Casey Johnson
Encyclopedia
Sale Trotter Case "Casey" Johnson (September 24, 1979 – January 4, 2010) was an American heiress, socialite
and celebutante, as well as an occasional actress, model
and author
. She was one of the great-great-granddaughters of Robert Wood Johnson I
(co-founder of Johnson & Johnson
).
. Her father was Robert Wood Johnson IV
, New York Jets
owner, and her mother was Nancy Sale Frey, a socialite and former model
. She has two sisters, Jaime Johnson 29, and Daisy Johnson, 23. She was also second cousin of Jamie Johnson who directed the documentary Born Rich
. Johnson was raised in Manhattan
and lived in a triplex penthouse apartment at 834 Fifth Avenue
(in which her father was a member of the board) and attended the exclusive Chapin School, and the Marymount School
, and Dwight School
after being asked to leave. She later enrolled in Brown University
for one semester.
As a child, Johnson was diagnosed with diabetes
. She and her father were both involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
, working to find a cure for the disease. During her teens in the mid to late 1990's Johnson received attention from the media and paparazzi as a New York party girl and socialite
celebutante.
and E! True Hollywood Story
. In 1999, Johnson had a minor role in the film Gloria
starring Sharon Stone
. In 2002, she was featured in the documentary It Girls, which was filmed in 2000 during Manhattan
's Fashion Week
. When Nicky Hilton
declined to co-star with her sister Paris
in The Simple Life
, she asked Johnson. She too declined, and the role was subsequently given to Nicole Richie
. Johnson called it the "stupidest mistake of my life" because her dream was to be an actress. Johnson also had a part in the never-aired The Tinsley Bumble Show, where she played a catty, vindictive socialite named Mimi von Lustig.
In 2007, Johnson adopted a daughter, Ava Monroe (born 2006), from Kazakhstan
. Nicky Hilton
is the child's godmother
.
Johnson openly dated both men and women. In October 2009, Courtenay Semel (whom she dated off and on during 2008–2009), reportedly set Johnson's hair on fire after a fight. In November 2009, Johnson was arrested for allegedly stealing jewelry, shoes, 600 pages of a legal document, clothing, and underwear from Jasmine Lennard
(who was tipped off by Semel). Johnson allegedly left a used vibrator and wet towel at Lennard's apartment. Johnson pleaded not guilty to burglary and receiving stolen property, and had a preliminary hearing scheduled for February 2, 2010.
After refusing to seek treatment for drug abuse, Johnson was cut off financially by her family.
Johnson's mother Sale later won custody of Johnson's daughter Ava. After Johnson was cut off from her family, her Porsche
was impounded. Court records show she owed Porsche Financial Services $105,740.93. She was also sued by a nanny service who won a $20,000 judgement against her.
On December 9, 2009, Johnson announced via Ustream
video that she and reality television
star Tila Tequila were engaged. Four days later, Johnson stated that she would be changing her and her daughter's last name to Nguyen, Tila Tequila's legal surname.
saying, "sweet dreams everyone... I'm getting a new car..." The Daily News reported that a maid found Johnson's dead body in the bedroom of her West Hollywood home on January 4, 2010. An unidentified 911 caller reported that Johnson was ice cold, and her hands were turning blue. The caller also stated that Johnson was on medications, and that they often got "all screwed up".
On February 4, 2010, the Los Angeles Coroner's Office announced that she had died of diabetic ketoacidosis
. She was reported to have neglected to take insulin, and therefore died due to lack of treatment. Johnson's fiancée, Tila Tequila, has arranged plans to seek legal custody of Casey Johnson's adopted daughter, Ava.
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
and celebutante, as well as an occasional actress, model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. She was one of the great-great-granddaughters of Robert Wood Johnson I
Robert Wood Johnson I
Robert Wood Johnson I was an American industrialist. He was also one of the three brothers who founded Johnson & Johnson.-Early life:...
(co-founder of Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
).
Early life
Johnson was born in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Her father was Robert Wood Johnson IV
Robert Wood Johnson IV
Robert Wood "Woody" Johnson IV is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I , and the owner of the New York Jets of the National Football League....
, New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
owner, and her mother was Nancy Sale Frey, a socialite and former model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
. She has two sisters, Jaime Johnson 29, and Daisy Johnson, 23. She was also second cousin of Jamie Johnson who directed the documentary Born Rich
Born Rich
Born Rich is a 2003 documentary about the experience of growing up as a child in one of the world's richest families. It was created by Jamie Johnson, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune....
. Johnson was raised in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and lived in a triplex penthouse apartment at 834 Fifth Avenue
834 Fifth Avenue
834 Fifth Avenue is a luxury residential housing cooperative in Manhattan, New York City. It is located on Fifth Avenue at the corner of East 64th Street opposite the Central Park Zoo in Central Park...
(in which her father was a member of the board) and attended the exclusive Chapin School, and the Marymount School
Marymount School, New York
Marymount School of New York is a college preparatory, independent, Catholic day school for girls, founded by Mother Joseph Butler in 1926 as part of a network of schools directed by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. The School enrolls students in classes Nursery through XII...
, and Dwight School
Dwight School
The Dwight School is an independent, college preparatory school located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Dwight offers the International Baccalaureate curriculum to students ages two through grade twelve. Approximately forty countries are represented among its student body.-History:Founded in 1872...
after being asked to leave. She later enrolled in Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
for one semester.
As a child, Johnson was diagnosed with diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
. She and her father were both involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
JDRF is the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes research. Driven by volunteers connected to children, adolescents, and adults with this disease, JDRF is the largest charitable supporter of T1D research...
, working to find a cure for the disease. During her teens in the mid to late 1990's Johnson received attention from the media and paparazzi as a New York party girl and socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
celebutante.
Career
At the age of 14, Johnson co-wrote a book with her father entitled Managing Your Child's Diabetes. She appeared as herself on the television shows The Fabulous Life of...The Fabulous Life of...
The Fabulous Life Of... is a VH1 television series detailing the places, things, and services various celebrities enjoy. It first aired in 2003, with a special about Britney Spears. The show is tightly based on the television show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.The show is one of VH1's most...
and E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...
. In 1999, Johnson had a minor role in the film Gloria
Gloria (1999 film)
Gloria is a remake of the 1980 film written and directed by John Cassavetes. It was directed by Sidney Lumet and starred Sharon Stone as Gloria. It is also notable as George C. Scott's final film...
starring Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
. In 2002, she was featured in the documentary It Girls, which was filmed in 2000 during Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Fashion Week
Fashion Week
A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, which allows fashion designers, brands or "houses" to display their latest collections in runway shows and buyers and the media to take a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, these events let the industry know...
. When Nicky Hilton
Nicky Hilton
Nicholai Olivia "Nicky" Hilton is an American businesswoman, fashion model, socialite, celebutante, heiress and fashion designer. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton and younger sister of Paris Hilton....
declined to co-star with her sister Paris
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
in The Simple Life
The Simple Life
The Simple Life was a reality television series that was broadcast from December 2, 2003 to August 5, 2007. The first three seasons aired on Fox, and the final two on E!...
, she asked Johnson. She too declined, and the role was subsequently given to Nicole Richie
Nicole Richie
Nicole Camille Richie is an American fashion designer, author, actress, singer and television personality. Her father was Peter Michael Escovedo, a musician who played for a brief time with Lionel Richie, and her mother Karen was the executive assistant for Sheila Escovedo...
. Johnson called it the "stupidest mistake of my life" because her dream was to be an actress. Johnson also had a part in the never-aired The Tinsley Bumble Show, where she played a catty, vindictive socialite named Mimi von Lustig.
Personal life
In 2006, Johnson had a public falling out with her aunt Elizabeth Ross "Libet" Johnson after Johnson accused Libet of stealing her boyfriend, John Dee.In 2007, Johnson adopted a daughter, Ava Monroe (born 2006), from Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. Nicky Hilton
Nicky Hilton
Nicholai Olivia "Nicky" Hilton is an American businesswoman, fashion model, socialite, celebutante, heiress and fashion designer. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton and younger sister of Paris Hilton....
is the child's godmother
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
.
Johnson openly dated both men and women. In October 2009, Courtenay Semel (whom she dated off and on during 2008–2009), reportedly set Johnson's hair on fire after a fight. In November 2009, Johnson was arrested for allegedly stealing jewelry, shoes, 600 pages of a legal document, clothing, and underwear from Jasmine Lennard
Jasmine Lennard
Jasmine Lennard is an English fashion model.- Biography :Lennard first shot to fame in 2005 as a finalist in the reality TV talent search Make Me a Supermodel...
(who was tipped off by Semel). Johnson allegedly left a used vibrator and wet towel at Lennard's apartment. Johnson pleaded not guilty to burglary and receiving stolen property, and had a preliminary hearing scheduled for February 2, 2010.
After refusing to seek treatment for drug abuse, Johnson was cut off financially by her family.
Johnson's mother Sale later won custody of Johnson's daughter Ava. After Johnson was cut off from her family, her Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
was impounded. Court records show she owed Porsche Financial Services $105,740.93. She was also sued by a nanny service who won a $20,000 judgement against her.
On December 9, 2009, Johnson announced via Ustream
Ustream
Ustream is a website which consists of a network of diverse channels providing a platform for lifecasting and live video streaming of events online. Established in March 2007, the site has over 2,000,000 registered users who generate 1,500,000+ hours of live streamed content per month with over ten...
video that she and reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
star Tila Tequila were engaged. Four days later, Johnson stated that she would be changing her and her daughter's last name to Nguyen, Tila Tequila's legal surname.
Death
On December 29, 2009, at 1:13 a.m., Johnson left a message on TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
saying, "sweet dreams everyone... I'm getting a new car..." The Daily News reported that a maid found Johnson's dead body in the bedroom of her West Hollywood home on January 4, 2010. An unidentified 911 caller reported that Johnson was ice cold, and her hands were turning blue. The caller also stated that Johnson was on medications, and that they often got "all screwed up".
On February 4, 2010, the Los Angeles Coroner's Office announced that she had died of diabetic ketoacidosis
Diabetic ketoacidosis
Diabetic ketoacidosis is a potentially life-threatening complication in patients with diabetes mellitus. It happens predominantly in those with type 1 diabetes, but it can occur in those with type 2 diabetes under certain circumstances...
. She was reported to have neglected to take insulin, and therefore died due to lack of treatment. Johnson's fiancée, Tila Tequila, has arranged plans to seek legal custody of Casey Johnson's adopted daughter, Ava.