ShortHand: The Viper Room & The Death of River Phoenix

10 March 2026 · 22m

RedHanded

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In October 1993, River Phoenix crashed out of Johnny Depp’s exclusive club, fell onto the pavement, and died. An hour earlier, the 23-year-old rising star had snorted a lethal combination of cocaine and heroin known as a ‘speedball’ in the toilets. As he staggered around the club, no one offered Phoenix anything more than a valium to "take the edge off”.

How did Johnny Depp’s club become such a den of iniquity and excess? And more importantly, how did it survive after the death of Hollywood’s golden boy?

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