Jim Carrey accused of causing his ex-girlfriend’s suicide
It’s almost been one year since Jim Carrey’s ex-girlfriend, Cathriona White, committed suicide by overdosing on prescription drugs. While her funeral is months in the past, the grieving process is far from over for her late husband, the estranged Mark Burton. He’s filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Jim Carrey because he believes the actor is responsible for providing White with the drugs she used to cause her own death.
Cathriona White, Jim Carrey, Mark Burton, and Arthur King
The current situation is bizarre and the circumstances surrounding Cathriona White’s suicide were equally so.
First of all, Cathriona White was Irish and, according to sources, didn’t have U.S. citizenship until her marriage to Mark Burton in January of 2013. Burton, a cameraman, and White, a make-up artist, met one another while working on short films.
They were still married at the time of White’s suicide, although she’d been dating Jim Carrey on and off for at least a couple of years. According to Carrey’s Wikipedia page, he first met White in 2012. And they were dating at least by 2013, because their break-up that year was remembered by White’s friends as devastating for her.
Also interesting is that, at the time of Cathriona White’s death, many of her friends weren’t even aware that she was married to Mark Burton. Carrey, on the other hand, seemed to be a familiar presence to all in White’s social circles.
What I’m getting at is White’s suicide note, in which she directly speaks to Carrey. Her self-inflicted death came immediately after she and the actor broke up for the last time:
“I’ve spent 3 days now in disbelief that you’re not here. I can go on brokenhearted and try to put the pieces back. I could, I just don’t have the will this time. I’m sorry you felt I wasn’t there for you, I tried to give you my best part.”
She signed the note “Dewdrop”, which everybody guesses was a nickname used by Jim Carrey.
Flash-forward to today’s wrongful death accusations from Cathriona White’s late husband Mark Burton. He was living in Oregon at the time of White’s death (she lived in Los Angeles). On paper, one might suspect that his relationship with White amounted to a green-card marriage, or was at least less memorable compared to her relationship with Carrey.
Burton claims that Carrey had been plotting to paint himself as the “grieving good guy” from the moment of White’s death. Furthermore, his lawsuit states that the drugs White used to commit suicide (Propranolol, Percocet, Ambien) came from Jim Carrey. Burton insists that Carrey knew, or should have reasonably known, that White was “prone to depression and had previously attempted to take her own life” and supplied her with the fatal drugs in spite of this.
The lawsuit also claims that Jim Carrey broke California state law simply by possessing the drugs, which were allegedly obtained using the fake name ‘Arthur King’.
All in all, it’s a weird state of affairs.
Wrongful Death?
As for Jim Carrey, he responded to Burton’s lawsuit after a couple of days:
“What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man’s lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world.”
So obviously, Carrey isn’t just going to concede to the wrongful death accusations. This probably means that some litigation is on the way. If Mark Burton is going to prove that Jim Carrey was responsible for Cathriona White’s suicide by supplying the drugs that killed her, Burton will also have to prove that he reasonably should’ve known she’d try to end her life with them.
That will be difficult, and probably impossible if more information doesn’t surface. Mark Burton isn’t in the best position to maneuver a legal victory here — after all, he and Cathriona White were about to start divorce proceedings when she died. Jim Carrey’s team is in a pretty good position to argue that these accusations are just the result of Burton trying to milk some money out of a high-profile celebrity.
We see this kind of case all the time at Turner Law Offices, P.C. Our team of attorneys has years of experience working with clients across a wide range of cases involving wrongful death. Whether your loved one has been the victim of a wrongful death scenario or you’ve been unjustly accused of a wrongful death crime, the best first step is always to seek trustworthy legal representation. The sooner you take action, the better — so don’t wait! Call today, or go online to set up your free initial consultation, and meet with a skilled lawyer who’s ready and waiting to get you on track toward the justice you deserve.
