Robert Downey Jr. ‘Got Beaten Up’ In Jail After Drug Downward Spiral

After a series of bizarre run-ins with the law in 1996, Robert Downey Jr. was placed in mandatory rehab to get clean.

“Robert Downey Jr.’s struggle with addiction was such a huge part of his life,” says entertainment journalist Raha Lewis in REELZ’s new docuseries, Robert Downey Jr.: The Price of Fame. “There was a period where he was arrested and then in rehab and then escaped from rehab and then back into rehab. And he was in and out of the legal system because of this issue.”

But by 1997 after getting clean and starring in a series of hit films, the actor began slipping back into his old ways and his celebrity status did little to save him from the law.

In December 1997, he was sent to L.A. County Jail for skipping mandatory drug tests.

“Jail obviously was not glamorous for Robert. He allegedly was in fights and got beaten up. He was put in solitary confinement,” says radio host Kellie Rasberry.

Jail was a far cry from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

RadarOnline.com readers know it took years of Downey Jr., 53, abusing black tar heroin for him to get clean. Finally, he turned his life around in 2003, when he met Susan Levin, the woman who would become his wife.

Robert Downey Jr.: The Price of Fame airs Sunday, February 10 at 9 ET / PT on REELZ.