Julia Roberts' Half-Sister Passes Away in Apparent Drug Overdose

[Mrs P]

I'm not a big fan of Julia, but I think that her half-sister and her sister's leaches that have made money from the press are spewing bullshit. We're looking at someone looking for a quick buck. You can't support an addict. If I were a celeb and my brother ended up in the same boat, yeah the article would be similar. I stand ground with Julia and her mom on this one. You can't help or save someone that can't help themselves. Especially after that person has been to rehab before.

[Kittylady]

A friend of Nancy has been telling any outlet that will listen (no doubt for $$) that it's all Julia and their mother's fault for cutting Nancy off six months ago. If Nancy was an addict with mental and emotional issues then they wouldn't be the first or the last family to resort to this through frustration and exhaustion and in an attempt to shock their loved one into getting help.

Apparently Julia also tried to stop Nancy pursuing an acting career when she was younger and judging by everything I've seen and read that may have been a rare act of kindness on her part as I'm guessing you have to have a pretty tough shell to be able to survive and succeed in Hollywood and Nancy just didn't have it.

[spinmonkey]

Most articles say she was found in a home, but the Reuters article says: "Nancy Motes, 37, was found dead in a bathtub full of water at a Los Angeles residence on Sunday, L.A. County Coroner spokesman Captain John Kades said.

Prescription drugs were found at the residence, which was not Motes's home."

HHhmmmm.

ETA: Found another article on Fox stating she was found in a home where she was pet-sitting for a friend.

[Mel1973]

boy, that's fucked up... who goes to someone else's house to pet sit for a friend and climbs in their tub and kills themself? jebus, i'm guessing with her luck with her relatives, she may not have been found at her own home for days/weeks?

[Sasha]

Goodness knows I'm no fan of Julia, and perhaps Julia could have been kinder to her sister, but it sounds to me like the sister allowed her jealousy and resentment to literally eat her alive. Quite literally, she wasted her life resenting her sister. Makes me sad to think about but the reasoning behind Nancy leaving a note like that seems to have been a pathetic attempt to make everyone else share in her futile, self-destructive hatred.

[Beantownfan]

Goodness knows I'm no fan of Julia, and perhaps Julia could have been kinder to her sister, but it sounds to me like the sister allowed her jealousy and resentment to literally eat her alive. Quite literally, she wasted her life resenting her sister. Makes me sad to think about but the reasoning behind Nancy leaving a note like that seems to have been a pathetic attempt to make everyone else share in her futile, self-destructive hatred.

it appears that way to me too. I think it would be hard for her mother and Julia to live with after her death.

[sluce]

So does Eric get none of the blame?

[Fly_On_TheWall]

I thought Eric was big on helping people with addictions or something like that. That family is truly messed up.

[yanna]

WTH, while pet sitting? How's the pet?

[WhateverLolaWants]

Eric Roberts is deep in his addiction right now, at least if the string of movies he made in 2013 while under the influence are any indication. Watch almost anything he made last year (and there were a lot of them) and you will hear his voice slur and watch him stumble around. Sad but true, he appears to have fallen off the wagon.

[sluce]

I'm not sure that he was ever seated for more than a trip to the convenience store.

[MsDark]

That's sad. I think Eric is miles more talented than Julia. I wish he would get clean.

[Sasha]

That's sad. I think Eric is miles more talented than Julia. I wish he would get clean.

He really is. Miles and miles. Without the drug addiction he coulda been a contendah.

[Trixie]

I was googling around and it looks like the fiance's brother and friend are talking to the Daily Mail...here's one saying Nancy planned the suicide to fuck with Julia's Oscar season. I also read that Julia didn't attend the Oscar luncheon and cancelled an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, so I guess the "revenge" might be working...

EXCLUSIVE: Julia Roberts' half-sister 'planned suicide to harm actress' Oscar chances and career,' claims her fiance's brother

• Nancy Motes took an overdose after writing a suicide note which contained dark secrets about Julia Roberts that she wanted to be made public, said Conner Dilbeck in an exclusive interview with MailOnline
• Nancy's fiance John Dilbeck, Conner's brother, found her dead body in the bath Sunday, the same day Julia was due to be at an Oscar nominees lunch
• The actress is up for Best Supporting Actress for August: Osage County
• However, RadarOnline reported the 37-year-old was battling drug addiction and Julia had tried to save her multiple times by getting her to go to rehab

By DANIEL BATES and HELEN POW
PUBLISHED: 11:30 EST, 12 February 2014 | UPDATED: 11:58 EST, 12 February 2014

Julia Roberts' half-sister may have killed herself in a deliberate attempt to harm the actress' career and scupper her chances of winning an Oscar at this year's Academy Awards, her fiance's brother claimed today.

Nancy Motes took an overdose after writing a suicide note which allegedly contained dark secrets about the Pretty Woman star that she wanted to be made public, said Conner Dilbeck in an exclusive interview with MailOnline.
Nancy's fiance John Dilbeck, Conner's own brother, found her dead body in the bath Sunday, the same day Julia was due to be at an Oscar nominees lunch. She is up for Best Supporting Actress for August: Osage County.
Scroll down for video


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Tragic: Julia Roberts' half-sister Nancy Motes killed herself in a desperate attempt to destroy the actress' career and scupper her chances of winning an Oscar at this year's Academy Awards, Conner Dilbeck, pictured, has claimed in an exclusive interview with MailOnline

'We are talking about people who are powerful,' Conner told MailOnline.
'People who have very delicate power, people who are in the limelight. Their power can be destroyed very easily if unfortunate things make them look more wicked.
'They have to be careful, it can destroy their career or their Academy Award.'

More...

• ‘They’re crocodile tears’: Julia Roberts and her mother accused of driving star’s half-sister to suicide after ‘cutting her off and never caring for her’
• ‘Just so you all know 'America’s Sweetheart' is a B***H': Tormented final tweets that appear to attack Julia Roberts sent by her half-sister who died from an apparent overdose on Sunday
• Philip Seymour Hoffman's 'love triangle with mystery woman who caused his split from longtime partner' revealed in secret diaries

The insight into Nancy's life comes as RadarOnline reported that the 37-year-old who worked as a production worker on Glee was battling drug addiction and Julia had tried to save her numerous times by getting her to go to rehab.
Authorities recovered both prescription and non-prescription drugs at the Los Angeles home.
'Julia tried in vain over the years, even in the last six months, to get Nancy to go to rehab,' a source close to Julia reportedly told RadarOnline.
'Nancy refused the offers and that is when she would often publicly lash out at Julia. It hurt Julia, but she knew her sister was battling addiction.'
The sisters' relationship became even more rocky after Nancy blasted Julia to Britain's Sun newspaper last August. She also gave a bruising interview to the New York Daily News.
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Tragic: Nancy Motes with her fiancé John Dilbeck' - who is said to be too distraught to face the public since her death

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Plea: Conner wrote about his brother's fiance and Nancy's troubles with Julia Roberts on his Facebook page along with a photo of when John Dilbeck proposed

According to Page Six, the Hollywood star was 'mortified' by the 'embarrassing' stories and wondered if her cash-strapped sister had betrayed her by selling the juicy details to the UK tabloid for money.

It's not clear if Nancy was in fact paid by The Sun for the interview.
However, Conner told MailOnline Julia inflicted 'pure cruelty' on her sister and Nancy's suicide letter was a desperate attempt to expose the alleged treatment.
And a friend and neighbor of Nancy Motes told MailOnline that her death was 'not a Philip Seymour Hoffman thing' but a planned suicide.

Conner claimed the note is eight pages long - not five as had been thought - and Julia is said to be 'terrified' about it coming out.
Conner also revealed that John Dilbeck was overcome by the 'horror' of seeing his fiance's lifeless body in the bath.
In a Facebook post Conner wrote: 'Nancy wanted the Truth to come out and she was Willing to Die to get her point across.'
Conner, 40, lived with Nancy and John in their apartment in Santa Monica, California for years, during which time he saw their relationship blossom.
But the dark side was that he claimed it gave him a front row seat to the he mistreatment he claims Nancy suffered at the hands of Julia.
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Emotional: Nancy Motes appeared to post aggressive messages onto her Twitter account in the weeks prior to her tragic death apparently attacking her half-sister Julia Roberts

Conner said: 'I have spent enough time with Nancy and I know enough about her that I can say from first hand experience a lot of things that have happened.'
He added: 'The truth is in the eight pages of her suicide letter.'
In a series of furious posts on Facebook, Conner railed against Julia and squarely blamed her for the tragedy.

He wrote: 'I am posting this as a plea to everyone to Pray for my Brother John.
'His lovely Fiancé, Nancy Motes, was driven to Take her Life yesterday because of the Pure Cruelty of her Sister, Julia Roberts (yes Ms. Pretty Woman herself), that has done everything in her power to Ruin her and my brothers lives.
'He is overwhelmed by this horrible event and all the Turmoil Julia has subjected them too.'
Speaking to MailOnline, Conner said that after his brother found his fiance's body last Sunday he called his family in distress before phoning the police.
Breaking into tears, he said: 'The one thing that has made it more emotional for our family than anything else is to think of the horror of my brother having to walk in their and find his dead love in the water and nothing he could do about it and how she was driven to do this.'

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Nominated: Julia Roberts is up for Best Supporting Actress for August: Osage County. She is pictured left in the film

In the months before her death, Nancy took aim at her famous sister on Twitter and one particular tweet apparently gives weight to the claim that she was plotting to hurt the Notting Hill star in some way.
Nancy's death hasn't officially been ruled a suicide as a toxicology report has not been completed but her the family said in a statement that she died of 'an apparent drug overdose.'
In December, an emotional Nancy mysteriously tweeted, apparently about Julia: 'Hey Hag! Glad you f****ed with me yet? You're going to LOVE what's coming! FYI-You're an awful, hate filled old pathetic excuse for a human.'

Conner's account comes after John Fraschetti, who also knows Nancy's grieving fiancé, claimed the family of the Oscar winner were now 'crying crocodile tears' over the former Glee production worker's death.
He said they are only interested in manipulating public opinion after her suicide, but during her life, 'drove her to death.'
Making the incendiary comments Tuesday outside Nancy and Dilbeck's home, Fraschetti said Nancy spiraled into depression after Betty Lou Motes, the mother she and Roberts shared, 'rejected' her six months ago - and that she 'just couldn't handle it anymore'.
'And then you get the actress woman who is pretending to grieve but she didn't want to deal with Nancy and made her f***ing miserable.'
Nancy Motes was found dead on Sunday in a bathtub filled with water with prescription and 'illegal drugs' near her in an apparent suicide.
Fraschetti claims to have seen the letter she left behind.

Fraschetti, who has known Dilbeck since he was 13, said that since her death, her family have been careful to mold a favorable public reaction.
'They are crying crocodile tears. They have taken control of this situation, but they never cared of her when she was alive,' said Fraschetti.
Fraschetti said that Nancy, 'couldn't stand the rejection of her mom, who in the last six months had cut her off entirely.'
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Upset: Julia Roberts' mother Betty Lou Motes is seen leaving her home in Los Angeles looking frail and upset Tuesday afternoon

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Cut-off: Nancy Motes is pictured in this photo with Julia Roberts when the Oscar winning actress was around 22 years old



'It hurt her that none of her family wanted to be with her. She had a miserable Christmas, truly awful, and I think she just couldn't handle it anymore.'
Fraschetti admitted that Nancy's well-documented problems with drugs and her weight had caused divisions, but claimed that to cut her off was unforgivable.
'They didn’t care when she was alive. She was a handful, and yes she had her problems, but there’s a way to deal with your relatives,' said an angry Fraschetti.
Nancy's suicide note also reveals the true depths of depression that her family's rejection had sent her to.
'It read about how much she loved and cared for her fiancé and how happy he made her, but it also said how unhappy and depressed her family made her and how she couldn’t cope anymore,' said Fraschetti, who said that fiancé, Dilbeck, is grief stricken by Nancy's death and can't face the media.

Indicating that the suicide note goes into detail about how hurt she felt by being ignored, Fraschetti said that Roberts and her family even put pressure on Dilbeck to delete tweets.
But, it was revealed last night that Nancy had apparently tweeted a string of vicious messages aimed at her Oscar winning sister, including 'Just so you all know "America's Sweetheart" is a B****!!' on January 20.
That and others were indeed deleted overnight.

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Friend: John Fraschetti has known Nancy Motes' fiance John Dilbeck since he was 13 and says that Julia Roberts and her family cutting off Nancy caused her suicide

'We've got a person who is grieving so much, but then there is the other so called family who are grieving, so to speak, who want to see as little grief as possible for them,' said Fraschetti.
'It's the rich versus the poor, the fake versus the real, he's the one who's in agony, he's the one that's genuine.'
And in an apparent confirmation that she did indeed commit suicide, Fraschetti said that her death was planned, but that she didn't use heroin like Philip Seymour Hoffman.
She wasn’t into heroin, as far as I was aware. It’s not like her or John were heroin addicts. Come on, it’s ridiculous.
‘I wouldn’t read too much into where she did it, it wasn’t in some drug den. She was dog sitting, and I imagine she did this, so she didn’t have to do it at home and let John find her.'
And this afternoon, Julia Roberts' grief-stricken mother looked frail and visibly shaken as she visited the Oscar-winner following the apparent suicide death of her younger daughter, Nancy Motes.

Dressed in a tartan hat and black jacket, Betty Lou Motes was driven by a friend from her home in Pacific Palisades to Julia's mansion in Malibu.
The visit came after it was reported that Nancy left a five page suicide note in which she accused her famous sibling of driving her to kill herself.
Her fiancé discovered her body, which had been dead as long as 12 hours, but a responding EMT worker recovered the extensive letter, according to the New York Daily News.
In the note, Nancy dedicated three pages to her tortured relationship with the Pretty Woman actress, the Daily News quoted a source close to the investigation as saying.


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Gone too soon: Nancy Motes, pictured in August (left), died on Sunday from an apparent drug overdose; she is the half-sister of Julia Roberts (right)


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Rage: Nancy Motes, tweeted under her husband-to-be's last name online. This vitriolic attack is believed to be against her half-sister, Julia Roberts and happened a little more than a month before she died


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Pain: Nancy Motes is also believed to have launched these attacks on the star of Pretty Woman and Mystic Pizza - calling her cruel and blaming her for causing her rage despite her best efforts to remain calm


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Sad: Nancy Motes posted these bittersweet tweets in October - in which she laments that she is having to leave her family to find the love she craves from another

'It was definitely a suicide. She left a five-page suicide letter. The EMT found it,' the source told the Daily News.
'There were three pages of rantings that her sister drove her to do this. There was one page to her mom, telling her how much she loved her, and one page apologizing to (her fiancé).'
Nancy and Dilbeck were scheduled to be married in May, but the Georgia native seemed to be unraveling recently.



On Twitter, she sounded decidedly unstable, lashing out at Julia, whom she claims bullied her about her weight when they were growing up.
'So my "sister" said that with all her friends & fans she doesn't need any more love. Just so you all know "America's Sweetheart" is a B****!!' she tweeted on January 20, referring to Roberts.
'Do you want to be a fan of someone so cruel? She's not even that good of an actress. Happy you totally F***ed with me?' she added in a subsequent tweet before claiming she'd never been more angry.
'I must admit I maybe going to far… But I never been so angry in my life. I'm actually a pretty easygoing, peaceful person.'

'(M)y own family has abandoned me,' she tweeted January 22.
Three weeks later, she was dead.

The emotional comments, seen on the Twitter handle @Dabbs76, had been deleted by Tuesday morning.
Julia Roberts half-sister dies from apparent overdos
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Family: Roberts with Motes and their mother Betty Lou when the star was filming 1997's My Best Friend's Wedding


The most recent Twitter outburst followed similar rants late last year.
For example, Nancy had written previously of her family abandoning her.
'Feeling blessed, even though I'm sick as a dog! I'm very grateful that I have my loves family, since my own family has abandoned me,' she tweeted, referring to her new partner.

Her next tweets also appeared to be angrily directed at the Notting Hill star.

She tweeted: 'Hey Hag! Glad you f****ed with me yet? You’re going to LOVE what’s coming! FYI-You’re an awful, hate filled old pathetic excuse for a human.

'I must be grateful & not hateful. I must forgive. But Damn that is a REALLY hard thing to do sometimes, right?!?!'
Back on December 19, Nancy also sounded depressed. She wrote: 'I must remember how blessed I am even in this very low point in my life. I want ALL of my family to have an awesome magical Christmas!'

And on December 15 she tweeted: 'Must remember to stay strong. Life is a fight. You have to stay in it.'

Back in October Nancy also spoke about her family rift, tweeting: 'It’s a shame when you get more support from strangers than you do from your family. I can’t wait to officially belong to another family!'

More...

• ‘They’re crocodile tears’: Julia Roberts and her mother accused of driving star’s half-sister to suicide after ‘cutting her off and never caring for her’
• ‘Just so you all know 'America’s Sweetheart' is a B***H': Tormented final tweets that appear to attack Julia Roberts sent by her half-sister who died from an apparent overdose on Sunday
• Philip Seymour Hoffman's 'love triangle with mystery woman who caused his split from longtime partner' revealed in secret diaries

She also wrote that she was getting support from her and Julia’s mother Betty, writing: 'So glad to have the support & love of my friends & mom!

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Still a smashing success: At 46, Roberts is more in demand than ever; here she leaves a talk about her Meryl Streep drama on February 4

Nancy last tweeted on Saturday, the day before she was found dead in the bathtub.

She wrote: 'Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturdays & watching East Los High! Season 3 coming soon!'

Nancy joined twitter last August and had 69 followers.

She posted several happy photos with her fiancé John Dilbeck who she was due to marry on May 17.
Nancy had been tweeting excitedly about the big day, on October 21 she wrote: 'I found my beautiful shoes for my wedding day! And anyone that wants to bring me down during all the planning I have to do can kiss my ass!'

On October 3 she tweeted a photo of them together, writing: 'YAY! Wedding Venue found! Wedding dress found! Things are truly happening! It's all soooo exciting! I love him!'
Since her tormented tweets were made public overnight, they key sections have been deleted.

On Monday, her family confirmed to People the 37-year-old had passed away in what appears to be an overdose.

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On top: The actress on the February cover of Vanity Fair, on stands now

'It is with deep sadness that the family of Nancy Motes ... confirms that she was found dead in Los Angeles yesterday of an apparent drug overdose,' the statement read. 'There is no official report from the Coroner's office yet. The family is both shocked and devastated.'

She was discovered in the bathtub of a home by her fiancé John Dilbeck and pronounced dead at 2:12 p.m., a spokesman for the Los Angeles Coroner's Office told MailOnline.
It is believed she was found at a house where she was pet-sitting for a friend.
Today, Ed Winter, assistant chief at the LA County Coroner's Office, said: ‘The autopsy has been completed and the cause of death has been deferred depending on the toxicology reports. This can take between six and eight weeks.

‘A number of prescription medications were found in the bathroom area as were illegal drugs. We are still investigating whether they were hers or not. We’re not releasing what illegal drugs they were.

‘It could be a possible suicide, but we don’t know the cause of death yet for sure, which is depending on further investigation. It’s more complicated as she also had some medical issues, so we’re not sure what happened at the moment.

'We are not being specific what those issues are, but it could mean a number of reasons for her death, she could have been taking a bath and had a heart attack. We just don’t know at this stage.'
Julia's rep did not return calls to MailOnline. The actress cancelled an appearance at an Academy Awards luncheon on Monday.

Nancy was an aspiring actress who had worked as a production assistant on TV's Glee.

Julia and Nancy had the same mother, Betty Lou, but different fathers: Nancy's dad was Michael Motes and Julia's is the late Walter Grady Roberts.

In August the blonde had complained about growing up in the shadow of the Pretty Woman star, who has been working the awards circuit this year for her turn in August: Osage County with Meryl Streep.
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Thinner: Nancy Motes looked considerably thinner in August 2013 as she grabbed coffee near her home in Santa Monica

The younger sibling had said she was known as Julia's 'fat little sister' and said the Oscar-winner had taunted her about her weight, leading her to undergo weight loss surgery in June 2012.

Roberts, 46, made her feel embarrassed and ashamed of her weight, according to Nancy, which peaked at 20st.

She resorted to a £20,000 gastric bypass operation last year.

'It makes me feel incredibly hurt and very sad,' Motes said. 'When you're in a family of very, very exceptionally beautiful people it's intimidating.'

Her other siblings include Eric Roberts, 57, and Lisa Roberts Gillan, 48, who are also actors.

Actress Emma Roberts is the daughter of Eric.

'I think that growing up as Pretty Woman's little sister has definitely made me try to see the person inside and not the person outside,' she added. 'A lot of my life I felt judged for my weight.'
Motes, who grew up in the US state of Georgia, was only 13 when Roberts shot to Hollywood fame as hooker Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman.

The actress, who had won a Golden Globe for playing a young bride in Steel Magnolias, received a second for Pretty Woman.

Motes, who described herself as an 'awkward' child who was bullied at school, could not compete with the success of her 'very pretty and very popular' sister.

She said: 'When I was in high school and she was an adult, she would just let me know that I was definitely overweight. She would make it quite clear to me and in a not so nice manner.

'Julia did not want to see me go down that path [of acting] … So I just got a lot of criticism from Julia, which was very discouraging for me.'

After graduating from high school in 1995, Motes auditioned for roles in Hollywood while working as a waitress. But she could not afford to continue so returned to Georgia.
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Niece: Emma Roberts, pictured Monday with Evan Peters, was Nancy's niece

Three years ago Nancy moved back to Los Angeles, after meeting her fiancé John Dilbeck. But she claimed Roberts started taunting her about her weight again days after she arrived.

With her weight soaring, she finally decided to have a gastric bypass fitted.

Motes said she could not afford the £20,000 fee, but rather than ask Roberts, who is worth £90million, for financial help, she took out a loan.

She had lost 7st since the operation last June and had planned on marrying in May.

However, RadarOnline reported last year that Julia planned to boycott the nuptials because she didn't like the groom and didn't want to get stuck paying for the wedding.

'Julia doesn't think much of Nancy's husband-to-be,' the website quoted an insider as saying. 'She's convinced he's sponging off Nancy, who doesn't have much money in the first place.'

At the time of her death, it was not known if she had mended her relationship with Julia.

She said last year: 'It's a work in progress, it's not going to be fixed overnight, nor do I think it's going to be fixed by me just getting skinny.'

Nancy Motes 'planned her suicide to deliberately harm Julia Roberts' Oscar chances' | Mail Online

[Sasha]

'We are talking about people who are powerful,' Conner told MailOnline.
'People who have very delicate power, people who are in the limelight. Their power can be destroyed very easily if unfortunate things make them look more wicked.
'They have to be careful, it can destroy their career or their Academy Award.'

This sounds like a really ham-fisted extortion attempt.