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May 7, 2009
Did Paula Abdul go to rehab? She says, "No, no, no"
Yesterday, I admitted I had watched “American Idol” this year and linked to a story in “Ladies’ Home Journal” in which Paula Abdul admitted she had previously had an addiction to painkillers and had gone to rehab to sort herself out. A pretty low moment for me all the way around.
While Abdul’s admission came as no surprise to people who have watched her frantically and haphazardly dead-eye her way to a comeback, I still gave her props for coming clean and trying to get her life back on track.
Oh, Paula, just when I think I’m out, you drag me back in!
Apparently, the reputable magazine like totes got the story wrong and mischaracterized Abdul’s experience, which she told the Kid Kraddick show was simply a retreat to get facials and mud baths. Potato, potato.
The following press release comes from the Kidd Kraddick radio show:
Dallas, TX - Paula Abdul says the widespread reports of rehab and pill addiction are patently untrue. During her appearance on Kidd Kraddick in the Morning, the Idol judge was asked if it was a difficult decision to reveal her addiction to prescription painkillers. “I didn’t!,” Paula replied. “I was quoted as saying something I didn’t say. It’s getting to the point where enough is enough. I am used to being misquoted or taken out of context. The fact is, I went to the La Costa Resort and Spa and got mud baths and facials. It is a resort, not a clinic.” Surprised by the response, Kraddick apologized for blind-siding her. Paula’s retort? “You didn’t, Billy did, presumably referring to Billy Bush from NBC/Universal’s syndicated Access Hollywood. “I was caught off guard,” Paula said. “I said, ‘Wait, say that again. They had me saying, ‘What? Are you kidding me?’ That is how I found out.” The alleged quote from Paula’s interview for Ladies Home Journal was first read to her by Bush during his radio show. Paula said she remembered commenting at the time, “This is amazing. I didn’t even know the article was out.” She went on to say that if she had gone to rehab she would have made it “a very big wide public thing. But that has never happened to me. And to see myself quoted as that? I’ve never said that.” Abdul appeared on Kraddick’s nationally syndicated show to discuss the debut of her new single, “The Music Never Stops” which she premiered on the Idol stage Wednesday night. The entire interview can be heard on the show’s podcast at kiddlive.com.
Reading this bizarre explanation, it’s apparent that the music isn’t the only thing that doesn’t stop for Abdul.
Goin’ off the rails, on a crazy train.
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May 6, 2009
Paula Abdul admits problem with drugs
In other news, Yao Ming is tall. The pope wears a hat that may be considered humorous and the economy has a cold.
I must admit, I am watching “American Idol” this season for the first time ever. Maybe it was my girlfriend who got me hooked. Maybe I was just taking my new DVR for a test drive. Or maybe I am getting old and boring and lame.
Whatever the reason, I have watched almost every episode this season. I won’t here get into how boring and average most of the performers have been or give a nod to the Rocky Horror Led Zeppelin Picture Show (Adam) or Fake Matthews Band (Chris). What I want to mention is the much maligned and ridiculed Paula Abdul. Certainly the woman has had a successful career in music and if you listen closely, out of the rambling and slurs, you hear her mention things like “phrasing,” hitting certain notes, etc. So she does know her music. It’s just so hard to take her seriously when it seems so obvious that she has had a problem, one that seems to have been denied or overlooked for years. Oddly, I hear she actually seems more together than years past.
Well, the (MC Scat) Kat is finally out of the bag. Paula Abdul has admitted to “Ladies’ Home Journal” in its June edition that she has, indeed, been battling addiction to drugs.
Now, drug addictions, in all of their varied forms, are no laughing matter. But neither is profiting off of the wacky behavior of drugs addicts, as it seems “American Idol” has done at times over the past few years. Abdul says she is now off of the drugs for the first time in 12 years.
The former pop star, who turns 47 this month, has never looked better. In previous years she acted erratically, at times slurring her words or appearing disoriented. This year she’s got it together. And for a reason: For the first time in 12 years Abdul says she’s no longer dependent on medication. The rumors that her sometimes-bizarre behavior was fueled by drugs just may have been true. Abdul was taking heavy-duty pain killers, though she claims she never shot an Idol episode under the influence. But last Thanksgiving, determined to overcome her habit, she checked into the La Costa Resort and Spa, in Carlsbad, California, to wean herself off her medications in one fell swoop. “I could have killed myself…. Withdrawal — it’s the worst thing,” she says. “I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating. But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been.”
When we meet at her Mediterranean-style home in the San Fernando Valley, Abdul is eager to talk about her transformative journey. Sitting at her dining-room table, cradling Bessie Moo, an aggressively affectionate white Chihuahua with chocolate-brown spots, Abdul is wistful about the past years. “I’d been working nonstop,” she says. But she wasn’t really living. Instead, she bought into the showbiz saying, “the show must go on.” “I’m an old-school professional,” she says. “Never let them see you sweat.” But doing so became increasingly difficult for Abdul, who for years has suffered from chronic debilitating pain caused by an unusual series of accidents, the first of which occurred when she was a 17-year-old cheerleader.
…
“It’s been an amazing journey,” says Abdul of her 20-year career. “American Idol has been a gift. Nothing makes me happier than nurturing talent and seeing them rise and take flight. It’s my true calling in life.”
As wack as she is, Abdul does seem to have a soft spot for these kids and truly champions their talent and dreams, which is admirable. For someone who worked so tirelessly to get to the top of the game 20 years ago, it is heartening to see her devote her energy to helping others while fighting her own demons. Let’s just hope she can stay clean.
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May 1, 2009
Super Mike predicts the future
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April 29, 2009
'Celebrities' are just like us ... scared of swine flu
The World Health Organization has elevated its pandemic threat level to five. Hundreds of people are getting sick. Some have died. What seems likely to have started at a factory farm in Mexico now has much of the country up in arms.
With so much drama in the LBC, it seems like a good time for a laugh. Enter MTV-created ‘celebrities’ Spencer Pratt & Heidi Montag. From the photo below, it seems the couple is vacationing in Mexico, and quite scared of The Other White Meat killer cold.
According to MTV, the couple is in Cabo, where Heidi Montag is shooting a video for hew new single “Blackout.” Um …single? As in music? Maybe we should raise the terror threat level, as well.
MTV reports that Montag called into Ryan Seacrest’s radio show yesterday and said, “We’re not playing. I’m not trying to get pig flu! We’re in isolation. We’re in, like, full hiding.”
Now if they could just stay hidden.
Photos from Pacific Coast News
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February 27, 2009
I finally got inside Padma Lakshmi's bedroom
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January 6, 2009
Rolex saved Owen Wilson's life? Reeeaaally?
Some people consider public relations flacks (whether in-house or hired-out) to be destined for their own circle of hell. But they’re being a bit harsh. These folks are just trying to make a living while promoting the benefits/virtues and/or mitigating the damage of their clients or products. Sometimes.
Then there are pieces like this, that just make you want to claw your eyes out and never watch TV or the Internets again, much less spend a dollar on anything besides kale grown by your next door neighbor.
Melrose Jewelers, a company that “sells nearly 400 styles of Rolex watches on its Web site along with brands including Cartier, Omega, Breitling and Audemars Piguet,” put out this piece of PR flackery that not only overhypes its product to a ridiculous degree, but does so at the expense of actor/writer Owen Wilson’s life and his reported attempted suicide.
From the Marketwire press release on MSNBC:
Rolex: Melrose Jewelers reports that, after a frightening suicide attempt in 2007, Rolex watches appeared to play an essential role in actor Owen Wilson’s recovery. On August 29, 2007, Time magazine reported: “speculation about his drug use, depression over his May break-up from Hudson and a recent fight with a friend have peppered the coverage of Wilson’s hospitalization.” A People magazine cover story out Friday quotes a friend as saying: “Owen was very despondent. He slit his wrists. He almost did not make it.” It was a dark period in Wilson’s life, and Rolex watches played a key role in helping Owen regain his bearings and his success.Although Owen Wilson has worn a Rolex GMT Master in the popular films “Wedding Crashers” and “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” he chooses to wear a Rolex Submariner in his everyday life. It is not surprising that he would make such a choice. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner originally was designed for diving and known for their resistance to water. The first Rolex Submariner was introduced to the public in 1954 at the Swiss Watch Fair. Copied by other watchmakers, the Rolex Submariner is recognized as a classic, and one of the most widely recognized luxury products in the world. The Rolex Submariner is part of Rolex’s Oyster Perpetual Professional line. After returning home from the hospital, Owen was captured by a photographer walking on the beach, wearing his Rolex Submariner. Later, he was seen riding his mountain bike in Santa Monica with the Rolex Submariner on his wrist. Obviously, the quality of a Rolex watch helped Owen realize and appreciate the quality of his own life.
A celebrity is expected to show up at a multitude of events, and Owen used the Rolex Mentor and Prot´g´ Arts Initiative Benefit in New York City to make his entrance back on the social scene after his crisis. As Liz Smith wrote in The New York Post on November 11, 2007: “THE APPEALING Owen Wilson is easing his way back into public life after hospitalization and a rumored suicide attempt. He appeared — looking good — at the Rolex Mentor and Prot´g´ Arts Initiative gala in Lincoln Center this week.” In contrast, the National Post of Canada was not so kind when they wrote: “And who was that I saw swooping in, last-minute, into a swirl… Well, that was the bad-day-having-of-late clown Owen Wilson, who just that week was also staring out from People magazine with a cover that read: ‘Picking up the Pieces.’”
Whatever the hawks of the media choose to write, it is clear that Rolex played a major role in Owen Wilson’s recovery. Back in good form, the actor is nothing less than a comic genius in a time when comedy is a necessity. Wearing a Rolex Submariner and attending Rolex Benefits helped Owen Wilson realize his life was valuable and worth living. Once again, the precision and quality of a Rolex proves to be a lifesaver in more ways than one.
Come on, Melrose, nothing about how the amazing strength of the band stopping the blade from cutting through to the wrist? De-spicable!
I wonder if Mike B. at Melrose Watches has received any complaints at his listed phone number or email address. Of course, the unfortunate part is that if Wilson has a promotional contract with Rolex, that may allow people like Melrose Watches to use his name and image any way they see fit. Ouch.
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July 23, 2008
Matthew McConaughey: Public Frienemy #1
With Michael Barnes of Out and About fame out of town enjoying some much deserved time off, I guess this little piece of “news” falls to me. The oft-mocked sometime-Austinite Matthew McConaughey and his girlfriend Camila Alves are featured in the latest OK! Magazine, as the actor who came to fame playing Wooderson in “Dazed and Confused” opens up to the magazine about the details behind the birth of the couple’s son, Levi.
And, per his M.O., McConaughey left nothing back in his ecstatic oversharing of the ritual of chilldbirth. Some of the pure gold from brutha Matt:
“Contractions started kicking in, and we found a great rhythm,” McConaughey told OK! “We had a 14-hour session, her and I did. I sat there with her, right between her legs. We got tribal on it. We danced to it. I was DJing this native Brazilian music.”
Alright, alright, alright.
Matt Mc also shared his thoughts on realizing that his child was a boy, just as the couple had expected.
“I had him for the first 15 minutes because they had to take care of Camila,’ he relates. “I said, ‘Come here, little man.’ I saw the [male appendage] and screamed that we’d been right all along about him being a boy. Then I brought him over to her.”
The story in OK! will probably lead to more sarcastic jabs at JKL for being an oversharer and a self-involved, country boy neo-hippie. But I must admit, despite the fact that I don’t really need to know the details of his child’s birth (nor, probably does anyone), in a world of celebrity artifice and careful calculation, Public Frienemy #1 generally just lets ‘er rip, critics and public opinion be damned. Whether he is doing a bit with his panphilosophical, earth god shtick or just loves sharing his unabashed joy of his life, the wonders of the universe and his body, you gotta admit the dude commits and seems content to leave the inordinate amount of psychoanalysis, judging and critiques of his perceived narcissism to waft away on the wind.
JKL,new dad.
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