DOCUMENTS: Dennis Hopper's Wife Claims History Of Abuse And Drug Taking By Star
Jan. 26 2010, Published 10:17 a.m. ET
In legal papers filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court Monday, Dennis Hopper’s soon to be ex-wife Victoria claims a history of verbal abuse at the hands of the Easy rider star.
Dennis and Victoria, who have been in a relationship for around 20 years, married in 1996, and have a six-year-old daughter together called Galen. They are currently embroiled in a nasty divorce, and it’s just getting nastier.
In the papers Victoria says Hopper “has made threats to her he will leave her and Galen destitute” and states that in the Summer of 2009 Hopper told her “he would never let her divorce him and stated to Victoria ‘Something bad is going to happen to you and you’re not going to know it’s coming. You’ve made your bed and now you are going to lie in it.’”
She also claims that in October 2008 Hopper told her she was “a human garbage can” and that he became enraged when she requested police to remove unsecured guns from the family residence. Victoria says that she “fears for the emotional and physical safety of herself and their daughter while residing in the family home with Hopper”.
Victoria requests sole legal and physical custody of Galen and requests that Hopper’s visits be supervised by Galen’s former baby nurse and current babysitter. She also requests that Hopper “refrain from the use of marijuana and any non prescription drugs 6 hours before and during any time he spends with Galen.”
She also requests that Hopper’s oldest daughter, Marin, be restrained from communicating with or being in Galen’s presence.
Sadly, Victoria states that having been diagnosed with prostate cancer 10 years ago, Hopper is now “extremely ill with metastasized cancer”. And that he has “just completed months of a trial therapy with an experimental medication, which was, unfortunately ineffective.” She also states that Hopper receives 24-hour nursing care, is taking painkillers, using medicinal marijuana and other prescription drugs.
Victoria says that she discovered in October 2009 that Hopper had made changes to his estate plan in violation of the terms of their pre-nup and that when she confronted him he started divorce proceedings. She says that Hopper has told her though in the past few weeks that he has been “pressured by his advisors and adult children from other relationships” to end the relationship. And that she worries he is not capable of taking care of himself or his legal or financial affairs.
In the case of Galen, Victoria says she believes Hopper “does not seem aware of matters which are inappropriate for a child of Galen’s age”. Saying that Hopper has the TV on for almost 24-hours a day, mostly on news and crime programs. She also claims that Hopper once wanted to show his daughter graphic sex scenes from a program he once appeared in. She says that when she tried to remove her daughter from the room, Hopper told her, “She should hear this. She should learn what the world is really like.”
