AMERICAN Pie star Tara Reid told police she was drugged at a Chicago hotel bar – ending in a hospital dash with the star in a concerning state.
Distressing footage shows the actress, 50, looking unwell as she sits in a wheelchair, before being stretchered out by paramedics on Saturday night.
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Footage from Saturday night shows Tara Reid being helped into a wheelchair, unable to standCredit: BackGridShe slips forward out of the chair onto the floor at one pointCredit: BackGridReid was later seen being wheeled out of the hotel on a stretcher by paramedicsCredit: BackGridTara Reid at Vegan Fashion Week in 2023Credit: Getty
The Rosemont Public Safety Department confirmed on Tuesday that the actress had filed a report.
Reid has vowed she is willing to prosecute anyone involved.
The 90sfilmpin-up said the night was a “big blur”, but insisted she had only had one drink before being taken ill.
Speaking to TMZ Live on Tuesday, she recounted leaving her drink in the hotel bar to go for a smoke, and returning to find a napkin covering it that hadn’t been there when she left it.
She said: “And then I drank my drink, and without even finishing my drink, I just passed out. And before I knew it, I was in the hospital eight hours later.”
The person who filmed the episode told the publication that Reid was yelling: “You don’t know who I am. I am famous. I’m an actress,” before medics arrived.
Tara was allegedly told by hospital doctors that she had been drugged, though said no tests were undertaken to determine what the drug was or her blood alcohol level.
She continued: “It was all kind of vague. It was all like very blurry, do you know what I mean? I can’t even explain it because I don’t even know what happened.”
When she came around, Tara left hospital with her agent and went straight to a signing before heading home.
A representative for the star said: “Tara Reid has filed a police report after an incident in which she believes her drink was tampered with.
“She is cooperating 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.”
At one moment, Reid suddenly tries to stand upCredit: BackGridA number of people were attempting to assist the starCredit: BackGrid
Tara’s screen career began in the 90s with small roles in the soap operaDays of Our Lives and teen sitcom Saved by the Bell: The New Class.
In 1998 she appeared in slasher flick Urban Legend, teen drama Cruel Intentions and cult hit crimecomedy The Big Lebowski.
But it was as sexy virgin Vicky in American Pie and its sequels that really made her famous.
Tara’s career stalled in the mid-2000s with a string of critical and commercial flops including Josie and the Pussycats, Van Wilder and Alone in the Dark, for which she received a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress.
Tara Reid starring in American Pie in 1999Credit: AlamyReid has filed a police report alleging she was drugged in a Chicago hotel barCredit: Splash
To make matters worse, she suffered two botched plastic surgery procedures in 2004, including breast implants and a body contouring procedure meant to give her a six-pack.
She later said she’d asked the surgeon for B cups, but he gave her Cs, and told US Weekly: “My stomach became the most ripply, bulgy thing. I had a hernia, this huge bump next to my belly button.
“As a result, I couldn’t wear a bikini. I lost a lot of work.”
She swapped the big screen for reality TV appearing in travel show Taradise and CelebrityBig Brother in the UK.
In 2023 she appeared in Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test and was cruelly body-shamed over her slim figure.
She hit back in the Los Angeles Inquisitor, “So stop it. Leave me alone. Pick on me again on something else, but not on those two things. It’s not right.”
I’m on a quest in buzzy, beachy Alicante on the Costa Blanca to investigate the rice dishes the Valencian province is famed for, as well as explore the vast palm grove of nearby Elche. I start with a pilgrimage to a restaurant featured in my book on tapas, Andaluz, a mere 25 years ago. Mesón de Labradores in the pedestrianised old town is now engulfed by Italian eateries (so more pizza and pasta than paella) but it remains a comforting outpost of tradition and honest food.
Here I catch up with Timothy Denny, a British chef who relocated to Spain, gained an alicantina girlfriend and became a master of dishes from the region. Over a fideuá de mariscos (seafood noodles, €20), we chew over local gastronomy. “For me, Alicante epitomises the Mediterranean – for rice, seafood and artichokes,” he says. “But there are curiosities, too, like pavo borracho.” Tim explains that so-called “drunken turkeys” are cooked in vast amounts of cognac plus a shot of red wine and eventually emerge as a hefty stew, perfect in winter.
This passion for experimentation has been endorsed by the Catalan master chef, Ferran Adrià, who once stated “[the Costa Blanca] … has a magical elf that takes hold of the products and sneaks into the kitchens to offer diners unique dishes with unique flavours”.
Fideuá de mariscos. Photograph: Jordi Ruiz/Getty Images
Tim emphasises the preponderance of female chefs in the area, quite a rarity in Spain’s male-dominated world of gastronomy. “Because in this historically poor region, the choice was often between cooking and cleaning,” he says. As proof we greet the exuberant owner of Labradores, Raquel Sabater, among the vintage plates, tiles and furniture that have barely changed after all these years.
But I soon discover another reason when I meet the much-garlanded María José San Román at Monastrell, her high-end restaurant beside the marina. Here, as we embark on a refined six-course tasting menu (€79), she tells me about the association Mujeres en Gastronomía (MEG) that she founded in 2018 to unite Alicante’s many talented female chefs. Nicknamed the Queen of Alicante gastronomy, this tornado of energy now heads four restaurants, including the heaving Taberna del Gourmet, with another in the pipeline.
Next day, I lunch at another member of MEG, La Sastrería, whose owner, María Luisa Rivera, changed tack 20 years ago from landscape gardener to chef. Her restaurant, a small modernista beauty, overlooks a lush square of towering centennial ficus trees, their tangled trunks echoed inside by a curvaceous staircase. Here I opt for an arroz del senyoret(€19)named for the little lord (or in my case lady) who doesn’t like handling shellfish, so it all comes peeled. The sénia rice from Valencia’s Albufera (a freshwater lagoon) is perfect, each tiny grain separate despite 20 minutes or so cooking in María Luisa’s complex broth.
Now the island of Tabarca, south of Alicante, beckons. An elongated sandstone slab washed by transparent waters teeming with fish, it is a marine reserve and its coves are a snorkeller’s heaven. After a 25-minute ferry crossing from Santa Pola, I disembark with my guide, Felipe, who fills me in on Tabarca’s rich history.
Seafood at Monastrell
Despite being the smallest inhabited island in Spain, it has seen Greeks, Romans, Berber pirates, smugglers and shipwrecked Genoese sailors who settled there when a military garrison was created in 1760. Quite a history for an islet. Although the garrison later decamped, stone gateways remain leading to quaint streets, a striking church and leafy squares. It’s a dreamy place if you get there before the lunchtime crowds.
I am in search of a unique fisherman’s stew combined with rice. This caldero is, like paella, named after its cooking dish – in this case a cast iron hotpot. At La Almadraba, the owner, a woman called Nines, explains the technique: two courses (€30) start with a succulent dish of potatoes and fish simmered in a broth of alioli, garlic, saffron and parsley so good that I spoon out the remains; it is followed by the rice cooked in the same concoction. The upshot is a fabulous feed overlooking bobbing boats in the harbour and a glittering Med beyond.
Another day, another quest, this time in Elche, inland from Santa Pola and 15 miles from Alicante. The city is famed not only for the exquisite Dama de Elche (a fourth-century BC sculpture of a bejewelled Iberian woman) but also for its vast palm grove. About 200,000 date palms in the largest palmeral in Europe and the northernmost in the world have earned the city Unesco world heritage status. Most of the palms are divided into a grid of rectangular huertos (orchards) fed by irrigation channels that also nourish fruit trees such as pomegranate, citrus and olives.
Miguel Ángel Sánchez, owner of Elche’s largest date company, TodoPalmera, leads me around the Museo del Palmeral, where an enlightening display covers every aspect of the palm tree, whether the plant structure, the use of palm wood and fibre and, extraordinarily, intricate “sculptures” made with white palms for Elche’s Easter processions. For Miguel Ángel, “the palm has so much value: cultural, religious, environmental, nutritional, agricultural, ornamental, functional and spiritual”.
Cooking over a grapevine wood fire at El Cachito
He says that Elche’s date production of about 80 tonnes restricts availability in Spain, so it remains a gourmet product. Five varieties include the widely known Medjoul as well as the local Confitera, which I sample at Miguel Ángel’s farm – freshly harvested, yellow, velvety and utterly delicious. Despite my addiction to Palestinian Medjoul dates, this is an epiphany. When I later spot them at Alicante’s cornucopian Mercado Central, into my bag they go.
My last arroz lunch looms. Instead of indulging at highly rated Mesón el Granaíno, we head south of town to 90-year-old El Cachito, an unpretentious family restaurant. Here I watch another woman, Noelia, orchestrate the flames of grapevine branches in a cavernous, blackened fireplace. The result? A perfect paella of rabbit and wild snails (€18), its glistening grains as flawless as the artichokes grown in her vegetable garden, and as luscious as Elche’s dates.
Former flight attendant Kat Kamalani has a serious warning for every passenger hopping onboard a plane, urging them to avoid on specific drink or face the potential consequences
Kat Kamalani has a warning for plane passengers(Image: Instagram / Tiktok)
Most of us barely give it a second thought when the trolley rattles down the aisle and a flight attendant offers a hot drink.
A cup of tea or coffee feels like a small reward after the hassle of airport security and squeezing into a narrow seat. But former flight attendant Kat Kamalani has a warning for every passenger: try to avoid drinking coffee, tea, or any water on a plane unless it comes in a sealed bottle or can.
She shared a clip on her Instagram account in which she issues a general warning to passengers. She explains: “Don’t you ever, ever, ever consume these products from an airplane, from a flight attendant. Rule number one: never consume any liquid that is not in a can or a bottle.”
Travel experts Ski Vertigo back this up, advising travellers to buy drinks at the airport instead. Not only does this avoid the unpleasant risks, but it can also be cheaper, especially on charter flights.
In her viral video, Kat reveals a side of in-flight drinks that many travellers don’t know about. She explains: “Those water tanks are never cleaned, and they are disgusting.” Many flight crews “rarely, rarely drink the coffee or tea” served on board because it all comes from the same water tank. These little coffee guys (coffee machines) are rarely cleaned unless they are broken. These guys (coffee kettles) are taken out and cleaned in between flights, but the whole machine is never cleaned. And they’re in the lavatories.”
She also suggests that parents should avoid asking for hot water to put in a baby’s bottle, although not doing so could prove very inconvenient.
While airlines insist they follow safety standards, once water travels through the aircraft’s tanks and pipes, it’s hard to guarantee it’s clean. That’s why experts and insiders now strongly suggest avoiding hot drinks made from tank water, especially if you’re pregnant, have a weaker immune system, or are travelling with young children.
Kat’s advice for parents is simple. She says: “Never ask for hot water and put it in your baby’s bottle. Ask for a bottle of water on the side and hot water in a cup. Then make your baby a bottle with the bottled water and put it in the cup and heat it up.”
For adults, Kat’s warning is just as clear: if your drink didn’t come from a sealed bottle or can, think twice before drinking it. The best approach is to stick to drinks that never go near the aircraft’s tanks, bottled water, canned soft drinks, or juice—and say no to tea, coffee, and even ice, which is often made from the same tap water.
A strange world is taking to the streets of Melrose Avenue this Sunday, Nov. 23, as CicLAvia touches down in partnership with the Netflix series “Stranger Things” in promotion of the show’s upcoming final season.
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the car-free event will stretch from Vermont to Fairfax, with a reimagined street that brings the fictional town of Hawkins, Ind., to life. Fans are also encouraged to embrace an ’80s theme, so break out the neon, leg warmers and windbreakers.
With no starting point or finish line, participants are invited to go at their own pace and patron local businesses along the way. Take a break with over-the-top lattes, French baguettes, Filipino barbecue, an iconic hot dog stand, vegan ice cream, Uzbek cuisine and more. Here are 15 food and drink stops along the Melrose Avenue CicLAvia route.
