Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (1888PressRelease)
August 22, 2007 - (Celebrity Scoop) -- Adam Bertrand is 16-years-old -- a student in high school. The underage sophomore is learning the perks of having famous friends in Hollywood -- that you can illegally enter a nightclub and drink, no questions asked.
Several photos of Bertrand drinking a Corona were taken Friday, August 17th at Les Deux, one of the hottest clubs in Hollywood. Because Bertrand is under 18 and won't answer any calls, websites and tabloids aren't allowed to publish them. Under California law, no one under 21 is permitted to enter the club, much less drink inside. But the photographers outside tell a very different story.
Celebrity gossip websites have videos and photos of other underage teen stars leaving the nightclubs -- Jesse McCartney, Lindsay Lohan, Hayden Panettiere, and the list goes on, though nobody is sure what they did when they were inside.
How did Bertrand get away with it? A Hollywood nightclub promoter, who asked to remain anonymous, was blunt: "Authorities know that he is inside drinking and if they don't care, why should we?" He added the obvious: "Celebrities and their friends help to make our clubs more exclusive." Adam Bertrand is never seen at the clubs alone - he is always accompanied by a fellow underage star, often being photographed with Paris Hilton, Hilary and Haylie Duff, or Bruce and Demi's daughter, Rumer Willis.
California's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) is charged with enforcing the State's underage drinking laws. Celebrity Scoop has obtained every citation the ABC issued in the City of Los Angeles for 2006 - 207 in total. Les Deux was never cited. Indeed, Celebrity Scoop's record search revealed that Les Deux has never been cited since opening its doors. The ABC seems far more interested in busting mom and pop liquor stores, often using decoys in sting operations.
Celebrity Scoop contacted John Carr, Public Relations Director for the ABC, and informed him of the investigation into Les Deux and several other Hollywood clubs. Carr said: "The ABC will not tolerate underage drinking...We will hold business owners accountable if they are serving minors regardless if those minors are celebrities, or their friends." Carr told Celebrity Scoop that the ABC is now conducting their own investigation.
Celebrity Scoop contacted the owner of Les Deux, who asked to remain unnamed. He said: "We are diligent about ID'ing people," adding, "people come with fake ID's." Celebrity Scoop informed him, they have videos of Bertrand and others being escorted in without showing ID. His response: "Certain VIPs ultimately enter lots of clubs who are not entitled to enter." He also offered this: "A lot of them (underage club-goers) I thought were emancipated."
Adam Bertrand's family in the San Francisco Bay Area were contacted, and had no comment.
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