Truth rating: 0
11:28 am, September 26th, 2013
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Zac Efron “collapsed after a ‘heroin’ overdose,” claims the National Enquirer, which touts “exclusive” photo proof.
According to the magazine, which has been spreading false stories about the actor for years, Efron “OD’d on the powerful painkiller oxycodone — known on the streets as ‘hillbilly heroin’ –and had to be revived by other guests” at a party at the Thompson Hotel in New York on January 3.
The Enquirer shows a grainy picture of Efron with his eyes closed.
No drugs, people, or additional context is visible in the photo, which the magazine insists was taken after an oxycodone binge.
“I was scared for him,” a purported “eyewitness” tells the Enquirer, adding, “If he doesn’t clean himself up, he’ll be Hollywood’s next big drug tragedy.”
The tipster insists Efron “consumed massive quantities of oxycodone and the stimulant Adderall during the late-night bash,” which also allegedly included marijuana and alcohol.
To fill out its story, the Enquirer lets its “source” ramble on about Efron allegedly driving around and searching for pills before his supposed “overdose,” and quotes doctors who have never treated the star about the dangers of oxycodone use.
The magazine’s eyewitness talks about watching Efron snort pills with party guests before disappearing into a bedroom.
According to the mag, “By 4 a.m., the actor was out cold, leaving his fellow partiers terrified.”
“My worst fear was that he had died from an overdose,” says the Enquirer source, who reports that Efron was eventually roused.
Uh-huh.
In addition to routinely getting stories about Efron wrong, the Enquirer has a bad habit of calling people heroin addicts and publishing grossly sensational drug stories that aren’t based in fact.
It’s true that Efron went into rehab for substance abuse earlier this year.
But it’s also the case that places like the Enquirer — and its sister outlet RadarOnline — are using the news as an opportunity to spread completely untrue stories about Efron’s alleged past.
If Efron had actually overdosed on “heroin” — in front of other people — NINE MONTHS AGO, the Enquirer would have published the story then.
It’s 100 percent false.
A source close to the situation tells Gossip Cop the Enquirer report is a “joke with absolutely zero validity.”
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