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Anyone who grew up watching Nickelodeon in the ’90s could easily recognize Amanda Bynes’ incredible talent. Bynes caught our attention in shows likeAll Thatand The Amanda Show, the latter of which she hosted from 1999 to 2002. At first, it seemed like her post-Nickelodeon career would be just as bright and she went on to star in movies like Big Fat Liar, She’s the Man, Hairspray, and the sitcom What I Like About You for four seasons. She had all the makings to become one of Hollywood’s funniest and most talented stars.
With the success of those projects, it appeared like Bynes was going to be able to dodge the usual curse that many child stars tend to face. They go from having a promising future in acting to lamenting what could’ve been. She was on her way to having a thriving and booming acting career as an adult, but her appearances in movies and TV began to slow down and legal troubles soon followed. Bynes was arrested for drunk driving in April 2012, and that set off a string of other run-ins with the law that ended up with her parents filing for conservatorship in 2013.
The conservatorship ended in 2022 after a judge deemed her ready to care for herself, but Bynes was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold nearly a year later. The actor has had a long history of problems that have gotten in the way of her career and have made her nearly unrecognizable after being one of TV’s most beloved personalities.
We’re breaking down what life has been like for Bynes and the battles she has faced and fought since she left her acting days behind.
Amanda Bynes announces her retirement from acting
Date: June 2010
Just months before her last film Easy A hit theaters, Bynes took to Twitter to announce she was stepping away from acting and the spotlight because she didn’t enjoy it anymore. “Being an actress isn’t as fun as it may seem,” she tweeted in June 2010, along with a series of other tweets. “If I don’t love something anymore, I stop doing it. I don’t love acting anymore, so I’ve stopped doing it. I know 24 is a young age to retire, but you heard it here first.” Easy A, also starring Emma Stone, hit theaters that September.
Amanda Bynes arrested for drunk driving
Date: April 2012
Bynes was arrested on a misdemeanor DUI charge after getting into a minor fender bender with a police car that belonged to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The officer said that he suspected she had been drinking and arrested her for driving under the influence. Bynes was booked at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station with bail set at $5,000 and was released that same day.
The arrest was just a month after she was pulled over by cops for allegedly talking on her cell phone. The police said that she had left the scene before the deputy could write her ticket. She went to the police station later that day to sign her ticket.
Bynes gets charged with marijuana possession
Date: May 2013
Bynes was charged with reckless endangerment and marijuana possession in 2013 after her building managers called the police saying she was smoking weed in the lobby of her Manhattan apartment. When officers entered her 36th-floor apartment, they said they saw her throw a bong out of the window.
A judge dismissed the case after saying he would if Bynes complied with a request to stay out of trouble for six months and attended counseling twice a week.
Parents file for conservatorship
Date: July 2013
Richard and Lynn Bynes filed a conservatorship petition in July 2013. In it, they stated, “We are deeply concerned that Amanda poses a substantial risk to herself, to others, and to property based on recent events in her life.”
While a judge initially delayed ruling on the petition due to Bynes being on a two-week psychiatric hold, per the Associated Press, a temporary conservatorship was ultimately granted to Lynn Bynes, Amanda’s mother, the following month. The conservatorship was originally slated to last until the end of September of that year.
Amanda Bynes is placed under a mental health hold
Date: July 2013
Bynes was hospitalized for a mental health evaluation after she set a small fire in a driveway of a home in the Thousands Oaks residential neighborhood in California June 2013. According to the Los Angeles Times, the “authorities said she had no connection to the home.” The actor was taken into custody for her own safety and placed under a 5150 hold, California’s Welfare and Institutions Code.
Amanda Bynes gets probation for DUI
Date: February 2014
According to CNN, Bynes struck a plea deal in her 2012 DUI case in connection with allegations of having hit a police vehicle. As part of the agreement, Bynes pleaded no-contest to reckless driving, while the DUI charge was dropped. At the time, a court ruled that Bynes must be on probation for a period of three years.
Amanda accuses dad of abuse
Date: October 2014
In a series of tweets, Bynes initially accused her father of abuse, at one point stating he was “verbally and physically” abusive to her as a child. Elsewhere in the tweets, she also claimed sexual abuse, although these allegations were later retracted by Bynes herself, who said her father “never did any of those things.”
“My dad was verbally and physically abuse to me as a child,” she wrote, in now-deleted tweets. “He called me ugly as a child and then asked me if I wanted to have sex with him and i did not know how to respond and I said no and then I was forced to live with my dad which was a total nightmare.”
“My dad fondled himself in front of me so many times that i started recording him on my phone in hopes of catching him saying or doing something inappropriate around me so I could get him arrested & put in jail for the rest of his perverted life,” she added. “My mom knows that my father’s literally and physically incestual towards his own daughter and the fact that she never called the police on Him embarrasses me to no end. So, today I am meeting with a lawyer to get a restraining order against my dad.”
In a statement shared with E! News at the time through her attorney, Amanda’s mother said she and her husband were “heartbroken” to see these statements being shared on social media. “These allegations stem from Amanda’s mental state at the moment. They have no basis in reality,” Lynn said through her attorney.
Bynes later backtracked her allegations against her father, writing: “My dad never did any of those things The microchip in my brain made me say those things but he’s the one that ordered them to microchip me.”
Amanda’s mom becomes her conservator again
Date: October 2014
Following a prior temporary conservatorship, in late 2014, a California court made the star’s mother her conservator again. This decision came after a judge extended her stay at a Los Angeles treatment facility by another 30 days. According to legal documents obtained by People at the time, Lynn was again given control over the estate in October.
Bynes shares bipolar and manic depressive diagnosis
Date: November 2014
In November 2014, Bynes said in social media posts that she had been “diagnosed bipolar and manic depressive,” according to Entertainment Tonight. She also said she was receiving treatment in connection with that diagnosis. However, several hours after making the statement, Bynes seemed to suggest that she had not intended to do so, instead blaming it on someone who had been tweeting from her phone.
Date: November 2018
Bynes’ cover story appearance and accompanying interview for Paper magazine in 2018 was a momentous occasion, both for fans and for the star herself. In it, Bynes spoke candidly about what she’s been through over the years, including what she described as a period of drug addiction. Specifically, Bynes said she “definitely abused Adderall.” As of 2018, Bynes (who notably shouted out her parents for helping her achieve this accomplishment) said she was nearly four years sober.
“There are gateway drugs and thankfully I never did heroin or meth or anything like that but certain things that you think are harmless, they may actually affect you in a more harmful way,” she told writer Abby Schreiber. “Be really, really careful because you could lose it all and ruin your entire life like I did.”
Bynes enters mental health facility
Date: January 2019
TMZ reported in March 2019 that Bynes had entered a mental health facility to seek treatment for a stress-related relapse. After a few troubling months, the actor reportedly checked herself into a Los Angeles-area rehab center in January. The stress of attempting a comeback had allegedly caused her too much stress and in addition to seeking help for mental health issues, she was also reportedly receiving treatment for drug addiction.
Date: June 2019
Bynes graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in California after five years. Bynes shared a photo of herself and a friend in their caps and gowns on graduation day on Twitter, writing, “FIDM graduate 2019 #fidmgraduation.”
Bynes first enrolled in the design school in 2014 but was reportedly kicked out of the school after starting “horrendous arguments” with classmates. She returned in 2017.
Bynes’ conservatorship ends after nine years
Date: March 2022
Amid heightened attention on conservatorships at large, Amanda Bynes was released from hers after a nearly nine-year period, with a Ventura County judge formally bringing the arrangement to an end determining that it was “no longer required.” Per the Associated Press, no one contested the decision, including Bynes’ parents.
The star’s attorney explained to NPR that his client’s conservatorship, though often linked in media reports to the one involving Britney Spears, was “nothing like” that case. “Amanda’s conservatorship was a collaborative effort with her parents,” the attorney said. “There was no fighting between her and her mother or father. Everyone was working together, including Amanda.”
Bynes is placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold
Date: March 2023
While some ensuing reports were quick to remove key context from the story, it was reported in March 2023 that Amanda Bynes had been placed under a 72-hour psychiatric hold, notably after waving down a car in the Los Angeles area. Bynes, at least according to TMZ, told the driver of the vehicle that she was “coming down from a psychotic episode.” She then called 911. Ensuing updates clarified that Bynes was not injured, nor was her family considering another conservatorship.