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LOS ANGELES - Gross-out stunt performer Steve-O of the MTV television series Jackass and its movie spin-offs has been charged with cocaine possession.
The charge against the 33-year-old performer, whose real name is Stephen Glover, stems from an arrest at his Hollywood home on March 3, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
She said Glover was scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on Thursday, the same day the charge was filed, but the hearing was postponed. No reason for the delay was given.
But celebrity news website TMZ.com reported that Glover has been hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation, which Glover himself seemed to confirm on his official website (www.steveo.com) in a message to fans headlined: "You Should All Know I'm In The Looney Bin."
Glover said he was initially placed on a "three-day 'hold' ... resulting from suicidal behaviour" after the intervention of friends, including Jackass cohorts Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine, and that his psychiatric stay has since been extended to 14 days.
"I'm not getting out of this 'insane asylum' any time in the immediate future," he wrote. "I did a great deal of damage to my brain by abusing drugs and now that they've all worn off, I'm facing the consequences."
Glover explained that he wrote his message on paper and gave it to associates with instructions that it be posted on the internet. The note concluded: "I Love You All, Steve-O."
There was no immediate comment from MTV or his personal representative, a New York accountant named Glen Nordlinger.
Glover has a long history of legal woes, some related to his outlandish on-stage antics.
Authorities in Louisiana brought obscenity and assault charges against him in 2002 after a nightclub performance in which Glover stapled his scrotum to his thigh in a stunt he called "The Butterfly." He eventually reached a plea deal that placed him on probation for a year and banned him from ever performing in Terrebonne Parish again.
His latest arrest, according to TMZ, stemmed from a complaint that he had vandalized a neighbour's property.
TMZ video footage showed Glover, shirtless and seemingly dazed, after his release from custody on March 4.
"The only arrest that I'm ashamed of that I've got on my record is drunk driving, which I got in '95 and '96, and I'm ashamed of that because I endangered the lives of others," he said, adding with a laugh: "This time around, I just tried to clear out an apartment for furniture."
- REUTERS/Nielsen
