By Kate WardPLAY Columnist

Late last year, the much-loved comedian Robin Williams admitted he had a problem. An alcohol and cocaine user in late 1980s, Williams decided to abandon his vices 20 years ago, shortly after friend John Belushi succumbed to his own addiction. Unfortunately, Williams took up drinking once again, and in August checked himself into rehab.

Williams’ story, however, has become a rare tale of rehabilitation in Hollywood over the past year, thanks to a movement spreading among young starlets and older has-beens: “Asshole Rehab.” The new disturbing trend has seen followers in Miss USA Tara Conner, and Michael Richards, to name a few. They have all checked into treatment centers presumably to bury bad press tarnishing their names. To Hollywood, rehab is no longer a substance-free haven for battling a crippling problem, but a way to save face and encourage the public to forgive and forget.

Take one of the first celebrities to check into Asshole Rehab: Three days after his drunken anti-Semitic rant went public last July, Mel Gibson announced he was be seeking treatment. But instead of checking into full-blown rehab, Gibson sought an outpatient “program of recovery,” which seemed to negate the severity of his proclaimed alcoholism. After a public relations blitz that included apologies to the Jewish community, moviegoers inexplicably abandoned previously calculated efforts to ban Gibson’s new film, Apocalypto, and led the film to a $50 million gross at the box office. And just months after his tirade, Gibson deflected criticism with, “I’ve apologized, done the right thing, now get the hell over it.”

In that one simple sentence, Gibson echoed the sentiments shared with today’s troubled stars: I made a mistake, I went to rehab to fix it, now forget I’m a bigot and continue to fund my career. It worked for “I’m not a racist” Richards, who sought psychiatric counseling after his less-than-G-rated comic routine went public – then he saw DVD sales of Seinfeld skyrocket. And though the jury is still out on the fate of the latest Asshole Rehab-inductee, Isaiah Washington, his longevity on the show after twice dropping a gay glur is most likely a safe bet.

Washington’s case also begs the question as to whether or not these celebrities actually have a crippling addiction to anything besides being completely out of touch with moral standards. Washington has more or less admitted that he’s a royal screw-up; neither drugs nor alcohol seemed to influence his homophobic comment – only a lack of decency.

So the next time the mighty have fallen, don’t feel too bad. In Hollywood, they’re only 30 days and an apology away from being back on top.

Medill senior Kate Ward is a PLAY pop culture columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].