“I Killed John Belushi” – Crimes of the Times (October 21, 2025)

Podcast: Crimes of the Times
Host: Christopher Goffard, LA Times Studios
Guests: Tony Brenna (former National Enquirer reporter), Shawn Levy (author)

Episode Overview

This episode investigates the death of John Belushi, the SNL and Animal House star whose 1982 overdose at the Chateau Marmont became the center of a sensational media and criminal drama. Host Christopher Goffard focuses on the shadowy journalism of the National Enquirer—specifically reporter Tony Brenna—and the resulting prosecution of Catherine Evelyn Smith, the woman who administered the fatal dose. Through interviews with Brenna and author Shawn Levy, the episode explores how tabloid tactics, celebrity myth-making, and legal maneuvering converged to shape the legacy of Belushi's tragic end.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

John Belushi: A Brief Portrait

• Persona and Self-Destruction:
  Belushi was revered for his physical comedy and reckless, boundary-busting persona—both on and off screen.

  “My characters say it’s okay to screw up...most movies today make people feel inadequate. I don’t do that.” (John Belushi, paraphrased by Goffard, 01:09)

• Addiction as Public Knowledge:
  Friends, colleagues, and the public were largely aware of Belushi’s destructive habits and periodic interventions.

The Fatal Night at Chateau Marmont

• Setting & Privacy:
  The Chateau Marmont was legendary for its privacy and bohemian flair—a favored haunt for artists seeking to evade the public eye.

  “It was a place where people could camp out...an arts colony...comings and goings, no one took note.” (Shawn Levy, 12:05)

• The Overdose:
  On March 5, 1982, Belushi died at 33 from a speedball (heroin and cocaine). The role of Catherine Evelyn Smith (occasionally called “Kathy Silverbag”) emerges.

Tony Brenna & The National Enquirer’s Pursuit

• Tabloid Culture:
  Tony Brenna shares the aggressive, cutthroat, and ethically flexible culture of the Enquirer, with its British “Fleet Street” import of checkbook journalism:

  “Most of the reporters at the Inquirer were British because the Brits have got a much more easygoing standard to checkbook journalism.” (Brenna, 04:55)

• Hollywood as a Tabloid Warzone:
  The Enquirer maintained paid informants throughout Hollywood—restaurants, hospitals, agencies—to track potential stories.

  “We were detested in Hollywood. We were up against a legion of PR people...working for the CIA.” (Brenna, 08:53)

The Hunt for Catherine Evelyn Smith

• Tracking a “Mystery Woman”:
  Brenna and a colleague follow Smith to Toronto, trawling bars and clubs, plying contacts with drinks and cash, and eventually drawing her out with the promise of payment.

  “We did about three to four nights of this, and we were really getting pretty bloody desperate.” (Brenna, 15:58)

• The Negotiation and Confession:
  The Enquirer wanted a front-page confession: “I killed John Belushi.” For days, Brenna and the team partied with Smith, negotiating the price (up to $30,000) and pushing for a specific photo and taped quote. Smith resisted, but ultimately:

  “She said, all right, what do you want me to do? I killed the effing guy. Well, I killed the effing guy.” (Brenna, 20:11)
  The confession was splashed on the June 29, 1982 cover.

Legal Consequences & Aftermath

• LAPD Involvement and Prosecution:
  The taped confession, obtained in the context of Enquirer “browbeating,” prompted the LAPD to charge Smith—ultimately leading to indictment and extradition.
• Trial and Sentencing:
  Much of Smith’s confession was ruled inadmissible as it had been given in “an atmosphere of levity,” but other evidence and testimony were sufficient for involuntary manslaughter.

  “[Fox, prosecutor] told me it was an unusual case since a prosecutor doesn’t often get a defendant who both provides the lethal drugs and admits to injecting them.” (Goffard, 24:23)

• Smith’s Fate:
  Smith served half of a three-year sentence before deportation to Canada. Later, she recanted her confession, telling students she was misquoted and prosecuted because she “was the only one left standing.” She died in 2020 at age 73.

Reflections on Tabloid Ethics and Repercussions

• Brenna’s Regrets and Pride:
  Brenna is proud of breaking the story, but expresses complicated feelings for his role in Smith’s conviction:

  “I didn’t like Kathy Smith really, but I felt some sort of sympathy for her.” (Brenna, 26:42) “It was the only time in my long career I’d actually put someone behind bars.” (Brenna, 26:29)

• The Enquirer—then and now:
  From media behemoth to “limping wreck,” its era of influence and tactics has mostly ended.

Lasting Legacy: Chateau Marmont and the Belushi Myth

• Hotel’s New Reputation:

  “It goes from people having to describe Chateau Marmont in newspapers to Chateau Marmont, the famous hotel on the Sunset Strip where John Belushi died.” (Levy, 27:43) The hotel’s aura shifted, becoming a “fetish” for the macabre with celebrity guests seeking Belushi’s bungalow.

• Enduring Symbol:
  The Chateau now markets a luxe Hollywood experience, with a lingering undercurrent of “hedonistic and naughty and even perilous behavior.” (Levy, 28:48)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I killed the effing guy. Well, I killed the effing guy.”
  – Catherine Evelyn Smith’s taped confession, extracted by Tony Brenna (20:11)
• “You’re not going to get any Pulitzer Prizes for purity or anything like that. This is tabloid journalism at its very most vicious and worst.”
  – Tony Brenna, reflecting on his methods (20:11)
• “…absent the wiles of a self described ruthless tabloid operator like Tony Brenna, it seems unlikely the story forever linking Smith’s name to Belushi’s would have seen print.”
  – Christopher Goffard (26:04)
• “It’s nearly over. I mean, it’s something out of the past now.”
  – Brenna, on the fading age of the print tabloid (27:29)
• “It becomes…like a fetish for certain people. Rick James and Jean Michel Basquiat both requested…to stay in the Belushi bungalow.”
  – Shawn Levy (27:43)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:00 – 02:30] — Introduction to John Belushi’s myth and unraveling
• [03:03 – 07:20] — Tony Brenna’s tabloid origins and motivations
• [09:55 – 13:09] — The Chateau Marmont and Belushi’s last days
• [13:52 – 19:36] — The search for and negotiations with Catherine Evelyn Smith
• [21:21 – 25:54] — Smith’s confession, legal fallout, and trial
• [26:04 – 27:29] — Brenna’s reflections; the demise of the tabloid age
• [27:34 – 29:18] — The Chateau’s transformed image and lasting legacy

Overall Tone

Goffard’s reporting and Brenna’s candor give the episode a gritty, unsentimental tone—unflinching in its depiction of both the feverish world of 1980s tabloids and the moral complexities of their scoops. Shawn Levy’s observations add historical color and a sense of tragic inevitability to the Belushi and Chateau Marmont lore.

Listeners unfamiliar with the Belushi case will come away with a clear, vivid understanding of how media, addiction, ethics, and crime collided in one of Hollywood’s most notorious chapters.