River Phoenix was known as Gen X’s James Dean. An intrinsically gifted young actor who delivered emotionally powerful performances, he was beloved by those who knew him and admired by those who didn’t. He was a vegan and environmental activist before it was trendy and used his celebrity status to bring attention to the plight of humans and the earth alike. He was known for being unusual, sensitive, creative, kind, and naively idealistic. According to friends, the problems of the world weighed heavily on his shoulders as he felt it was his responsibility to solve them. He was a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and was an early icon for gay youth for his role as a gay street hustler in “My Own Private Idaho.”
In contrast to his “goodie-goodie” image (as he mockingly described it,) there were burgeoning issues with drugs. River had a dark childhood growing up in the perverted Christian child sex cult “Children of God,” and admitted to “losing his virginity” at age 4 in a 1991 interview with Details magazine. He was the primary breadwinner for his family by age 7, busking with his guitar and sister on the streets of Venezuela for food before his parents moved the Phoenix clan to Hollywood to push him into stardom. His overdose at the Viper Room on Halloween eve, 1993, shocked the world. There are many conflicting accounts of what happened that fateful night, and this post notes those rumors as well as the “truth” of how River died, as told by a long-time friend and colleague of River’s, director William Richert.
Rumor 1: Celebrity Rehab star and Thelonious Monster frontman Bob Forrest wrote in his memoir, “Running with Monsters,” that River had been on a heroin and crack binge for days with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. He claims that he saw River arrive at the Viper Room looking unsteady on his feet at the club. He also claims that River told him he was ODing before collapsing on the sidewalk and dying.Rumor 2:“It was about 1:00 am, Phoenix was in the bathroom of the club doing some drugs with several of his drug dealer friends, when one of them would offer him a hit of heroin. It was pure-grade Persion brown. Almost immediately after snorting the heroin, Phoenix would begin trembling and shaking violently. He then turned to one of his friends and vomited. Another of his friends decided it would be a good idea to give him a valium to calm him down.
After taking the valium, Phoenix would stagger back into the bar area and approach actress Samantha Mathis who was sitting with his sister, Rain Phoenix. Upon complaining that he could not breathe, Phoenix passed out. When he awakened, he begged his friends to take him outside the club where he quickly fell to the sidewalk and went into seizures until a photographer, Ron Davis made a 911 call on a nearby payphone, as did River's brother, Joaquin. Cell phones were not in the mainstream by then.”
Rumor 3: This story was allegedly told to several of River’s close friends right after his death by his then girlfriend, Samantha Mathis. This version most closely aligns with River’s autopsy report, as well as an interview John Phoenix (River’s father) gave after River died. Director William Richert claims he met with Samantha three days after River’s death, and the story she told him could’ve implicated those present at the time of the event. The people involved (Rain and Joaquin Phoenix, Samantha Mathis, Johnny Depp, Flea and John Frusciante) didn’t speak publicly about the incident for nearly thirty years, until Samantha did in an interview in 2018 wherein she told a version of the below story to the Guardian, omitting details that would get anyone into trouble. River’s most recent directors, Peter Bogdonavich and George Sluizer, both believed there was foul play.
River had returned to LA from Utah while shooting what would be his final film, “Dark Blood.” After a day of shooting in LA, River was coming down with a cold and wanted to sleep it off in his hotel room, as he had important meetings the next morning. Siblings Joaquin and Rain were in town to visit and wanted to go to the Viper Room but were underage and would need a celebrity escort to get in. Samantha volunteered and River planned to stay behind, but got a call from his friend Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, inviting him to play on stage. A last minute decision, River grabbed his guitar and ran to meet his girlfriend and siblings.
Upon arrival, River was told by Flea that there was no room on the stage for him and he could not play. He then sat in a booth at the back of the club with his group. John Frusciante, who had recently quit the Chili Peppers and was suffering heroin addiction, was close friends with River. Knowing that River was bummed out about not being able to play on stage, he handed River a Dixie cup filled with unspecified liquid and said “drink this, Riv, it’ll make you feel fabulous.” Unquestioningly, River knocked back the cocktail which was later discovered to be a mixture of 8 times the lethal amount of cocaine and 3 times the lethal amount of heroin, as found in his autopsy report. There was no drug residue or inflammation found in his nasal passages, no needle marks on his body, and no alcohol found in his blood.
After downing the drink, River soon vomited on himself and the table and passed out. When he came to, he began trembling violently. “What is this shit?” he asked, and quickly took a Valium to calm himself down. He could not feel his tongue or his mouth. Samantha told Richert that River was desperate to get out of the club, and that she helped carry him outside, where he promptly collapsed and started to have seizures. John Frusciante told a panicked Samantha to leave him alone and that “she was spoiling his high.” There was a delay in calling 911- the young people present were not sure whether to call their agents or paramedics due to River’s celebrity status. Rain threw herself on top of her brother to stop his face and hands from smashing into the pavement as his body seized. They watched him thrash helplessly on the ground for nearly ten minutes before a paparazzi convinced Joaquin to call 911. By the time they arrived, River was unresponsive. Flea rode in the ambulance with him. From the time he’d walked into the club to the time he died, it had been only 40 minutes.
Biographies about River continued only to refer to the drug pusher as a “guitarist friend,” but River’s father gave an interview in 1994 to Australia’s TV Week magazine, which corroborates the story that it was John Frusciante who gave River the deadly drink.
“He is only 23, the same age as River when he died, but he has a lot on his shoulders. He is keeping out of my way, because he knows I am looking for him. If you see him tell him I’m going to strangle him… no, don’t print that… but tell him, tell him he’s an asshole. He’s very rich but he is a heavy drug user, and now he is a pusher. With River he was like, “do drugs, do drugs.”
If you run into him, tell him, he may have gone back into the woodwork now but he’ll answer. I want him to know that I think he’s scum. Print it and let him see it. He insinuated himself into my sons life, and River was too sweet to eject him. River was moving away from drugs and was actually trying to get this guy off heroin himself. River booked him into a farm, talked to him for hours, invested time into him. But the guy broke out and dragged my son down with him. Now he is alive and River is dead. Where is the fairness in that?”
30 years on, because River’s mother refused an investigation and those present refused to give details, the facts of that night remain up for debate. There are wild conspiracy theories that I didn’t bother to mention up-top, like Johnny Depp using River as a satanic sacrifice. But one thing is for certain: River’s legacy lives on through his work, activism, and fans.
Here is a video compilation of River's famous friends talking about him, including Joaquin, Keanu Reeves, Ethan Hawke, Wil Wheaton, Sean Astin, Keifer Sutherland, Flea, Gus Van Sant, and Udo Kier:
River's sister Rain hosts a podcast called LaunchLeft, and did a special video for River's 50th birthday featuring Flea, Dermot Mulroney and Michael Stipe talking about River. Grab your tisses for Dermot Mulroney's particularly emotional part:
Sources:
The Wrap
Notated autopsy report
In Search of River Phoenix: The Truth Behind the Myth
Videos by William Richert
Youtube link to friends talking about River/Youtube link to River's 50th
ONTD, do you remember River? Did you even know Joaquin had a brother? What was your favorite River movie?
***Mods, thanks for your patience!