Bret Easton Ellis’ partner arrested in Hollywood
>> LOS ANGELES: For nearly 40 years, novelist Bret Easton Ellis has been chronicling noirish debauchery in bestselling books such as American Psycho and Less Than Zero. This week, his partner, Todd Michael Schultz, was arrested at the fancy Los Angeles condominium building where the couple lives, and was charged with burglary, according to Abraham Bedoyan, a sergeant at the West Hollywood sheriff’s station.
On Tuesday, Mr Bedoyan said, management at 818 N Doheny Drive received a phone call from a female resident in distress. The resident said that a man had entered her apartment and was ransacking her things, according to a police report Bedoyan read from.
The woman reportedly told management that the intruder was “unresponsive” to her requests that he leave her apartment.
Building representatives arrived and detained the man, whom Mr Bedoyan confirmed to be Mr Schultz, 37. There is nothing to suggest Ellis, 59, was associated with the crime, according to Mr Bedoyan.
An eyewitness outside, who requested anonymity because she did not want to be associated with the story or the case, said that numerous police cars soon arrived. While residents milled about, discussing what had taken place, Ellis paced the sidewalk seemingly in distress while talking on his mobile phone.
In a text message Friday evening, Ellis said Mr Schultz had been having “serious mental health issues exacerbated by drugs”. He said the episode was nonviolent and Mr Schultz, experiencing a psychotic break, walked into an open apartment, believing it to be Ellis’.
A court appearance Friday was rescheduled for Tuesday because Mr Schultz was “in no position” to be in court, according to Ellis, who said he believed the charges might be reduced to trespassing.
Mr Schultz is being held at Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles, where Ellis said he is in lockdown in a psychiatric ward.
Ellis said his relationship with Mr Schultz dates back 14 years. In 2014, they were photographed together with filmmaker Liz Goldwyn in Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, Ellis announced in Variety that he was set to make his debut as a film director with Relapse, a horror film with his “signature characters — young, handsome, rich — at the centre”. Ellis told Variety it would also be a personal film.
“It will have my strokes: sex, drugs and paranoia,” Ellis was quoted as saying.