Cathriona White’s mother, Brigid Sweetman, is suing Jim Carrey for wrongful death and seeking damages for violation of the drug dealer liability act. The lawsuit comes after White’s estranged husband, Mark Burton, filed his own wrongful death suit against the actor last month.
In the new court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Tuesday, October 11, Sweetman accuses Carrey, 54, of giving her daughter — who dated the actor on and off prior to her September 2015 death — prescription drugs, as well as sexually transmitted diseases, and being verbally abusive.
“This is a case about defendant Jim Carrey abusing Plantiff’s daughter, Cathriona White, and then proceeding to provide Ms. White with illegal drugs that ultimately led to her tragic death,” the document claims. “Carrey’s abuse included, but was not limited to, Carrey giving Ms. White three STDs without warning her … lying to her about it, ‘dumping’ her out of concern for saving his own carefully crafted public image, calling her a ‘whore’ and shaming her, and then using his high-priced Hollywood lawyers and ‘fixers’ to intimidate and threaten her in an effort to silence her.”
As previously reported, the makeup artist died at the age of 30 from a drug overdose that the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office ruled a suicide.
Sweetman also claims in her lawsuit that Carrey provided White with “prescription drugs … despite the fact that he knew full well that Ms. White (a) was ill equipped to ingest and manage highly additive prescription drugs outside the care of a licensed physician; (b) was prone to depression; and (c) had previously attempted to take her own life. The result that followed was predictable and foreseeable – Ms. White overdosed on the drugs on or about September 24, 2015, and died.”
“Jim Carrey should be ashamed of what he did to my daughter,” Sweetman said in a statement to Us. “And he should be ashamed for how he has used his Hollywood attorneys to badmouth Cat’s husband, Mark, with the hope that nobody will hold him responsible for what he did.” Sweetman’s attorney, Michael Avenatti, adds: “The lies from Jim Carrey and his handlers need to stop.”
In a statement to Us on Tuesday, Carrey’s attorney, Marty Singer, claims that Sweetman is joining Burton in trying to capitalize on White’s death.
“It is understandable that a mother who has lost a daughter will look for someone to blame,” Singer said. “But in directing her grief and rage at Jim Carrey and joining this … attempt to capitalize on Cathriona’s suicide, Mrs. Sweetman is heading down the same dark path as … Mark Burton.”
A previously reported, White’s estranged husband, Burton, also accused Carrey of giving White STDs in his own lawsuit filed last month. Singer previously denounced the lawsuit, calling the claims “baseless,” “bogus” and a “transparent shakedown.”
In a statement to Us at the time, Carrey also slammed the allegations. “I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved,” the actor said on September 19. “Cat’s troubles were born long before I met her, and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyone’s control. I really hope someday soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace.”
