Latest news with #SuperFreak
Perth Now
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Eddie Murphy enlisted Rick James for Todd Bridges intervention
Eddie Murphy staged an intervention for Todd Bridges by enlisting singer Rick James to talk to him about the dangers of drugs. The Diff'rent Strokes actor, 60, has revealed Eddie tried to help him when he was battling addiction issues by asking Super Freak star Rick - who spent years battling his own drug problems - to go over to his house to help set him straight but Todd insists it was a baffling encounter because Rick left with half of his stash. Speaking on the The Patrick LabyorSheaux with Patrick Labyorteaux, Todd explained: "I knew Eddie Murphy for a while. And Eddie was like: 'Man, we gotta get Todd some help, man. He's trippin'. We gotta find somebody who knows about drugs' ... "They send Rick James to my house. Now, if any of you guys know anything about Rick James, Rick James was getting higher than I was at the time. "So Rick comes to my house, you know, he opens his car door up, and all this smoke comes out. And I'm like: 'What's going on?'" Rick told Todd they needed to have a chat and the actor admitted he was prepared to hear the singer out, saying: "When Rick spoke, you listened. Rick was wild, so when Rick spoke, you listened." However, the visit took a turn when Rick asked to see Todd's drug stash. He explained: "I showed him, he goes: 'Man, that's too much. I don't want you killing yourself. That's too much. Let me take a half of that so you don't kill yourself' ... "And then he started talking to [this] girl on my couch and she went with him! And I'm like, I'm ready to kill Rick at this point. So Rick leaves, and I'm like ... what kind of drug intervention was that?" Todd went on to insist Eddie probably didn't realise Rick - who died in 2004 aged 56 - was also taking a lot of drugs at the time. He said: "Eddie didn't know. No one knew that Rick was getting high either. They knew that he smoked weed, but they thought that's all it was." Todd did eventually clean up his act and he's now been sober for more than three decades. During an appearance on the Allison Interviews podcast in January 2025, he said of his sobriety: "I've been sober for 32 years. The mistake I don't make is relapsing. I won't make that mistake again ... "I couldn't be the same guy anymore. I got tired of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, and getting the same results. "I remember when I was in the rehab program, and this light came over me and God said: 'I'm going to put people in your path and you just listen to what they tell you, do what they tell you to do and don't question it, and you will be sober for a long time.' "That's exactly what happened and I finally got it. You have to surrender to win the program. That's tough for people who don't like to surrender."
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Son of legendary singer Rick James sentenced in Bakersfield
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — On Nov. 29, 2022, Ricardo Mathews — son of legendary funk singer Rick James — was serving time in Kern Valley State Prison in Delano. Mathews left his cell and crouched down in a fighting stance next to another inmate's cell while holding a self-made slungshot — a small mass of metal or stone fixed on a flexible handle or strap, the District Attorney's Office said. When the other inmate left his cell, Mathews struck him in the face with the slungshot, according to officials. Mathews continued to beat the inmate for 28 seconds until officers stopped him. At Mathews' sentencing hearing Wednesday, Judge David Zulfa repeatedly spoke with caution, almost sounding apologetic. The judge said he and Mathews had a 'cordial relationship' throughout the trial and he felt no antagonism between them. Zulfa admitted he was having trouble separating his observations of Mathews from the defendant's lengthy history of violence, both in and out of custody. 'I don't take lightly my responsibility in imposing a sentence, especially a sentence that is going to be significant,' Zulfa said. Ultimately, he sentenced Mathews to 25 years to life in prison, plus 10 years. Mathews, 52, was found guilty last month of felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon by a prisoner and being an inmate in possession of a weapon. The victim suffered a broken nose and lacerations that required sutures. The jury found true that Mathews had prior felony convictions in relation to a robbery, intimidating a witness, assault causing great bodily injury and criminal threats – all of which fall under the state's three-strikes law, the Kern County District Attorney's Office has said. Additionally, the court found his performance while on probation was unsatisfactory. Before his latest conviction, Mathews was scheduled to be released from prison in 2030. Syville Morgan, Mathews' mother, told 17 News she was a single parent who had taken care of Mathews and Tyenza James, his older sister. Morgan was also a singer songwriter in the past, but was not in the spotlight as much. The family of three lived in a duplex in Central Avenue, Los Angeles, in an area which Morgan described as clean but 'it was in the hood.' 'His childhood was kind of basic for a young man growing up in a single parent home,' Morgan said. That was until Rick James, performer of megahits 'Super Freak' and 'Give It to Me Baby,' re-entered the family's lives. Mathews was around 8 or possibly younger when James allegedly sent detectives to find them. Since then, James provided for the family, Morgan said. They moved to a home in Ontario, 'a nice place way out in San Bernardino Valley.' Morgan said she believes Mathews felt some pressure at the time, as his lifestyle had changed after James came onto the scene. Still, Morgan said, Mathews had a good relationship with his father, which they maintained until the 56-year-old singer's death in 2004. After becoming an adult, Mathews suffered from depression at some point, Morgan said. He started using drugs and got into trouble, but he was never affiliated with gangs, according to Morgan. '(Mathews) didn't start trouble, but trouble came around him because he was the son of somebody famous,' Morgan said. 'And I feel like he had to defend himself.' Morgan also said her son is a talented artist and creative writer whose 'hard work is impeccable.' Mathews has an outgoing, fun personality and he always made people laugh, according to Morgan. 'Regardless, he's a man and he's trying to better his life,' Morgan said. 'We're looking for better things for him when he comes home, Lord willing.' Before the sentencing, Supervising Deputy District Attorney David McKillop argued the defense's request to eliminate Mathews' prior strikes due to the age of those convictions should be offset by Mathews living a continuous life of crime. Phillip Gillet, Mathews' attorney, said his client has a history of substance abuse and mental illness that should be considered for a less severe sentence. Gillet also said Mathews believed he was targeted by other inmates due to not being a gang member while in prison. He argued the 25-years-to-life sentence recommended by the prosecution and probation was unfair as the victim had attacked Mathews two to three times prior to Mathews' assault. He said Mathews tried to get moved to a new cell to avoid the victim, even breaking his cell window on one occasion, but he was never moved. 'I'm torn on this case because, quite frankly, you don't seem like the type of person that is outrageously violent,' Zulfa said to Mathews. 'But at the same time, you find yourself consistently in circumstances that result in violence.' In the end, he gave Mathews the 25-years-to-life sentence, enhanced by 10 years. Mathews is also forbidden from possessing firearms and other related items, Zulfa said. Zulfa seemed apologetic once more, saying he and Mathews had gotten along well throughout the hearings for this case. He said he truly hopes Mathews is able to one day get paroled as Mathews didn't seem like the type of person who should spend the rest of his life in prison. 'I wish you the very best of luck moving forward,' Zulfa said as Mathews nodded along in response. 'And I do sincerely mean that.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
