Yasmine Bleeth was hounded by the paparazzi during her time on Baywatch, when stories about her suspected drug use would fill countless tabloid column inches. Speaking to Cosmopolitan in 2017, Bleeth’s former co-star Gena Lee Nolin (Neely Capshaw) said that she was often treated unfairly by the press. “It was absolutely nonstop,” Nolin said. “I remember Yasmine Bleeth, she was at the payphone where we filmed — this was before cell phones — and she scratched her nose and the Enquirer had three pictures of her, like front cover, ‘Yasmine Bleeth — there’s drugs’ or whatever. And at the time, when I knew her, there was none of that going on.”
Some reports suggest that Bleeth’s drug use didn’t start until she moved onto crime drama Nash Bridges, but according to former producer Douglas Schwartz, the actor had substance problems during her Baywatch days, too. “We had one issue with Yasmine Bleeth, who was doing drugs at the time,” Schwartz told Esquire, singling out her relationship woes as a possible trigger. “That’s why we let Yasmine go off the show: because it was too difficult to deal with her after a while.”
The men’s mag also spoke to former cast member Traci Bingham (Jordan Tate), who wasn’t exactly sympathetic when asked about Bleeth’s plight: “Yasmine Bleeth and the whole cocaine thing, who does that? Really? To the point where she’s so out of the business now. Completely M.I.A.”