Struggles with drug addiction, wild conspiracy theories, and support for an evil mass murderer. In the late 2000s, just about everyone knew the name Tila Tequila — so what happened to her?
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00:00Struggles with drug addiction, wild conspiracy theories, and support for an evil mass murderer.
00:06In the late 2000s, just about everyone knew the name Tila Tequila. So what happened to her?
00:13Tila may have found fame in the late 2000s,
00:15but she couldn't seem to capitalize on her celebrity status in the way she wanted.
00:19After the second season of her MTV dating show, A Shot at Love, ended in 2008,
00:23she struggled to keep her career momentum going. She had hoped to get her
00:27feet wet in the business world, but didn't have much success.
00:30The reality star told the Los Angeles Times in 2010 that she owned and managed a record company,
00:36Tila Tequila Records, but the company later flopped. The reality star also tried her
00:40hand at internet dating. She started her adults-only site, Tila's Hotspot Dating,
00:45around the same time, which offered promiscuous live chats for monthly subscribers.
00:50Tila was supposed to partner with Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis on the site,
00:55but their vision never panned out. What did materialize, however,
00:58were computer viruses for users of Tila's Hotspot Dating site. For instance,
01:04one HuffPost journalist who ventured onto the site spent over an hour on the phone with a
01:08computer technician to remove malware from his laptop. His computer got the
01:12malware after he watched a few videos on Tila's site.
01:16In 2009, Tila made headlines after she accused former NFL player Sean Merriman of assaulting
01:21her. The former San Diego Chargers player was arrested and taken to jail after deputies
01:26responded to Tila's call claiming he had choked her.
01:29"...and I couldn't breathe. Then I was scared for my life."
01:34Merriman denied any wrongdoing and said he was trying to prevent the reality star from
01:38leaving his home due to concerns about her intoxicated state. San Diego Sheriff's Department
01:42spokesman Jan Caldwell told news outlets that officers on site noted that Tequila was intoxicated,
01:48but didn't know if Merriman had also been drinking.
01:51Merriman arrived in custody around 8.30 a.m. and was let go nearly three hours later.
01:56A few days after the incident occurred, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis dismissed the case based
02:01on insufficient evidence, while Merriman released a statement thanking the DA's office and the San
02:06Diego County Sheriff's Department. Tila remained quiet over the decision.
02:11After parting ways with Merriman, Tila found love with Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson.
02:16The two started seeing each other in October 2009 and moved fast,
02:20with Johnson popping the question to Tila just two months later. While the reality star said yes,
02:25their romance was cut tragically short, as Johnson passed away suddenly in January 2010.
02:30According to the coroner's report, Johnson died from natural causes associated with
02:34untreated diabetes. Tila told People that her fiancé's shocking death took a serious toll on her,
02:40saying,
02:41My therapist put me on suicide watch. I've been getting help but I'm fine now.
02:45I know Casey wants me to be alive. And she hates seeing me like this."
02:50In January of 2010, Tila announced that she was pregnant. The following February,
02:54she told Radar Online,
02:56With so much going on in my life right now and being pregnant,
02:59I'm retiring from being a star in Hollywood.
03:01I was crazy fun. I was mad. I mean, I get the party started."
03:08However, her social media posts confused many of her fans. A month after announcing she was
03:12expecting, the star revealed on X that she was a surrogate, writing,
03:16Big announcement! I am going to become a surrogate mother for my brother and his wife.
03:21But just a month later, Tila suggested on X that she might have experienced a miscarriage.
03:26The reality star went on to add that she refused to go to the hospital due to the paparazzi,
03:31and instead ranted about adopting a baby from a Russian orphanage.
03:35A representative for the reality star later confirmed to WENN
03:39that she lost the baby in a miscarriage.
03:42In a 2011 interview on The Howard Stern Show,
03:44Tila admitted that being a former reality TV star didn't pay the bills. She told the radio host,
03:49I'm actually very broke. I am broke as a joke right now. You mind
03:52sparing me a couple bucks for a cheeseburger?
03:54Tila also confirmed she struggles with a multiple personality disorder,
03:59which was why she faked a suicide attempt the previous year.
04:02She caused alarm at the time by posting a photo to X of a bloody arm.
04:06As a result, some of her fans called the police, thinking the reality star
04:09had done harm to herself. However, officers later confirmed the incident was a hoax.
04:14While referring to the incident, in her Stern interview, Tila told the radio host,
04:18Look at my arm. It was Jane, my other personality. She just popped up when I was 11.
04:24While Tila may have been faking her suicide attempt in 2010,
04:27things took a more serious turn two years later. In 2012, E! News reported that the
04:31social media celebrity had gone to rehab following a medical scare.
04:35The incident occurred after paramedics answered a 911 call from her then-roommate,
04:39who claimed that Tila had, allegedly, tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills.
04:44Tila was checked into an undisclosed location for a month-long stay and
04:48reportedly felt much better after her treatment. Her manager told E! News at the time,
04:52She is the healthiest she has ever been and is ready to get back to work. She is thankful for
04:56all the support she received from her fans and for the privacy the media gave her during her
05:01difficult time. In 2013, Tila caused an internet firestorm when she empathized with Adolf Hitler.
05:07The star was suspended from X after sharing a photo of herself performing a Nazi salute
05:12alongside two men. She also referred to Hitler as a brilliant artist. In an essay titled,
05:17Why I Sympathize with Hitler Part 1, True History Unveiled, Tila also took aim at Jewish people,
05:23writing in a bizarre blog post that they should get over the Holocaust because other people had
05:27been victims of atrocities. Using off-the-wall logic, she wrote in her post,
05:32If the rest of us can forgive and forget, maybe it's time you do also.
05:36Her support of Hitler is one of many conspiracy theories she posted on her former blog,
05:40including that she is a descendant of an alien race, she can time travel, and that 9-11 was a
05:46cover-up. Tila welcomed her first child, a daughter named Isabella Monroe Nguyen,
05:51in November 2014. Isabella's father was later revealed to be musician Thomas Whitaker,
05:56whom she split with before their child was born. According to his statements to Radar Online,
06:01Whitaker said he filed for bankruptcy, which he believes caused the reality star to end
06:05their relationship. According to documents obtained by TMZ, Whitaker later sought full
06:10legal custody over their daughter in 2016. Their custody agreement was settled eventually in 2019,
06:16with the former partners sharing legal custody and Tila being granted primary physical custody.
06:21Tila welcomed her second daughter, Annabelle, in 2018. However, little is known about the
06:25identity of the child's father. Tila's time on Season 16 of Celebrity Big Brother was swift,
06:31to say the least. The reality star spent only one night in the competition house before news
06:36of her previous support of Hitler and the Nazis made the rounds online and sparked an outcry.
06:41Tila was subsequently booted from Celebrity Big Brother. The show's producers said they
06:46were reportedly unaware of her past anti-Semitic comments when she was chosen to be in the cast.
06:52After getting the axe on Celebrity Big Brother, Tila went on a serious apology tour.
06:56The A Shot at Love star took to Axe in 2015, writing,
07:00I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible, reckless, and selfish actions and I hope that everyone can
07:05forgive me for the pain that I may have caused. Tila said her depression and drug addiction
07:10contributed to her state of mind when making the anti-Semitic statements.
07:14Asking for a second chance, the reality star promised to be a better role model for her
07:18daughter. Those promises seemed empty at best. Just a few months later, Tila was back to her
07:23old ways when she posted a photo to Axe of her daughter Isabella dressed up as Hitler.
07:28While referring to her past controversies, she then wrote on Axe,
07:31One day when you grow up, you're going to have to apologize for this picture,
07:35young lady. It will come back to haunt you. This way you'll know all the struggles your
07:40mama has been through. But I remained strong. A decade after A Shot at Love wrapped, Tila
07:46claimed she was never bisexual. She also added that the premise of the show,
07:49which had 32 men and women vying for her attention, was a publicity stunt.
07:53You ready for a shot at love?
07:56In a since-deleted YouTube video, the reality star set the record straight, saying,
08:00I was never bisexual. I was never a lesbian. I was never gay. When I was filming that reality show,
08:06I had a boyfriend. I was only acting gay for pay because in Hollywood,
08:10they require you to defile yourself with gay rituals, homosexual rituals, pornography.
08:15This wasn't the first time the true nature of her sexuality was in question.
08:19In 2007, an insider told Page Six that Tila had a boyfriend while she was
08:23filming Season 1 of Shot at Love. However, Tila denied those accusations at the time.
08:28Fans may have thought they had seen the last of Tila Tequila after her controversies.
08:33However, the mother of two returned in 2018 under a new name,
08:37Tornado Tien, to explain why she left Hollywood. As you may have guessed,
08:41her reasoning was full of crazy conspiracy theories that seem to have no clear link to
08:46one another. In a since-removed YouTube video, the reality star said she was chosen by higher powers,
08:52comparing herself to Jesus Christ. She also claimed weird events occurred in her daily life,
08:57saying,
08:57That's why all these mysterious, supernatural things keep happening around me.
09:02And that's why my whole life, the enemy has tried to kill me.
09:05Just like before Jesus was born, they were trying to hunt him down his whole life.
09:09So the same has happened to me. But then I realized that it's not because of anything
09:13other than I have been chosen before the other foundations of the world."
09:17Tila also said demons were sent to kill her, and even claimed she was drugged by the Hilton family.
09:22Furthermore, the Shot at Love alleged that her ex-girlfriend,
09:26Courtney Semmel, was responsible for the death of her former fiancé, Casey Johnson.
09:31Tila Tequila may not be in the spotlight as much these days, but fans can still get a piece of the
09:35controversial star's artwork. Tila joined Etsy to offer customers different types of paintings
09:40she's done over the years. On her Etsy page, Tila claimed that her work contained special powers,
09:45and referred to them as magic. As of 2024, Tila had sold around 70 pieces and made some
09:51customers happy. One user who bought a piece called The Spirit of God gave it a five-star
09:56rating, writing in their review,
09:57This painting is lovely and alive.
10:00Tila shipped it out quickly and it arrived in perfect condition.
10:04If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit
10:08the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's
10:13National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP 4357.