Mindy McCready’s apparent suicide on Sunday makes her the fifth “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” cast member to die in the past two years. The troubled country singer appeared on season three, a season in which three cast members have died, including Evergreen Park native Joey Kovar. The former “Real World” star was found dead

Continue reading →

Mindy McCready’s apparent suicide on Sunday makes her the fifth “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” cast member to die in the past two years.

The troubled country singer appeared on season three, a season in which three cast members have died, including Evergreen Park native Joey Kovar. The former “Real World” star was found dead last summer in a home in Chicago Ridge at the age of 29. The Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled his death, due to “opiate intoxication,” an accident.

Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr, 44, died in 2011 reportedly from a prescription drug overdose. He, too, was on season three.

McCready is the latest fatality from that season, which aired in 2010 on VH1. The extremely unsettling video below is a clip from her stint on the program. It shows her having a seizure while the cameras rolled. Castmate Heidi Fleiss is laughing at first because she thinks McCready is faking it. Former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman runs out to the ambulance to comfort McCready as she’s being taken away from the Pasadena Recovery Center where the show was filmed.

McCready, who died of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot to the head, clearly was a deeply troubled person. The Associated Press reported that the 37-year-old mother of two had attempted suicide at least three times since 2005. I don’t think being on “Celebrity Rehab” led to her — or any of her castmates’ — untimely demises. But that doesn’t make the show feel any less exploitative, especially when you watch the disturbing clip in this post.

The Hollywood Reporter had a story in January 2012 that VH1 had no plans to air “Celebrity Rehab” or its spin-off, “Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House” last year. Dr. Drew Pinsky did have a show last fall that focused on rehabbing regular folks as opposed to celebrities.

VH1 hasn’t made an official statement on the fate of its “Rehab” franchise, but in my opinion, McCready’s death is one more reason in a long list of reasons to quit this series.