Earlier this year, there were eports that Luann de Lesseps was ditching probation requirements to pursue her own interests.
That was alarming all by itself.
On Thursday morning, a Florida judge ordered that Luann be taken into custody for violating the terms of her probation.
This time, there was more to it than falling behind on some of the paperwork included in the terms of her freedom.
This time, she fell off the wagon — again — without setting foot in a rehab facility.
We’d love to crack a “Money Can’t Buy You Class” joke here, folks, but this sounds serious.
Luann is in a lot of trouble. See for yourself:
UPDATE: Against all odds, Luann’s case took a turn for the better. See the details below:
Luann de Lesseps Season 10 Pic
Luann de Lesseps talks to the camera here during Season 10 of The Real Housewives of New York City.
Luann is still on probation
On Christmas Eve of 2017, she was determined to be drunk and disorderly while trespassing, and allegedly kicked a police officer. She was extremely lucky to get probation.
But it looks like her freedom has been curtailed
On the morning of Thursday, May 23, a judge ordered that Luann de Lesseps return to custody.
Apparently, she screwed up
The court found that she had allegedly violated the terms of her probation.
Had she just stopped caring?
The judge was of the opinion that Luann was not taking the conditions of her freedom seriously. You see this with probation cases sometimes, where someone slowly slips back into living their old life because the fear of prison becomes a memory.
The court was alarmed by two things
One, she tested positive for alcohol.
And two …
Luann had reportedly stopped attending meetings in order to keep up with her sobriety.
She fell off of the wagon
“Per her New York Probation Officer, [she had] an alcohol test conducted on 04/21/2019,” court documents read. “[Luann] admitted to drinking 2 glasses of mimosas after a performance she had in Chicago.”
Here’s where it gets worse
The court accuses her of having passed on “he opportunity to immediately enroll in outpatient treatment” after that 2-mimosa slip-up.
Why would she do that?
The court’s opinion was that she was too focused on her Countess and Friends caberet tour and didn’t want another stint in rehab to interfere with that.
That is based upon Luann’s own words
“De Lesseps stated her touring schedule will impact treatment participation,” court documents read. “[Luann] believes that increased participation in AA meetings would suffice.”
So now she’s been ordered to jail
Rehab would interfere with caberet, but being behind bars will do a much bigger job of that.
But … was Luann right?
She has been very focused upon caberet recently, and even explained that it helps her stay sober.
It’s not just a distraction, either
It gives her a focus and a passion that occupy her time and thoughts so that she does not feel as much of a need to turn to self-medication.
This has been an obsession
Luann was so consumed with her passion for caberet that, while the season of RHONY was filming, Bethenny kind of … lost it.
The two friends clashed over this
Previews stretching back for weeks and months have made ti clear that Bethenny confronted Luann multiple times over her one-track thinking.
Like, Bethenny snapped, folks
Bethenny was convinced that no one else was interested in Luann’s passion project, even though it was helping Luann stay on the straight and narrow.
To Bethenny, it looked like narcissism
She flipped out over the way that Luann wanted to talk about caberet. We can’t help but wonder if she regrets that, now, or if this court order for Luann has made Bethenny even more confident that she was right to call her out.
This wasn’t really about Luann, though
Even in the preview clips, it was clear that Bethenny was having a breakdown over the sudden and tragic death of her good friend and on-again, off-again boyfriend Dennis Shields
It did look like they got a sense of closure on that
Geez, EVERYBODY was crying. Sometimes, strong emotions just end in a mini meltdown for everyone involved.
Luann’s issues are also complicated
One person can take painkillers after surgery and stop without issue. Others get hooked. Genetics are a factor, but the biggest indicator for addiction is life circumstances. Most people who self-medicate with alcohol or something else are doing it to cope with something.
Luann has plenty with which to cope
Years ago, she was in a car accident that could have killed her and her kids. She has had PTSD symptoms ever since and has been haunted by the event.
And then there was her recent humiliation
Remember when everyone she knew told her to not marry Tom D’Agostino because he was cheating on her? Well, she married him
It didn’t last
Well, the marriage DID last … a whopping eight months. Luann isn’t just dealing with a divorce, she’s dealing with the fallout that comes from being a public figure who gets humiliated by her husband but also by her own life choices.
And then there was another factor
Luann’s ex-husband Alexandre and their two children filed a lawsuit against her claiming that she had “stolen” some of the chidlren’s inheritance by not creating a trust out of half of the sales from a property she received in the divorce. Being sued by your ex is no fun. Being sued by your kids is even worse.
This was not her first relapse
In the summer of 2018, Luann went to rehab for 30 days after slipping up one night. She drank one drink … and then another … and ultimately ended up imbibing an alarming volume of alcohol of different varieties. One of the symptoms of alcoholism is an inability to draw the line.
Which is why this alleged relapse is different
That two-mimosa slip-up isn’t good, but the fact that it didn’t turn into a binge is a little reassuring. Luann stopped herself. For an alcoholic, that is a HUGE deal!
But it’s still a huge red flag
And earlier this year, back in February, we all saw reports that Luann had been blowing off her responsibilities. She had done only half of the required community service.
And there was more
If Luann was attending all of the AA meetings that she was supposed to, she hadn’t provided the necessary documentation of it.
All of this matters
And zero offense to Luann, her passions, or the performing arts, but staying out of prison is more important than caberet.
We hope that Luann is doing okay
She got a huge second chance when the court agreed to probation after her Christmas Eve kicking incident. Will she get a third chance? We’re starting to wonder if Bravo’s cameras are going to end up documenting her spending some time behind bars.
UPDATE
Early Thursday afternoon, it was reported that Luann has managed to strike a deal with the court, just hours after being ordered into custody
She’s out of prison, but with a stricter plea deal
Since the court no longer trusts her to hold herself accountable, she now allegedly has to take Antabuse, a medication designed to prevent the consumption of alcohol. She must also maintain a breathalyzer monitoring device and go to monthly in-person sessions with a therapist with whom she will also speak on the phone at least once per week.
Luann says that lies have been printed about her
Speaking to Us Weekly on Thursday, she reports: “These reports are false. I’m glad the judge was understanding once made aware of the evidence provided and I was then released. I am now looking forward to completing my remaining few months of probation. I want to put this behind me and move forward with my life.”
We don’t know the whole story, but …
No matter what really went down, we are rooting for Luann. We hope that things get a lot better and a lot easier from here on out.