Here’s a true story more heart-poundingly disturbing than the fictional drama its subject acts in weekly. The National Enquirer, via iwon.com, reports that Kiefer Sutherland, star of Fox’s 24, “was caught knocking back Scotch at a Hollywood gay bar at 9 o’clock in the morning!” The bar, Spotlight, a ragtag hustler hang at the corner of Cahuenga and Selma, is not a venue where the pretty young stars go to party. It’s a rather dank hole, frequented by abusers of all kinds–and, of course, James St. James. It’s only charm is that it’s open when all else has been closed to you.

So there, apparently, he was. Kiefer. Who has that hit show. Appointment television. A critical success. At Spotlight. “Kiefer’s been a big drinker but now he’s pounding down the alcohol morning, noon and night,” an insider declared to the tab. There’s more. “Kiefer is well-known at dives in the scary Hollywood area where he lives,” said someone else. “It’s not unusual to see him downing glass after glass of J&B Scotch at one of these places any night of the week. And when they close at 2 a.m., then it’s on to the after-hours clubs.”

A staffer at the Spotlight who was on duty that morning told The Enquirer: “Kiefer started drinking at 9 o’clock in the morning with some buddies and didn’t stop till after 1:30 p.m. At one point, he was so hammered that he fell off his barstool and landed on the floor. But he just laughed it off. He was drinking Scotch and his associates actually had to prop him up!