Gossip Of The Week: Zac Efron

Zac Efron went to rehab? Say it ain’t so!

I didn’t want to believe it either but it’s apparently true — another Disney star had a personal stumble.

This week, several media outlets reported that the “High School Musical” alum had wrapped up treatment about five months ago. E! News originally broke the story on Tuesday, elaborating that Zac had gone in for alcohol abuse. When we contacted his publicist, she also confirmed the news.

But we weren’t satisfied. There had to be more to the story, as there usually is. Zac had a squeaky-clean image that was unparalleled in the world of Lindsey Lohans and Amanda Bynes’. He had a great reputation in Hollywood for being a nice guy who was polite to reporters and showed up when he was supposed to. I can’t even remember the last time I saw him photographed at a nightclub. What happened?

That same afternoon, TMZ took a stab at answering the question by posting their version of the rehab story with a saucy update. The website quoted multiple sources who claimed the 25 year-old really went into treatment for a “serious cocaine addiction,” as well as for MDMA. There has been no public comment from Zac’s team addressing the drug claims.

Then, on Thursday, an even bigger gossip bombshell from TMZ: Zac, it claimed, was treated not once but twice this year. A few hours later, Radar reported that Zac’s hard partying ways were being encouraged by a new friend in his circle, bad boy Charlie Sheen. The “Anger Management” star has since shot down the rumors.

Whatever the truth is, number one, I hope Zac has pulled his life together. What is amazing to me, though, is that Zac was able to go to rehab without the media finding out until after the fact. That is a near impossibility in this day and age of paparazzi, social media and fame whoring. It pains me to know that the guy may have been holding onto this information all by his little lonesome self. Sometimes that’s the only way to be discreet in such a chatty town.

I was highly impressed with how Zac’s spokesperson handled reporters. Instead of denying that her client had gone in for rehab, she admitted it but didn’t provide any details beyond the approximate date of Zac’s first stint. Often times, media firestorms develop because celebrities (or their handler) refuse to talk. In this case, they talked just enough.

Just yesterday I came upon pictures of the heartthrob’s reemergence, walking the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. He was there promoting his new movie “Parkland.” Zac wore a sharp gray suit and he seemed alert and most importantly, professional and confident. Today the hunk is making headlines because he got mobbed by screaming girls at a Peru airport, a true return to form for the triple threat.

Not a lot to gossip over, I know. But I suppose that was the point. Well done, Zac.

Genevieve Wong

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