Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal were once Hollywood's golden couple, so when the celeb pairing finally
welcomed their only son, Redmond, in 1985, you'd think the youngster would have grown
up in the glitz and glam alongside his parents.
Think again.
Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal's partnership miraculously withstood decades of commotion.
According to People, the two met in 1979 and fell in love immediately.
They stayed together until their split in 1997, but never married, reuniting four years
later when O'Neal was diagnosed with leukemia.
The actor later returned the favor and stayed by Fawcett's side during her tragic fight
with cancer.
But things weren't that simple, and the family dynamic was reportedly very violent.
In a 2009 interview with Vanity Fair, O'Neal revealed that on Fawcett's 60th birthday,
he shot at his son, Griffin, purposely missing him, saying,
"Farrah was lying in bed, and she could hear it all, fights, swinging, gunshots.
Welcome to the O'Neals'!"
Griffin concurred, reporting to Larry King that Ryan O'Neal also severely injured Griffin's
pregnant wife with a fireplace poker during the altercation.
"When was the last time you spoke to your father?"
"The night he tried to shoot me in the face."
Now that his children are adults, Ryan O'Neal admitted that he hadn't been a good parent,
confessing,
"I'm a hopeless father.
I don't know why.
I don't think I was supposed to be a father.
Just look around at my work, they're either in jail or they should be."
O'Neal went on to explain why the two were never married, despite their three decades
together, saying,
"We didn't want to do what other people wanted us to do.
We were rebels.
But now I would do it in a second...Our son [Redmond] would love it."
"I don't know have I tried hard enough.
I love them.
And sometimes, that's not enough."
With so much reported conflict in his house growing up, it's not all that surprising that
Redmond O'Neal turned to drug use as a means to escape reality.
In 2018, the troubled celeb told Radar Online,
"It's not the drugs that have been a problem, it's the psychological trauma of my entire
life – my whole life experiences have affected me the most."
As for those experiences?
Some of them may have come directly from his troubled parents.
For starters, Ryan O'Neal was allegedly extremely volatile due to his own substance abuse, according
to various interviews with his son, Griffin.
Meanwhile, Farrah Fawcett transitioning from being an A-list beauty to starring in made-for-TV
flicks supposedly damaged her ego, and ultimately led to a drinking problem.
As Ryan O'Neal revealed to Vanity Fair,
"If she drank, she got a little crazy, mean.
She tried to kick me out of the car once, and I was driving!"
This left Redmond to battle his own vices.
By 2009, his father revealed that Redmond had tried to get clean in at least 13 rehab
facilities across the US and Mexico.
However, as Ryan O'Neal told Vanity Fair, some were a lot more intense than others.
"[Farrah] put Redmond in a place we couldn't get him out of for 18 months, a behavior-modification
program where they beat the s--- out of him because he had been caught for marijuana...He
lay on the floor for 36 hours, refusing to say he was sorry."
Along with his rehab stints, Redmond O'Neal has spent multiple stints in jail.
But according to his father, those stints also kept him off the streets for too long.
He told Vanity Fair:
"He never had any money; he never had a car; he never had a driver's license.
He's never been out on the street for a year, because whatever he did, he got caught.
He got arrested in prison with heroin in his pocket!"
According to police reports, Redmond's run-ins with the law started in 2005, when he was
placed on probation for an arrest related to meth and cocaine possession.
He was arrested again in 2008 on more drug charges, and allegedly driving under the influence.
2009 saw the police bust both Redmond and his father on methamphetamine charges.
As time went on, Redmond's arrests got progressively worse.
According to Radar Online, he spent two years in prison, starting in 2015 for reportedly
violating his probation drug case.
His freedom didn't last long.
In 2018, the troubled celeb allegedly tried robbing a convenience store at gunpoint while
under the influence, earning six counts related to robbery, assault with a deadly weapon,
and drug possession.
The troubled celeb seems to think that his upbringing has had everything to do with his
troubled life, and it's something he's been very vocal about.
During an interview from prison with Radar Online, Redmond tried to explain.
"Fighting with my father, being kicked out and living on the streets, going to jail,
being put in a psychiatric ward, being embarrassed all the time, just because of who my parents
are.
The pressure that came with that set off a time-bomb in my head.
I never asked for any of this, I never wanted any attention."
In an attempt to explain his half-brother's addiction, Griffin O'Neal seemed to agree
that their childhood home was responsible for Redmond's habits, telling Larry King Live,
"Redmond hung out with Ryan a lot, because Ryan allowed the drug use...in the house.
And that was one of the reasons me and my dad fought...They party together.
They were both arrested.
My dad had more dope on him than Redmond did."
Farrah Fawcett remained a Hollywood legend even after her death in 2009.
Remembered as the iconic, original Charlie's Angels blonde, Fawcett also had immense dignity.
It's that righteousness that came into play when the starlet was diagnosed with cancer
in 2006.
According to The Guardian, Fawcett wanted her entire battle with cancer to be filmed
on camera by her best friend, Alana Stewart.
One moment of the documentary sees Redmond O'Neal visiting his mother in the hospital
during her final days, still in his prison jumpsuit and shackled at the ankles.
After Fawcett passed away, Redmond, still in handcuffs, attended her funeral, where,
as his father revealed,
"They kept him in chains; he was a pallbearer with handcuffs."
In May 2018, reports revealed that Redmond O'Neal reportedly went on a rampage on the
Venice Beach Boardwalk, culminating in multiple altercations in which he attacked and severely
injured two men.
A press release from the LAPD described the first victim :
"Paramedics discovered that the victim had sustained serious stab wounds to the left
side of his body."
Shortly after this, witnesses saw another man laying in a pool of blood: aspiring actor
Anton Folkerson, who "spent two days in a coma" after the attack, in which he was stabbed
in the brain, and slashed across his throat.
Four days after the attacks, Redmond O'Neal was caught.
It's unclear what will happen to Redmond O'Neal for his 2018 attempted murder charges, as
he was ruled incompetent to stand trial.
Los Angeles courts determined that O'Neal has to undergo intense psychological treatment
before he can stand trial and understand the charges in front of him.
According to court documents,
"Mr. O'Neal said he heard voices that told him to kill someone...He reported that he
continues to hear auditory hallucinations, and the voices entail negative self-talk,
and themes about people being out to get him."
Additionally, other related documents revealed,
"[O'Neal] has ranked in the lowest percentile of brain functioning even when compared to
others who also suffer from schizophrenia."
As of the making of this video, Redmond O'Neal has not stood trial for his crimes, and continues
to receive treatment.
He faces up to 22 years in prison.
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