Billy’s Blog: A Friend Remembers Casey Johnson

I just spoke to John Flanagan, a lifelong friend of Casey Johnson, since she was 5 years old. He is devastated and had been crying for four hours. He asserts that Casey was deeply troubled, very vulnerable and very much alone.

John told me Casey was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes as a kid and in the past several years had to be hospitalized for complications with her medication. She had to be meticulous about taking her medication because any variance could be catastrophic.

Flanagan has been worried about Casey for some time but said he ultimately convinced himself it would all work out in the end. She was the daughter of Woody Johnson, of the Johnson & Johnson family fortune, Jets Owner, finance chairman of the McCain campaign…of course it would be ok.

Things were so bad in Casey’s life that when John visited her home months ago there was “animal feces on the floor, graffiti on the wall, food everywhere in the kitchen of her $25,000 per month rental home. There were unopened boxes of cashmere sweaters and gifts for her child”.

John said he pleaded with Casey’s Uncle Marty Richards to intervene. Her parents, Sale and Woody had chosen tough love with her out of what can only be assumed to be desperation.

Flanagan told me that Casey was all set to move back to New York and get herself on the right track as of a month ago. She was going to move into a 2 bedroom apartment in the Carlton House, put her child in a prominent NY day school…she was intent on leaving LA behind.

That was about a month ago, and then she met Tila Tequila, whom Flanagan described as a “4’11 publicity wh*re…a rodent”.
Flanagan claims Casey Johnson was “on the right path” before Tila came along. Tila’s tweets seem uncharacteristically upbeat and exclamation point filled. She also seems quite disconnected for a person who calls the deceased “wifey”.

I met Casey Johnson one time. John Flanagan brought her to my birthday party several years ago at the Viceroy. They joined me, my wife and our friends in a fun evening by the pool. She seemed shy, very polite and quite sweet. I don’t remember her drinking anything. John told me tonight that Casey kept the group photo of that night on her wall.

I fear when the autopsy is complete (if one is done), the death of Casey Johnson will show yet another tragic example of an over-prescribed Hollywood have-it-all with so much going for them on the outside who did not have anything close to what they needed. Help.