Music legend QUINCY JONES has leaped to the defence of NICOLE RICHIE, blaming her arrest on Monday (DEC11) on media pressure. The 25-year-old confessed to taking Vicodin and smoking marijuana to cops who pulled her over after she was spotted driving the wrong way on a Burbank, California freeway. But Jones, who is close pals with Riche's dad LIONEL, insists her drug abuse is understandable. He says, "You get caught up in the peer pressure and the hoopla – it's a media frenzy. It's insane. Success doesn't help. Processing success is a major, major, major process." He adds, "I adore Nicole. I've known her since she was a baby. She's a very smart girl."