Entertainment

Jim Carrey will find ex-girlfriend's wrongful death trial 'very painful'

The Hollywood star will have to face a jury after Cathriona White’s mother and husband sued him.
The Hollywood star will have to face a jury after Cathriona White’s mother and husband sued him. The Hollywood star will have to face a jury after Cathriona White’s mother and husband sued him.

Jim Carrey will find a trial over his ex-girlfriend’s wrongful death “very painful”, his lawyer said, after a date was set for the star to face a jury.

Cathriona White’s mother and husband are suing the actor, 55, claiming he provided the drugs used in the 30-year-old Irish make-up artist’s suicide.


Jim Carrey Cathriona White
Jim Carrey Cathriona White
Cathriona White took a fatal overdose in 2015 (@littleirishcat/PA)

A judge at Los Angeles Superior Court indicated on Wednesday she would not throw out the case as requested by Raymond Boucher, Carrey’s lawyer, and estimated a trial would last 20 days.

After the hearing, Mr Boucher said: “Mr Carrey loved Ms White dearly and so obviously it will be a very painful process for him.”

Mother Brigid Sweetman claims the Canadian-born star provided the prescription drugs Ambien, Propranolol and Percocet, on which she overdosed.

The Dumb And Dumber actor denies all the allegations, with his lawyers describing them as “malicious” and “predatory”.

In court, Mr Boucher argued that allegations under drugs legislation were likely to fall outside the statute of limitations and said the wrongful death claims were too vague.

Ahmed Ibrahim, representing the claimants, urged Judge Deirdre Hill not to delay proceedings any longer, saying Carrey’s lawyers would keep coming back for another “bite of the apple”.

He also argued to keep the lawsuits’ wording open before the trial.

“We are clearly not alleging that Jim Carrey was selling drugs out of the back of his pick-up truck and was therefore not marketing or selling in the traditional sense of what that word would bring to mind,” he added.

Ms Sweetman also claims Carrey gave her daughter three sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pressured her to keep it quiet before her death in September 2015.

Cathriona White Jim Carrey
Cathriona White Jim Carrey
The actor joined mourners at her funeral in her home village of Cappawhite, Co Tipperary (Niall Carson/PA_

Carrey is said to have transmitted herpes type 1, herpes type 2 (genital herpes) and gonorrhoea in 2013 and allegedly tested positive after providing the false name of Jose Lopez.

Ms White’s husband Mark Burton is suing Carrey over similar claims.

Ms White, from Cappawhite, Co Tipperary, was found dead in her Los Angeles home in September 2015.

A coroner recorded her death as suicide.

The judge said she would send her final ruling on Carrey’s motion to strike to lawyers in due course but indicated she would side with the prosecution at least in part.

She set a date for the trial to begin on April 26.