Baby-powder heiress Casey Johnson has flown to New York with her “fiancée,” Tila Tequila, to try to reclaim her daughter, Ava, from the custody of her mother, Sale Johnson, and bring the toddler back to LA.
Casey adopted the girl from Kazakhstan two years ago over the objections of her aunt, Libet Johnson, who built an orphanage in Cambodia. But Sale took custody earlier this year out of concern for little Ava’s safety.
“Casey is intent on getting her daughter back,” an acquaintance from LA told Page Six. But friends are distancing themselves from the increasingly erratic heiress.
“When I went to her rented house on Mulholland Drive recently, it was like Grey Gardens,” our source said. “There are dirty dishes everywhere and rotting food. There is graffiti on the walls. The pool looks like a swamp.”
Johnson’s father, New York Jet owner Woody Johnson, and the rest of the family recently restricted Casey’s access to funds because she repeatedly has refused to get the help they say she needs. She’s been in rehab several times but has never finished the programs.
“She can’t pay her bills, so the electricity was cut off. She can’t put gas in her car,” said our source. “She’s been keeping her Porsche in the garage because she’s afraid it will be repossessed.”
Tila and Casey announced their engagement this month with a video they posted online of themselves in bed wearing only bras and panties.
As Casey smiles in an apparent stupor, Tequila rants: “Look at this ring. Its 18-carat because my baby is ballin’. We are going to make love tonight for our honeymoon . . . She adopted a baby, Ava, and I love children. We already have a family. We are going to buy a house together and, once we get situated, throw an engagement party.”