Amanda Bynes was reportedly placed under a 72-hour psychiatric hold, a source close to the situation told NBC News on Monday, March 20.
While the 36-year-old actress’ longtime attorney shared that he was not in a position to comment on the situation, the insider added that “she hasn’t been in contact with her family for quite some time.”
The former Nickelodeon star was reportedly seen walking through downtown L.A. without any clothes on Sunday, March 19, according to TMZ. The All That alum allegedly waved down a passing car and told the driver she was coming down from a psychotic episode. She then called 911 on her own and was taken to a police station, where the mental health team determined she needed to be put on a 5150 psychiatric hold.
The hold allows someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis to be detained for 72 hours for psychiatric hospitalization because of a potential threat of harming themselves or others, or being gravely disabled.
Bynes was scheduled to appear at 90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut, this weekend but dropped out on Friday, March 17, shortly before the event began. The convention’s production company, That’s4Entertainment, revealed the news via Instagram, noting that the California native was suffering from an undisclosed illness.
During the All That panel on Saturday, March 18, Bynes’ former costar Kel Mitchell asked fans to “send a prayer” to the Easy A star to “feel better,” but didn’t disclose further details about her health. Kenan Thompson — who starred alongside Mitchell, 44, in Kenan & Kel — replaced Bynes at the event as a surprise guest.
Bynes rose to fame as a child star in the late 1990s, appearing on All That before landing her own spinoff, The Amanda Show. She went on to star in a string of successful teen comedies including She’s the Man, What a Girl Wants and Easy A.
In August 2013, the Big Fat Liar star was placed under a temporary conservatorship amid a series of mental health and substance abuse issues. The decision came shortly after Bynes was hospitalized and placed on a psychiatric hold for setting a fire in a neighbor’s driveway.
One year later, the actress’ mother, Lynn Bynes, was named the conservator of her daughter’s health care and personal matters. In August 2021, the conservatorship of Amanda’s estate was terminated, but Lynn still had legal control of her person, meaning she could make medical decisions for the Figure It Out alum.
Last year, Amanda filed a petition to terminate her conservatorship and filed a mental capacity declaration stating that she is mentally fit to look after herself and her affairs. In court documents obtained by Us Weekly in February 2022, a psychiatrist noted that Amanda has “no apparent impairment in alertness and attention, information and processing or ability to modulate mood and affect and suffers no thought disorders.”
One month later, a judge put an end to the conservatorship after Lynn submitted a declaration of support for her daughter’s request to end the adult guardianship. “She’s doing great both physically and mentally,” a source exclusively told Us of Amanda in March 2022. “She’s elated the judge agreed with her request and is determined to make the most of this next chapter.”
Shortly after the conservatorship was terminated, Amanda made headlines when police were called to the home she shared with then-fiancé Paul Michael. Officers from the Los Angeles Department visited the residence in April 2022 after Amanda claimed on social media that his alleged behavior had started to concern her.
“Paul told me that he stopped taking his medications. I looked at his phone and he was looking at mom-and-son porn. He vandalized his mom’s home. He broke all of her pictures and put salmon under her bed,” Amanda alleged in since-deleted Instagram videos, noting that she’d kicked Michael out of her home. “His behavior is alarming, and I’m afraid of what he’ll do.”
Michael, for his part, denied his then-fiancée’s claims, saying he didn’t know “what the f–k” she was referring to. “Y’all gotta stop talking your s–t,” he said before deleting his account. “You guys don’t f–king know anything.”
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The former couple called it quits three months later.
