In December 2001, Hollywood star Winona Ryder was caught stealing $5,560 worth of luxury items from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, California. Ryder had allegedly removed security tags and walked out with the items.
Ryder was seen picking up 20 items as she moved through the store, but had only paid for four of them.
She later explained that the incident occurred during a difficult time in her life. Police also found prescription painkillers on her. The meds left her in a state of “confusion,” the actress said.
“I won’t get into what happened, but it wasn’t what people think and it wasn’t like the crime of the century,” Ryder told Esquire. “But it allowed me time that I really needed, where I went back to San Francisco and got back into things that. I just had other interests in, frankly.”
The Stranger Things star also said she was “really scared” of the way the media was covering young female celebrities.
Winona Ryder arrives at the “Frankenweenie” Los Angeles premiere held at the El Capitan Theatre on September 24, 2012 – @Getty
She stood trial in the next year and made several court appearances. In December 2002, the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice actress was found guilty of grand theft and vandalism. Wynona was cleared of a charge of burglary.
“My director directed me to shoplift for a role which I was preparing,” she reportedly told Saks security manager Ken Evans.
The actress was ordered to do 480 hours of community service, sentenced to three years’ probation, fined a total of $3,700, and ordered to complete community service.
Winona Rider attends Marc Jacobs Beauty Velvet Noir Mascara Launch Dinner on January 18, 2016 in New York City – @Getty
“When she was being pilloried in the press, to me it was like, ‘This too shall pass,’” Matt Damon said at the time. Damon and Ryder have been dating for two years. He added, “That somehow her true colors would come out, and she would get past it because she’s a great woman.”
Ryder finished her probation at the end of 2005.
She “Checked Out” After 2001 Shoplifting Arrest
Following her December 2001 shoplifting arrest, the Edward Scissorhands star said she “checked out” of Hollywood and the entertainment industry.
circa 1990 – @Getty
At the time, the actress moved from LA to San Francisco.
“In a weird way, it was almost like the best thing that could have happened,” Ryder revealed in a 2013 interview. She added, “I think a lot of people think that that is what sort of sent me off in another direction, but I was actually starting to have some trouble a few years before.”
In 2008, she was accused of losing £81,000 of diamonds loaned to her for a Marie Claire magazine party. Ryder said she handed them to staff at her Madrid hotel for safekeeping.
Winona Ryder in “The House of the Spirits”, directed by Bille August, 1992 – @Getty
She returned to Hollywood as an aging ballerina in 2010’s thriller Black Swan.
Ryder Becomes the Face of Brand She Once Tried to Shoplift
One of the stolen items by Winona Ryder was a $760 Marc Jacobs cashmere jumper. However, in December 2015, Jacobs revealed that Ryder is the face of the brand’s new beauty campaign.
Scott Mackinlay Hahn and Winona Ryder at the ‘Stranger Things’ TV Show Season 3 Premiere, Arrivals, Santa Monica High School, Los Angeles, USA – 28 Jun 2019 – @Getty
“A brilliant mind, talent, and physical beauty like no other,” Marc Jacobs wrote on Instagram.
READ THIS NEXT:
I am Bulgarea Candin Stefan, and I founded FamousPeopleToday.com in 2018. I’m using my bachelor’s degree in economics and 9 years of experience in blogging to guide millions of people through the incredibly complex world of celebrity net worths.