Addiction

Veteran comedian, actor and Southern California native T.K. Carter has died. He was 69.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrived at the actor’s Duarte home Friday evening after receiving a call about an unresponsive male, the Associated Press reported. He was declared dead at the scene. No foul play is suspected, though officials have not yet released a cause of death.

Born Thomas Kent Carter in New York City, Carter was raised in the San Gabriel Valley, according to IMDb.

After several small roles in 1970s sitcoms, including “Good Times,” “The Waltons” and “The Jeffersons,” he found his breakthrough role in the 1982 horror movie “The Thing” as the chef Nauls.

He went on to play teacher Mike Fulton in “Punky Brewster” and Clarence Hull in “The Sinbad Show,” among a host of other film and television credits through the 1980s and ‘90s.

In later decades of his career, he took on consulting roles in addition to on-screen appearances.

He worked with Chris Tucker as a dialect coach on the 1998 film “Rush Hour,” and was brought on to the set of the 1996 movie “Space Jam” to help the film’s star, Michael Jordan, learn lines and feel more comfortable in front of the camera.

“T.K. was a terrific actor, and I wanted him to help Michael with his dialogue,” director Joe Pytka told The Times in 2020.

While Carter was best known for his comedic work, describing himself in his Instagram bio as a writer and performer “born to act and make you laugh,” he also took on more serious roles.

He starred in the 2000 HBO miniseries “The Corner,” a drama in which he played Gary McCullough, a west Baltimore father struggling with addiction.

“I just totally felt for Gary,” Carter told The Times. “I’ve had drug problems and cocaine addiction. I lost my father to a drug-related death. I’ve lost a lot of friends. I was fortunate to come out on the other side and get my life together. But I haven’t forgotten. I kept Gary with me all the time. I slept Gary. I breathed Gary.”

As news of the actor’s passing spread, friends and colleagues took to social media with tributes.

“As a young kid, I looked up to T. K. because seeing an African American actor starring in a major film meant a lot to me. I always felt he was headed for stardom,” entrepreneur Shavar Ross posted on X. “I want to send my heartfelt condolences to his family, his friends, and everyone who loved and admired his work. He will always be remembered and respected.”

MUSIC star Lily Allen has made a shock confession that she’s now in therapy for her addiction to spending.

The 40-year-old admitted that she can’t stop shopping after purchasing designer handbags and an £120,000 Porsche.

Following the success of her latest album, West End Girl, the singer has revealed that she has put herself into therapy over the last four months to cope with her spending habits.

Speaking on her podcast Miss Me? alongside co-host Miquita Oliver for a Christmas special episode, Lily opened up about EMDR therapy.

She said: “I actually did EMDR therapy yesterday on my spending and how it’s related to my sense of self-worth and we tried to separate the two. So let’s see how that goes.”

Lily admitted: “I think I try and get rid of it (money) because I don’t think I deserve it.”

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Miquita later quipped: “What is EMDR again?

Lily replied: “EMDR therapy is a special type of therapy. There’s like, what do you call it? Like stimuli that stimulate the left side and the right side of your brain and basically try and create new pathways in relation to certain behaviours or traumatic experiences or traumatic interactions with certain human beings or anything really. 

“I started doing EMDR about four months ago, five months ago and it’s like been life changing. I just absolutely love it.

“I am not a doctor and I am not qualified to give that kind of advice but this is what is working for me currently,” she added.

Speaking about how the therapy works for her own addiction, Lily continued: “You usually start by sort of deciding on which area you’re gonna focus on during that session and then you visualise the experience. 

“If you’re trying to change your attitude towards a traumatic event, you try and think about how painful that event is from one to 10 and then you activate the stimuli, which in my case is these two vibrating balls that I put in each hand and you sort of close your eyes and put yourself in that situation and then try and identify what the feelings are that are coming up actually in your body, and in your mind. 

“And then you do that sort of five or six times and you find that the pain level associated with it goes down and down and down.

“If you’re trying to get rid of a negative behaviour like spending or drug taking or drinking or addiction to sex or whatever it is, you do the opposite.

“In my case a handbag, you try and separate yourself from thinking this handbag is going to make me a better person. Its really interesting type of therapy and I’m not clear on the science of how it works but its working for me so I’m very happy about it.”

Earlier in the episode Lily revealed she had bought herself “a little present”.

She said: “I’m just playing with my huge diamond and emerald ring, I bought myself a little present but it’s not that little.”

And earlier this week the star was snapped getting out of her new £120,000 porsche and £16,500 Hermes handbag in London.

Lily’s shopping revelation comes during a significant year for the star, who has launched new music widely described as a “revenge” album following her split from husband David Harbour. 

The record, West End Girl, draws on heartbreak and betrayal after Lily publicly accused the actor of cheating. 

Fans have praised the record for its raw honesty and cutting lyrics.

Singer Lily split from Stranger Things actor David, 50, in December 2024 and it was later reported that he’d had a three-year affair.

The details of her open marriage and split were laid bare on her 14-track West End Girl album.

On the album, Lily took aim at David and claimed how he allegedly ­bedded a woman called “Madeline”, which was later revealed to be single mum Natalie Tippett.

She came forward recently with a statement to categorically deny having a three-year affair with the actor.