected his health yet, and he’s never going to find himself homeless, penniless and on the streets so the boy hasn’t hit the preverbial ‘bottom.’ It’s a tough road and Bob kicked Indio out of the house a few years ago, on the tough love principal, and that didn’t work, either. So we’ll see.’
‘Bob doesn’t feel guilty. He knows Indio is doing this by choice. I can promise you that Bob is blessing those arresting officers because he knew that the only way to help his son at this late stage is for law enforcement to intervene and for Indio to get into the legal system. Bob also knows that if it takes jail time for Indio, so be it. Right now, Bob bailed him out, put him in a $45,000 a month rehab in the Malibu hills, and has given his son the leg up he needs to either make it or break it on his own. Now, it’s up to Indio.’
Cliffside is where Lindsay Lohan went the last time. And she’s still a mess, so I don’t know what to tell you. Theoretically, I can see how the more traditional rehab systems might not work on a case like Indio Downey, although I think it’s a bad sign that RDJ can’t seem to follow through on tough love – Indio got arrested and his dad bailed him out. RDJ forced him into rehab so that Indio would look better for the court case. If it was just a matter of some marijuana, I would say it’s no big deal at all. But it sounds like Indio likes the hard stuff. Just like his dad, unfortunately. Ugh. This situation is so awful.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
