Pat Dollard | Young Americans

See the cracked-out video

Times Online:

Amy Winehouse visited a private rehabilitation clinic in London yesterday after she was caught on video apparently smoking crack. The singer will be hoping that the footage has not ruined her chances of conquering America, where her album Back to Black has sold 1.3 million copies.

Her record company, Island, part of Universal Music, is ready to abandon its American campaign to promote her. “It may be time to draw a line under it all and move on,” said Nick Gatfield, the label’s president.

She had been invited to perform at the Grammys, the US music industry’s most glamorous night, in Los Angeles next month. She is nominated for six awards, including Album of the Year.

Her well-publicised drug problems hampered her request for a visa. Winehouse, who cancelled her last US tour after an overdose, made a personal appeal for a visa after being convicted of cannabis possession in Norway. It is believed that the US authorities wanted evidence that she was drug-free before allowing her in.

Mr Gatfield described Winehouse as a hugely talented artist and said that she would be given time to deal with her problems. He said that she had America at her feet. “It’s a reflection of her status [in the US] that when you flick through the TV coverage [of the Grammys] it’s her image they use.” However, he added that there would be “absolutely no pressure from the company” to force her back to work. Universal Music said that it was deeply upset and disappointed about the latest revelations but would give her its full support.

Winehouse is due to appear at an awards ceremony in Cannes this Saturday alongside Kylie Minogue, Céline Dion and Rihanna. She pulled out of a number of UK concerts before Christmas.

Edward House is an outpatients department of the Capio Nightingale Hospital, which is known for rehabilitating drug users. The 24-year-old singer arrived at 4.45pm accompanied by her father, Mitch, a London taxi driver, and stayed for two hours. Wearing a dark top and pencil skirt, she appeared to be in good spirits and had returned to her black beehive hairstyle after a brief experiment as a bottle-blonde.

Pete Doherty, the Babyshambles singer and Winehouse’s friend, checked into the Nightingale Hospital for drug rehabilitation treatment last year.

Last night, Winehouse’s spokesperson insisted: “Amy has not been admitted into rehab. She has regular appointments with a doctor at the Nightingale Hospital and she will not be staying overnight. She is in good spirits and walking tall.”

Footage published in The Sun appeared to show Winehouse inhaling fumes from a crack pipe after a reported drug binge in which she was said to have snorted Ecstasy and cocaine and admitted to taking six Valium tablets. The video was said to have been filmed during a party at Winehouse’s home in East London in the early hours of last Friday, shortly before she attended a court hearing of her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil. He is awaiting trial on charges of assault and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

According to The Sun, Winehouse snorted powdered Ecstasy and cocaine before heading to her bedroom, where she inhaled crack in front of her wedding photo. When friends are heard in the video to go out with them, she replies: “I’d be useless to you because I’ve had about six Valium.”

Police said that they were unable to take action unless they received a complaint that a suspected criminal offence had been committed.