Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The Press Will Not Come Running For The Salahis
From the FabEmpire.
It seems it doesn’t matter if you have a reality show or not…a lot of Washingtonians are fed up with all the media attention surrounded alleged White House crahers Michaele and Tareq Salahi. It seems that media outlets are also fed up with them, with many editors refusing freelancers stories and pictures regarding the Salahis.
Overheard last night in Washington, a freelancers telling the Salahi PR people that it doesn’t matter if they want to cover them, the media outlets will refuse the stories.
Ouch. I guess we’ve all had enough. The Salahis will still star in Bravo’s “Real Housewives of DC” premiering on August 5.
It seems it doesn’t matter if you have a reality show or not…a lot of Washingtonians are fed up with all the media attention surrounded alleged White House crahers Michaele and Tareq Salahi. It seems that media outlets are also fed up with them, with many editors refusing freelancers stories and pictures regarding the Salahis.
Overheard last night in Washington, a freelancers telling the Salahi PR people that it doesn’t matter if they want to cover them, the media outlets will refuse the stories.
Ouch. I guess we’ve all had enough. The Salahis will still star in Bravo’s “Real Housewives of DC” premiering on August 5.
Danielle talks about Posche Fight Night
Article from RealityTVworld.
Although she appeared to be the instigator of last fall's New Jersey country club altercation with The Real Housewives of New Jersey co-star Danielle Staub, Teresa Giudice insists she wasn't picking a fight.
"I wasn't picking a fight, I wanted to speak to her face to face," Giudice said during a live interview on Bravo's Watch What Happens: Live, which aired immediately after the network's broadcast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey episode that covered the incident.
"I didn't go there for any of [what you saw] to happen. You saw us, we were having a great time, Danielle was right around from us... like we were just having a great time. Drinking. Watching a fashion show."
The Real Housewives of New Jersey's footage of the incident -- which occurred after Giudice, Staub and fellow Housewives Jacqueline Laurita attended a fashion show at the club -- appeared largely consistent with what Staub had alleged in her subsequent criminal complaint against Giudice, Laurita and Laurita's 19-year-old daughter Ashley Holmes.
Giudice was shown approaching Staub -- against Laurita's advice -- and chiding her for not making an attempt to repair their estranged relationship following last season's table-flipping incident in which Giudice called Staub, a convicted extortionist and alleged former escort, a "prostitution whore."
However the conversation quickly escalated into a loud argument after Giudice condescendingly called Staub "honey" and Staub alleged Giudice's self-proclaimed "$5 million home" was in foreclosure -- leading to Giudice and Laurita chasing an increasingly hysterical Staub through the club's hallways and into the parking lot, where Holmes ended up pulling Staub's hair before her bodyguard carried her to the car of friend Kim Granatell and the police were summoned.
"Danielle said my house was going into foreclosure, it's none of her business what's going on in my life," Giudice said afterwards. "I was trying to be nice and Danielle started."
Staub later dropped her complaint against Giudice and Laurita but proceeded with charges against Holmes, who told police she pulled Staub's hair because she incorrectly thought Staub had hit her mother. Holmes was subsequently found guilty of assault and ordered to pay a $189 fine.
According to Giudice, she only wanted to confront Staub about false rumors Staub had allegedly been spreading about her.
"I'd heard there was rumors going around that she was spreading so that was my opportunity. I never see the bitch, so that was my opportunity to speak to her woman to woman, face to face. Get it?" Giudice told Watch What Happens: Live host Andy Cohen. "I was waiting for her outside because I wanted to speak to her like woman to woman, face to face, and she's the one that had an entourage. I was all by myself, I didn't even tell Jacqueline that I was going to talk to her.
"We're dealing with a psycho-maniac," Giudice said of Staub. "Everyone isn't seeing what goes on on the scenes and behind the scenes. Like you just can't go around spreading rumors and saying whatever you feel like saying."
Later in the Watch What Happens: Live interview, Giudice -- who filed for bankruptcy with her husband in October -- acknowledged that the rumors Staub had allegedly been spreading were about the foreclosure of her custom-built, 12,000-square-foot home, which was briefly listed for sale for $3.99 million last month.
"I'd heard there were rumors going around that she's spreading and... when I heard her say 'foreclosure,' right there confirmed to me that the rumors that were going around were true," she said.
During her Watch What Happens: Live appearance, Giudice also said the home is not in foreclosure despite the couple's Chapter 7 filing, which requires liquidation of assets in order to pay creditors and reportedly listed of liabilities of $8,709,831 and assets of only $2,261,150 for the couple.
"My house is not under foreclosure and it's never been. My house has never been in foreclosure, never," she said.
However Giudice failed to note that the foreclosure "rumors" -- which had already been widely reported in the press in October, well before the November fashion show -- were actually largely true and Staub and some media outlets had just incorrectly confused the couple's lavish home with another home a lender had begun foreclosure proceedings on in August 2009.
In addition, Giudice, who has regularly boasted about her family's lavish lifestyle and claimed her family had to build a new home because previously-owned homes are unclean, denied any personal responsibility for her debt.
"Well, not me," she replied when Cohen said she was "in quite a bit of debt."
"My husband and his ex-partner, with real estate. Trump's also in a lot of debt, he just filed in February. We're taking care of it, it's business matters, and we're doing the best we can. We're not moving."
Although she appeared to be the instigator of last fall's New Jersey country club altercation with The Real Housewives of New Jersey co-star Danielle Staub, Teresa Giudice insists she wasn't picking a fight.
"I wasn't picking a fight, I wanted to speak to her face to face," Giudice said during a live interview on Bravo's Watch What Happens: Live, which aired immediately after the network's broadcast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey episode that covered the incident.
"I didn't go there for any of [what you saw] to happen. You saw us, we were having a great time, Danielle was right around from us... like we were just having a great time. Drinking. Watching a fashion show."
The Real Housewives of New Jersey's footage of the incident -- which occurred after Giudice, Staub and fellow Housewives Jacqueline Laurita attended a fashion show at the club -- appeared largely consistent with what Staub had alleged in her subsequent criminal complaint against Giudice, Laurita and Laurita's 19-year-old daughter Ashley Holmes.
Giudice was shown approaching Staub -- against Laurita's advice -- and chiding her for not making an attempt to repair their estranged relationship following last season's table-flipping incident in which Giudice called Staub, a convicted extortionist and alleged former escort, a "prostitution whore."
However the conversation quickly escalated into a loud argument after Giudice condescendingly called Staub "honey" and Staub alleged Giudice's self-proclaimed "$5 million home" was in foreclosure -- leading to Giudice and Laurita chasing an increasingly hysterical Staub through the club's hallways and into the parking lot, where Holmes ended up pulling Staub's hair before her bodyguard carried her to the car of friend Kim Granatell and the police were summoned.
"Danielle said my house was going into foreclosure, it's none of her business what's going on in my life," Giudice said afterwards. "I was trying to be nice and Danielle started."
Staub later dropped her complaint against Giudice and Laurita but proceeded with charges against Holmes, who told police she pulled Staub's hair because she incorrectly thought Staub had hit her mother. Holmes was subsequently found guilty of assault and ordered to pay a $189 fine.
According to Giudice, she only wanted to confront Staub about false rumors Staub had allegedly been spreading about her.
"I'd heard there was rumors going around that she was spreading so that was my opportunity. I never see the bitch, so that was my opportunity to speak to her woman to woman, face to face. Get it?" Giudice told Watch What Happens: Live host Andy Cohen. "I was waiting for her outside because I wanted to speak to her like woman to woman, face to face, and she's the one that had an entourage. I was all by myself, I didn't even tell Jacqueline that I was going to talk to her.
"We're dealing with a psycho-maniac," Giudice said of Staub. "Everyone isn't seeing what goes on on the scenes and behind the scenes. Like you just can't go around spreading rumors and saying whatever you feel like saying."
Later in the Watch What Happens: Live interview, Giudice -- who filed for bankruptcy with her husband in October -- acknowledged that the rumors Staub had allegedly been spreading were about the foreclosure of her custom-built, 12,000-square-foot home, which was briefly listed for sale for $3.99 million last month.
"I'd heard there were rumors going around that she's spreading and... when I heard her say 'foreclosure,' right there confirmed to me that the rumors that were going around were true," she said.
During her Watch What Happens: Live appearance, Giudice also said the home is not in foreclosure despite the couple's Chapter 7 filing, which requires liquidation of assets in order to pay creditors and reportedly listed of liabilities of $8,709,831 and assets of only $2,261,150 for the couple.
"My house is not under foreclosure and it's never been. My house has never been in foreclosure, never," she said.
However Giudice failed to note that the foreclosure "rumors" -- which had already been widely reported in the press in October, well before the November fashion show -- were actually largely true and Staub and some media outlets had just incorrectly confused the couple's lavish home with another home a lender had begun foreclosure proceedings on in August 2009.
In addition, Giudice, who has regularly boasted about her family's lavish lifestyle and claimed her family had to build a new home because previously-owned homes are unclean, denied any personal responsibility for her debt.
"Well, not me," she replied when Cohen said she was "in quite a bit of debt."
"My husband and his ex-partner, with real estate. Trump's also in a lot of debt, he just filed in February. We're taking care of it, it's business matters, and we're doing the best we can. We're not moving."
Kelly's Interview in Harper's Bazaar
Good article in Harper's about Kelly.
Woman on the Verge... Of a breakdown or a breakthrough? Real Housewives's Kelly Killoren Bensimon explains the truth behind her blow-up.
By Elisa Lipsky-Karasz
"KELLY: YOU ARE A NUTCASE!"
"Goooooo seek professional help!!!!!!"
"Kelly u r crazy for real."
So read some of the 1,515 comments posted on Kelly Killoren Bensimon's official Real Housewives of New York City blog after the now-infamous Saint John episode aired in which Bensimon had what she's calling a breakthrough by armchair psychologists are calling a breakdown.
"I am not crazy. I am unpredictable," Bensimon says. And in case you were wondering, "I'm not in therapy."
After watching the cringeworthy show, some might say she should be. During a disastrous dinner served up by Bensimon's nemesis, Bethenny Frankel, Bensimon argued with the other housewives, frantically ate jelly beans, and fled to her room and, ultimately, New York. According to her, the others started it.
"It went from an everyday scene to all of a sudden Housewives, Big Brother style," says Bensimon, who has denied popping pharmaceuticals like those jelly beans. Off-screen, she points out, she was dealing with the stress of a nanny who had quit and fielding calls from her daughters, Sea and Teddy, who were begging her to return home.
“I think it was deeply disturb- ing. It seemed like she had a break of some kind, but I can’t say exactly what it was,” says Andy Cohen, Bravo’s programming chief, who denies Bensimon’s claims that she felt “literally forced” to go on the trip. “She was not forced to go to Saint John by Bravo or the producers,” he says. “That’s untrue.”
Whatever happened, they can ably all be happy that the on-air histrionics translated into Housewives’s highest ratings to that point (2.3 million viewers). It also landed Bensimon, Frankel, and Jill Zarin on Us Weekly's cover, making them reality-TV A-listers.
"I’m embarrassed that I allowed myself to feed into it, but I don’t think I would handle it differently. The ratings were amazing, so no, absolutely not,” Bensimon says, showing little remorse over what she’s dubbed “Scary Island.” She adds, “Whether it’s my nail color, my hair color, or the shoes I’m wearing, everything about me bothers them.”
Either way, she thinks the wave of attention, however humiliating, might be worth riding. “I don’t have any regrets. I’m glad I went on Housewives because the show has made me more known,” she says.
“You say ‘crazy Kelly,’ that search engine’s going to go bananas, but if you say ‘sweet Kelly,’ it’s going to go nowhere,” continues Bensimon, shrugging off the criticism of viewers for whom reality TV is a blood sport.
In fact, “crazy Kelly” pulls up about 11.9 million hits on Google. While a dubious honor, such numbers are part of Bensimon’s publicity math. She runs more calculations: 6,000, the dollars she can raise for Feeding America with the sale of six Kelly-brand feather earrings; 70,000, the number of views in four days on the homemade antibullying PSA she posted after the Saint John gang war on her official YouTube channel (“This past season, bullying became a really, really big issue,” she says); and 294 million, the number of “media impressions” created by her March 2010 Playboy cover. “With Playboy, I think I superseded Housewives. It was huge,” she says.
It’s not that Bensimon is any stranger to attention. But it used to be from a select crowd of fashion designers, like Marc Jacobs and Francisco Costa, fellow socialites, and front-row photographers. As founding editor of Elle Accessories, a style-book author, and the wife of influential photographer and former Elle creative director Gilles Bensimon, she occupied a lofty perch in the fashion world. Even after her 2007 divorce, she was still in style. Her decision to plunge into the fray of reality television has raised some well-groomed eyebrows. And Bensimon knows it. “The Real Housewives of New York City is not considered something that people want to be a part of,” she says. But, she says, “I never had a voice before, and now I do.”
She’s using it to talk about everything from safe sex and bullying to her decorating choices. “I’m trying to do all these inspirational projects. I try to make pancakes,” she says, refer- ring to an episode of the show. “I’m horrible at it.”
Whether the other housewives feel equally inspired is up for debate. “They want to go to the parties I go to, they want to hang out with me, they want to do the things that I’m doing,” she says, a comment that would probably make Frankel shriek.
“None of us care about [Kelly’s] superficial lifestyle,” blogged Frankel last season. “She is a complete phony and now she has been exposed and her small circle of New York supporters has turned on her. The emperor has no clothes.”
Frankel has since scored her own show, Bethenny Getting Married?, and Bensimon is trying to take the high road: “I wish her well. I don’t need to smear anyone.”
It’s a far cry from her previous role as Gilles’s wife. “When I was married, I was protected. No one was allowed to talk about me,” she remembers.
She remains on good terms with her ex, who shot her Playboy spread and vouches that “she is a very good mother.”
“It’s easy to judge,” Gilles says, pointing out that in fashion, no one’s shy about doing that. “One side has crucified her; the other side thinks it’s good for her.”
Meanwhile, Bensimon is focused on moving forward. “I’m 42, and I have this new life,” she says. “Yes, I’m more mass market. And that’s okay. It’s my job... I’ve worked so hard. It wasn’t always lollipops and unicorns.” She sips her tea. “I tell my girls, ‘Your mom gets paid to engage in inappropriate behavior.’ It’s an amazing opportunity for them to see that being mean is not okay. I tell them, ‘If you’re in a situation like this, walk out. Don’t come back with jelly beans.’”
photo by Danielle Levitt
Woman on the Verge... Of a breakdown or a breakthrough? Real Housewives's Kelly Killoren Bensimon explains the truth behind her blow-up.
By Elisa Lipsky-Karasz
"KELLY: YOU ARE A NUTCASE!"
"Goooooo seek professional help!!!!!!"
"Kelly u r crazy for real."
So read some of the 1,515 comments posted on Kelly Killoren Bensimon's official Real Housewives of New York City blog after the now-infamous Saint John episode aired in which Bensimon had what she's calling a breakthrough by armchair psychologists are calling a breakdown.
"I am not crazy. I am unpredictable," Bensimon says. And in case you were wondering, "I'm not in therapy."
After watching the cringeworthy show, some might say she should be. During a disastrous dinner served up by Bensimon's nemesis, Bethenny Frankel, Bensimon argued with the other housewives, frantically ate jelly beans, and fled to her room and, ultimately, New York. According to her, the others started it.
"It went from an everyday scene to all of a sudden Housewives, Big Brother style," says Bensimon, who has denied popping pharmaceuticals like those jelly beans. Off-screen, she points out, she was dealing with the stress of a nanny who had quit and fielding calls from her daughters, Sea and Teddy, who were begging her to return home.
“I think it was deeply disturb- ing. It seemed like she had a break of some kind, but I can’t say exactly what it was,” says Andy Cohen, Bravo’s programming chief, who denies Bensimon’s claims that she felt “literally forced” to go on the trip. “She was not forced to go to Saint John by Bravo or the producers,” he says. “That’s untrue.”
Whatever happened, they can ably all be happy that the on-air histrionics translated into Housewives’s highest ratings to that point (2.3 million viewers). It also landed Bensimon, Frankel, and Jill Zarin on Us Weekly's cover, making them reality-TV A-listers.
"I’m embarrassed that I allowed myself to feed into it, but I don’t think I would handle it differently. The ratings were amazing, so no, absolutely not,” Bensimon says, showing little remorse over what she’s dubbed “Scary Island.” She adds, “Whether it’s my nail color, my hair color, or the shoes I’m wearing, everything about me bothers them.”
Either way, she thinks the wave of attention, however humiliating, might be worth riding. “I don’t have any regrets. I’m glad I went on Housewives because the show has made me more known,” she says.
“You say ‘crazy Kelly,’ that search engine’s going to go bananas, but if you say ‘sweet Kelly,’ it’s going to go nowhere,” continues Bensimon, shrugging off the criticism of viewers for whom reality TV is a blood sport.
In fact, “crazy Kelly” pulls up about 11.9 million hits on Google. While a dubious honor, such numbers are part of Bensimon’s publicity math. She runs more calculations: 6,000, the dollars she can raise for Feeding America with the sale of six Kelly-brand feather earrings; 70,000, the number of views in four days on the homemade antibullying PSA she posted after the Saint John gang war on her official YouTube channel (“This past season, bullying became a really, really big issue,” she says); and 294 million, the number of “media impressions” created by her March 2010 Playboy cover. “With Playboy, I think I superseded Housewives. It was huge,” she says.
It’s not that Bensimon is any stranger to attention. But it used to be from a select crowd of fashion designers, like Marc Jacobs and Francisco Costa, fellow socialites, and front-row photographers. As founding editor of Elle Accessories, a style-book author, and the wife of influential photographer and former Elle creative director Gilles Bensimon, she occupied a lofty perch in the fashion world. Even after her 2007 divorce, she was still in style. Her decision to plunge into the fray of reality television has raised some well-groomed eyebrows. And Bensimon knows it. “The Real Housewives of New York City is not considered something that people want to be a part of,” she says. But, she says, “I never had a voice before, and now I do.”
She’s using it to talk about everything from safe sex and bullying to her decorating choices. “I’m trying to do all these inspirational projects. I try to make pancakes,” she says, refer- ring to an episode of the show. “I’m horrible at it.”
Whether the other housewives feel equally inspired is up for debate. “They want to go to the parties I go to, they want to hang out with me, they want to do the things that I’m doing,” she says, a comment that would probably make Frankel shriek.
“None of us care about [Kelly’s] superficial lifestyle,” blogged Frankel last season. “She is a complete phony and now she has been exposed and her small circle of New York supporters has turned on her. The emperor has no clothes.”
Frankel has since scored her own show, Bethenny Getting Married?, and Bensimon is trying to take the high road: “I wish her well. I don’t need to smear anyone.”
It’s a far cry from her previous role as Gilles’s wife. “When I was married, I was protected. No one was allowed to talk about me,” she remembers.
She remains on good terms with her ex, who shot her Playboy spread and vouches that “she is a very good mother.”
“It’s easy to judge,” Gilles says, pointing out that in fashion, no one’s shy about doing that. “One side has crucified her; the other side thinks it’s good for her.”
Meanwhile, Bensimon is focused on moving forward. “I’m 42, and I have this new life,” she says. “Yes, I’m more mass market. And that’s okay. It’s my job... I’ve worked so hard. It wasn’t always lollipops and unicorns.” She sips her tea. “I tell my girls, ‘Your mom gets paid to engage in inappropriate behavior.’ It’s an amazing opportunity for them to see that being mean is not okay. I tell them, ‘If you’re in a situation like this, walk out. Don’t come back with jelly beans.’”
Kim treated well on tour
Pic./Tweet from Kim, she is on tour.
Wow!!! Look what I had in my room when I opened the door!!! I'm speechless!!!!
Luann in Cannes with Jacque
Pics./Tweets from Luann.
Mougin. Close to Cannes. Magic!
Heading out for dinner in Cannes. So beautiful when it's not crowded with the film festival!
Mougin. Close to Cannes. Magic!
Jeana-RHOOC in OC Register
Jeana got a mention in the OC Register,Business section about her real estate ventures.
Jeana Keough, who is one of the original members of Bravo TV reality show 'The Real Housewives of Orange County,' is selling the former Laguna Beach home of actress Diane Keaton.
The oceanfront home in North Laguna has 6 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 3,280-square-feet of living space on a 7,800-square-foot lot and plenty of ocean views.
The listing at 989 Cliff Drive is priced at $13 million, and last closed sale for $14.5 million in 2005, Keough (a Weichert Realtors Gold Coast agent) says.
Originally built in 1928, Keaton kept the home true to its original style, Keough says. This oceanfront house changed hands from Keaton to the current owners about 5 years ago, she says.
Per the listing description:
"Laguna Beach Ocean front home, Shaw's cove, secluded beach with private beach access, rare opportunity to own a landmark home. Master has sweeping views, fireplace, walk in closests, beautiful courtyard entrance with fruit trees, large driveway to accomadate 6 cars, walk to downtown Laguna and minutes from John Wayne airport, spectrum shopping."
This home is in a great location in Laguna since it is right on the beach, yet a short walk to Heisler Park, restaurants, shopping and art galleries. Shaws Cove is also one of the most coveted beach spots in Laguna Beach.
Stay tuned for photos of Keough's oceanfront listing
Jeana Keough, who is one of the original members of Bravo TV reality show 'The Real Housewives of Orange County,' is selling the former Laguna Beach home of actress Diane Keaton.
The oceanfront home in North Laguna has 6 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 3,280-square-feet of living space on a 7,800-square-foot lot and plenty of ocean views.
The listing at 989 Cliff Drive is priced at $13 million, and last closed sale for $14.5 million in 2005, Keough (a Weichert Realtors Gold Coast agent) says.
Originally built in 1928, Keaton kept the home true to its original style, Keough says. This oceanfront house changed hands from Keaton to the current owners about 5 years ago, she says.
Per the listing description:
"Laguna Beach Ocean front home, Shaw's cove, secluded beach with private beach access, rare opportunity to own a landmark home. Master has sweeping views, fireplace, walk in closests, beautiful courtyard entrance with fruit trees, large driveway to accomadate 6 cars, walk to downtown Laguna and minutes from John Wayne airport, spectrum shopping."
This home is in a great location in Laguna since it is right on the beach, yet a short walk to Heisler Park, restaurants, shopping and art galleries. Shaws Cove is also one of the most coveted beach spots in Laguna Beach.
Stay tuned for photos of Keough's oceanfront listing
Alex talks about the RHONJ Posche brawl
Post from Alex's blog.
Unbe-weave-able?
Jul 12th, 2010 by Alex McCord.
I need a glass of red wine before I can even begin writing this blog. Chianti is appropriate, I think, because if things get any more heated we’re going to need a side order of fava beans and someone’s liver to go with that. Oh my Jersey girls… what is going ON? Holy hair-weave-on-a-head. Well, off a head, as it turns out. WOW. I was with Caroline, Teresa & Jacqueline earlier this week and because my blog was an episode behind didn’t discuss any of this, but I have to say my jaw was on the floor in places. But before we get to the hair pulling…
Caroline is in such pain with Albie’s law school situation, and I understand that completely. If it were one of my sons, I’d want to sue the school. Why wasn’t he able to get the support he needed for his learning disability? Clearly at least one person at the school knew he needed it. If, with services, grades didn’t improve, that’s one thing. If no help was available, that’s another. Given that assistance was available but Albie was not able to receive it, there’s no opportunity for improvement and that isn’t fair. Part of me wants to say more about this but I’m going to hold off for now. One thing I will say though, is that the tenacity Albie has displayed in working through this is a good quality to have if you’re a lawyer.
What the heck happened in Posche? Sidebar, can I just say that every time I type that I mistype Porsche? Is that meant to be subliminal? She doesn’t sell cars. Anyway….Danielle walked into the boutique and didn’t recognize the girl behind the desk. Here’s what we don’t know – how long she stood there while the girl was on the phone. Here’s what we do know – Danielle slapped her bag down on the counter and looked impatient. I’ve answered my share of phones at various college jobs, and if someone slapped their bag on the desk in a huff and it wasn’t Hillary Clinton or Isaac Mizrahi, bag slapping would not make me get off the phone faster. If someone is on the phone and signals to you that they’ll be with you in a moment, that doesn’t automatically make them rude or disrespectful. That makes them a multitasker. In Danielle’s world, multitasking is apparently offensive.
Here’s my favorite moment of episode 9 – the 6,000 expressions crossing Albert’s face when Caroline asked him to retire. When you get a reaction like that, it’s reality TV magic, and when they went out to dinner, I understood completely Caroline’s rationale that she wouldn’t cancel plans with her husband to get involved in nonsense. That’s why I always had Simon with me in season 1! Speaking of Caroline, I was really proud that she had an open mind about the Posche fashion show and suggested that the girls go ahead and attend. It would be nice if all the girls could be at an event and smile, nod and walk away. Of course then they wouldn’t want to film it.
Back to Danielle, I don’t know how long she and Kim D have been friends, but does she really think that Teresa and Jacqueline would choose to spend time with Kim just to needle her? Clearly these mothers of babies have nothing better to do with their time than figure out who the friends are of a woman they don’t like, and befriend them. That makes perfect sense to me. Pardon me – we interrupt this blog because I’ve just realized that all the BFFs of my least favorite RHONY cast members need to come to dinner at my house. I need to excuse myself to do a little googling and speed dialing. Oy.
The fashion show quickly became a sideshow as Danielle played the “I’m ignoring you” game, while Jacqueline and Teresa tried to actually ignore her. Personally, I think calling someone a coke whore is beyond inappropriate, as is pretending to be on your cell phone. Just because Paris Hilton does something doesn’t make it hot.
Danielle really made me want to jump through the TV and scream at her when she looked straight to camera and went after Jacqueline’s parenting skills. Why was she so nasty? Did I miss something? I could feel for the first time how the other girls must feel when they are pushed past the point of no return with her. Of course now that I’ve written that I guess I’d better watch my back – though we really do try to use our words in NY so all should be well – I’ll take my own advice from Chapter 8, Don’t Listen to the Well-Meaning Morons (even if they’re not well-meaning – a new subtitle just for this occasion.)
What can I say about what happened next? Yes, Teresa had to know that waiting for Danielle was going to start something…BUT, I understand why she did. Yes, I can understand how the snark about foreclosure incensed Teresa, and how it escalated. I thought Danielle was a little OTT with the running down the hallway crying; she wasn’t being pursued by wolves. How did Ashley think her mom was being attacked? I have to say I didn’t completely buy her rationale, but that could be a result of the way the episode was cut – we didn’t see why Ashley thought that.
In the aftermath, after the police were called, the Bentley returned and the drama contained, the flip-flopping Kim G met with Danielle to eat something yellow and alarming, and be a shoulder to her. OK, I understand that Kim is trying to be friendly with everyone. It’s not working; she’s coming across wishy-washy. I also understand that Danielle is going on the emotional roller coaster ride of her life. Danielle thinks everyone is out to get her, and regardless of whether the rest of the world believes that’s true or false, that’s how she feels. If someone thinks you are trying to kill them, telling them you aren’t will not change their mind – we lived thorough that on our show too. Sadly, Ashley fed right into that by grabbing the hair extensions. Perhaps, if Danielle presses charges that might give Ashley a wakeup call? If that happens, and if Ashley does learn, that’s a way to bring something positive out of a negative situation, however bizarre it may seem.
The energist called Danielle, then Jacqueline, who played the energist by playing a game on her phone. I guess the energist wasn’t tapping into her psychic side as she didn’t realize Jacqueline was less than enthusiastic. I do have to say that for me, saying “No, thank you,” and hanging up would be been a more direct way to handle the situation.
Teresa came clean with Joe, she had her whine, they then had wine and laughed. What bothered me about Ashley is that she didn’t seem to understand the gravity of what she’d done, and didn’t seem to want to take responsibility for it. Chris and Jacqueline tried hard to get through to her, the baby looked worried and Ashley looked defiant. I really hope for her sake that has changed, and we’ll see how it plays out.
See you next week! I can’t wait to see what happens next – in the meantime Simon and I will be in Asbury Park, NJ 7.24 for a book signing and appearance – come out and see us if you can manage the heat!
Unbe-weave-able?
Jul 12th, 2010 by Alex McCord.
I need a glass of red wine before I can even begin writing this blog. Chianti is appropriate, I think, because if things get any more heated we’re going to need a side order of fava beans and someone’s liver to go with that. Oh my Jersey girls… what is going ON? Holy hair-weave-on-a-head. Well, off a head, as it turns out. WOW. I was with Caroline, Teresa & Jacqueline earlier this week and because my blog was an episode behind didn’t discuss any of this, but I have to say my jaw was on the floor in places. But before we get to the hair pulling…
Caroline is in such pain with Albie’s law school situation, and I understand that completely. If it were one of my sons, I’d want to sue the school. Why wasn’t he able to get the support he needed for his learning disability? Clearly at least one person at the school knew he needed it. If, with services, grades didn’t improve, that’s one thing. If no help was available, that’s another. Given that assistance was available but Albie was not able to receive it, there’s no opportunity for improvement and that isn’t fair. Part of me wants to say more about this but I’m going to hold off for now. One thing I will say though, is that the tenacity Albie has displayed in working through this is a good quality to have if you’re a lawyer.
What the heck happened in Posche? Sidebar, can I just say that every time I type that I mistype Porsche? Is that meant to be subliminal? She doesn’t sell cars. Anyway….Danielle walked into the boutique and didn’t recognize the girl behind the desk. Here’s what we don’t know – how long she stood there while the girl was on the phone. Here’s what we do know – Danielle slapped her bag down on the counter and looked impatient. I’ve answered my share of phones at various college jobs, and if someone slapped their bag on the desk in a huff and it wasn’t Hillary Clinton or Isaac Mizrahi, bag slapping would not make me get off the phone faster. If someone is on the phone and signals to you that they’ll be with you in a moment, that doesn’t automatically make them rude or disrespectful. That makes them a multitasker. In Danielle’s world, multitasking is apparently offensive.
Here’s my favorite moment of episode 9 – the 6,000 expressions crossing Albert’s face when Caroline asked him to retire. When you get a reaction like that, it’s reality TV magic, and when they went out to dinner, I understood completely Caroline’s rationale that she wouldn’t cancel plans with her husband to get involved in nonsense. That’s why I always had Simon with me in season 1! Speaking of Caroline, I was really proud that she had an open mind about the Posche fashion show and suggested that the girls go ahead and attend. It would be nice if all the girls could be at an event and smile, nod and walk away. Of course then they wouldn’t want to film it.
Back to Danielle, I don’t know how long she and Kim D have been friends, but does she really think that Teresa and Jacqueline would choose to spend time with Kim just to needle her? Clearly these mothers of babies have nothing better to do with their time than figure out who the friends are of a woman they don’t like, and befriend them. That makes perfect sense to me. Pardon me – we interrupt this blog because I’ve just realized that all the BFFs of my least favorite RHONY cast members need to come to dinner at my house. I need to excuse myself to do a little googling and speed dialing. Oy.
The fashion show quickly became a sideshow as Danielle played the “I’m ignoring you” game, while Jacqueline and Teresa tried to actually ignore her. Personally, I think calling someone a coke whore is beyond inappropriate, as is pretending to be on your cell phone. Just because Paris Hilton does something doesn’t make it hot.
Danielle really made me want to jump through the TV and scream at her when she looked straight to camera and went after Jacqueline’s parenting skills. Why was she so nasty? Did I miss something? I could feel for the first time how the other girls must feel when they are pushed past the point of no return with her. Of course now that I’ve written that I guess I’d better watch my back – though we really do try to use our words in NY so all should be well – I’ll take my own advice from Chapter 8, Don’t Listen to the Well-Meaning Morons (even if they’re not well-meaning – a new subtitle just for this occasion.)
What can I say about what happened next? Yes, Teresa had to know that waiting for Danielle was going to start something…BUT, I understand why she did. Yes, I can understand how the snark about foreclosure incensed Teresa, and how it escalated. I thought Danielle was a little OTT with the running down the hallway crying; she wasn’t being pursued by wolves. How did Ashley think her mom was being attacked? I have to say I didn’t completely buy her rationale, but that could be a result of the way the episode was cut – we didn’t see why Ashley thought that.
In the aftermath, after the police were called, the Bentley returned and the drama contained, the flip-flopping Kim G met with Danielle to eat something yellow and alarming, and be a shoulder to her. OK, I understand that Kim is trying to be friendly with everyone. It’s not working; she’s coming across wishy-washy. I also understand that Danielle is going on the emotional roller coaster ride of her life. Danielle thinks everyone is out to get her, and regardless of whether the rest of the world believes that’s true or false, that’s how she feels. If someone thinks you are trying to kill them, telling them you aren’t will not change their mind – we lived thorough that on our show too. Sadly, Ashley fed right into that by grabbing the hair extensions. Perhaps, if Danielle presses charges that might give Ashley a wakeup call? If that happens, and if Ashley does learn, that’s a way to bring something positive out of a negative situation, however bizarre it may seem.
The energist called Danielle, then Jacqueline, who played the energist by playing a game on her phone. I guess the energist wasn’t tapping into her psychic side as she didn’t realize Jacqueline was less than enthusiastic. I do have to say that for me, saying “No, thank you,” and hanging up would be been a more direct way to handle the situation.
Teresa came clean with Joe, she had her whine, they then had wine and laughed. What bothered me about Ashley is that she didn’t seem to understand the gravity of what she’d done, and didn’t seem to want to take responsibility for it. Chris and Jacqueline tried hard to get through to her, the baby looked worried and Ashley looked defiant. I really hope for her sake that has changed, and we’ll see how it plays out.
See you next week! I can’t wait to see what happens next – in the meantime Simon and I will be in Asbury Park, NJ 7.24 for a book signing and appearance – come out and see us if you can manage the heat!
Jacqueline- RHONJ husband files for bankruptcy
From 12NewIssues.
Jacqueline Laurita one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey cast members including Jacqueline Laurita’s husband Chris recently filing Chapter Seven in a federal bankruptcy court.
Jezebel’s headline: All Of The Jersey Housewives Are Going Broke, which, if you read the post, reveals the headline is a tab bit misleading. Two of the Real Housewives have filed for bankruptcy with one of the Real Housewives potentially staving off bankruptcy with the sale of her house and a sex tape.
Jezebel:
According to her bio on Bravo, her husband Chris (the brother of Caroline and Dina Manzo) “owns a wholesale apparel business.” But his company Signature Apparel Group, LLC — which included troubled brands like Rocawear and Eve’s Fetish — had “an involuntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 filed against [it] in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.”
Translation: Chris’s outfit was unable to pay its loans, and creditors forced the bankruptcy filing. Essentially, such a filing means that the a trustee is appointed to the business in order to sell off its assets and pay its debts.
Jacqueline Laurita one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey cast members including Jacqueline Laurita’s husband Chris recently filing Chapter Seven in a federal bankruptcy court.
Jezebel’s headline: All Of The Jersey Housewives Are Going Broke, which, if you read the post, reveals the headline is a tab bit misleading. Two of the Real Housewives have filed for bankruptcy with one of the Real Housewives potentially staving off bankruptcy with the sale of her house and a sex tape.
Jezebel:
According to her bio on Bravo, her husband Chris (the brother of Caroline and Dina Manzo) “owns a wholesale apparel business.” But his company Signature Apparel Group, LLC — which included troubled brands like Rocawear and Eve’s Fetish — had “an involuntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 filed against [it] in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.”
Translation: Chris’s outfit was unable to pay its loans, and creditors forced the bankruptcy filing. Essentially, such a filing means that the a trustee is appointed to the business in order to sell off its assets and pay its debts.
Kelly Bensimon in Harper's Bazaar
Post from the Huffington Post about Kelly's feature in Harper's.
Filed by Katy Hall
Real Housewife Kelly Bensimon gets a spread in Harper's Bazaar wearing boxing gloves and flaunting her abs and legs (scroll down for photo). In the interview, she starts to explain her bizarre behavior on the show in St. John, which she has previously denied was a nervous breakdown. Watch a clip below, see what she has to say and decide for yourself.
On the alleged breakdown:
"I'm embarrassed that I allowed myself to feed into it, but I don't think I would handle it differently. The ratings were amazing, so no, absolutely not... I don't have any regrets. I'm glad I went on 'Housewives' because the show has made me more known."
On her mental state:
"I am not crazy. I am unpredictable. I'm not in therapy."
On her costars:
"Whether it's my nail color, my hair color, or the shoes I'm wearing, everything about me bothers them. They want to go to the parties I go to, they want to hang out with me, they want to do the things that I'm doing."
On her March 2010 Playboy cover:
"With Playboy, I think I superseded Housewives. It was huge."
On moving forward:
"I'm 42, and I have this new life. Yes, I'm more mass market. And that's okay. It's my job....I've worked so hard. It wasn't always lollipops and unicorns. I tell my girls, 'Your mom gets paid to engage in inappropriate behavior.' It's an amazing opportunity for them to see that being mean is not okay. I tell them, 'If you're in a situation like this, walk out. Don't come back with jelly beans.'
photo by Danielle Levitt
Filed by Katy Hall
Real Housewife Kelly Bensimon gets a spread in Harper's Bazaar wearing boxing gloves and flaunting her abs and legs (scroll down for photo). In the interview, she starts to explain her bizarre behavior on the show in St. John, which she has previously denied was a nervous breakdown. Watch a clip below, see what she has to say and decide for yourself.
On the alleged breakdown:
"I'm embarrassed that I allowed myself to feed into it, but I don't think I would handle it differently. The ratings were amazing, so no, absolutely not... I don't have any regrets. I'm glad I went on 'Housewives' because the show has made me more known."
On her mental state:
"I am not crazy. I am unpredictable. I'm not in therapy."
On her costars:
"Whether it's my nail color, my hair color, or the shoes I'm wearing, everything about me bothers them. They want to go to the parties I go to, they want to hang out with me, they want to do the things that I'm doing."
On her March 2010 Playboy cover:
"With Playboy, I think I superseded Housewives. It was huge."
On moving forward:
"I'm 42, and I have this new life. Yes, I'm more mass market. And that's okay. It's my job....I've worked so hard. It wasn't always lollipops and unicorns. I tell my girls, 'Your mom gets paid to engage in inappropriate behavior.' It's an amazing opportunity for them to see that being mean is not okay. I tell them, 'If you're in a situation like this, walk out. Don't come back with jelly beans.'
Danielle suing her enemies
From Hollywood Gossip, Bonnie Says.
Danielle Staub’s lawyer tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively that Danielle plans legal action against Teresa Giudice and Jacqueline Laurita’s daughter Ashley Holmes, among others, for their wild attack on Danielle, which featured on last night’s ‘RHONJ’ episode.
Hell hath no fury like Danielle Staub attacked by a pack of raging Housewives!
The star of The Real Housewives of New Jersey is still furious over the November attack that left her emotionally bruised and with one less hair extension.
We told you earlier about the July 12 episode documenting the ridiculous and almost gang like fight instigated by Teresa Giudice, which ended with Jacqueline Laurita’s 19-year-old daughter Ashley Holmes ripping out Danielle’s hair. But HollywoodLife.com can exclusively reveal that Danielle is suing the women involved at the superior court in Passaic County, NJ.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Danielle’s defense attorney Paul Giblin. “We are going to use this footage and prepare a case against these women. We are seeking assault and battery charges, defamation of character and punitive damages as well.”
But that’s not all: Paul is going to do everything he can to make sure that Danielle remains safe from the other housewives.
“We will get restraining orders by the judge against Teresa, Ashley and all others involved. We will subpoena this women to make sure they come to court. We are going to ask to impose sanctions against these women, whatever the law allows.”
i’ve been an attorney for almost 50 years — every majori’ve never seen anything like this they are so explosive and so negative — is it over no it’s not over i don’t know that it will ever be over. danielle is a nice deep thinking thoughtful generous kind considerate for whatever reason constant baiting –no court date — we are going to use that footage and prepare the case against them. we feel that we will be successful. No question about the assault and battery and issues of defamation and character. Ashley and Teresa — just a law suit seeking punitive damages but others as well. restraining orders — the judge — probably in the next few weeks — i don’t know when the judge will hear but –we will supine them –these things don’t end with paying a finewe are going to ask for the most punitive whatever the law allows us to restrain her and impose sanctions against her we will do.there is freedom of speech amendment can you restrain someone for saying things but it’s the intent behind it — is this fueling some of the work behind this people. some kind of conspiracy it’s like a gang mentality.superior court in passaic country highest court in the country –Paul Giblin criminal defense attorney — Bob CherryAshley appeared in court back in January but got off with a $189 fine.
“These things don’t end with paying a fine,” says Paul. “It’s not over … I don’t know when this will ever be over. There is a freedom of speech amendment so we can’t restrain Teresa for saying things but it’s the intent behind it. This is fueling some of the work behind these people. This is some kind of conspiracy, it’s like a gang mentality.”
Getty Images (2)
Danielle Staub’s lawyer tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively that Danielle plans legal action against Teresa Giudice and Jacqueline Laurita’s daughter Ashley Holmes, among others, for their wild attack on Danielle, which featured on last night’s ‘RHONJ’ episode.
Hell hath no fury like Danielle Staub attacked by a pack of raging Housewives!
The star of The Real Housewives of New Jersey is still furious over the November attack that left her emotionally bruised and with one less hair extension.
We told you earlier about the July 12 episode documenting the ridiculous and almost gang like fight instigated by Teresa Giudice, which ended with Jacqueline Laurita’s 19-year-old daughter Ashley Holmes ripping out Danielle’s hair. But HollywoodLife.com can exclusively reveal that Danielle is suing the women involved at the superior court in Passaic County, NJ.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Danielle’s defense attorney Paul Giblin. “We are going to use this footage and prepare a case against these women. We are seeking assault and battery charges, defamation of character and punitive damages as well.”
But that’s not all: Paul is going to do everything he can to make sure that Danielle remains safe from the other housewives.
“We will get restraining orders by the judge against Teresa, Ashley and all others involved. We will subpoena this women to make sure they come to court. We are going to ask to impose sanctions against these women, whatever the law allows.”
i’ve been an attorney for almost 50 years — every majori’ve never seen anything like this they are so explosive and so negative — is it over no it’s not over i don’t know that it will ever be over. danielle is a nice deep thinking thoughtful generous kind considerate for whatever reason constant baiting –no court date — we are going to use that footage and prepare the case against them. we feel that we will be successful. No question about the assault and battery and issues of defamation and character. Ashley and Teresa — just a law suit seeking punitive damages but others as well. restraining orders — the judge — probably in the next few weeks — i don’t know when the judge will hear but –we will supine them –these things don’t end with paying a finewe are going to ask for the most punitive whatever the law allows us to restrain her and impose sanctions against her we will do.there is freedom of speech amendment can you restrain someone for saying things but it’s the intent behind it — is this fueling some of the work behind this people. some kind of conspiracy it’s like a gang mentality.superior court in passaic country highest court in the country –Paul Giblin criminal defense attorney — Bob CherryAshley appeared in court back in January but got off with a $189 fine.
“These things don’t end with paying a fine,” says Paul. “It’s not over … I don’t know when this will ever be over. There is a freedom of speech amendment so we can’t restrain Teresa for saying things but it’s the intent behind it. This is fueling some of the work behind these people. This is some kind of conspiracy, it’s like a gang mentality.”
Luann and the rocker chick
Post from DBKP.
By LBG1
Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City’s LuAnn de Lesseps has made it into the pages of the National Enquirer. According to the Enquirer, multiple sources claim Countess LuAnn engaged in a serious flirting and make-out session with a “gothe beauty” at the club Slingers located in Agoura Hills, CA., in “early” June.
And,
“One of LuAnn’s pals approached the tattooed girl and said, ‘Our friend LuAnn over there wants to know if you have a cigarette for her.’ The girl seductively said, ‘Tell your friend she can come over here and ask me herself.’
“Well, that’s all it took – LuAnn and the sexy stranger hung out, got to know each other and ended up making out for hours!
According to the Enquirer, the LuAnn makeout session occurred in “early June”.
Jacques Azoulay, LuAnn de Lesseps’ current squeeze is president and Chief Executive of Gabriella Importers, Inc.,
By LBG1
Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City’s LuAnn de Lesseps has made it into the pages of the National Enquirer. According to the Enquirer, multiple sources claim Countess LuAnn engaged in a serious flirting and make-out session with a “gothe beauty” at the club Slingers located in Agoura Hills, CA., in “early” June.
The 45-year-old reality star turned heads at an upscale nightclub when she engaged in a shocking make-out session with a sexy tattooed and pierced rocker half her age, The ENQUIRER has learned.
And,
“One of LuAnn’s pals approached the tattooed girl and said, ‘Our friend LuAnn over there wants to know if you have a cigarette for her.’ The girl seductively said, ‘Tell your friend she can come over here and ask me herself.’
“Well, that’s all it took – LuAnn and the sexy stranger hung out, got to know each other and ended up making out for hours!
According to the Enquirer, the LuAnn makeout session occurred in “early June”.
Jacques Azoulay, LuAnn de Lesseps’ current squeeze is president and Chief Executive of Gabriella Importers, Inc.,
Jason calms Bethenny
Post from Digital Spy.
By Lara Martin, News Editor
Real Housewives Of New York City star Simon van Kempen has reportedly said that Bethenny Frankel's husband has been a "calming influence" on her.
The reality star married Jason Hoppy at a ceremony in Manhattan in March, attended by co-stars including van Kempen.
Speaking to OK, he said: "Jason is a very calming influence on Bethenny. His parents are adorable and have embraced Bethenny to become the mother-in-law/father-in-law she never had type of thing. And that's really awesome for her.
"In real life she's a mother, on the show, she's not yet. But falling in love, getting married and having a baby, at least one of those things in the right order, has been a real calming influence on Bethenny. Who, let's face it, can be a fairly manic individual. Very driven.”
He added that the first season of Frankel's solo show Bethenny Getting Married? has been "fantastic" but expressed concern about whether she could maintain the success in a second season.
"If I'm concerned at all about season two for her it's that the show started on such a high with manic, huge storylines that season two will be difficult to do to keep it up to that grade," he said. "Between the love, the wedding, giving birth in a few weeks... TV time."
Frankel - who gave birth to daughter Bryn in May - recently described Hoppy as her "anchor".
"I fell in love with a regular guy with a regular salary," she explained. "He taught me that being taken care of was emotional and not financial."
By Lara Martin, News Editor
Real Housewives Of New York City star Simon van Kempen has reportedly said that Bethenny Frankel's husband has been a "calming influence" on her.
The reality star married Jason Hoppy at a ceremony in Manhattan in March, attended by co-stars including van Kempen.
Speaking to OK, he said: "Jason is a very calming influence on Bethenny. His parents are adorable and have embraced Bethenny to become the mother-in-law/father-in-law she never had type of thing. And that's really awesome for her.
"In real life she's a mother, on the show, she's not yet. But falling in love, getting married and having a baby, at least one of those things in the right order, has been a real calming influence on Bethenny. Who, let's face it, can be a fairly manic individual. Very driven.”
He added that the first season of Frankel's solo show Bethenny Getting Married? has been "fantastic" but expressed concern about whether she could maintain the success in a second season.
"If I'm concerned at all about season two for her it's that the show started on such a high with manic, huge storylines that season two will be difficult to do to keep it up to that grade," he said. "Between the love, the wedding, giving birth in a few weeks... TV time."
Frankel - who gave birth to daughter Bryn in May - recently described Hoppy as her "anchor".
"I fell in love with a regular guy with a regular salary," she explained. "He taught me that being taken care of was emotional and not financial."
Teresa is making a name for herself
From MyFoxNY.com
Teresa Guidice, one of the ladies at the center of the brawl, stopped by the Good Day NY studios to explain what went down.
Guidice is fodder for the press lately as her supposed severe financial problems mean she could lose her multi-million dollar home in the Garden State.
Teresa Guidice, one of the ladies at the center of the brawl, stopped by the Good Day NY studios to explain what went down.
Guidice is fodder for the press lately as her supposed severe financial problems mean she could lose her multi-million dollar home in the Garden State.
Alex-RHONY annoyed with NY Magazine?
From Babble.com.
Posted by SunnyChanel
The New York Magazine Story entitled “All Joy and No Fun: Why Parents Hate Parenting” has touched a nerve. A very primal, parental one at that. The piece explores the idea – in a nutshell- that “parents are less happy than nonparent.” That basically having kids is it’s own kind of misery. But thankfully not all parents agree. And one who is voicing her opinion loud and clear is Alex McCord of the Real Housewives of New York City. The mom of two wrote on Twitter:
“Am annoyed by nymag article on parenting – I disagree & think they only interviewed depressed people to fit the agenda”
And she was “horrified” that her son started to question the piece. She wrote:
“… I left it on coffee tbl; François brought it over horrified asking me “is this how u feel?” this was bkfst chat, ugh.”
She said he questioned the cover which was a, “beautiful model looking sad w baby- title is “I love my children. I hate my life.” bit of a shock to a browsing 6 y.o.”
And Alex McCord wasn’t the only one to voice their opinion about the piece. Our own Rufus Griscom – the co-founder here at Babble – chimed in with his own touching response with a piece entitled, “Yes, Kids Make Us Happier.”
What do you think, do you think non-parents are happier than parents?
Posted by SunnyChanel
The New York Magazine Story entitled “All Joy and No Fun: Why Parents Hate Parenting” has touched a nerve. A very primal, parental one at that. The piece explores the idea – in a nutshell- that “parents are less happy than nonparent.” That basically having kids is it’s own kind of misery. But thankfully not all parents agree. And one who is voicing her opinion loud and clear is Alex McCord of the Real Housewives of New York City. The mom of two wrote on Twitter:
“Am annoyed by nymag article on parenting – I disagree & think they only interviewed depressed people to fit the agenda”
And she was “horrified” that her son started to question the piece. She wrote:
“… I left it on coffee tbl; François brought it over horrified asking me “is this how u feel?” this was bkfst chat, ugh.”
She said he questioned the cover which was a, “beautiful model looking sad w baby- title is “I love my children. I hate my life.” bit of a shock to a browsing 6 y.o.”
And Alex McCord wasn’t the only one to voice their opinion about the piece. Our own Rufus Griscom – the co-founder here at Babble – chimed in with his own touching response with a piece entitled, “Yes, Kids Make Us Happier.”
What do you think, do you think non-parents are happier than parents?
Who is the Villian?
Post from Babble.
Posted by eksarran
Anyone who watched the weekly storm that is Real Housewives of New Jersey tonight saw the drama continue between Jacqueline Laurita’s daughter Ashley and the always-questionable Danielle Staub. We’ve all heard about the fact that Ashley made some sort of attack on Danielle, who has been an enemy of the other Housewives all season, and tonight we got to see the rather intense hair-pull and all-out chaos at what otherwise could’ve been a civilized fashion show.
For the past few episodes, we saw Ashley get chastised by mom Jacqueline for sending online threats and negative messages to Staub, despite the fact that Staub may indeed have been provoking them. Clearly, Ashley’s anger couldn’t be totally contained. The question is, is she out of control? Should all this drama and over-the-top chaos be blamed on Ashley? Is she simply out of control?
Some say yes, this young woman is rebellious and immature, and provoked a mess that could’ve otherwise been avoided. But others say Staub, who is a mother of two herself, is the one to blame. She presumably should be more mature than Ashley, and have some desire to set an example for her girls–who are still at very moldable ages–instead of creating feuds and intense arguments with other women, including one who is significantly younger than she is.
And what about Jacqueline? She seems like the most down-to-earth and reasonable Housewife at many times–she and husband Chris lay down the law with Ashley on a regular basis, taking a no-nonsense approach to parenting. Or so we think. She did, after all, participate a great deal in the drama that ensued on tonight’s episode. Does Jacqueline have some responsibility in Ashley’s actions, or has she done all she could to prevent her eldest child from getting into trouble?
Where would you place the blame in this outrageous situation?
Posted by eksarran
Anyone who watched the weekly storm that is Real Housewives of New Jersey tonight saw the drama continue between Jacqueline Laurita’s daughter Ashley and the always-questionable Danielle Staub. We’ve all heard about the fact that Ashley made some sort of attack on Danielle, who has been an enemy of the other Housewives all season, and tonight we got to see the rather intense hair-pull and all-out chaos at what otherwise could’ve been a civilized fashion show.
For the past few episodes, we saw Ashley get chastised by mom Jacqueline for sending online threats and negative messages to Staub, despite the fact that Staub may indeed have been provoking them. Clearly, Ashley’s anger couldn’t be totally contained. The question is, is she out of control? Should all this drama and over-the-top chaos be blamed on Ashley? Is she simply out of control?
Some say yes, this young woman is rebellious and immature, and provoked a mess that could’ve otherwise been avoided. But others say Staub, who is a mother of two herself, is the one to blame. She presumably should be more mature than Ashley, and have some desire to set an example for her girls–who are still at very moldable ages–instead of creating feuds and intense arguments with other women, including one who is significantly younger than she is.
And what about Jacqueline? She seems like the most down-to-earth and reasonable Housewife at many times–she and husband Chris lay down the law with Ashley on a regular basis, taking a no-nonsense approach to parenting. Or so we think. She did, after all, participate a great deal in the drama that ensued on tonight’s episode. Does Jacqueline have some responsibility in Ashley’s actions, or has she done all she could to prevent her eldest child from getting into trouble?
Where would you place the blame in this outrageous situation?
Vicki-RHOOC
Pic./Tweet from Vicki. She looks great.
I love the way Marco cuts and styled my hair at Anushka in West Palm Beach.
RHONJ Recap July 12th
Recap of the chaos called the RHONJ.
Vicki Hyman/The Star-Ledger
Follow After "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Danielle Staub's sickening command performance at a Brownstone benefit a few episodes ago, I never would have thought I could muster an ounce of sympathy for the woman. But apparently I underestimated the levels to which our fair housewives will sink. It's entirely possible that Danielle was exaggerating her injuries during the takedown at the North Jersey Country Club in tonight's episode, but it appears that she did little, THIS TIME, to provoke Teresa Giudice and Jacqueline Laurita into chasing her screaming through the halls, and Jacqueline's daughter Ashley into ripping out her hair extensions. "Don't call me honey" is not fightin' words, unless, of course, you're from Paterson.
The showdown happened at the North Jersey Country Club, where the gals were attending a fashion show put on Kim DePaola of Posche. Jacqueline and Teresa were at Kim D.'s table, while Danielle accompanied Kim Granatell. As Danielle was leaving, Teresa positioned herself in the lobby and tried to engage, nay incite Danielle into a confrontation. Danielle resisted at first, but Teresa was working overtime to turn it into Table Flip 2.0. And speaking of the table flip, Teresa was trying to convince Danielle that really, she's all sweetness and light, and that Danielle turned her into a furniture-toppling hellion, honey. When Danielle coolly tell her not to call her honey, Teresa snaps and calls her a bitch.
Here's where we pick up: Danielle snaps and tells her the next time Teresa throws something at her, she'll press charges. Teresa mocks her, saying that she may live in a $5 million home now, but, "Don't forget girlfriend, I'm from Paterson." Does that mean Teresa has street cred? Danielle tells her that her house is in foreclosure. (It wasn't at that point, but, as we recently discovered, Teresa's financial woes are epic.) Kim G. pushes Teresa away and sits her down while Teresa claims that a) it's none of Danielle's business whether her home is in foreclosure (like Danielle's sordid past was anyone's business?), and b) Danielle started it. FAIL. Teresa pushes Kim G. off her. Jacqueline is chasing Danielle, who is accompanied a bodyguard, down the hallway yelling about how the court records from her long-ago arrest show she beat someone with a pistol. Teresa is hard on her heels. The bodyguard is trying to get Danielle out of the building while Teresa and Jacqueline are screaming at her. A couple of ladies try to hold Teresa back, and one bystander who is almost knocked down says, "This is such (bleeping) bull(bleep)." Amen, sister.
While Danielle cowers in a bush outside the entrance, Kim G. manages to briefly stop Teresa, who's still shouting about her house not being in foreclosure. (The lady doth protest too much.) Kim G. then goes outside to minister to Danielle, who is screeching that she wants to go home. A gentleman stops Teresa from busting out the door. "Show that you have class," he says. "Show that you're a classy person." That. Ship. Has. Sailed.
Kim G. is now ineffectually trying to calm down Danielle by yelling "Calm down!" at her. That works about as well as you would expect. Kim D. is trying to reign in Teresa, and Ashley seizes the moment. As Kim G. tries to escort Danielle to the car, Ashley sashays over and yanks some of Danielle's hair extensions out. "Who do you think you are?" Ashley says, delivering her lines with the bare minimum of emotion. (She should hire Gia's acting coach.) As Jacqueline pulls her away, Ashley yells, "Love and light. Stay in the positive, bitch." The bodyguard scoops up Danielle and takes her Kim G.'s Bentley. Jacqueline is upset when she hears that Ashley pulled Danielle's hair: "Oh, great. Why did it have to get to this point." BECAUSE YOU'RE ON A REALITY SHOW, IDIOT WOMAN.
Teresa is still tracking Danielle like a panther. Harry, Kim G.'s driver, is trying to hold her off. "You're coming close to a Bentley now," he tells her. "I don't kneed you messing up that." Ha! Harry keeps Teresa at a distance while Danielle continues to freak out in the backseat of the car. Jacqueline catches up to Teresa, who says, "I want to talk to the bitch." "Why?," Jacqueline says. "What is the point? Let her live her miserable life." Because Teresa needs to earn a paycheck, that's why. Ashley strolls over, and Jacqueline pushes her away. "I love how you pick Danielle over your own daughter," Ashley says. Grow up, Ashley.
Danielle calls 911 as Teresa walks off. Jacqueline is still standing near the car, and Kim G. gets out to talk to her. ("Don't let Kim hit her! Don't let Kim hit her!" Danielle says.) Jacqueline essentially says that Danielle brought this on herself by talking about other people behind their backs. Kim G. finds Teresa, who is pissed at her. Kim G. says that she knows Teresa tried to be nice to Danielle -- as if! -- and that "something went terribly wrong." But I call everybody honey!, Teresa claims innocently. Not her fault! Nuh-uh! Ashley tells Teresa and the Kims that she yanked out Danielle's hair "because I thought she touched my mom." Like, when? When Danielle was fleeing the scene with Jacqueline in hot pursuit? Ashley has no regrets.
The police call Danielle back on her cell phone; Danielle tells them that Ashley attacked her and Teresa chased her down like a lunatic. The cops arrive.
Whew. That was just the first 10 minutes.
When we return, Danielle is talking to the cops, but freaks out when Jacqueline comes near. In voiceover, Jacqueline says that Danielle should have just gone home and called the cops the next day. "Wherever Danielle is, there's drama," she sniffs. Danielle shows the police clumps of hair that Ashley pulled out of her head. "That's assault!" Ashley tries to parse the hair-pulling: "Technically, I didn't grab her hair, I grabbed her extensions, so it's really not a part of her." (Ashley's earrings are technically not a part of her, but we bet she wouldn't like it if someone ripped them out.)
Teresa plays dumb when the police ask to take her statement. "You should take [Danielle's] driver's license, because she's the one who's the drama queen. She's the one who's the coke whore, not me." Danielle is still sobbing in the Bentley.
The next day, Jacqueline and Teresa spill the dirt to Caroline Manzo, while Danielle tells her story to Danny Provenzano. Caroline wants to know if Teresa had good intentions when she stopped Teresa, or whether she was giving her "the bitch hello." Teresa swears she didn't mean to start anything. Jacqueline clearly doesn't believe her. Caroline tsks Teresa: "She got exactly what she wanted. She wanted everybody to say, 'See, mean girls. You see the mean girls? You see what I have to deal with?' And you gave it her."
Meanwhile, Danielle tells Danny that she really feared for herself. "If there would have been a knife anywhere handy, she would grabbed it and stabbed me," she says of Teresa. Danielle thinks they really want to kill her.
The next day, Danielle talks with her energist (her "personal trainer for her spirit," in the energist's words). The energist says she's tapped into her psychic powers and feels the situation is escalating. She offers to call Jacqueline. Jacqueline is not receptive to the energist's outreach, but agrees to let the energist try soothing her spirit over the telephone. In reality, Jacqueline plays a game on her iPhone.
Teresa tells Joe about the incident. "I was just being nice. I am a lady." She says that Danielle taunted her about the foreclosure. Joe looks sad. Teresa reenacts the whole chase, defending Ashley by saying that Ashley heard Danielle hit Jacqueline. In the end, Teresa didn't get arrested, so Joe says she done good.
Danielle meets with Kim G. at the Preakness. Danielle tells her she's going to file charges against Ashley, whom she calls "a very dangerous young lady." Jacqueline has a sit-down with Ashley, asking her why she went after Danielle when Jacqueline expressly told her to stay out of it and "to let the grown-ups handle it." Well, that's your answer. There are no grown-ups here. Ashley goes on the offensive, asking why she's making Danielle out to be the saint and Ashley the bad guy. Ashley says she has "every right" to attack Danielle if she thought Danielle hit her mom. (When did the Supreme Court rule on the "mom may have been smacked" as a mitigating factor for assault?) Whatever, Ashley says.
Chris wants to talk to her. Please, please, please, talk some sense into her. Chris asks Ashley if she going to handle it if she gets in trouble for this. Ashley doesn't even know what he's talking about, so he spells it out for her: A lawyer? She admits doesn't know who's going to handle it. "You can't go around saying or doing what you want to do and expect people like me and mom to step up and help," Chris tells her. Ashley responds -- all together now -- "Whatever." Chris lays down the law: Making a crazy person crazier will create problems for the family, so do not communicate with Danielle at all, and if Ashley does try to provoke Danielle, she has to pack her stuff and go.
In other, far more boring, storylines, Albie Manzo meets with his lawyer to discuss getting shown the door at Seton Hall Law School. Apparently after getting dismissed from law school, you have to wait two years before applying anywhere else, and Albie doesn't want to wait. The lawyer says it looks like Seton Hall didn't give him the help he requested, so they should ask the school for a letter that allows him to apply elsewhere.
Vicki Hyman/The Star-Ledger
Follow After "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Danielle Staub's sickening command performance at a Brownstone benefit a few episodes ago, I never would have thought I could muster an ounce of sympathy for the woman. But apparently I underestimated the levels to which our fair housewives will sink. It's entirely possible that Danielle was exaggerating her injuries during the takedown at the North Jersey Country Club in tonight's episode, but it appears that she did little, THIS TIME, to provoke Teresa Giudice and Jacqueline Laurita into chasing her screaming through the halls, and Jacqueline's daughter Ashley into ripping out her hair extensions. "Don't call me honey" is not fightin' words, unless, of course, you're from Paterson.
The showdown happened at the North Jersey Country Club, where the gals were attending a fashion show put on Kim DePaola of Posche. Jacqueline and Teresa were at Kim D.'s table, while Danielle accompanied Kim Granatell. As Danielle was leaving, Teresa positioned herself in the lobby and tried to engage, nay incite Danielle into a confrontation. Danielle resisted at first, but Teresa was working overtime to turn it into Table Flip 2.0. And speaking of the table flip, Teresa was trying to convince Danielle that really, she's all sweetness and light, and that Danielle turned her into a furniture-toppling hellion, honey. When Danielle coolly tell her not to call her honey, Teresa snaps and calls her a bitch.
Here's where we pick up: Danielle snaps and tells her the next time Teresa throws something at her, she'll press charges. Teresa mocks her, saying that she may live in a $5 million home now, but, "Don't forget girlfriend, I'm from Paterson." Does that mean Teresa has street cred? Danielle tells her that her house is in foreclosure. (It wasn't at that point, but, as we recently discovered, Teresa's financial woes are epic.) Kim G. pushes Teresa away and sits her down while Teresa claims that a) it's none of Danielle's business whether her home is in foreclosure (like Danielle's sordid past was anyone's business?), and b) Danielle started it. FAIL. Teresa pushes Kim G. off her. Jacqueline is chasing Danielle, who is accompanied a bodyguard, down the hallway yelling about how the court records from her long-ago arrest show she beat someone with a pistol. Teresa is hard on her heels. The bodyguard is trying to get Danielle out of the building while Teresa and Jacqueline are screaming at her. A couple of ladies try to hold Teresa back, and one bystander who is almost knocked down says, "This is such (bleeping) bull(bleep)." Amen, sister.
While Danielle cowers in a bush outside the entrance, Kim G. manages to briefly stop Teresa, who's still shouting about her house not being in foreclosure. (The lady doth protest too much.) Kim G. then goes outside to minister to Danielle, who is screeching that she wants to go home. A gentleman stops Teresa from busting out the door. "Show that you have class," he says. "Show that you're a classy person." That. Ship. Has. Sailed.
Kim G. is now ineffectually trying to calm down Danielle by yelling "Calm down!" at her. That works about as well as you would expect. Kim D. is trying to reign in Teresa, and Ashley seizes the moment. As Kim G. tries to escort Danielle to the car, Ashley sashays over and yanks some of Danielle's hair extensions out. "Who do you think you are?" Ashley says, delivering her lines with the bare minimum of emotion. (She should hire Gia's acting coach.) As Jacqueline pulls her away, Ashley yells, "Love and light. Stay in the positive, bitch." The bodyguard scoops up Danielle and takes her Kim G.'s Bentley. Jacqueline is upset when she hears that Ashley pulled Danielle's hair: "Oh, great. Why did it have to get to this point." BECAUSE YOU'RE ON A REALITY SHOW, IDIOT WOMAN.
Teresa is still tracking Danielle like a panther. Harry, Kim G.'s driver, is trying to hold her off. "You're coming close to a Bentley now," he tells her. "I don't kneed you messing up that." Ha! Harry keeps Teresa at a distance while Danielle continues to freak out in the backseat of the car. Jacqueline catches up to Teresa, who says, "I want to talk to the bitch." "Why?," Jacqueline says. "What is the point? Let her live her miserable life." Because Teresa needs to earn a paycheck, that's why. Ashley strolls over, and Jacqueline pushes her away. "I love how you pick Danielle over your own daughter," Ashley says. Grow up, Ashley.
Danielle calls 911 as Teresa walks off. Jacqueline is still standing near the car, and Kim G. gets out to talk to her. ("Don't let Kim hit her! Don't let Kim hit her!" Danielle says.) Jacqueline essentially says that Danielle brought this on herself by talking about other people behind their backs. Kim G. finds Teresa, who is pissed at her. Kim G. says that she knows Teresa tried to be nice to Danielle -- as if! -- and that "something went terribly wrong." But I call everybody honey!, Teresa claims innocently. Not her fault! Nuh-uh! Ashley tells Teresa and the Kims that she yanked out Danielle's hair "because I thought she touched my mom." Like, when? When Danielle was fleeing the scene with Jacqueline in hot pursuit? Ashley has no regrets.
The police call Danielle back on her cell phone; Danielle tells them that Ashley attacked her and Teresa chased her down like a lunatic. The cops arrive.
Whew. That was just the first 10 minutes.
When we return, Danielle is talking to the cops, but freaks out when Jacqueline comes near. In voiceover, Jacqueline says that Danielle should have just gone home and called the cops the next day. "Wherever Danielle is, there's drama," she sniffs. Danielle shows the police clumps of hair that Ashley pulled out of her head. "That's assault!" Ashley tries to parse the hair-pulling: "Technically, I didn't grab her hair, I grabbed her extensions, so it's really not a part of her." (Ashley's earrings are technically not a part of her, but we bet she wouldn't like it if someone ripped them out.)
Teresa plays dumb when the police ask to take her statement. "You should take [Danielle's] driver's license, because she's the one who's the drama queen. She's the one who's the coke whore, not me." Danielle is still sobbing in the Bentley.
The next day, Jacqueline and Teresa spill the dirt to Caroline Manzo, while Danielle tells her story to Danny Provenzano. Caroline wants to know if Teresa had good intentions when she stopped Teresa, or whether she was giving her "the bitch hello." Teresa swears she didn't mean to start anything. Jacqueline clearly doesn't believe her. Caroline tsks Teresa: "She got exactly what she wanted. She wanted everybody to say, 'See, mean girls. You see the mean girls? You see what I have to deal with?' And you gave it her."
Meanwhile, Danielle tells Danny that she really feared for herself. "If there would have been a knife anywhere handy, she would grabbed it and stabbed me," she says of Teresa. Danielle thinks they really want to kill her.
The next day, Danielle talks with her energist (her "personal trainer for her spirit," in the energist's words). The energist says she's tapped into her psychic powers and feels the situation is escalating. She offers to call Jacqueline. Jacqueline is not receptive to the energist's outreach, but agrees to let the energist try soothing her spirit over the telephone. In reality, Jacqueline plays a game on her iPhone.
Teresa tells Joe about the incident. "I was just being nice. I am a lady." She says that Danielle taunted her about the foreclosure. Joe looks sad. Teresa reenacts the whole chase, defending Ashley by saying that Ashley heard Danielle hit Jacqueline. In the end, Teresa didn't get arrested, so Joe says she done good.
Danielle meets with Kim G. at the Preakness. Danielle tells her she's going to file charges against Ashley, whom she calls "a very dangerous young lady." Jacqueline has a sit-down with Ashley, asking her why she went after Danielle when Jacqueline expressly told her to stay out of it and "to let the grown-ups handle it." Well, that's your answer. There are no grown-ups here. Ashley goes on the offensive, asking why she's making Danielle out to be the saint and Ashley the bad guy. Ashley says she has "every right" to attack Danielle if she thought Danielle hit her mom. (When did the Supreme Court rule on the "mom may have been smacked" as a mitigating factor for assault?) Whatever, Ashley says.
Chris wants to talk to her. Please, please, please, talk some sense into her. Chris asks Ashley if she going to handle it if she gets in trouble for this. Ashley doesn't even know what he's talking about, so he spells it out for her: A lawyer? She admits doesn't know who's going to handle it. "You can't go around saying or doing what you want to do and expect people like me and mom to step up and help," Chris tells her. Ashley responds -- all together now -- "Whatever." Chris lays down the law: Making a crazy person crazier will create problems for the family, so do not communicate with Danielle at all, and if Ashley does try to provoke Danielle, she has to pack her stuff and go.
In other, far more boring, storylines, Albie Manzo meets with his lawyer to discuss getting shown the door at Seton Hall Law School. Apparently after getting dismissed from law school, you have to wait two years before applying anywhere else, and Albie doesn't want to wait. The lawyer says it looks like Seton Hall didn't give him the help he requested, so they should ask the school for a letter that allows him to apply elsewhere.
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