Is Nip/Tuck Cursed? Scandals and Tragedies Among the Cast

Nip/Tuck gripped fans from the debut of its pilot in 2003 to its finale, and 100th episode in 2010—rocketing the global recognition of its biggest stars. 

The headliners of the US series, Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh, were at one point reported to be earning $3 million a year for their work on the show.

But 15 years on from the finale, rumours are swirling that the cast of the sensationalist medical drama may not have had as much good fortune as it seemed. 

From tragic family accidents to mystery shrouded deaths, the Nip/Tuck team has had more than their fair share of tragedy and scandal over the years. 

Most recently, one star even found himself on the wrong side of the law after he crashed his car in a horrific accident.

Now, we take a deep dive into the long list of controversy surrounding the cast and crew of the TV show that broke cable-viewing records with its debut.  

Joely Richardson 

Joely Richardson, 60, has had a long career filled with tragedy and scandal. 

At age 24, she was famously accused of having an affair with Scottish businessman Archie Stirling, who was more than twice her age and also married to actress Diana Rigg.

The pair had struck up a very close friendship which blossomed into a romance soon after he left his wife—but a year later, Archie dumped the acting royalty and returned to Diana and their daughter, only for their marriage to fall apart once more.

Joely went on to marry film producer Tim Bevan in 1992, welcoming their only daughter Daisy to the world that same year, but later divorced in 2001.  

In 2006, she announced she was quitting her lucrative role on Nip/Tuck to care for her daughter, who had a rare genetic circulatory condition which affected her legs.

But reports soon emerged Joely felt pressured to stay on the popular series, lest she would start to miss out on career opportunities in Hollywood.

She subsequently starred in the entire run of the show, from the 2003 pilot to the series finale in 2010, playing Julia McNamara.

But her tragedy didn’t end there, as Joely later suffered through the sudden death of her sister Natasha Richardson following a 2009 skiing accident. 

The Parent Trap star died at the age of 45 two days after she hit her head during a beginner’s lesson at a ski resort in Mont Tremblant, Canada.

She was airlifted to a New York hospital and placed on life support when she fell ill shortly after the accident.

Natasha died, with her husband Liam Neeson by her side, after her family made the decision to switch off her life support.

Joely later reflected on the ‘devastating’ turn of events, revealing she had to go to the funeral in her sister’s shoes because she rushed to Natasha’s side at the last minute.

‘We didn’t know it was going to be the end… I grabbed a tiny bag and jumped on the plane to New York… I didn’t have any clothes or anything with me,’ she said.

Dylan Walsh

Dylan Walsh, 61, made headlines recently when he was involved in a horrific car accident earlier this month.

The actor, who played Dr. Sean McNamara on Nip/Tuck, received multiple tickets after he swerved across lanes in New Jersey and crashed into two utility poles.

Daily Mail confirmed Dylan was the driver of the vehicle, which held four other passengers, at the time of the crash.

While travelling northbound on East River Road, Dylan swerved into the southbound lane before breaking through a utility pole and continuing northbound, police said.

The car, a 2022 Ford Explorer, then collided with another utility pole and emergency crews responded to the ‘serious’ single-car crash just after 5pm.

Dylan was served with ‘several motor vehicle summonses,’ the Rumson Police Department said in a release.

The crash resulted in two of Dylan’s passengers being transported to Riverview Medical Center with complaints of pain, according to police.

The actor’s wife Leslie Bourque-Walsh was in the car at the time of the crash, as well as another adult woman and two juveniles. 

Dylan’s rep recently said the Nip/Tuck star had ‘suffered a stroke’, causing him to lose control of the car and crash.

The new reveal, made to TMZ, came amid news the actor had open containers of White Claw Hard Seltzer in his car before careening into a pair of utility poles.

Dylan admitted to police at the scene on August 17 that he was on his way back from a bar where he had consumed alcohol, according to a report issued by officials.

While Dylan’s rep confirmed he had a few drinks prior to driving, they claimed a blood test at the hospital revealed the actor was under the legal limit, adding it was his adult passengers who were drinking the White Claws in the car. 

Julian McMahon

Julian McMahon died of cancer aged 56 in Florida on July 2, sending the world of entertainment into mourning.

His death kept headlines busy for weeks, even more so when his death certificate raised some questions about his final days.

The actor grew up as the privileged son of former Australian Prime Minister Sir William McMahon and Sydney society matriarch Lady Sonia McMahon.

However, the Charmed star, who portrayed Dr. Christian Troy on Nip/Tuck, had a very lonely send-off at a nondescript crematorium.

The cremation took place on an industrial estate on the US East Coast after he died at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Florida, known for its Scientologists.

Julian’s body was handled by Eternal Cremations—a nondescript, family-run funeral home in the nearby town of Dunedin.

The small crematorium sits on a busy main road, sandwiched between a strip mall and a petrol station—and has no indication of the millions of dollars Julian had in life.  

A spokesperson for Eternal Cremations said it did not handle funeral arrangements for Julian, and even claimed there was no funeral at all.

It is not known if Julian’s 25-year-old daughter Madison—whom he shared with Baywatch actress Brooke Burns—attended his cremation. 

Ryan Murphy

Ryan Murphy, 59, was the brains behind Nip/Tuck, creating the series based on his experiences interviewing plastic surgeons during his years as a journalist.

The critically acclaimed TV show writer and producer has earned himself a slew of awards over the years for series like Glee, American Horror Story, and Pose.

But he’s also had his fair share of controversy throughout his incredibly successful career.

During the run of his popular series Glee from 2009 to 2015, Ryan was forced to suffer through a string of controversies relating to the program.

One of the lead stars, Lea Michele, was accused of bullying on set, which she later apologised for—publicly and personally to her fellow stars—and Cory Monteith died, aged 31 from an accidental drug overdose in 2013. 

After the show wrapped in 2015, Mark Salling also died by suicide in 2018 and Naya Rivera accidentally drowned in 2020. 

Following Naya’s death, Ryan announced he was helping put together a college fund for her son Josey—a promise Naya’s father, George Rivera, claimed he never fulfilled.

After George publicly called Ryan out, the producer hit back and revealed he had been in contact with the executors of Naya’s estate to create the fund.

Ryan also courted controversy in 2022 over the creation of his Netflix show Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. 

The popular show faced backlash from viewers and real life family members of Dahmer’s victims, arguing the series dramatised the truth.

In 2023, Ryan also landed in hot water when he was criticised for allegedly refusing to halt production for AHS season 12 amid the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. 

In the wake of the backlash, he launched a fund starting with $500,000 to support the past and current stars and crew members of his projects during the strike. 

Brad Falchuk

Brad Falchuk, 54, was the writer and executive producer of Nip/Tuck, becoming close friends with Ryan Murphy during their years working together.

The writer enjoys as much success as Ryan, but maintains a private personal life, managing to avoid scandal despite his marriage to the controversial Gwyneth Paltrow.

However, in 2008, Brad suffered a serious health scare during his time working on Nip/Tuck—one which nearly left him paralysed.

He reportedly woke up with numbness in his left arm one morning, with an MRI scan revealing he had a tumour on his spinal cord

Thankfully, Brad was able to quickly undergo surgery, but it wasn’t without fear for his health.

He recalled at the time there were concerns he could be left ‘paralysed’ or ‘die’ if the surgery failed.

Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave, 88, is an English actress and political activist who played a recurring role as Erica Noughton, the narcissistic mother of Julia McNamara.

She is also the real life mother of Joely Richardson, who played her on-screen daughter Julia. 

Like her daughter, Vanessa has a decades-long career filled with tragedy and controversy—the latter of which is often linked to her work as an activist.

Across the span of 14 months in 2009 and 2012, Vanessa suffered through the loss of her daughter, Natasha, and her two younger siblings.

Natasha died in 2009 from a traumatic brain injury caused by a skiing accident.

Meanwhile, the following year, her younger brother Corin died on April 6 following decades of battling with prostate cancer.

Her younger sister, Lynn, then died less than a month later on May 2 of breast cancer. 

Vanessa also faced health issues in 2015 when she suffered a near-fatal heart attack in April, and later revealed her struggles with emphysema in September.

Aside from the tragic loss of loved ones and her health struggles, Vanessa has mostly enjoyed a decorated career as an actress and activist.

But she almost lost it all in 1978 when she faced intense backlash following her 1978 Oscar acceptance speech, in which she used the phrase ‘Zionist hoodlums’. 

During her speech, she congratulated the Academy for standing up to ‘a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums’ who attacked her for producing a documentary about Palestine.

The comments were directed at extremists in the Jewish Defense League, and she finished her speech with a promise ‘to fight antisemitism and fascism’. 

However, the damage was done and it’s said that Vanessa’s career briefly stalled following the remark. 

Famke Janssen

Famke Janssen, 60, had a recurring role as Ava Moore, primarily in the second season of Nip/Tuck.

The Dutch actress made headlines in 2013 when she called police to say someone had broken into her Manhattan apartment.

She said someone left a children’s book called The Lonely Doll on a shelf beside her bed, insisting it was not hers and she hadn’t given anyone access to her penthouse.  

However, police failed to find evidence of a break-in, telling The New York Post there were no signs of suspicious people seen on the building’s surveillance footage.

There were also no signs of forced entry to the home or fingerprints on the book.  

The Lonely Doll was published in 1957 about a doll named Edith who made friends with two teddy bears.

It received its own controversy when it was first published because it depicted a scene in which one of the bears spanks Edith for misbehaving. 

Willam Belli

Willam Belli, 43, a drag queen who portrayed the trans character Cherry Peck on Nip/Tuck, has courted controversy since their stint on RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2012.

The performer was disqualified from the series for a series of rule violations, including allegedly providing cannabis and alcohol to other contestants.

However, the excuse which made the final cut in the show was that Willam attempted to get their husband into the hotel room where they were staying during filming. 

Willam later said that it was an excuse to cover up the growing tensions between themself and the World of Wonder production team.

In 2017, Willam was also criticised for making comments which were perceived as transphobic, and later attempted to apologise for the remarks.

Last year, the drag star was removed from DragCon 2024 by security and police who claimed they were a ‘risk to the event’. 

However, Willam hit back at the reports, stating they were targeted for being a vocal critic of production company World of Wonder.  

Rhona Mitra

Rhona Mitra, 49, played Kit McGraw during season three of Nip/Tuck.

The actress, who has since quit Hollywood, fell ill with an autoimmune disorder in 2012, which she claimed was due to a vaccine injury.

A few years later, in 2015, she was barred from re-entering the US after a brief period overseas due to a mix-up with her surname.

‘Mitra is a Hindu name, and in Iran it is a Muslim name, and that name was on a [no-fly] list,’ she recalled years later.

‘So, after 18 years of living in the States, paying taxes and being a resident and having my whole life there, I was denied entrance.’

Sanaa Lathan

Sanaa Lathan, 53, who portrayed Michelle Landau on season four of Nip/Tuck, made headlines last year when a video resurfaced showing her partying with Sean Combs.

The actress appeared to be inebriated in the clip, which was originally shared in July 2015, while with Sean, known as Diddy, and rapper French Montana. 

The clip initially raised eyebrows due to the court cases Diddy is currently facing.

Sanaa also faced controversy in 2018 when rumours emerged suggesting she bit Beyonce at a party.

Actress Tiffany Haddish later confirmed Sanaa was the biter.

However, the former Nip/Tuck star has continued to deny the accusation.