It’s 3am in Beverly Hills and an A-list actor, in the throes of a marathon sex session with five young women, reaches across the silk sheets for his phone.
But the woman he has on speed-dial is not being summoned to join in.
Despite her glamorous looks, Cheryl Shuman is no support actress. She is Hollywood’s favourite producer – of top-quality cannabis.
After taking his call, the 57-year-old mum-of-two changes into an all-black outfit of jeans, T-shirt and high heels, packs her antique doctors’ bag and heads across town in her red Ferrari.
Cheryl, said to be dating British talent show veteran “Nasty Nigel” Lythgoe , is known to LA’s glitterati as the Cannabis Queen of Beverly Hills, supplying the biggest screen stars.
Cheryl with talent show veteran Nigel Lythgoe (Photo: Getty Images North America)
Since California legalised the drug six months ago, business is booming.
Cheryl told the Sunday People : “I have more than 200 celebrity clients, virtually every A-List star you can think of.”
She is raking it in as the owner of the Beverly Hills Cannabis Club, which she runs with daughter Aimee.
One strain of her “designer” pot targeted at women sells for £560 an ounce. It arrives wrapped in gold foil.
Last week she sold a £120,000 vape pen, studded with diamonds, rubies and sapphires and crafted from a fountain pen once owned by a Russian czar.
The £120,000 vape pen
Vaporizers decked in pavé diamonds are a mere £12,000 each.
Campaign group Citizens Against the Legalization of Cannabis in California claims lifting the ban, and celebrities glamorising the drug, has caused a crisis in health, crime and youth culture.
Cheryl insists she is simply helping stars cope with life in the fast lane.
There is certainly no shortage of high-profile users. Singer Justin Timberlake told Playboy magazine: “It gets me to stop thinking. Sometimes I have a brain that needs to be turned off.”
Cheryl with her Ferrari and daughter Aimee
Snoop Dogg and Rihanna also make no secret of their love for the drug, while Cameron Diaz last year claimed on US talk show Lopez Tonight that Snoop had been her dealer in high school.
Cheryl says: “I offer strains of cannabis to ease pain, soothe anxiety, even heighten sex – prolonging endurance or intensifying orgasm .”
Her little black book is a Who’s Who of Hollywood. She says: “I can’t name my clients, but they’re household names.
“Marijuana is legal for adult recreational use in California, but many stars want to keep their use a secret and they value my discretion.”
At Hollywood red carpet events and galas, the stars gravitate around her. Friends include Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler , actors Whoopi Goldberg , Elijah Wood and Chris Klein , marijuana advocate and comedy star Cheech Marin , and chat show legend Jay Leno .
Cameron Diaz says Snoop Dogg was her high school dealer (Photo: Getty)
She has partied with Richard Branson on his private islands. Cheryl says: “I was looking at these great women in my circle, like Cameron Diaz and the singer Fergie – everybody loves marijuana. Why should we be in the closet?”
Other celebrities who admit smoking pot include Lady Gaga , Jennifer Aniston , Kristen Stewart and Hollywood legend Morgan Freeman .
Since being romantically linked with TV pop and dance judge Nigel, 67, Cheryl has often been spotted at his side on Hollywood’s red carpets.
With Lord of the Rings star Elijah WoodTalking of her 3am call – an actor who appeared in one of the biggest-grossing films ever – she says: “I was still wide awake. It was, ‘Hey, we need all of the sex oils and herbs you have.’
“I have cannabis that enhances sex, cannabis-based lubricants and cannabis oils that increase sexual pleasure. He left the front door open for me – I found him lying on his custom-made bed, the size of two king beds, with five naked girls. I’ve seen many celebrities naked, I don’t judge.”
But Cheryl’s customers are not just rappers and sex-crazed A-listers.
She says: “Many are in their 60s and 70s. They start to get aches and pains, battle illness and cancer, or need to improve sexual performance.
“ Zsa Zsa Gabor and the singer Peggy Lee were clients. I have one older British client, very well known on TV, who uses cannabis every day.”
With Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler
Legalised marijuana was a £6.9billion business last year in the US, where the drug is lawful in 28 states for medicinal use, and for recreation in eight. Yet selling it still carries a stigma.
Cheryl says: “I don’t want to be seen as a drug dealer. I’ve worked hard to be an honest businesswoman.”
She now owns a 68-acre cannabis farm in northern California and offers marijuana-laced foods and beauty products. She hosts celebrity dinners where Michelin-starred chefs prepare cannabis infused dishes.
She say: “I’ve thrown parties where each setting has five cannabis oil cartridges, each matched with a different course.
“I even have a couple of celebrities coming to me seeking cannabis for their children with autism.
“But we do extensive testing. You can’t just give a kid a joint.”
Cheryl says she is a a “cannabis evangelist”
Actress and producer Charlize Theron is understood to be developing a movie of Cheryl’s life – from Iowa farm girl to optician to the stars in Hollywood.
Cheryl turned to marijuana in 1995 after losing a lawsuit following an affair with action star Steven Seagal .
She began using it again in 2006 when she was given just months to live because of colon and bladder cancer.
She says: “I just wanted to die in peace. But a friend told me about certain cannabis strains with healing properties.
“Within a month I was off the IV. After three months I could eat solid food. I’m a cannabis evangelist. I hope to see the day when cannabis is as acceptable as a cup of coffee in the morning.
“I wish more celebrities would take a stand but they’re scared.
“I hope to take away the stigma of marijuana – one celebrity at a time.”
credit:420intel.com
