Matthew Mellon — the billionaire banking heir who died Monday in Mexico — was there to try the controversial opioid-addiction treatment ibogaine, sources told us exclusively.
Meanwhile, insiders say that Mellon was dating Kick Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s daughter, before he passed away.
Illegal in the US, ibogaine is a psychoactive root found in Africa that’s purported to treat drug addiction. Said a source: “Matthew had tried ayahuasca,” the trendy Amazonian hallucinogenic, “but it did not agree with him, so he moved on to try ibogaine.” There are a number rehab of centers in Cancun offering ibogaine.
On Monday, a rep for Mellon’s family said the troubled financier died suddenly while “attending a drug rehabilitation facility.” But on Tuesday, they changed their statement, saying Mellon died in Cancun, “where he was planning to check into a rehabilitation facility for follow-up treatment.”
The family rep declined to comment either on the ibogaine or Mellon’s relationship with Kick.
Mellon, previously married to Tamara Mellon and Nicole Hanley, told The Post in 2016 that he was in treatment for an OxyContin habit of 80 pills per day. But this year, he made Forbes’ “Richest People in Cryptocurrency” list.
Sources told us Tuesday that before his death, Mellon seemed well, spending time in LA.
“He was seeing Kick for four months,” a source said, adding the pair traveled together to London, Switzerland, LA, New York and DC. “It was very glamorous and very intense,” said a pal. Another source who saw Mellon in LA last week said, “He looked very good” and that he’d been “fighting for his sobriety.”
A source close to Mellon’s family insisted the pair were “not in a romantic relationship” and “were friends.”
He posted a picture on a private account online March 29 of Kick, who celebrated her 30th birthday last weekend.
Sources said his car was at her LA home at the time of his death.
“Kick is very upset . . . She understood he had issues. She put him on a private plane to rehab. She is in mourning.”
Mellon had previously extolled the virtues of ibogaine on Instagram. A source said he was going back to Cancun for treatment maintenance purposes.