EMOTIONALLY shattered by her half-sister’s suicide and her mother’s cancer battle, newly blonde Julia Roberts seems a gaunt shadow of her former self.
Sources say the 46-year-old superstar dropped five pounds in just weeks and dyed her hair to a color similar to that of her late half-sister Nancy Motes.
“Between Nancy’s suicide and her mother’s struggle with cancer, Julia has really been wrung out emotionally,” said a close source.
“The stress has definitely taken a toll on her. She barely ate for two and a half weeks and dropped five pounds. She also changed the color of her hair to a sandy blonde a lot like Nancy’s.”
Nancy, 37, passed away after taking a drug overdose on Feb. 9. As The ENQUIRER reported, she left behind several letters. Although the letters have not been revealed, sources and news reports say she blamed Julia for her suicide.
Days after Nancy’s death, we broke the news in a world exclusive story that Julia’s beloved mother, 79-year-old Betty Motes, had been diagnosed with deadly lung cancer in November 2013.
Betty was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery when she got word that Nancy had killed herself.
“Pretty Woman” beauty Julia and Nancy had battled bitterly for years, with Julia accusing Nancy of selling personal information about her to media outlets.
The Oscar-winning “Erin Brockovich” star also made cutting comments about Nancy’s 300-pound weight. Nancy recently slimmed down to 155 pounds after a gastric bypass operation, but the procedure left the unemployed former “Glee” production assistant $30,000 in debt and deeply depressed.
John Fraschetti, a friend of Nancy’s fiance John Dilbeck, blasted Julia in a published report, telling a reporter that the actress and her mother “rejected” Nancy six months ago.
According to the report, Fraschetti added: “It hurt her (Nancy) that none of her family wanted to be with her. She had a miserable Christmas, truly awful, and I think she just couldn’t handle it anymore.”
After Nancy’s suicide, a tormented Julia – a Best Supporting Actress nominee for “August: Osage County” – dropped out of the Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills. She also canceled several other appearances, including the Paris premiere of “August,” and dropped out of sight.
Nancy’s body was reportedly cremated in a private ceremony, with sources saying her fiance was left off the guest list. Her ashes were expected to be transported back to her hometown of Smyrna, Ga.
In her first public appearance since Nancy’s death, Julia’s mood looked as dark as her frumpy black sweat clothes as she hid behind sunglasses and dashed for a waiting car in Los Angeles.
