Report: Rehabbing Redmond rebels, refuses role in dad Ryan O'Neal's sequel to TV special about his mom Farrah Fawcett

Gossip man Mike Walker, who has pretty reliable sources, reports in this week's National Enquirer that "drug addict Redmond O'Neal" is "fed up with the money-grubbing exploitation of dead mom Farrah Fawcett by ruthlessly abusive dad Ryan O'Neal" and "finally exploded and refused to star in Ryan's sequel to Farrah's Story, the hit TV documentary that featured shocking footage of jailbird Redmond shuffling in shackles to Mommy's deathbed!"

Walker goes a step further by adding that "Redmond-- desperately fighting his drug habit in rehab-- blames Ryan for the vicious snub of Farrah by the Oscars, which cut her out of its In Memorium segment."

Ryan is quoted by a "friend visiting him in rehab":

"My dad's pissed off so many people in Hollywood that they're taking it out on my mother!"


Redmond reportedly believes his dad is "using poor Farrah's memory to grub for money he badly needs. Redmond got $4.5 million in Farrah's will-- but Ryan got zero."

According to one of Mike's insiders, Red's "residual anger" at that deathbed scene has built after "friends and fellow jailbirds convinced him that Ryan shouldn't have shot that embarrassing footage.

"And now that he's out of jail, he's told Ryan not to visit him in rehab."

Sound true?

Restricted! Now how will Ryan O'Neal get footage of his drug addict son for his Farrah Fawcett sequel?

Controversial Hollywood actor and father Ryan O'Neal is being restricted from visiting his and Farrah Fawcett's son Redmond in drug rehab, while the young drug addict has been banned from any more home visits that could impede his recovery.

The young ginger O'Neal left his one-year program at the Impact residential drug treatment center today for a courtroom progress report in Los Angeles and to hear Judge Michael Tynan tell him:

"You were faking it the last time you were at Impact. You weren't sincere. You have to take a hard look at your life.

"Right now, pal, you are still in trouble. I'm going to ask Impact to eliminate any home visits, you agree with that Mr O'Neal?"

Redmond replied: "Yes your honor."


RadarOnline.com quotes Redmond as saying, "I'm doing better this time."

The 25-year-old also told People: "I'm doing great. I am focused on my recovery and plan not to let anything get in the way. I am doing my best to make my mother proud."

His attorney Richard Pintal added:"Redmond has kicked it up, and the progress report reflected that."

It was the father, Ryan O'Neal, who took the hardest shot in court when Redmond was denied home visits, along with being restricted from visiting with his son. This is especially difficult for the 68-year-old actor in light of his professed plans to include footage of Redmond amid his struggle with drugs in his planned sequel to the NBC special Farrah's Story.

Redmond's next court date is set for April 7th.

Ryan and Tatum O'Neal, back in black

Ryan O'Neal, currently preparing a sequel to the Farrah's Story television special based on his on-off lover Farrah Fawcett's losing cancer battle, is photographed with his formerly-estranged daughter Tatum O'Neal at an awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

The pair were caught looking both festive and pensive at the American Society of Cinematographers 24th Annual Outstanding Achievement Awards.


Father and daughter last made headlines together in August, after Ryan O'Neal confessed in Vanity Fair magazine that he'd inadvertently "hit on" Tatum at Farrah's funeral.

The O'Neals have been estranged for years, at least since Tatum, 46, published her autobiography A Paper Life in 2004, describing her drug addiction, and a strained relationship with her father, painting a very unflattering picture of him.

The O'Neals starred together in the 1973 film Paper Moon, for which Tatum won a for Best Supporting Actress Oscar®. They've been estranged at least since 2004, when Tatum published an autobiography that described her horrific childhood and life of drug addiction.

Ryan O'Neal, 68, recently said he and Tatum have been trying to repair their relationship in the months since Farrah's death. In his recent interview with Alana Stewart's son Ashley Hamilton on Extra, he said he missed Tatum. In that Vanity Fair interview, however, he revealed he was still very angry at his daughter:

"She wrote a book— bitch! How dare she throw our laundry in the street for money!

"…She didn't call after Farrah's show! She'll have to explain that."

We settle the fight between Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett's production partner Craig Nevius over "Farrah's Story"

Outrage over Ryan O'Neal producing a sequel to the NBC special Farrah's Story that includes his and Farrah Fawcett's troubled drug addict son Redmond? The storm began even before Farrah's death last June, when Craig Nevius, Farrah Fawcett's production partner on her cancer documentary, A Wing and A Prayer, sued O'Neal, O'Neal and Farrah's longtime business manager Richard B. Francis and Farrah's friend and documentary camerawoman Alana Stewart for pushing him out of the project that became the controversial Farrah's Story. Last month, O'Neal fired back as Francis sued Nevius on behalf of Farrah's estate.

We contacted Craig Nevius, asking for his reaction to this latest twist-- and with an idea for settling at least one part of the sad saga. He responded via email.

What's your reaction to Ryan O'Neal's sequel to Farrah's Story?

I’m sure that any project Ryan or Alana may produce will be of the same quality that most of us have come to know and expect from both of them.

What are the chances of you getting a copy of the original footage and the rights to produce and release the original A Wing and A Prayer director's cut that Farrah wanted made? Would that settle things?

First, let me correct the premise of your question (and a growing misconception born out of the lawsuit that “Farrah’s Estate” filed against me last month): there is no such thing as a “Director’s Cut” of A Wing and A Prayer. While I am (and have always been) the director of the film, every edited version was the “Executive Producers’ Cut.” Meaning it was not only my work but Farrah’s work as well.

The idea that I was working in a vacuum and then, suddenly, after almost two years of editing, simply “presented” her with “my version” is as ridiculous as it is untrue. Anyone who ever got to know Farrah, let alone got the chance to work with her, knows that control was not something that she easily gave up, much less gave into (if someone else tried to exert it). And while Farrah had many talents, biting her tongue was not one of them. She always insisted that people around her “say what you mean and mean what you say.” And she did the same. In my experience, Farrah rarely changed her mind.


Even though Farrah couldn’t be in the editing room on a daily basis, we spoke almost every day, usually several times a day, often for hours on end. And we screened new scenes and/or sequences together every two or three weeks (unless she was in Germany, but even then we tried to speak once a week even if it was at 4:30 in the morning Los Angeles time). Changes to the film were made based on her artistic vision as well as her medical condition: which means both her triumphs and setbacks dictated our direction. She was, after all, still living the “story” we were telling.

"Farrah never wanted this project
to be about death.
She wanted it to be about
the fight for a chance at life."

But what she made clear to me early on was that if it suddenly became apparent that the end was near, we needed to make sure that the story in the film ended first. Because Farrah never wanted this project (or its promotion) to be about death. She wanted it to be about the fight for a chance at life. That’s why we chose to use “I Run For Life," Melissa Etheridge’s inspirational anthem to cancer patients everywhere, near the end of the documentary. Farrah’s video diary was never supposed to rely on talking heads to narrate the story, much less reminisce about her in the past tense. It was not to be a tribute and it was certainly not meant to be a eulogy. Farrah knew that there would be plenty of those on The Today Show and Entertainment Tonight and if the worst were to happen.

So what about the question we asked: What if you were allowed to release that original documentary so the pubic can have both?

My lawsuit is asking the court to declare that the Sweetened By Risk Agreement (signed by Farrah and by me) is our company’s only legally valid (and therefore controlling) operating agreement. If that is the court’s finding, then yes, A Wing and A Prayer will be seen by the world. But until that time comes, the only audience likely to see it will be the judge and jury.


And that’s only because the accusations made by Richard Francis in the estate’s lawsuit against me made the quality of the work relevant-- when it was not necessarily relevant before (in my lawsuit for contract interference). At least that’s my understanding of it. But you have to remember, my only law degree comes from watching Boston Legal.

Would you accept that?

Yes. My lawsuit has always been primarily about two issues: my rights and my responsibility. That’s how Sweetened By Risk’s Operating Agreement reads. It clearly states that if Farrah becomes unable to function for any reason (including and specifically illness), I not only had the right to make all business and creative decisions for our company, I also had the responsibility to do so.

So you see, even if I wanted to settle for something less than completing the film as Farrah intended, I really couldn’t. At least not if I wanted to live with myself. Sure, money would be great. But I know that it wouldn’t last nearly as long as the guilt I would feel for selling out Farrah. She fought too long and too hard for me not to do the same.

Has the other side offered to settle with you for money?

Whether they did or not, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it.

***

It sounds simple enough: Show us the movie. Farrah's fans, O'Neal's supporters, and the world will only be richer for getting even more insight into Farrah, and seeing her ordeal through her own eyes.

The lawsuits would be settled and everyone involved could be satisfied that Farrah is indeed "resting in peace."

Ryan? Bernie?

Ryan O'Neal to exploit son Redmond's drug battle in his Farrah Fawcett documentary sequel

Despite the denials, it appears that Ryan O'Neal will exploit his and Farrah Fawcett's son Redmond and his drug problems in a reality television format, after all.

RadarOnline.com reports that Redmond's sad battle with heroin and other addictions will be one of three plotlines in the follow-up to Farrah's Story, the exploitative NBC special that was carved from Farrah and production partner Craig Nevius' original video journal of her cancer struggle.

RadarOnline says its reporters have seen the letter O'Neal is sending out to get people to cooperate. It reads in part:

“We plan to focus on three main areas of her legacy: her art (namely her films and her sculptures), her inspirational battle with cancer; and the light of her life, our son Redmond, who is now fighting to reclaim himself in honor of his mother.”


According to RadarOnline, O'Neal also writes that the documentary will include Farrah’s voice from “an original, never-aired 2005 interview with never-before-seen footage from our private collection of home movies.”

One of the most horrific parts of the Farrah's Story special was the scene, engineered by O'Neal, in which a shackled Redmond was led from jail into the room of his near-comatose mother and allowed to get into bed with her. The sequel promises to pick up the story from there.

It's not known if O'Neal will include video of Farrah's death.

O’Neal plans to keep shooting interviews through March. It's not known if he'll get to interview Redmond, who's in court-ordered drug rehab after years of arrests, jailtime and drug treatment.


O'Neal and Redmond were arrested together on drug charges in 2008 when police found methamphetamine in the actor's Malibu home. O'Neal at first denied the drugs were his, but last year pleaded guilty to drug possession and was sentenced to a year and a half of drug counseling.

Last week, after Farrah's Charlies Angels costar Kate Jackson attacked him in the media, O'Neal said through a spokesman that his "only wishes are for Farrah to rest in peace."

Is the producer of Farrah Fawcett sequel also Farrah Fawcett's sequel?

Sources tell us that the woman in these pictures, who has been seen at Ryan O'Neal's side since Farrah Fawcett's funeral and around his Malibu beachhouse in the months since, is O'Neal's handpicked producer for the sequel to the Farrah's Story tabloid special.

She is identified as "Stephanie Lynn." She has been alternatively described as "Ryan O'Neal's assistant." (IMDb has entries for two Stephanie Lynns, an actress and a television talent coordinator named Stephanie Lynn, born August 23, 1977 in Tucson Arizona, most recently of the Dr. Phil show, and a former researcher for Creep Tales.)


O'Neal's publicist Arnold Robinson has confirmed that the production process is underway.

"My understanding," he says, "is that he is collecting recollections/memories of Farrah from her friends and family for archival purposes."


No word if NBC, which aided in the altering of Farrah's cancer journal, A Wing And A Prayer into the O'Neal-flavoured Farrah's Story, is involved with the sequel, though the Emmy nomination and ratings garnered by the original would seem to point in that direction.


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