Amanda Bynes: The Breakdown of a Meltdown

By Tracie Egan Morrissey | September 18, 2012 | 9:00pm

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A week after paparazzi photos surfaced of Amanda Bynes smoking weed and driving (with a suspended license), the actress has been the subject of tabloid speculation that she is the next Lindsay or Britney — which is basically just shorthand for “female former child star whose transition into an adult career has been overshadowed by her very public downward spiral and possible mental instability.” Despite stories of Bynes’ increasingly erratic behavior (she has supposedly been talking to inanimate objects), it remains to be seen if she has indeed lost control of her life. However, she has definitely lost control of her car — repeatedly. She’s been in seven accidents since April. In that respect, at least, it’s clear that Jesus — or anybody other than Bynes — needs to take the wheel.

While Bynes’ legal problems began last spring when she was arrested for a DUI after clipping a cop car with her BMW, she’s been off course personally and professionally for the last two years. While the media was paying little attention to her exploits in 2010 (she hasn’t been working much after retiring and then un-retiring), Bynes somewhat documented her internal break through months of over sharing on Twitter. She has since deleted the account, but the Internet has a way of preserving things.

March 2010

After a month of filming the Farrelly brothers’ Hall Pass, but abruptly leaves the project, citing a scheduling conflict. It is rumored that she was fired for her strange behavior, and acting “paranoid and fearful.” The directors “kept the cameras running in between takes to show Bynes’ odd behavior in case anyone from her camp decided to sue.”

Her agents at CAA reportedly have a “please-get-help talk” with her.

June 2010

Bynes announces that she is retiring from acting.

July 2010

Bynes announces that she has “unretired” from acting.

April 6, 2011

After staying out of the tabloids and off the big and small screens for a year, Bynes resurfaces to Tweet that she lost her four-month-old dog. Hours later she Tweets that the dog is dead, with the circumstances shrouded in mystery, with her reps not even knowing the cause of death.

June 5, 2011

Bynes shows up to the MTV Movie Awards looking like hell.

March 8, 2012

Bynes is pulled over by a cop for driving while talking on her phone, but drives away before he finished writing the ticket.

March 17 & 22, 2012

Bynes is filmed twice in one week by TMZ paparazzi drunkenly leaving night clubs and then getting behind the wheel of her car, despite the protests of onlookers.

April 6, 2012

After a night of clubbing, Bynes clips a cop car with her BMW at 3 am. After refusing a breathalyzer, she is arrested and charged with a DUI.

April 13, 2012

After another night out at the Chateau Marmont and Greystone Manor, Bynes runs over a curb in a red zone while texting behind the wheel.

April 10, 2012

Bynes is involved in a hit-and-run incident when she slammed her BMW into another car on the freeway. She sped off, but not before the other driver managed to get her license plate number.

May 5, 2012

Bynes is involved in a hit-and-run accident when she sideswipes another vehicle with her Range Rover before fleeing the scene.

June 6, 2012

Bynes Tweets the president, “Hey @BarackObama… I don’t drink. Please fire the cop who arrested me. I also don’t hit and run. The end.”

August 5, 2012

Bynes is involved in another hit-and-run incident after striking a woman’s Toyota with her BMW. When the woman asked to exchange insurance information, Bynes reportedly got “nervous” tried to reattach the woman’s bumper herself before getting back in her car and fleeing the scene.

August 21, 2012

Bynes is involved in another car accident. She was rear-ended after supposedly making a reckless maneuver.

September 5, 2012

Bynes is officially charged with two counts of misdemeanor hit-and-run and has her license suspended.

September 10, 2012

Bynes is pulled over for driving at night without headlights on. Though she was driving with a suspended license, the cops let her go.

September 13, 2012

Bynes is photographed smoking pot and eating tacos in her car before driving around L.A. aimlessly for hours, with a suspended license. She later parks at a Home Depot, smokes more pot, and buys lightbulbs.

September 14, 2012

Bynes, still driving with a suspended license, is involved in a fender bender.

September 15, 2012

Stories begin to surface about Bynes’ mental health. Members of her Equinox gym have noted her erratic behavior, describing her as “deteriorating,” while neighbors in her condo complex express their concern, saying that she speaks to inanimate objects.

September 16, 2012

Bynes is pulled over by police, is given a ticket for driving with a suspended license. Her car is impounded.

September 17, 2012

A story surfaces about a previous runin that Bynes had with cops at the airport after she was singled out for her”behavior.” She was hanging out in a no-parking zone, claiming that she was there to catch a flight but had changed her mind.

Later that day, Bynes barricades herself in a dressing room at a retail store for almost two hours, causing one employee to make a distress call.

Bynes’ uncle begins speaking to the press, saying that the actress “needs help” and is not in communication with her parents.

Bynes caps off the day by having a “strange night out” with her chauffeur.

And that brings us up to date. But she’s due in court on Friday for a hearing about her pending DUI case, so stay tuned.