A few years ago, I had a fast and furious best friendship with a very charming and funny person that included lots of laughs, parties, and seemingly perfect photos. But there was an unexpected darkside — this person constantly put me and all of my ideas down, manipulated me, always took advantage of my kindness and time, and even joked about running me over with their car. Well, that friendship is now over, but the spirit of scary and dangerous friendship lives on in Lifetime's The Wrong Girl , airing Saturday night. According to Lifetime's description of the flick, 17-year-old Sophia is a good kid with good grades, until she meets Grace, who starts trying to fracture Sophia's family and her love life. The TV movie stars Jamie Luner, Kristen Prout, Sarah Grey and while The Wrong Girl is not based on a true story, there have definitely been similar real-life situations.
Not everyone we meet is a good friend and, well, some people are just bad for you. It sucks when a friend becomes what some people call toxic friends. WebMD interviewed several experts on the topic and found that it's definitely a real relationship problem. "The phrase 'toxic friend' is pop psychology," Jenn Berman, PhD, a psychologist in private practice in Beverly Hills, told WebMD. "I would say it's someone who, after spending time with them, makes you feel bad about yourself instead of good; someone who tends to be critical of you -- sometimes in a subtle way and sometimes not so subtle; a friend who drains you emotionally, financially, or mentally, and they're not very good for you."
While most toxic friends may not go to the lengths of Grace, they do make you miserable until you finally decide to cut the cord. Here are other real life examples of toxic celeb friendships that aren't as dangerous as the The Wrong Girl, but caused enough of a riff to put an end to these BFFs.
Nikki Reed
Yep, you read that right — the Twilight Saga star, wife of Ian Somerhalder, and all around awesome chick once had a toxic friend experience — and she turned it into a hit movie. In 2003, she co-wrote and co-starred the movie Thirteen, which is based on her experiences as a wild 13-year-old in Southern California. In Thirteen, the character based on Reed (played by Evan Rachel Wood) gets drawn into a whole world of drugs and mayhem by a girl named Evie (played by Reed). Was there a real Evie? Reed told The Independent that Thirteen " was shocking and really difficult in a lot of ways because it was so personal. When I wrote the screenplay with Catherine, it never crossed my mind that people all around the world would be talking about these really intimate things."
Debby Ryan
The Disney Channel star opened up in an interview with MTV News about a very toxic platonic relationship she once found her self engulfed in. “He had insecurity, a need for control — a manipulation," she said in March. "He tried to get involved in every aspect of my public life, my personal life, my friendship, my family, my work life. Ultimately I realized there was something wrong in this situation. As our relationship continued he would cry, threaten to commit suicide, and it started to become physical – he would grab me, pulling me back into rooms if I tried to leave.”
Unlike The Wrong Girl, these scary, toxic friendships were totally real, and I'm glad Reed and Ryan were able to end them.
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