Porn star Dakota Skye ‘struggled with fentanyl addiction and went to rehab before her death’, family and friends say
PORN star Dakota Skye struggled with fentanyl addiction and went to rehab before her death, her devastated family and friends have said.
Her friend and colleague James Bartholet told The Sun: "She was really trying to get clean but she got involved with people that were a bad influence on her."
Skye - whose real name was Lauren Scott - was following an addiction to fentanyl, her aunt said.
Bartholet said the adult film star "was fighting her demons and trying to get clean and sober", adding: "She had been put in rehab so many times."
He added: "A lot of girls in the industry are going through a lot of stuff. It's tough."
A cause of death has not been confirmed but her aunt Linda
It is not clear who Lauren had been with in the hours before her death but Bartholet confirmed she had not been with friends or family.
The Sun has contacted LA police for comment.
Bartholet added: "I was so shocked to hear of her death, my heart just sank. It is devastating.
"I feel like the last time that I saw her she was walking away and I did not know if I would ever see her again. I told her she needed to get help, to go to hospital and to get clean.
"She said 'I promise.'
"It is so sad that we have lost someone so young, and so talented. She was a very smart woman. Everybody loved working with her. She was very popular, so beloved.
"But she had a lot of demons. There was a dark side that not alot of people got to see.
"She had dreams and aspirations. If anything can come of this it's that I hope others see her story and take it as a warning to not fall under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
"Lauren was just looking for love, to be love, and for happiness and recognition. She was larger than life, full of boundless joy and energy.
"I just want her to be remembered for the good stuff."
"Look out for your friends, you do not know what they are going through," Bartholet added.
Dakota's aunt Linda had told The Sun on Monday that her niece was trolled by other porn stars in the weeks before her death after she posed topless at a George Floyd mural.
Arden, 55, said the adult film actress had been "bullied online" by other girls within the industry "trying to bring her down."
Bartholet added: "She did mention trolling. In the adult film industry you receive a lot of praise. But you are also the target for a lot of harassment and unnecessary correspondence.
"Because she was a beautiful young woman there were guys who could not differentiate between reality and fantasy.
Replies to her topless picture in front of Floyd's mural - posted to the site last month - show one Instagram user said: "Yikes, not a good look."
Other fans were also less than impressed with one writing: "This is some serious disrespectful bulls*** Lauren."
Floyd died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a police officer's knee in Minneapolis in May last year.
Scott's aunt Linda also confirmed the porn star died "with nothing" and said she had battled demons all of her life..
She added: "She could make thousands in one week and she was found with nothing.
"She would carry pictures of her family everywhere and she didn't even have those.
"All she had was a plastic bag with some clothes.
"It's sad, someone who could of had it all was found displaced and homeless with all her belongings in a clear zippered bag from a comforter package."
A benefit is being held in LA on Wednesday for Lauren with porn industry stars expected to attend. A to help establish a foundation in her name had raised more than $12,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
Arden said: "Her real life story and how she came to be in that industry, has truly been a tragedy.
"She , my baby sister's, death which was caused by addiction and alcoholism."
Two of her grandparents had also died of COVID-19 within the last year and Arden revealed Scott was estranged from her husband "who loved her dearly".
In 2017 Skye was arrested after allegedly smacking her then-boyfriend Robert Anderson in the face after sex.
Her aunt added: "Lauren was a product of a highly dysfunctional family involving drugs, alcohol, physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse."
Linda said: "She was stalked by demons like no one will ever understand unless you've lived it.
"I loved her unconditionally and I just wanted happiness for her.
"She no longer has to walk through this world in pain in her own prison and that gives me comfort to know she no longer has to fight the voices and images that haunted her."
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Arden added: "She was the sweetest girl. She lived with me when she was a baby. She loved her family. All of her money she gave back to help her mom and brothers.
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"She was an addict and an alcoholic. But really all she was doing was searching for love, someone to care about her.
"I was so scared about her. She was in so much pain. I thought she was going to make it. She had been clean for weeks."
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