Hollywood Reporter Chris Gardner And Drugs Lohan Campbell----Drugs With Lindsay Lohan And Naomi Campbell,' Hollywood Reporter: Ever wonder what it's like to party with a celebrity? Chris Gardner knows all too well. As a gossip columnist, it was his job to spend six nights a week living it up with the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Ritchie, Britney Spears and more.
But seven years of fast Hollywood living eventually took its toll.
"This town chewed me up and spit me out," he said.
Gardner's story begins far away from the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown. He was born and raised in Iowa. Gardner first saw Los Angeles as a child.
"Around the time that I was in the cornfields, I first came to Los Angeles on a family vacation. And I knew then that this is where I wanted to be," he said. "I think I knew, even then, that what LA represented is that you could really make something out of yourself."
He returned to Los Angeles as an adult, one month after graduating college, and took an entry-level job with The Hollywood Reporter. He ended up spending much of his time hanging out in and around Hollywood's legendary Sunset Boulevard.
See Chris Gardner's story on "Sunset Boulevard" TOMORROW at 9 p.m. ET.
"It was so big and it was so flashy, and it was so sexy," he said. "Even when just driving down it, you're bombarded with just how sexy it is. From the billboards to the people walking down the street... I mean, it's just everywhere."
Gardner's job was to infiltrate that sexy world by making the rounds of different night clubs to get close to celebrities and write about them. To the delight of his bosses, he succeeded.
PHOTO: Chris Gardner said that while working as a gossip columnist, he used to spend much of his time drinking, doing drugs and "chasing the party."
Courtesy Chris Gardner
Chris Gardner said that while working as a... View Full Size
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"I still can't believe it...I mean met Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor and wrote a story about them," Gardner remembered. "I did have to stop and think, 'I'm just a kid from Iowa and I'm standing here with Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor with a tape recorder in my hand.'" Like how did this happen?"
Gardner soon moved from The Hollywood Reporter to a high-profile job covering celebrity gossip at People Magazine.
"My job was not only to socialize with the people that I was covering, but to get exclusive news before anyone else. And it's a really competitive game," he said.
"My first week on the job, my editor said, 'I want you to become friends with Paris and Nikki, and Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.'"
But as his career soared, Gardner found himself on a dangerous path. He began hanging out at The Chateau Marmont, the grand dame of Sunset Boulevard hotels.
It's known as the haunts of screen legends like James Dean, but the hotel has its shadows too: In 1982, a speedball -- a heroin and cocaine concoction -- killed John Belushi in Chateau Marmont's Bungalow No. 3.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/high-celebs-gossip-columnists-twisted-tale/story?id=16162834#.T5VHoNk1Vkg
But seven years of fast Hollywood living eventually took its toll.
"This town chewed me up and spit me out," he said.
Gardner's story begins far away from the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown. He was born and raised in Iowa. Gardner first saw Los Angeles as a child.
"Around the time that I was in the cornfields, I first came to Los Angeles on a family vacation. And I knew then that this is where I wanted to be," he said. "I think I knew, even then, that what LA represented is that you could really make something out of yourself."
He returned to Los Angeles as an adult, one month after graduating college, and took an entry-level job with The Hollywood Reporter. He ended up spending much of his time hanging out in and around Hollywood's legendary Sunset Boulevard.
See Chris Gardner's story on "Sunset Boulevard" TOMORROW at 9 p.m. ET.
"It was so big and it was so flashy, and it was so sexy," he said. "Even when just driving down it, you're bombarded with just how sexy it is. From the billboards to the people walking down the street... I mean, it's just everywhere."
Gardner's job was to infiltrate that sexy world by making the rounds of different night clubs to get close to celebrities and write about them. To the delight of his bosses, he succeeded.
PHOTO: Chris Gardner said that while working as a gossip columnist, he used to spend much of his time drinking, doing drugs and "chasing the party."
Courtesy Chris Gardner
Chris Gardner said that while working as a... View Full Size
Writer: I Did Drugs With Lindsay Lohan Watch Video
Roxy Memories: How Lennon Destroyed Home Watch Video
Will This Band Make It or Break It? Watch Video
"I still can't believe it...I mean met Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor and wrote a story about them," Gardner remembered. "I did have to stop and think, 'I'm just a kid from Iowa and I'm standing here with Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor with a tape recorder in my hand.'" Like how did this happen?"
Gardner soon moved from The Hollywood Reporter to a high-profile job covering celebrity gossip at People Magazine.
"My job was not only to socialize with the people that I was covering, but to get exclusive news before anyone else. And it's a really competitive game," he said.
"My first week on the job, my editor said, 'I want you to become friends with Paris and Nikki, and Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.'"
But as his career soared, Gardner found himself on a dangerous path. He began hanging out at The Chateau Marmont, the grand dame of Sunset Boulevard hotels.
It's known as the haunts of screen legends like James Dean, but the hotel has its shadows too: In 1982, a speedball -- a heroin and cocaine concoction -- killed John Belushi in Chateau Marmont's Bungalow No. 3.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/high-celebs-gossip-columnists-twisted-tale/story?id=16162834#.T5VHoNk1Vkg
