Actress Tara Reid has spoken out, alleging she was “drugged” after a video of her unconscious in a hotel lobby was made public.
In the footage captured by an onlooker and obtained by TMZ, the American Pie star appeared distressed and spoke incoherently as several people tried to assist her into a wheelchair in a hotel just outside of Chicago on Sunday.
The 50-year-old was visibly dazed as she was wheeled through the lobby by security, slipping off the wheelchair numerous times in distressing scenes.
“We’re going to take you to your room, OK?” one of the men helping her could be heard saying.
Footage later showed paramedics arriving at the hotel, and the video then cut to Reid being transported on a stretcher through the lobby to a waiting ambulance.
The onlooker who captured the video told TMZ that before the paramedics arrived, the Sharknado star was screaming, “You don’t know who I am. I am famous. I’m an actress.”
Reid has since spoken out about the incident to TMZ Live on Monday, telling the outlet that her drink was spiked, which rendered her unconscious.
According to Reid, she checked into her hotel on Saturday evening and ordered a drink at the bar at around 10:30pm. She left her drink at the bar while she went outside for a cigarette, during which she “ran into a bunch of YouTubers in the lobby” and one of them went outside with her to smoke.
When she returned to the bar 30 minutes later, she says her drink “was covered with a napkin” she hadn’t placed there.
“She says she removed the napkin and drank from the glass. Tara says the next thing she remembers, she was in the hospital,” the outlet reports.
The actress insisted she only had one drink on the night, and claimed that staff at the hospital told her she was “drugged”.
“Without finishing my drink, I just passed out,” she told TMZ Live. “Before I knew it, I was at the hospital, eight hours later. It’s really scary … You have to really be careful with your drink. [The hospital] said, ‘You got drugged last night at the bar.’”
Reid has now filed a police report to determine what happened on the night.
“Tara Reid has filed a police report after an incident in which she believes her drink was tampered with,” a representative for Reid told The Independent.
“She is co-operating fully with the investigation. Tara is recovering and asks for privacy during this traumatic time. She also urges everyone to be careful, watch your drinks and never leave them unattended, as this can happen to anyone. She will not be making further comments at this stage.”
It’s no secret Reid has had substance abuse problems in the past. In 2008, she reportedly got sober after completing a 90-day rehab stint at a facility in Malibu.
“Rehab saved my life,” she told In Touch magazine in 2009. “Before I used to think about tomorrow and I hated it. Now I can’t wait because I am clean and sober and I am excited.”
“My focus is to get back in my career and stay sober, and keep on having a better life one day at a time.”
