As family lawyers, we see a lot of twists and turns both in and out of Pasadena courts. We like to say that nothing surprises us anymore. But we never thought we'd see Jeremy London, star of family-friendly TV hits like Seventh Heaven and Party of Five, involved in a drama that started with a divorce and ended with a kidnapping and crack smoking. Yet as more details emerge, it is clear that London's life has taken a considerably darker turn since his days as a teen idol. Many close to London cite a bitter custody battle and divorce from wife Melissa Cunningham as reasons for his strange behavior.
Last week, the actor allegedly was trying to change a flat tire outside of a hotel room in Palm Springs when two men stopped him and asked if he needed help. They two men did help London change his tire and in return he offered them a ride home. London says the two men then kidnapped him and for the next 12 hours held him at gunpoint, forcing him to smoke crack and hand out alcohol in a neighborhood riddled with gangs. Making the situation particularly awful is that London is a recovering drug addict who entered rehab last year. He was arrested in 2004 on drug possession charges. London escaped at 2 a.m. and called the police, where he was held for questioning. London's family, including his twin brother, Jason, are now saying that they believe Jeremy's story to be a lie and they are concerned that the actor has started using drugs again. The family notes that since his custody battle began over son Lyric, Jeremy's mood has taken a turn for the worse. Jeremy and Melissa met in 2000 while she was auditioning for a role in a film in which he was the star. The pair wed in 2006 and separated in 2008, noting that the actor's drug problems were the cause of the break-up.
London has made several recent statements insisting that the events that he says took place on June 10th were in fact real and that his family's lives were threatened. He also states that he is no longer in contact with his mother or brother and has taken legal action to stop them from speaking to the press. His custody battle is set to return to family court later this summer.
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