Every time a new episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show airs in 2010, we will blog along with it. If you have plenty of time, read the long version. If you are pressed for time, read the “What we learned today” summary. If you are really, really pressed for time, read the Twitter-sized summary.

Date: May 17th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment
4 comments

Episode 76: Oprah Fridays LIVE: Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz

So, it’s Friday, says Oprah, they are live in Chicago. They have had a star-studded week with the cast of Twilight, Justin Timberlake and more. They are going to top off the week with Tom Cruise. The crowd cheer and scream, Tom comes on and hugs Oprah. He is a movie star, screams Oprah. She asks him if he did his stunts himself on Knight and Day, and he says pretty much, yes. Tom is good, he is happy to be here. They had dinner together last night at one of Oprah’s favorite restaurants, they both had burgers, not the grilled fish option. Oprah says that Tom handles the public like a diplomat- Tom says he enjoys it. Life is good and is just getting better. Suri turned 4 a year to the day after he met Katie. Oprah shows an extract of Tom and Katie performing at a charity event. What is that? Oprah asks. It’s from Damn Yankees and Katie is a singer and dancer and wanted to do it and he does whatever she wants him to.

Oprah asks about Suri and her clothes- he says that she chooses all her own clothes, she loves clothes. She is such a happy, easy, fun girl she just deals with the paparazzi. They don’t make it a problem, Katie is relaxed and they just deal with it. Oprah asks about Isabella, his 17 year old. Tom says that she has a strong sense of herself so bringing home boys is not an issue. Connor is 15 but looks 17, he looks hot says Oprah. Tom says that Conner is smart and so Tom just listens. Oprah says again that every father has a dream for his family, what is Tom’s dream? That they find out what gives them pleasure in their work so that it is not work, and that they are happy. They are good fun people and he wants them to be happy and produce in life and help society. Connor is now working in the movies, and Tom waited for the day that Connor wanted to do it. Every director wanted Connor in a movie, Kubrick was on Tom the whole time. Connor is bright and charismatic and talented says Tom, and sweet and lovely, adds Oprah. Tom says that he is a natural and that he is very capable and good at every thing that he does.

Oprah talks about Will Smith and Jada- who Tom loves- she asked them how to keep your children grounded and with grace and kindness when they have everything? That answer will be on Monday’s show. Tom finds that children have a natural dignity, Tom sets up studies for his kids before they travel, and so with that comes a greater appreciation of life and people. Oprah asks how do you raise not-spoiled kids? Tom says that they want to help and so they help, even Suri. They have chores that they like to do.

Knight and Day comes into theaters on June 25th. Oprah says that it is a great date movie. They show a photo of Suri in her pink flamenco dress from Spain- she loves it and loves pink. Tom thanks Oprah for the books she sent for Suri, they read them every single night. Oprah says that she sent her Suri’s book club. She gesticulates to suggest an enormous amount of books. Suri loves it, says Tom, loves that Oprah sent her the books. Oprah asks what she would see on a Saturday night in the Cruise house. It’s dinner, games and movie night, says Tom. They play Quick Scrabble, they watch mainly new movies. Tom will “bust out” one of his films if the kids want to see it. Oprah asks if Suri knows that her Dad is a movie star? Suri grew up on move sets and is great on set. She has a chair and will give notes. She’ll run up and kiss them at the end of each take. Oprah says that we all see him as a movie star and he doesn’t age. She asks what that is all about? Tom laughs. Tom says that he sees himself as a Dad that loves movies. He gives himself an A++ for parenting. His kids are really loving and tell him what is going on. Tom tells the story of when Connor was 14 and making a picture and he called home and said that he loved Tom and thanked him for being there. Tom says that is the moment when you think that you are doing a good job and it works out.  Oprah says that Connor told the story at dinner last night that he realized at that point how hard the job is to do, and what a great job Tom does as a movie star and also that he was always there for then. Tom says that was a moment, it was beautiful. He says that he made a promise when they were little that he would do whatever he says, he will be true to his word. If he says he will do something, he will, and if he says that he will not do it, he will not. Oprah says that she was blown away by Will Smiths commitment to his son’s soccer matches- he flew back to LA every weekend when he was filming in China. That’s the kind of person Will is, says Tom.

Oprah says that Tom’s new movie with Cameron Diaz is alot of fun. Tom is a fugitive superspy who meets lonely woman Cameron Diaz. Together they go across the world on an adventure. Mr Thrill Seeker himself did all his own stunts and designed some of them himself. It is action packed with a comedic twist. Cameron will be out in a few minutes.

Tom is always thinking of different stunts. He looks at buildings and asks how he could climb it. He decided that riding on the bike with Cameron Diaz and flipping her around so she could shoot guns would be cool. He gets really excited by it. He likes action, he loves flying airplanes and stuff like that. As a kid he’d jump off the roof and do flips into the snow. “And now you’re Tom Cruise,” says Oprah. Now he gets paid lots of money to do stunts in movies.

Tom describes Cameron as bright, fun, talented and generous, when asked for three words to describe her. Oprah welcomes her on stage. They hug. Oprah says that Cameron is indeed bright and fun in this movie. Cameron says that it is hard not to have fun with Tom. Oprah says that there is perfect chemistry between them. Cameron says that her character was attracted to his because he looks like Tom Cruise. She had so much fun with the stunt stuff. She explains how Tom described the stunt to her and she is so enthusiastic. Oprah asks if Tom is a perfectionist. Cameron says that he has a wonderful high standard. The vision has to come forward and he is fully engaged with that the whole time, which raises everyone’s game. Oprah asks Tom to tell them about the bull run. They flew to Austria and only had a few hours sleep. They didn’t know what they were expecting, and there were thousands of people around. Underfoot was really slick, Tom is always looking for potholes. The stuntman told him that it was terrifying and dangerous. Tom decided he felt good about it, so did Cameron. They got put in a steal cage, the bulls were in a pen and then they run down the road. They felt the vibraton of the bullrunners and Cameron was squeezing him so hard he could barely breathe. They were in a steal cage that was getting banged by the bulls. Guys were getting ping-ponged off the walls. They weren’t scared- Cameron says that you can’t be scared at moments like that. Cameron didn’t have glasses on and there was manure being kicked up in her face. That sounds crazy says Oprah.

On June 25th the movie comes out. There is a video of them on set which has gone viral. Tom tells Cameron to really extend when she kicks, and then he moves the guard and she kicks him over. It’s just for fun says Oprah. That is his humor, says Cameron, he is that funny all day long. It’s easy and fun all day long. Every day they would play fight each other. Cameron says that she couldn’t dream a dream this big, she is still in the journey stage. She has goals, she keeps moving forward, but she is loving her amazing journey. She is so blessed and couldn’t imagine any more but she is open to that. Oprah asks if she considers settling down and Cameron says that she doesn’t know what that means. She has been traveling since she was 16. She loves to eat so she cooks, she makes a great breakfast. That’s a good start, says Oprah. Cameron says that she does an awesome savory oatmeal with chicken stock and sautéed greens on the side. Oprah doesn’t like shallots in her oatmeal. The oatmeal is al denté so it’s like rice. Cameron caramelizes the leeks and shallots and has egg whites on the side. She uses ponzu, a lemon soy sauce and butter, lots of it, on the oatmeal.

Oprah asks them if they love being famous. Tom says that there are pluses, he always wanted to make movies and this comes with it. He loves acting, editing, scenes, playing, he loves it. Cameron says that the relationship with fans changes over time. Fame doesn’t last 15 minutes anymore, you are always there. They are fortunate that they sustain their position of fame because they get to keep making movies. Cameron says that she had to embrace it and make peace with it. It is a wonderful beautiful gift when people come up and say something nice to you. If you resist it, you’re miserable. If you embrace it the love flows.

Oprah asks the audience and cameras if people always tell you that you should be on TV. For her new network, for one show, Oprah is joining forces with Mark Burnett. He is the creator of Survivor and is the king of reality TV. Together they are searching fro the next big star- she’s had some successes- Dr Phil and Dr Oz and now Nate Berkhus. All the details are on Oprah.com. Before they say bye, Jimmy Johnson, one of the fastest drivers in the world signs the no texting pledge. Oprah is excited that Tom and Cameron have agreed to take the pledge. They sign. Cameron asks if there are Oprah police on the streets Oprah says that the paparazzi will get a picture if they text while driving. Tom says that it makes no sense to text and drive, Cameron says that it is like putting mascara on while driving. Tom agrees. Oprah thanks them, they hug. Tom goes to shake hands with the crowd as the closing credits play.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Tom Cruise and his family went out for dinner with Oprah. Oprah was going to have grilled fish but Tom’s burger looked so good. Tom was going to order grilled fish but Oprah told him that the burgers were really good.

Oprah sent Suri her own book club of books, and asks Tom how to raise kids that are not spoiled.

Saturday night is movie night in the Cruise household. Tom will play one of his own movies if the kids request it and it is developmentally appropriate.

Tom gives himself an A++ for parenting.

Cameron Diaz says Tom is funny funny funny, all day long.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Tom Cruise is the best person that he has ever met, with the possible exception of his wife, kids and Oprah.

Date: May 14th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment
2 comments

Episode 72: Harpo Hookups – Cher, Justin Timberlake, Will.i.am, Usher

OK, says Oprah, I love this. Hooking people up is one of her favorite things to do, but it is not easy. Meet Josh, a massage therapist from Portland and a huge Cher fan- he even dresses up as her for fun. Josh has no idea that his partner is about to surprise him by telling him that the Oprah Show is sending them to see Cher in Vegas. Josh sits down, cries and then screams. He sits wailing on camera. Oprah says that is so good. Josh is in the studio saying that he doesn’t remember that moment at all. They fly to Vegas first class and stay at Caesars Palace. Joshua had no idea that Cher is going to call his name at the end of the show. He stands up and screams. Cher calls him down to the front seats and says that he can go backstage later. After the show, he meets Cher backstage and looks at her wardrobe. He tells her that she has been such an inspiration to him, allowing him to be comfortable in his own skin. They hug. Oprah asks Josh to describe the experience, he says that to have the connection with someone that you have looked to for your whole life and have the connection as human beings; you can only dream of such stuff. Cher has sent along a denim jacket glitzed up by Bob Mackie and signed by Cher. Josh cries and says that it means so much to him. Oprah thanks Cher and Josh says that Cher is meant for Vegas.

Oprah says that they have been planning for weeks- and they never know how people will react when they meet their superstar. Since she was 12, Julie has had a crush on Justin Timberlake. She is now 26 and about to be married. She golfs, like Justin, and her fiance Mike is taking her golfing. She is getting a lesson from a golf pro, according to Mike. Justin is the golf pro. Justin introduces herself and is completely silent. They golf together. Back in the studio, Oprah says that Julie looked a little stunned- Julie says that she was in shock and it all happened so fast. She says that inside she was screaming and jumping. She didn’t want to look like an idiot on the golf course. Justin joins them by Skype from his office in LA. Justin says that he thought she was a polite Southern Belle. Julie thanks him for taking the time and says that it was so great to finally meet him and that she can pick up her day just by listening to his music. Justin says that meeting fans is extremely important to him, more so than winning awards. Also this makes him feel old. He gifts Julie and Mike golf clubs and invites them to a barbeque event in Memphis when he opens his own golf course. The golf course is where his Dad taught him to play golf, and they have done a lot of work and are the first eco-certified golf course.

Oprah says that she loves hookups where viewers are in on it. The next guests think that they are here for a show on the recession. Jon and Cheryl and their eight children and single mom Alycia and her daughter are afraid they will lose their home. The Ellers purchased their house in 2001, and now he is making a third of what he made before. Now that the market has tumbled, he has nothing left. To leave their house will be really hard. John has been an executive and a late night donut maker. In the Allgood family, Alycia has received notice of foreclosure after she fell 8 months behind on her mortgage. She lost her job, and now has had to resort to food stamps. Her proudest moment was signing up for the house, she took Asia home as a 1 year old. Alycia went back to school for her Masters degree and thought education would give her a passport to better things. John and Cheryl say that they want to stay together so need to find a home to rent that is big enough for all the kids. Their oldest child waitresses to help the family. Alycia says that her home may be taken away in the next couple of weeks. Oprah invites the families up to the stage to meet their financial experts. Before that Oprah says that angels come in all forms, and that their angel is a superstar and from the Black Eyed Peas, and one of Oprah’s favorite people. Will and the Harpo team have been digging through their financial documents- John owes $250,000 on their home and Alycia owes $100,000. Will.i.am is paying off both of their loans. The families cry and hug each other and Oprah and Will.i.am. That’s a hookup, says Oprah. They own their homes free and clear. Oprah says that Will told her months ago to help families across America. Will sings to help people – to look at things that are happening now- he can help someone that really needs it, and it means alot to him. Why not, he says and why not, says Oprah.

Will.i.am takes the cameras of the Oprah Show to the house where he grew up. He says that he was the happiest in East LA where he grew up. They go in the house, he washed his hair in the kitchen sink and showered with a cup in the bath. When he was 11 he told his mom that he would buy her a house one day and she said don’t make promises you can’t keep. He kept the promise and then bought a house for his Grandma and Aunt on his birthday. She always dreamed that it would happen. It’s important, says Will, it’s why he is who he is. Will tells Oprah that he told his mom to bring everyone to this house for dinner, and they didn’t know who’s house it was. He told them not to worry, and that this house is for her. She has been in the projects for 50 years. His new mission, I.am home will start with his own money. He wants to help America’s people. Alycia says that she loves will.i.am and the other family are extremely grateful. Oprah tells them to be good with their money. Alycia says that they should donate to Will’s foundation, and Oprah says pay it forward.

Oprah says imagine you are a local newscaster and your biggest hero suddenly appears. Diane Sawyer in New York is going to surprise Bridget Shanahan in Illinois. Bridget reads a story about an unsuspecting local women who will be hooked up by her mom through the Oprah Show. Diane Sawyer says that she wants to send Bridget a birthday present. She invites Bridget to come and see them at World News. Bridget cannot believe it. Oprah says that she loves these hookups. Oprah says that there is one more suprise. Usher comes on stage and the audience scream and scream. He hugs Oprah.

Oprah says that Usher has sold more than 45 million albums across the world and he is hooking them all up with a performance of his hit OMG. He sings and will.i.am comes on stage to duet. Usher dances with Oprah.

Usher and will.i.am hug. Oprah puts Usher’s sunglasses and sings and dances towards them.

Oprah asks Usher if he is living his dream- he says that there is a dichotomy between his reality and fantasy but he’s doing well. He has just signed the NO Phone Zone. The crowd cheer.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Oprah loves hookups, especially when the audience are in on the scheme.

Cher is meant for Vegas.

Justin Timberlake says that meeting fans is extremely important to him, more so than winning awards.

Will.i.am is paying off the loans of two families who thought they were on an episode of the Oprah Show covering the recession.

The audience are told that they have a special hook-up and Usher comes on stage to sing.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY

The audience in the Oprah Show scream loudly and for a long time when they see celebrities. Especially ones who have just paid off their mortgage.

Date: May 13th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment, Live your best life
1 comment

Episode 71: From Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Christina Aguilera

Woah says Oprah on stage, hello. Hello, New York, New York, thank you so much. Magnificent Radio City Music Hall- look at this crowd. They wanted this show to be New York big, so a little later in the show, Christina Aguilera is about to make her much awaited comeback.

But first, the team who have changed and even saved lives- here they are, Oprah’s “Dream Team”- Dr Phil, Dr Oz, Nate Berkus, Suzie Orman. They all come out on stage and the crowd roar. Oprah asks them to sit and says that this is a real first. Some of these people met for the first time this morning. Dr Phil says that he met Suzie once before, but the others he met for the first time today. Oprah says that when the doctors met for the first time, it was like her sons came home. Nate says that he has Dr Oz’s cell phone number and isn’t afraid to use it. He has had a colonoscopy, and his moles checked; he says that Dr Oz is older than he is but in better shape.

Oprah says that this event is to celebrate ten years of O Magazine, the best magazine on the market, she says. Dr Phil says that he has written 120 columns, Oprah says that she has done 120 covers. He says that it is so easy to end up going through the motions in life and getting stuck in a rut. He advises that you don’t do what others expect of you, you have to find a passion in life and  model it for your kids too. Dr Phil says that he has met a lot of people who didn’t know that they were depressed until they weren’t depressed anymore. He recommends that people do something different in their lives-  change the furniture, swap wardrobes (not husbands) with a neighbor, shake it up. To practice what he preaches, he is going to shave off his mustache for the first time in over 40 years- his two kids have never seen him without a mustache. He is going to take it off and shake it off. Oprah brings in a master barber, Carl. Dr Phil’s wife Robin thinks it’s a joke and looks shocked. Dr Oz puts shaving cream on with a brush and Oprah asks Robin when she last saw her husband without a mustache- 38 years ago the first month that they were dating. Oprah takes a razor and removes the first part of Dr Phil’s mustache. The show goes to commercial break.

Oprah says that they are celebrating their ten year anniversary of O Magazine with their Dream Team on stage. Dr Phil is having his mustache shaved- we’ll see the results in just a minute, but first Dr Oz has been with the Oprah Show for 8 years. His show is taped across the street at 30 Rock, where they love having a doctor in the house. They show footage of Matt Lauer asking about salad and bowel movements and eczema. Meredith Vieira asks about her high heels and foot problems. Brian Williams tries to recall his name, talks of Dorothy and Kansas and tornadoes and asks if he should take a half aspirin.

Oprah laughs and asks if he is always being asked for advice. Dr Oz says that the energy of Radio City Music Hall is incredible- he loves the energy of the city. The most important thing that he learned on the Oprah show was taking the energy from the audience. Doctor Oz wrote ten things in the magazine, of those the most important are showing off in your life, and sleeping early which will increase your libido- if you have intercourse twice a week you will live three years longer than if you only do it once a week, the national average. After 40 years, here is Dr Phil without his mustache. Dr Phil looks a little unsure, his wife looks shocked. Dr Phil gives Oprah the first kiss.

They show footage of the first time Nate was on the Oprah Show, in 2002. Oprah calls him her little pup, leaving the kennel- this fall he will have his own show. His most inspiring ideas for your home is on page 82 of the magazine. At Nate’s new Manhattan apartment, he says edit what you have. Collections show who you are and tell a story- find an area in the home to display it. Nate uses his best plates and glassware everyday- it’s a little treat. He frames all his photos to make a house a home. Nate says buy art from an art school in your town. He goes to Parsons in New York and buys some work.

Oprah says everybody’s home should tell the story of who they are. Nate says that it takes effort- money and time, but it honors yourself to show who you are, where you have been and where you aspire to go in life. Nate says that his house in Chicago is not as modern, but he wanted to start something new in NY. It’s a brand new space but all the stuff inside is old and meaningful to him.

Suzie made her debut in 1998 on the Oprah Show. She encourages everyone to take an oath of financial honesty- don’t buy it if you don’t have the money for it, credit card debt is a lie. Suzie says that there was a glitch in the system in the stock market yesterday and the points plummeted. Suzie says we should go back to cash and save change. Be who you are, define the things around you, don’t let the things around you define you. Oprah thanks her Dream Team and also Bob Greene, who isn’t here today.

Oprah says check out the 10th Birthday issue of  O Magazine, she says that it is the best issue ever, it is a keeper. The creative director Adam Glassman of the magazine, has chose Oprah’s clothes for every cover. He says that his favorite cover is the swimsuit one where Oprah was in the pool. She had a swimsuit on top while she was in the pool, but she had pants on underneath, she was fully dressed. Oprah’s favorite was when she had to ride a horse for the first time in ten years, and had to try and get it to stop in the right place at the right time.

Adam has written his top ten closet must haves for the magazine. We see them here in the star-studded mother-daughter fashion show. Vanessa Williams comes in with her two daughters. They are all wearing pencil skirts- Adam says that Vanessa’s is sleek and sexy and the kids are doing the mini pencil skirt and the 80’s rocker look. Next up, Jane Seymour and her daughter wear animal prints. Adam says that animal prints go with nothing yet update everything. Another favorite is the nude shoe which makes you look thinner and taller. Next up is L’Oreal Paris model Dayle Haddon and her daughter. They are wearing white jeans which Adam says are more sophisticated and dressier than blue jeans. Everyone needs a sequined scarf, which instantly changes the wardrobe and makes everything look great. This season we are looking at the statement shoe- last year was the statement necklace. Cybil Shepperd and her two daughters come on stage wearing white shirts- Adam says that you can never have two many white shirts. Adam says that the cargo pant should replace the sweatpant- dress them up and wear them out. Susan Lucci and her son come out- she is wearing a wrap dress which emphasizes the waist. She has diamond hoop earrings which are apparently hipper and younger than pearl studs. Oprah thanks everyone and wishes them a Happy Mother’s Day.

Pop queen Christina Aguilera made every woman feel beautiful with her smash hit song. She has sold more than 30 million records and is one of the most successful recording artists of the last decade. She has been belting out songs since she was 6. Her image and music have changed as she grew up. She is married with a two year old, and is back with her first album in 4 years, Bionic, and a provocative new single. Welcome Christina says Oprah. The crowd roar. Oprah says that Christina’s lips are perfection; Christina says that her make up artist will die. Christina likes to take a break between records and take time to relax and live life to be inspired. She is becoming a UN ambassador and has been to Guatemala and Haiti. Oprah asks if that changes Christina’s own life- absolutely, a child dies every 6 seconds of hunger which has had a huge impact on her life, especially now that she has a child. Christina says that having a child makes her feel sexier- she says that our bodies are superhuman and women give life and make life and after you give your body up for a while and get it back you feel more confident and inspired.

She’s back and she’s bolder than ever says Oprah, singing her new single is Christina Aguilera. The stage darkens, lights come on and Christina sings. What a performance, says Oprah.

Oprah introduces the O Magazine staff, all off her staffers have signed the No Phone Zone Pledge. To celebrate the magazine, they roll out a ten year anniversary cake. Confetti falls and the crowd cheer.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Dr Phil says that it is so easy to end up going through the motions in life and getting stuck in a rut.

Dr Oz says that sleeping early which will increase your libido- if you have intercourse twice a week you will live three years longer than if you only do it once a week, the national average.

Nate Berkus says that it honors yourself to show who you are, where you have been and where you aspire to go in life through the medium of home decor.

Suze Orman says we should go back to cash and save change. Be who you are, define the things around you, don’t let the things around you define you.

Christina Aguilera our bodies are superhuman and women give life and make life and after you give your body up for a while and get it back you feel more confident and inspired.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Apparently animal prints go with nothing yet update everything, nude shoes make you look thinner and taller, and every woman needs a sequined scarf and white jeans.

Date: May 13th, 2010
File Under: Public Service Announcement, Relationships, Tragedy
2 comments

Episode 70: A Tumor Covered Half Her Face And the Brothers Who Nearly Starved

It was a headline that made us sick- 4 young boys starved by their parents. No one knew what was going on until a 911 call from a neighbor. He reported that a young boy who looked about ten was eating from a trash can at 3am. The boy said he was 19. The police investigated the New Jersey home and found 4 young boys with emaciated bodies starving to death. Bruce, 19, weighed 45 pounds. Treshawn, 14, weighed 40 pounds. Terrell, 10, weighed 28 pounds and 9 year old Michael was found wearing baby clothes and weighed 23 pounds. All four boys had been adopted years earlier by Raymond and Vanessa Jackson. Friends described them as a loving couple and kind parents. Vanessa and Raymond claimed the boys had eating disorders- the boys said that they were given only raw oatmeal and pancake batter to eat. The police found a lock on the refrigerator and an alarm on the kitchen door. Bite marks around the house backed up one of the boys claims that he was so hungry he chewed on the windowsills and wall plaster. The boys were filthy and had lice and rotten teeth when they were found. The county prosecutor said that this was the most horrific case of child abuse and neglect that they had seen over the years. Vanessa and Raymond were charged with 28 counts of aggravated assault and child endangerment. Raymond died of a stroke during the investigation. Almost two years after he was seen eating out of the trash, Bruce faced Vanessa in court- he had grown nearly a foot and gained nearly 100 pounds.  He testified that they were yelled at, cussed at and hit with brooms and rulers and sticks and shoes. She pled guilty to one charge of child endangerment in exchange for a reduced sentence. She served 4 years of a 7 year prison term and was released in February of this year. She continues to deny that she ever starved or hurt the boys.

Oprah says that they talked to Vanessa’s daughter who said that her mother had no interest in talking to Oprah. Oprah says that any time anywhere she will meet with Vanessa so that she can explain this to Oprah. TreShawn weighed 40 pounds at age 14- he was about the weight of a five year old, a typical 14 year old weighs 115 pounds. Terrell weighed 28 pounds at age 10- the average weight of a 2 year old. Michael was 23 pounds at age 9- the average weight of an 18 month old toddler. That was 7 years ago, those boys have been through a living hell and are here with their story, says Oprah. They come out and Oprah hugs them. She says that they are looking good. Bruce is not here but he is the hero of this story- had he not gone out at night looking for food they might still be locked in the house. They said that it was a house of horror. They never knew how much they would eat or when they would eat. Sometimes Vanessa said they had one minute to eat so they would always stuff food in their mouth. They went to her as babies, the youngest was one, and they were fed for two years then they were adopted and everything changed. They went to church and stuffed their clothes or had to wear three or four sweaters so they looked healthy. TreShawn tried to tell his teacher who didn’t believe him, he’d ask for food. The teacher didn’t believe him but Vanessa found out he was talking and they were home-schooled and locked in the house.

Today, the three boys live in rural New Jersey with their adopted parents James and Amber Parish and their 8 year old biological son, CJ. There is an abundance of love. The boys described their childhood with one word, hell. Terrell says that they would get a bowl of water and some soggy bread. Some times they would be fed nothing at all. One of them crept in to the kitchen and found bagels and cake- Vanessa grabbed the closest thing to her and started beating him. If they were caught stealing food they had to sit on the stairs for hours at a time. Of the ten years that he was there, TreShawn says that he spent seven years sitting on the stairs in a total lockdown. He said they would just wait for bedtime so that they could sleep and didn’t have to think anymore.

James says that when they came there was a lot of anger and hate, TreShawn thought that he was put in that home to die. Amber says that she doesn’t know how a mother could not give her kids food and love. No one has been through what those guys have been through, it is a blessing that they have survived.

The boys say that their lives will always be tainted by their experience. They will never take love or family for granted. Life now is a dream come true, they have freedom from starvation.

Oprah says that they were starved of so much more than food. Terrell says that he lost his childhood, being able to go to school and play with friends. He lost all of that. Oprah asks how they feel about Vanessa’s sentence. Terrell says that they messed up the years, and that she should have served the years that they suffered, times each kid. The audience applaud. TreShawn says that Bruce is their hero. Oprah tells them that his attorney says that Bruce loves and misses his brothers very much. He is safe and in the constant care of professionals. The boys nod.

Oprah asks if people checked on them? People came but the boys would be pushed upstairs into the attic. Oprah asks if they ever talked to someone- they weren’t allowed to talk. Social Services went to the Jackson house 38 times and they were about to bring another child into this home. Shocking, shocking, shocking says Oprah. Oprah asks what they would say to Vanessa if she were listening- TreShawn says that her true judgement will come when she comes before God. Terrell says that God is watching and knows what she did and she needs to live the rest of her life knowing that she hurt them. Michael says that he would like to thank her for showing him that he could survive and accomplish things and that kids know what they are saying, and that what they say can be true.

The boys were adopted by James and Amber, their angels. The first time Amber saw them she thought they were little boys, she couldn’t believe their ages. When Michael asked if she would be her mom, she melted like butter. She says that after all the kids have been through they chose her, they are her babies. James says that they know that Dad and Mom love them, no matter what happens. Oprah calls them heroes- they come in with their youngest son CJ. Oprah hugs them and says God Bless You. James was working for the welfare system and was given this case. James and Oprah both stop and cry. The boys needed a mentor, a positive role model and that was James. He worked with them to try and bring them back. The boys were placed in James’ grandmothers home who does emergency placement foster care. He started as a mentor and after they have been in the system for a time they need to see if they were adoptable. Oprah says that teenagers plus boys plus African American means a triple whammy. That there probably wasn’t alot of takers out there for the boys, she says. At the time the parents had CJ, then one day CJ wakes up and has three brothers. CJ says that they could play together and bike ride together and play X-Box so it was all cool. Oprah asks how this could happen. James says that protocol dictated that in the past social workers could only look at the child in question during a visit. Now it has been changed because all the kids in the house need to be checked on. He says that once kids are adopted the check ups stop. Oprah asks Amber how the boys would eat. She says in the beginning they would eat lightly, they looked scared of food and would often throw up. Now she can’t stop them eating. The boys say that they finally understand that the food is not going anywhere. Initially they were timid but would overeat until they vomited, says James. Oprah says that initially they were angry towards women. TreShawn says that he kept seeing Vanessa’s face everywhere he went- he would lash out at any woman he spoke to. They have had a lot of therapy and have dealt with the flashbacks. For CJ he was only 3 when the brothers came so it was fun for him. The rest of the family have embraced the boys and love them.

Oprah asks what Amber and James would say to Vanessa Jackson. Oprah says that it is hard for anyone to imagine that she would adopt these children yet sit in church every a Sunday with a lock on the refrigerator at home. Amber says that Vanessa was not a mother, she was the monster in the closet and she owes her boys an apology. She wants to hear that and she wants to be there. Terrell says that unless Vanessa means it, sorry means nothing. James says that she only got a slap on the wrists. Oprah says that the laws indicate how we really feel about our children- it is unspeakable that Vanessa is out. TreShawn says that an apology doesn’t help, his heart is cut really deep- he wanted to become her son and after he said yes she started to abuse them. Oprah asks if they feel that they have a new chance at life. TreShawn says that his father teaches him everything- to talk well, to keep trying at school, to give 100% at sports so that people see he is trying to be his best and they don’t take pity on him. The crowd applaud.

All four brothers were awarded a large sum of money in a lawsuit against the State of New Jersey and they received full scholarships to go to college. Oprah says that it has been wonderful to have them all here today and she thanks them for coming on the show.

Until recently going out in public was pure torture for 29 year old Ana Rodarte, she was laughed at, pointed at and children even cried in fear. She has turned down numerous TV requests to tell her story- she wanted to be here today because she trusts the Oprah Show to help tell her story. Ana has neurofibromatosis (NF), sometimes called Elephant-Man disease. You may have seen the play and the movie but the term is highly offensive to those who live with NF, says Oprah. Its a disfiguring, incurable disease which has literally destroyed Ana’s face. As you listen to the story, says Oprah, think about how we all judge each other on appearance.

Ana says that her parents noticed a bee-sting like lump when she was a few months old which grew bigger and bigger. She just wanted to be normal, but other kids didn’t want to play with her. She wanted to know why God was so mean, and her parents told her it was just the way he wanted her to be. Throughout her childhood she had many surgeries. After each one the tumor would grow back. It broke Ana’s heart and eventually she lost faith in the doctors. At age 14 she didn’t want to go to school as the tumor was growing at such a rapid pace. After high school, her friends all moved away and she felt very alone and depressed and she secluded herself for 2 or 3 years. She tried to find a job but felt she was discriminated against based on how she looked. She would leave the house maybe once a month. There were times when little kids would see her and start crying. It’s very hard emotionally to lead this life- growing up she built up a wall around herself. By the time she was 22 the tumor had grown so much that it covered up her left eye. Ana would struggle with reading and eating. She suffered many headaches and chewing on the left side would result in her biting the tumor.

She was 24 when she met Dr Batra, she felt that he was talking to her more as a friend than a doctor, and then she knew he wanted to go ahead and hope that he would be different from other doctors.

Oprah says that obviously it is difficult for Ana, so please welcome her. Ana comes out and Oprah hugs her and says welcome, welcome, welcome. Ana was born in Mexico and her parents came to the US for better medical care. They didn’t know what to do in Mexico. Oprah says that on the tape Ana said that she thought as a child that God was mean, and asks her how it is now. Ana says that the experience serves another purpose and that it is not hard for her now. Oprah asks what the tears are for- Ana says that they are for the video, sharing her own emotions. Oprah asks what it would feel like when kids would cry or scream when they saw her. It was heartbreaking. Her family would force her out in public, which she appreciates now. Oprah asks if her disease prevents her from dating and wanting children. Ana does not want children as she does not want to pass on the disease, but she does date. Oprah asks why the term Elephant-Man Disease is offensive. Ana says that the disease has a name and she doesn’t see why people have to call it Elephant-Man Disease.

Four years ago Ana began a series of risky surgeries to remove the tumor from her face. She says that she feels more confident now when she looks in the mirror, she resembles more of a normal person, she is friendlier with people and she doesn’t block them out any more. Oprah asks if Ana can live a normal life. Ana says she could if people would stop judging her on appearance. She wants to tell people that there is help, that people shouldn’t shelter themselves from society. After several doctors said that the tumor was hopeless, Dr Munish Batra offered hope to Ana. The surgeries were paid for by his charity, DOCS- Doctors Offering Charitable Services. Oprah invites the doctor up to the stage.

Oprah shakes his hand. He says that he saw Ana in the office and was amazed that she hadn’t had help before this time. NF is genetic and passed from parent to child- there is a 50% transmission rate that it will be passed on. He was not surprised that Ana had shut herself down- such a big part of our identity is our face. Oprah thanks him for being who he is and doing what he does through DOCS, and thanks Ana for being here.

A viewer, Donna, said in an email that as a stay at home mom she only got a chance to text and talk in the car. After watching the No Phone Zone show, she took the No Phone Zone Pledge and the very next day she could have been in an accident, if she had been not paying attention. Oprah thanks Donna and says that the episode is online so families should watch it and then take the pledge.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Oprah says that the laws of a country indicate how we really feel about our children.

A “loving couple and kind parents” starved their children of so much more than food.

Our face is a major part of our identity.

Having a tumor cover your face makes it hard to connect with people, especially when children cry or scream when they look at you.

Ana has a tumor removed from her face and says she could live a normal life if people would stop judging her on appearance.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

It is inconceivable that a couple would adopt children only to starve and beat them. It is utterly inconceivable that this would merit only a 4 year stint in prison.


Episode 69: Oprah’s Make Over My Man Crew Strikes Again

Oprah put out a call for tired, badly dressed men in need of makeovers and thousands responded. They had so much fun last time they did this, they decided to do it again. So many men, so little time says Oprah. The crowd laugh. Marilyn wrote in, desperate to get her 24 year old son John a makeover. He has dreads and calls his style hip hop, his mom calls it urban decay. She feels that he looks like a street person not a professional.

Carson Kressley is standing by in Louisville, Kentucky with his roving van which allows him to travel and meet the masses. Carson is there with Marilyn, John’s mom. They are going to ambush him while he is out playing golf and drag him into the Make Over My Man Van. Oprah says that this will be very interesting.

John asks Carson why his mom is here. Carson says that John looks dreadful but that he can work with him. Carson tells John to say hi to Oprah. John remembers saying to his mom that if she found him a makeover show on TV he would have his dreads cut off. He didn’t think that she’d do it. He is a little upset that his dreadlocks will be going. Carson says that they will work with the hair and make him look cool and young and artistic. Oprah commends John for taking this so well.

Carson greets Oprah from Indianapolis at the NCAA championship. It is crawling with badly dressed guys who need a makeover. He meets Jeffrey, a man with long hair and a long beard who hasn’t cut his hair for 20 years. They go to the grooming station on the “cruise-ship of style”. They work together for the afternoon and when he comes off the van to meet his wife April she screams and says that she is thrilled.

Project Runway star Tim Gunn joins Oprah onstage and they hug. Oprah says that she hears that people have stopped Tim on the subway asking him to make over their man. Tim feels that men think that they have a license to let themselves go. It is the semiotics of clothes and grooming, he says. Miles is an individual whose family say looks like Santa. Tim thought that he looked like a character from Dungeons and Dragons. Miles has a Harley lifestyle and they want to respect that but update his look, especially his hair. His daughters sent in a video asking for help. All his closets are filled with Harley shirts, and Miles looks like the garden gnomes he loves. They bring out Miles in a shirt and jacket with cut hair and no beard. The audience scream and Oprah shouts Get Out! Wowie Kazowie, good for you she says. Oh my gosh says his family. Miles feels great, everything was excellent. Tim says that Miles was very open although a little nervous. Tim says that they say this incredibly handsome powerful guy emerge as they cut the facial hair. Celebrity groomer Diana Schmidtke says that any man can pull off facial hair but it needs to be tended and groomed on a daily basis. Oprah asks if letting your beard grow is like women who keep going blonder and blonder. Miles says that it takes so long to grow a beard that he always changed his mind about loosing it. His family are almost speechless at how good they think he looks.

Carson goes into Hooters where he says that he goes for the wings. He says that he is looking for style violations- the staff ask him to make over their manager Terry. Carson puts on the Hooters outfit to take over for Terry… They return Terry in a shirt and blazer, with a new haircut and groomed facial hair. The crowd scream.

Oprah says that Tim will be the fashion consultant for the Dr Oz show. Tim says that he admires Carry Grant for his style, and George Clooney. Lee is 67 and his wife says that he has nothing from this century in his closet. He has a whole host of see-through shirts. All his clothes are from the 70’s, he will not get rid of any clothes. There is also a leather outfit that he feels he looks great in, but his wife disagrees and says that he needs help. Oprah says that women do this too- getting stuck in the decade where you think that you look your best. They bring out Lee, “Mr Shaft” now. He strikes a pose in his blazer and shirt and tie. His wife says that he looks good, he looks hot. Lee says that he feels great. Tim says that they knew he wanted to look good and that he likes to dress up so they dress him in separates. For a 67 year old man, they say he looks fabulous.

Carson says that things are going great in the van with John, they are working on his dreadlocks behind the closed door. Carson asks if the show can be an hour and a half long. Oprah says that she’ll see what she can do.

In 24 years of doing makeovers, Oprah thought that she’d seen it all until she saw Peter. She unveils a cardboard cutout of Peter. Her daughter says that living with her Dad is like living with a caveman. He wears hoodies and holey blue jeans. Peter says that if she can get Oprah to do a makeover, they can do whatever they want. Peter comes out on the stage in a shirt and trousers, with short hair, no beard and glasses. His wife cries and cries and hugs him. Oh my goodness, wow says Oprah. Peter models his GQ pose. Tim says that this was such a remarkable transformation that they had to recalibrate their thinking about the clothes. Peter is a 42 year old man who looked 70 and now he looks like he is in his 20’s. They cleaned up the ear and nose hair and got rid of the long hair. The daughters say that they wouldn’t recognize their dad. His wife says “I’m married to him.” Peter says that he loves it and thanks Oprah.

Their next man is a doctor who wears scrubs everywhere. 2 years ago he did a photo-shoot wearing a shirt on top and scrubs on the bottom. For their daughters’ homecoming he coordinated with pink scrubs. In Egypt he wore scrubs on holiday. His closet is filled with suits with the tags still on them, and he has an overflow pile of scrubs. He keeps more in the office and in his truck. He comes onstage in a white suit and blue shirt. Wow, says Oprah. He feels comfortable in his clothes and is now confident in his destiny as a medical inventor making the world a better place. He realized that he was trying to hide himself in his scrubs, and now he has the confidence to be himself. Oprah says that he looks fantastic and she loves the shoes too, they look so soft.

Oprah says that this is the evolution of makeovers- in the past they would do makeover like dress up dolls. Tim says that if you don’t respect the person and who they are, it will not stick. Dusty raises money for breast cancer awareness, wearing a pink bra with his hairy back. He is bald and feels undressed without his hat. At first Tim thought that there was a cross dressing issue, but Dusty has done remarkable work in the name of breast cancer. He comes on stage in a shirt, tie and waistcoat. He has a touch of pink in his pocket. He likes his look, he is not used to wearing so many clothes. He had his back waxed for the first time, he doesn’t think it will be something that he’ll do every week. He thanks Tim and says that he is priceless, and gives Oprah a hug and kiss for all his friends who are fighting breast cancer.

Carson found fashion fouls everywhere on his hunt in Indiana. Mike and Bill were sent to the van and made-over. The crowd go wild. Carson says that he had a fun time in Indianapolis and then he found a fashion emergency- a man in orange capris, a metallic shirt and giant mandels. He sent him off to the game in a suit.

Oprah says that Tim and Carson have shown how to polish up your man, but that manners must also be polished. Two women who have written a book called Undateable are going to shed some light on the topic. Take a look, says Oprah. Ellen and Anne are here to tell the secret list of being dateable, and if men are married, to make them sexable. They say that they are humanitarians. The first rule is to ask someone on a date, not to text them. On a first date, men mustn’t talk about their ex, complain about the bill and mustn’t be rude to the waitress. They should be polite, do not order girlie drinks, and turn off their cell phone. Anne and Ellen ask people in the bar what the worst thing is that they have had happen on a date. Don’t look at other girls. Don’t have your car repossessed on a date. Don’t chew your fingernails. A man refused to pay for a girls liquor on a date when she ordered a glass of wine. Oprah thinks that is worse than a car being repossessed.

Next up, back to Louisville for Mr Dreadlocks’ transformation. Carson is standing by with John’s mom. Tim was saying hats off to Carson for doing this in an hour. Out comes John with short hair and a blazer with jeans. Whooo, says Oprah. Marilyn says it is great and wonderful. Carson says that he looks really handsome. John says that it is different, its great, but he’s had dreadlocks for 4 1/2 years. He says that his mom is as happy as she has ever been so it’s great. Psychologically John is not there yet, says Oprah. She says that he looks fantastic and that this look will really work for him for a job interview. Oprah thanks Carson, she loves watching Carson and all the fun he has. Oprah asks all the men who have been transformed to stand up and the crowd applaud. Carson’s van has a No Phone Zone sticker on it, Oprah thanks everyone.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Any man can pull off facial hair but it needs to be tended and groomed on a daily basis.

It is easy to get stuck in the decade where you think that you look your best.

There has been an evolution of makeovers- in the past they would do makeover like dress up dolls.

Tim Gunn says that if you don’t respect the person being made-over, it will not stick.

Refusing to pay for liquor on a date when someone orders a glass of wine. is worse than a car being repossessed mid-date, according to Oprah.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Pay attention, dress well, follow fashion (not too much), be polite and well-groomed to live your best life.

Date: May 12th, 2010
File Under: Entertainment
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Episode 68: Former First Lady Laura Bush, Plus Twins Jenna and Barbara

This is her first time stepping into the spotlight since moving out of the White House 15 months ago. She is revealing all in her new memoir including how she would sneak out of the White House to go to Target. Please welcome one of the most popular first ladies, Laura Bush, says Oprah. Laura says that she went Christmas shopping with her mom in Target one year, and the other customers found it strange. Laura’s memoir, Spoken from the Heart impresses Oprah with her portrayal of American values. Laura was a lonely only child, her mother had three late miscarriages, and Laura was aware of the sadness of her parents, as well as her own.

Oprah was surprised to hear that Laura got her driver’s license in Texas at 14. Oprah wants to talk about the news that recently broke that Laura was in a car accident and killed a friend at age 17. Laura says that it was a weeknight, with a school holiday the next day. She was going to go to the movie with her friend. She didn’t see a stop sign until it was too late, and she went on into the intersection, which is usually very quiet. She hit another car, she didn’t know that the car she hit contained her friend, Mike. She and Julie escaped, they were thrown from the car. She was praying for the person that she hit and in the hospital she heard Mike’s mother, and then she knew, even though she hoped against hope. Mike’s funeral was that weekend, and all of her friends went. They were very close. Laura says that no one talked about it, she put it out of her mind as much as she could. She never spoke to the Douglas family, no one suggested that she should. She didn’t go to the funeral as her parents thought that she shouldn’t. Since having her own children, she can now see it from the perspective of parental loss- for many years she saw it only through the eyes of a 17 year old. Now she knows how profound the loss is. Barbara and Jenna had a few friends who died in car accidents, and the family went over immediately as the parents need that, to keep their child alive. She knows that you will live with it forever, and that what if’s are futile. She will carry the guilt for her whole life.

It’s been 15 months since the Bush family left the White House. Oprah asks Laura about her whirlwind romance with George- friends introduced them and they were married within 3 months. The first meeting she liked him a lot. They had grown up in the same town in Midland Texas and they lived in the same apartment complex in Houston after college, but they had never met. They had parallel lives- they shared many friends. When they were engaged, someone said that the most eligible bachelor in Midland was marrying the old maid of Midland. They were both 31 and late to marriage compared to all their friends. They were thrilled to find each other.

Oprah says that much has been written on the ultimatum that Laura gave George to stop drinking when their twins were 4. On page 118 of the book Laura says that she never issued an ultimatum, but that she was disappointed and thought that he could be a better man. She says that lots of people were drinking, but that he was drinking too much. She says that he is very disciplined, a very disciplined athlete who would run for hours to counter the effects of the alcohol, to avoid a hangover. They went to Colorado Springs when they were 40 with many friends who were also 40. They had a wild drinking weekend and the next day George decided to stop drinking. He did it from one day to the next. She thinks it was a combination of factors; maturing, a wife and children who love him, a father thinking of running for President and friends who had started a men’s bible study course which he attended sometimes.

Oprah says it didn’t occur to her that the fear of 9/11 which permeated our hearts would affect those people in the White House. Laura tells how they went down into the bunker and Mrs Cheney whispered that one of the planes had circled the White House. Laura says that we’ll never know the flight plan of that plane that ended up at the Pentagon. George showed up in the bunker and they hugged each other and they knew that everything had changed. George said that they’d sleep in their on bed rather than the offered cot. An agent ran into the room in the middle of the night and they went down to the bunker with their pets. By the time they got down they were told that the plane was one of ours. The staff had to come back into the White House the next day. The staff had been told to run as fast as they could away from the White House- these 23 and 24 year old girls never expected to have been told to run from their job. No one quit although a few cried.

On November 25, 1981 Barbara and Jenna were born into the Bush dynasty and their first words were Daddy. As teenagers, they stood proudly by as their Dad became governor of Texas and then the 43rd President of the United States. As their parents moved into the White House, the twins went off to college- Jenna to the University of Texas and Barbara to her Dad’s alma mater, Yale. After college, Barbara travelled the globe and founded a nonprofit organization Global Health Corp to improve medical care in the US and Africa. Jenna followed in her mom’s footsteps, becoming an elementary school teacher and an education correspondent for the Today Show. The twins join Oprah and Laura on the stage. Barbara is one minute older and they were named after their mothers. Barbara loved the book and has sobbed her way through it. It has been fascinating for her to get to know her mom and the family. Jenna was surprised by how candid the book is for such a private person. They were not told about the car accident until they were almost 18 and someone else told them first. Barbara loved that she gets to see her mom as a person, not just as their mom. Oprah loved it when Laura says that their lives in Midland were focused on their family and friends, and she thought this is the life, and it was. At Jenna’s wedding she incorporated that thought into her speech. Oprah says that the family seems pretty normal- Jenna says that they never lived in the White House and they have really normal parents who instilled good values in them. Laura and George chose to serve and live their lives, but they were sure to not let it dictate the lives of their daughters. Oprah loves the letter that they wrote to the Obama girls saying that it is not always easy, and not to forget who your Dad really is.

Laura takes the cameras on a tour of the ranch in Crawford. Jenna got married on the peninsula on their lake. Barbara was the only bridesmaid. They have a cross and alter built for Jenna’s wedding. Jenna had a perfect wedding, says Laura. Jenna says that the best advice she received from her mother was to find someone you love to be with who shares the same hobbies. They love to hike and read and eat. Jenna says that they listen to music and cook dinner (well to be honest someone cooks them dinner) and they sit around and talk and laugh and do puzzles and they are in bed by 9pm. That’s my kind of place says Oprah.

Oprah asks the twins to complete the sentence, my Mom was right about… Barbara says everything. She says growing up Laura guided them gently into doing what they love and are doing now. Laura put ideas in front of them and exposed them to great opportunities. Oprah asks what they tease their mom about. Jenna says that she is too clean and that her favorite day is to clean out a drawer with new cleaning supplies. Oprah asks Laura if it is true that she arranged the books in her house according to the Dewey Decimal System. It is true. Oprah asks what they tease their Dad about- Barbara says that he thinks he is a really good dancer, and someone told him apparently that he was a good dancer. They show footage of George dancing and the crowd laugh.

Oprah was shocked to hear that they have to pay for their own food for themselves and their guests. They get the house for free but they get a bill for meals each week. Laura says that everyone else has to pay for their food, so the president should too. Oprah disagrees and says that she thought we were paying for the president to eat.

During their 8 years in the White House, their 1500 acre ranch in Crawford Texas was a private refuge. They designed the house to fit modestly among their beloved Texas prairie with its trails, waterfall, rivers, lakes and canyons. Laura says that this time of year they get to see the beautiful bluebells in flower and there is a huge oak tree in front of the house. She wanted a one-story house with no thresholds so they can grow old there. They’ve hosted over a dozen heads of state there serving Texas beef of course. She enjoyed designing the highly organized kitchen. George has always brought her coffee in the morning, and on the first morning they were back, George had kind of forgotten how to make it. She shows the big living room where they like to relax. They rent puzzles from the puzzle company as they are expensive to buy. They mail it back when they have done it. When they were building the house, the kids really wanted a pool and they eventually did build one- George calls it the whining pool as the kids whined until they got it. Laura loves to go for walks in the prairie restoration. George loves mountain bike riding and he has built some great trails. They built a lake and stocked it with the bass that George likes to fish. When they left the White House on January 20th they came here. The end of the presidency is like no other job, when it’s over it really is over. Having this home and property is a wonderful way for them to think of how they want their lives to be forever.

Oprah asks how is President Bush and Laura says that he is doing very well. He’s writing his book, they have been writing at the same time. Oprah asks her how she handled the criticism of her husband. Laura says that it was tough and is discouraging to people who may stand for office. Jenna says that they ignored what people said and didn’t watch TV. They knew their Dad and no one else knew him as a Dad and she hopes the Obama girls know that. She says that he always put them first and they hope to emulate that when they have children in 23 years. Oprah laughs.

Oprah imagines that they say Jenna’s on when she is on TV, they do says Laura and they send out an email blast to all their frinds. Oprah says that Jenna is doing a great job especially at the Olympics. Oprah says that Laura Bush is the only person she knows who loves reading as much as she does. They show footage of the middle school who got a new library by Target after they made their reading is fun flashmob. The students screamed when they saw the new library complete with 2000 books, 12 computers and a hip lounge. We love that, keep on reading says Oprah.

Oprah thanks her guests and thanks everyone who jumped on board the National No Phone Zone day, where she feels we are reaching a tipping point in our national consciousness.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Laura Bush believes that what if’s are futile.

Laura has arranged the books in her house according to the Dewey Decimal System.

The Presidential family get to stay in the White House for free but they get a bill for meals each week.

George and Laura Bush rent puzzles from the puzzle company as they are expensive to buy. They mail one back when they have done it.

Oprah says that Laura Bush is the only person she knows who loves reading as much as she does.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Since leaving the White House, the Bush family listen to music, eat, talk, laugh and do rented puzzles-  they are in bed by 9pm.

Date: May 12th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity

Episode 67: Supermodel Naomi Campbell

Supermodel Naomi Campbell is celebrating a huge milestone, 25 years in the International fashion world. As we all know, her reputation has taken a hit over the last few years. After years of negative press, she is finally ready to reveal what is behind the anger.

Naomi is the definition of a supermodel, ruling the runway with her signature swagger. She was discovered in London at age 14. She was the first black model to grace the covers of French Vogue and Time Magazine. She became a runway It Girl for top designers like Yves Saint Laurent. She launched dozens of beauty campaigns and featured in pop videos. Her glamorous life and relationships were highly documented in the press, but then came a secret cocaine addiction. Then came the infamous bad behaviors which tarnished her reputation. Today she says that she is a work in progress, trying to face her demons. She’s in love and living in Moscow with her Russian real-estate mogul. After 25 years in the business she is still a top cover model, giving models half her age a run for their money.

Naomi comes on stage and they hug. Naomi is a little nervous, Oprah says don’t be nervous, its just those two and millions of others. Oprah says that she has wanted to do this interview forever. Oprah says that Naomi looks 25, not 40. Naomi will be 40 in May- this is what you want 40 to look like, says Oprah. Naomi says that she has lived a good and reckless life and she has thought before that she wouldn’t reach 40. Oprah asks when Naomi lives this glamorous life, how does it feel? Naomi says that it is lonely, even though you are surrounded by others. Sometimes she doesn’t want to walk on a red carpet. She says it’s like they don’t have feelings but they are human.

Naomi’s temper tantrums have caused problems. In 2000, she was convicted of hitting her former assistant on the head with a cell phone and threatening to throw her out a moving car. Six years later she threw her jewel-encrusted Blackberry at her housekeeper over a missing pair of jeans. She was ordered to attend anger management classes and do community service, she mopped floors at a Department of Sanitation garage. A year later she admitted to swearing, hitting and kicking police officers aboard a British Airways flight and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. Two months ago she was accused of slapping her chauffeur in New York City. Two days later he retracted the allegations. During a recent interview on ABC News her temper flared again when asked about a blood diamond. She allegedly walked out of the interview and punched the camera.

Oprah asks her what happened. Naomi says that there were added sound effects- she moved a camera out the way to get to the door. She did not want to answer the questions, she was a guest of Nelson Mandela at the same time as Charles Taylor was a guest. Naomi does not want to put her family in danger by talking about Charles Taylor who has done some terrible things.

Oprah asks Naomi what in the moment is going on when she gets mad? Naomi says that she trusts her people 110% and when they do something against her… She threw the phone at her housekeeper, but she never had a jewel-encrusted Blackberry. She says that she sees red. It wasn’t about jeans, Naomi doesn’t remember what the housekeeper said. Naomi took responsibility for the actions and she feels shame. She knows that she has done wrong. Oprah asks again what it is that Naomi feels when she doesn’t get what she wants? Naomi sees red and acts out, she doesn’t see anything then. Immediately afterwards she feels ashamed and remorseful.

She says that she is disappointed by people she trusts, but Oprah points out that it is sometimes strangers. Naomi says that she has anger issues. Oprah asks if she is just a petulant diva who wants things her own way? Naomi says that it comes from a deeper place, a deeper kind of emotional disorder. It comes from an abandonment issue and trying to build up a family around her that is not her real family. It’s not an excuse, she doesn’t have an excuse. It is not the person that she wants to be. She did her community service dressed as a supermodel, which was intentional. Naomi was working and doing a shoot. Her intention was not to turn it into a fashion shoot. She mopped the floor and cleaned offices and walls. She wore boots. She worked from 8-4 each day and it was humbling for her. It was humiliating for her but it was her own fault. Naomi says that she is in fashion and she likes clothes, she dressed for community service just like she dresses.

As one of the Big 6 models, Naomi Campbell had reached superstardom. No one knew that her recreational drug use had turned into a cocaine habit. Her lowest point was showing up at a photoshoot so wasted that she collapsed with wild sobs. In 1999 she checked into rehab. After 2 years of living as a recovering addict, a tabloid published photographs of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Naomi sued the tabloid and won, the crowd applaud. Bravo to you says Oprah. Naomi started cocaine when she was 24, she had always been against it. She did three jobs a day and she never needed a dealer, it was just handed to her. After Johnny Versace died in 1990, followed by many other friends passing away, she felt that she couldn’t keep up with the grief so she replaced it with drugs. Oprah repeats that sentiment. Naomi says that she turned up to do a job and she collapsed, she couldn’t stand. A friend of hers who is now a counselor took her to her house in Italy and left the number for a doctor. She called 10 minutes later. Naomi has been sober from drugs for 6 years and from alcohol for 1 1/2 years. The crowd applaud. Oprah asks if she is working on her anger management. Naomi says that she would not be held hostage to her past, after the cab driver said that she hit him. She doesn’t normally issue statements but this time she did.

She goes to meetings and therapy to try and deal with her anger issues. Her mom in the audience says that it has been hard to watch Naomi’s dramas unfold. Her mom was 19 when she had her child and she was a single mom. She left to give her daughter a better life to give her a private education. Looking back, she realized that material possessions are not all that a child needs. Oprah says that many mothers make this mistake that material things are not the answer. What every child wants is her mother. Naomi cries and Oprah calls for a Kleenex and says that they’ll go to break.

Oprah wants to say that Naomi Campbell went into the ugly cry. Naomi says that she understands the sacrifice that her mom made. She says that she is striving to be a better person and to find peace. The crowd applaud. Oprah says that Maya Angelou has a wonderful phrase that she herself has adopted- “when you know better, you do better.” Oprah says that we are all a work in progress. Oprah says that from the outside Naomi’s life looks extraordinary, but that she needs to spend more time on the internal world. Naomi says that rehabilitation allowed her to spend a month just on herself, which she has never done. Oprah says that it is a daily work. Naomi says that it is a surrender, and that she is religious and spiritual person. When she lets go of the cards and lets them fall, things are much calmer.

Oprah wants to talk about the men in Naomi’s life. Naomi says that sometimes she only has to stand next to someone to be linked to them. Oprah asks if she has ever dated a poor man. Yes, a working class man like herself, she says. A man in the arts she says. Naomi says that she is in a fame circle and you see the same people over and over. Oprah talked with Bono about how men become like putty around Naomi. He said that she has the perfectly proportioned body. Naomi likes men to wear the pants and be strong. She has been independent for a long time and likes strong men. Vlad wears the pants in their relationship. She says that dating rich and famous men is very private, almost not going out the house, she would never admit to the relationship, would protect their privacy and would never bad-mouth them, ever. She is on good terms with all her exes, Robert and Vlad have met.

Oprah asks if she sees her beauty, she says no but she recognizes that she was born with good bones. She thanks her mom. Naomi says that she needs to look as good on the inside as she does on the outside. After doing all the shows, suddenly everyone has gone and it’s an empty feeling.

Naomi now calls Moscow her home. She lives in Moscow, one of her favorite cities. She shows Red Square to the camera crew. 5 brides in 7 minutes, no 8, no 9 brides in a few minutes. She is helping put new designers on the map and she has been working with Russian Vogue. Naomi relaxes in a traditional Russian bathhouse. She has found love with a real estate mogul, Vladimir. Oprah says that Naomi’s boyfriend looks like Bond. They met in Cannes two years ago. Vladimir has been separated from his wife for ten years, Naomi gets on well with his daughter. Wow, says Oprah. They go skiing, Naomi has just learned, and she has also just learned to swim. She says that she couldn’t float. Oprah says that she feels so bad for Naomi that she didn’t have enough body fat to float. Now Naomi has learned how to swim. Since she met Vlad she has been working out and paying attention to her diet. She like to do Gyrotonics which is elongating not bulking. She does a master cleanse three times a year. She did it once for 18 days. She “does the rope,”skipping.

Naomi fulfilled her childhood dream at the Bolshoi Ballet Company. She gets to go on the stage, which is a huge deal. When she was 3 all she wanted to do was be a ballet dancer. In England she was always told that she was too tall. She dances on the stage. She then joins an elite Bolshoi ballet class. She is nervous and finds it overwhelming and jittery. She cries outside. She had a big fear of going back to class, but she never had the guts to do it. It was a big fear for her. It was her childhood dream.

She tells Oprah it felt so amazing, and she thanks Oprah. Oprah thanks Naomi for coming and sharing. Naomi has agreed to sign the No Phone Zone, Oprah tells her to be careful and that she will also get a special pledge, the No Phone Throw Zone. Oprah says that at 40 you become who you are meant to be and that Naomi is too pretty for what is on the inside to not match what is on the outside.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Naomi Campbell has some anger issues.

But she’s very beautiful.

She gets angry when those close to her betray her. It makes her see red.

She also sees red when strangers annoy her.

She says she once dated a man who is working class, just like herself.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Naomi Campbell is beautiful yet angry person who is striving to be better and to find peace.

Date: May 11th, 2010
File Under: Public Service Announcement
1 comment

Episode 66: National No Phone Zone Day

Woo hoo, says Oprah. They are live in Chicago for the first ever National No Phone Zone Day. The message is everywhere on billboards and ads and media. When you sign the pledge your name and location now comes up on the interactive Google map which Oprah thinks is the coolest thing. Today is a call for action, says Oprah. Texting is as dangerous as drunk driving says Oprah. There are correspondents at rallies with huge crowds across the country. Oprah’s friend Gayle is in Washington DC with a huge crowd. A woman who lost a relative says driving and texting is like trying to breastfeed, cook and wash your clothes all in the same room, it doesn’t work. Ali Wentworth is standing by at General Motors in Detroit. They are in the heartbeat of cars and Ali is so proud to be part of this. She is here with a lot of students because texting is an addiction. The students have started a youth movement to stop anyone who gets their license from texting. Oprah Radio’s Derrick Ashong is at Boston University with a huge group of students learning how to be safer with their driving. Each student is an advocate. Lisa Ling is with a crowd in a High School in Los Angeles. She has a special guest, the fine Mario Lopez. He says to Oprah that he proudly signed the pledge yesterday and all the crowd at Extra signed too. Oprah thanks him and says that this is a big deal in LA. Holly Robinson Pete is at Georgia Tech in Atlanta Georgia. Oprah says that they will check back in with their correspondents around the country throughout the show.

Oprah shows a look back at what has happened since January when they started the pledge. More than 2 million people have pledged including a host of celebrities. Across the country distracted driving is making headlines like never before. In 4 months, 4 more states have banned texting bring ing the number to 23 and the District of Columbia.

Oprah knows we can change this issue, she wants to get as many people as possible to stop texting and talking while driving. If you need a reason, look at Jaycee’s story. She is 23 and walks with a cane and has a limp arm. She gets a lot of stares so she added a sign to her back saying that she got her injuries from a kid driving and talking on his cell phone. On her memorable graduation day, her parents were beyond proud. They were driving home and someone turned on a red light while talking on the phone. She was given a 10% chance of survival, but both of her parents were killed that day. The loss of her parents was a loss to the world.

In the studio Oprah asks her how this has impacted her life. It has been huge, she has had to learn to walk again and only has use of one arm and she has no parents. This is her life mission now, to make people realize the power that they hold. Oprah says that the 6000 people were killed last year are in the news but we don’t hear of those who are permanently injured by this. She says that nothing is so important that people can put the lives of everyone around them at risk.

Gayle is in DC with the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood. Everyone has a cellphone says Ray, and they all think they can drive safely. He tells people to put the cell phone in the glove compartment, the call will still be there when you get to your destination. He says that it is hard for everyone, it is a bad habit which we have to break to save lives and heartache. Gayle says that she has heard so many stories today. Ray says that this show today takes it to a whole new level of awareness. Matt hit his neighbor’s 9 year old boy while texting, fortunately it was ok but it caused him to revaluate his life. Kyle, the son, told him not to tell his parents as he had his iPod on and no helmet on. A teacher in the audience was convicted and brought her students down to this important event. Ray thanks Oprah and Oprah thanks Mr Secretary.

Ed Whitacre of GM tells Oprah that Chevy is proud to support her call, and that is why he is asking his 77,000 employees, plus customers and dealers to sign the pledge. That is so great says Oprah. 77,000 employees is great. Join the movement now at Oprah.com. Or check out this cool easy way to pledge- text NPZ to 30644, but not while you are driving.

Ali in Detroit says that they are making history as they are there with the fantastic Governor of Michigan, who is signing a bill into history which was overwhelmingly passed. She says that they are proud to be the 24th state to ban texting which is clearly a danger. As the home of the auto industry, it is is particularly important. Ali says that nearly 6000 people died last year but thousands of others have been crippled or maimed. Ali says that the cameras will watch the Governor sign the bill. Oprah and the Governor thank each other.

Oprah says that laws start with the people, today everyone can make a change. Bronte, a teenager, lost control of her car while texting, 3 days after her 17th birthday. She broke her pelvis and suffered a traumatic brain injury, She was in a coma for 3 1/2 weeks. She suffers memory loss and gets tongue tied. Her scar is a reminder- your conversation can wait. Bronte tells Oprah she has signed the pledge and she puts her phone to one side when in the car. Before this she never considered that texting in the car was an issue, despite nearly rear-ending someone. The conversation can wait. Bronte was wearing a seatbelt, Oprah reminds us that once upon a time no one wore seatbelts and now we all do.

Oprah checks in with the rally in LA with Lisa Ling at John Marshall High School. Lisa says that the day she signed the pledge, her husband’s colleague’s daughter was killed by texting, so her decision was confirmed as a good one. Lisa is pleased that she is there with two American Idols from her favorite season, including last years winner. Chris has texted a couple of times while driving and his wife has told him to stay on the road so it can get dangerous. Another contestant, Alison is getting her permit soon. Her cousin got into a bad accident because he was reading a text. Oprah says that is exciting, and thanks Lisa.

Rodney was a high school senior who was full of life. He went to pick up a friend and his mom never saw him again. He crashed his car when reaching fro his phone and hit a pole. After a year and a half, it still seems like yesterday- the pain is crushing. Her son had just been accepted to college, but he was no longer alive because of distracted driving. In the studio, Rodney’s mom says that she was guilty of texting on the highway, she did not realize how dangerous it was. She says it was just one of those things that you do without realizing. Diveeta now goes around schools talking to students, trying to educate. Oprah says that because of Diveeta’s son and all the sons and daughters that she started this movement. In many ways, Oprah feels that Rodney’s life was sacrificed in order to be a light to the rest of us. Oprah is hoping and praying that next time people get I the car, they will remember Rodney and put the phone away. Oprah thanks Diveeta.

86% of teens talk on the phone and drive but only 12% think that it is a distracting. 76% say they sometime text and 33% say that they do it often. Half of the texts are to parents.

Alex was an easy kid to raise, she was fun loving and had a huge heart. Her mom teaches at the school her kids attend, and one day Alex didn’t turn up. Her mom went to find her and didn’t recognize the truck. Alex was texting and went out the window and the truck rolled over her. Her mom called 911 and all they could do at the hospital was watch the monitor slow down and down. It’s madness. Oprah says that it really is madness, it is crazy and disconnected and like playing Russian Roulette. Alex’s parents are here today, and Oprah is asking us to stand up for all these families and the senseless accidents that don’t have to happen. In honor of all those people, Oprah introduces the new No Phone Zone commercial. Oprah asks the families featured to stand up. Oprah says that she and the audience are honored to stand with the families as they have all taken the pledge.

Holly in Georgia is there with Lisa who lost her 2 year old son to a distracted driver when they were out for a walk. She is asking everyone to change their habits. She had to live in a coma and couldn’t go to her son’s funeral. Holly thanks Lisa and shows all the No Phone Zone merchandise that you can get. Bumper stickers are powerful. All the profits go to Focus Driven. Oprah believes that Focus Driven are a powerful organization like Mother’s Against Drunk Driving.

Derrick in Boston says that they have an amazing group of young people from Boston University including the group SADD, Students Against Destructive Decisions who educate each other. Derrick had a friend killed in High School by a distracted driver when parked at a stoplight. Erin was driving to pick up her father and almost hit a tree and did $4000 of damage to her car when moving her pocketbook to the back seat. She had been driving for only 45 minutes since registering her car. She didn’t even open her phone, phones off is the best idea. Derrick says that every advance in technology brings its own responsibilities. We can teach each other to make a difference. Oprah loves the analogy that we do not dry our hair in the bathtub as those technologies do not go together. Many of the players of the Boston Red Sox signed the pledge for Oprah, and they ask all their fans to join to them in signing the pledge.

OK, says Oprah. Today is the start of a new day where we all get to come together and stand with the families who have been affected by distracted driving. Late last year Oprah read an article on distracted driving which started this campaign for her, and the author has just won a Pulitzer Prize. Oprah thanks everyone involved today and all the supporters at the rallies. Bye everybody.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Texting while driving is like playing Russian Roulette.

Once upon a time we didn’t wear seatbelts, and now it is second nature.

Every advance in technology brings its own responsibilities- we don’t dry our hair in the bath tub.

Do not text and drive.

Phones off is the best policy in the car.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

No conversation or text is worth risking lives. Take the No Phone Zone Pledge at Oprah.com.

Date: May 10th, 2010
File Under: Relationships

Episode 65: Rielle Hunter’s First Television Interview

Four years ago,  few people had heard of Rielle Hunter, a videographer hired to document John Edwards as he campaigned across the country. Then, rumors of an affair began to surface. The media reported that John had cheated on his wife of more than 30 years, Elizabeth Edwards, with Rielle and secretly fathered a daughter named Quinn. Oprah travels to the North Carolina home Rielle shares with her daughter to meet Rielle.

Oprah asks is it true that no one in your life thinks that this is a good idea for you to be talking to me? Rielle says that “no one thinks it’s a good idea, but I feel in my heart that it’s the right thing to do.” Oprah asks “why did you want to talk now and you have not spoken before?” Rielle says a lot of it didn’t feel right to speak before, and it felt more right after Johnny claimed paternity publicly. Oprah clarifies, Johnny meaning John Edwards? Yes, says Rielle, I do. It’s his birth name. Oprah asks why you call him Johnny? Rielle says “When I first met him, I couldn’t get the word “John” out, you know? He didn’t seem like John to me. So I said, “This may sound weird, but can I call you Johnny?” And he said: “Well, that’s my name. So, yes.”

Oprah says “So you’ve been described in a lot of different ways. Gold digger. Home wrecker. New-age airhead. Do you think that you have been unfairly judged?” Rielle says “Yes, I believe it’s…well, it’s not accurate. That’s not who I am.” Oprah says “Well, the intention of this interview for me is to find out who you are. So let’s start with gold digger. Were you after John Edwards because of money? Fame? Attention?” Rielle says “No, I was not ever after him. I met him, and there was a very strong connection, an attraction. There was no me pursuing, wanting something from him. None of that.” Rielle says that she is absolutely not a home wrecker. “It is not my experience that a third party wrecks a home. I believe the problems exist before a third party comes into the picture.” Oprah asks why does she think people see her so negatively? Rielle says “Well, because of the affair, and also because a lot of people bought into the myth of the marriage…the Edwards marriage as being a storybook story and it was so perfect and so wonderful, and I destroyed it. So it fits into the two-dimensional story line.” Oprah says “Help people to understand, if you can, or help me to understand, because the world sees you as that person. You are viewed as the mistress who came in and stole the politician. So what do you want people to know about that?” Rielle replies “First of all, in order for that to happen, you must be invited in. People aren’t property. You can’t steal someone else’s husband. You can’t steal someone’s wife. It’s not property.” Oprah says “So let’s go back to how this started. How did you meet? When I interviewed Elizabeth Edwards last year, one of the things that struck me is she said she couldn’t believe or didn’t even understand a woman like yourself who could stand outside or stand at a bar and say to a married man, “You’re hot.” She made a point of saying that, “Who does that?” So I’m asking you, who does that?” Rielle says “Well, I did… It happened because I saw him inside the Regency.” (a hotel in New York City) “We were in there, and we noticed each other and there was a mutual staring going on. But it was just a connection like…“ Oprah asks “Did you think, “Oh, there’s John Edwards?”” Rielle says she did not know it was John Edwards. Rielle says “I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the Kerry/Edwards campaign. I had a lot going on in my life at that time. I wasn’t big into politics.” Rielle says “He was looking at me, and I was looking at him and he got up and left. Then my friend went over to who he was sitting with and asked, “Was that John Edwards?” And he said, “Yes, it was.” I went over and started talking to that man, as well. His name was Tony. We went over to Tony, and I said, “I can’t believe that was John Edwards. He’s so hot.” And Tony said: “You should have told him that. You should have come over and told him that. He would have loved to hear that.”

Oprah asks How did it come about that they connected? Rielle says “It was nothing. Another friend of mine came to join us, and I had no more thoughts of John Edwards. Zero. Then, we were walking out of the Regency to go get dinner, and then he came around the corner and saw me standing on the street. And he lit up. He was just so excited. I mean, just lit up like a Christmas tree. White lights, just like bright as can be. I just turned to him and said, “You’re so hot.” And he practically jumped in my arms, and I said to him, “I can help you.” And he said: “I want your help. I need your help.”” Oprah asks “Did you feel the connection that you had sensed when he was across the room?” Times a hundred says Rielle. Oprah asks what he said to her? Rielle says “I want your help. I need your help. And I said, “Do you have e-mail?” And he said, “No. Here. I’m staying here. Call me. This is the name I’m staying under. Call me.” I said, “How long are you staying?” He said, “Until tomorrow morning. Call me.” Oprah asks “When you said to John Edwards, “I can help you,” what did you mean?” Rielle says she wanted to help him “See his authentic self. Be more his authentic self so people could see who he really was.” Oprah asks how she was planning on doing that? “I had no plans. None at all. Just my heart felt I could help him,” says Rielle. Oprah asks “When you left wherever you were to go to his hotel room, was there no part of you that says, “Maybe I shouldn’t do that?’” No, says Rielle. Oprah asks if she knew he was married? Rielle responds “I did know he was married, but I didn’t know what their marriage was like.”

Oprah asks “Did you have that conversation about helping him?” Rielle says “We had a very, very long conversation, yes…about helping, and he wanted help. He wanted to be more authentic. He wanted to live a life of truth. He wanted to change his life.”Oprah says, “In all this time you’re having this conversation, you’re also feeling this heat, this vibe, this magnetic force… and you can sense that he’s feeling it too? Rielle says “Yes. It was obvious.” When Oprah asks if she stayed the night, Rielle says “I think that that now I say, “Okay, now fade to black.” Here’s the thing: This whole journey has been so hard for me. I am a really private person with my personal life.”

Oprah says “But you can just forget about your personal life being private because you’ve been so exposed?”Rielle says “No, but here’s the thing. I’ve been so exposed with a bunch of lies, because what’s been said about me—all my personal life has been written about and exposed—the facts are incorrect. It was all incorrect. That also bothers me because I am very much a person committed to truth.” Oprah says, “Now it’s the next day. Then began what?”

Rielle says there were a series of long conversations on the phone… four hours at a time. Oprah says “So the next day, you’re on the phone for four hours. Several days later, you realize what?” Rielle: I’m in love. Oprah asks what are you thinking about his situation? Rielle says “Oh, this is very difficult because … being a person who’s committed to truth and living a life where you’re not hiding, it’s almost like a cosmic joke to fall in love with someone who’s living a big lie. I had such judgment about anyone living a lie.”

Oprah asks Rielle if she thought about John’s wife? Rielle says “Oh yes, definitely… I think about his wife and his children. And it was very hard. Very, very hard. What’s so hard about it is that the power of the love does override all the issues that come up and all the judgments and all my: “This is wrong. What you’re doing is wrong.” Oprah says “So you are obviously a person who is on a spiritual path. You’ve mentioned truth here several times. What part of you could make that okay then to be with this married man with children?” Rielle says “Because he was available. He wanted to be with me, and their marriage had problems for many, many years… He has been honest with me since our first meeting completely.” She says that he disclosed everything to her in his life. Oprah says that there are choices on the journey, did she ever think he should call her after he sorted out the mess of his life? Rielle says that their hearts were louder than their minds. Oprah asks how did Elizabeth Edwards come to know about this affair? Rielle says “On the morning of December 31, [2006], she found the cell phone that I bought for him. And called me, and I answered the phone. I said, “Hey, baby,” and she hung up on me. I bought him a cell phone that looked just like his work phone so he could talk to me wherever he was and, whenever he was, people would think he was on his work phone. He calls me back a little later saying that it’s over. “We’re done. We’re over.” I assumed that she was standing there when he said that, and he was in a traumatic state. His worlds had just collided, and he hung up the phone.”

Oprah asks what did she do? Rielle says “I didn’t cry. I had the thought: “What do you mean we’re over? We’re just getting started.”” Oprah says But you didn’t cry. Rielle says “Not then. I cried a number of times over the next few days. I cried hysterically a number of times over the next few days. It was a terrible time.“ Oprah says that Elizabeth found out shortly after and he announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States. Did he talk to you about the fact that he was going to announce  his running for President of the United States? Rielle says that he was in extreme conflict about it. “He didn’t know if it was the right thing to do because he had personal problems and an inner conflict about having all these personal problems that could happen at any moment and an inner pull to wanting to serve. Plus he was, I believe, addicted to campaigning, and that was going on. And he had a staff who wanted him- all their paychecks and all of their livelihoods depended on him announcing. And Elizabeth wanted him to.” Rielle did not think he should run. “I think that he has a great capacity to serve. I’m conservative in that way. I believe in truth. I think you need to get all your ducks in a row and live a life of integrity before you step out into the public.”

Oprah says that sounds beautiful but can she understand that people find this hypocritical. Rielle understands the contradiction, agrees that it’s huge. Oprah asks “Would you also agree, or not, that you were out of alignment, you were in contradiction, you were out of integrity with yourself?” Rielle says “No, interestingly enough. That’s what’s just so weird about it. I followed my heart, and I believe it was the right thing to do, which is weird. I get how weird that is. I didn’t make a commitment to Elizabeth. I wasn’t the one lying to her, and I was supporting him in his process, and his intentions never wavered. I knew what he wanted. He just had a really unique way of getting there, to live a life of truth… So I felt like I would just continue supporting him and loving him until he got to where he needed to be.”

In March 2007, Elizabeth and John held a press conference announcing her cancer had returned but the Presidential campaign would go on. Rielle and John’s daughter Frances Quinn was conceived in May 2007. Rielle says the baby was conceived at he end of May. She didn’t know she was pregnant until July. Oprah asks “At what point in there did John have the announcement that they were going to renew their vows?” July. Oprah asks “So when John Edwards is renewing his vows with Elizabeth Edwards, he knows that you are pregnant?.. How can you make that okay? You’re pregnant, carrying this man’s child. You knew it was his child, because you weren’t seeing anyone else.” Rielle says that “I wasn’t seeing anyone else… We both knew it was his child.” Oprah asks How did it make her feel? Rielle says “Terrible. My own judgment of someone who stands before God and makes a vow crushes me on the inside. I mean, just crushes me that someone can do that, that anyone can do that, because of the way I’m built. I could never do that… I understood where he was in his process.” Rielle says that she never thought about getting out because her married boyfriend turned into the father of their child. Oprah asks how he reacted to the news of her pregnancy and Rielle says that he was “very gracious.” Oprah says, “come on,” and Rielle says that he was. He was in the campaign at the time. Oprah laughs when Rielle says that he was gracious. She asks Did John Edwards ever ask you to get an abortion? Rielle: Never. Oprah: Implied that you should get an abortion? Rielle: Never. Oprah: So he was fully supportive of you having his baby. Rielle says “I wouldn’t say “fully supportive.” I think that he had a lot of issues with the timing, and it created a lot of conflict within him. It was not great timing from our perspective.” Oprah: Meaning he was running for the presidency. Rielle says “He was married to someone else. He was in the middle of running for the presidency. It’s not great timing.” Oprah asks if she was hoping to get pregnant with his baby? Rielle says “I don’t know consciously if it was hoping. I was so in love with him. When you’re in love with him, that gets activated.” Oprah asks if they were using birth control? They never used birth control. Oprah says “Well, then. Then you knew it could happen at any time?” Rielle replies “I would have been fine if it happened. I was in love with him.” Oprah asks if John thought she was using birth control and Rielle says no.

Seven months into the pregnancy, a tabloid reporter snapped Rielle’s picture, and their secret was almost exposed. Instead of confessing the truth about Rielle’s pregnancy, a new cover-up was concocted. John’s friend and aide, Andrew Young, claimed paternity. Andrew and his wife, Cheri, went into hiding with Rielle, jetting between hotels and private homes until she gave birth.

The National Enquirer got the picture of her on December 12, [2007],  in North Carolina. Rielle says that John was “extremely angry, and he screamed at me. He’s not a screamer.” Oprah says let’s talk about how the Andrew Young paternity scheme came about. Rielle says “That was exactly in that moment. I was on the phone in Andrew’s office, in Andrew’s house. Johnny was screaming at me on the phone, and Andrew was sitting directly across from me. He said: “Just tell him I’ll say it’s mine. I’ll say it’s mine.” I heard him say that, and I looked at him like he was insane, like I was not even going to repeat it. I thought: “There is no way I’m going to tell him that. You are out of your mind, and that ain’t happening. That was a bridge too far for me. You are not claiming paternity for my child.” Oprah states that Andrew Young describes it a completely different way. He says he got a phone call from John Edwards saying, “Will you do this?” Rielle says “Now, that may have actually happened. But this happened before that… This was the night before that, so somehow Andrew spoke to Johnny after he suggested it to me. Because I didn’t repeat it.”Oprah clarifies “So you’re saying the idea for taking responsibility for being the father of your child came from Andrew Young…Why did you go along with it?” Rielle says “That’s my biggest regret.” Oprah asks again, “Why did you go along with it?” Rielle says, “My biggest mistake. I made a big mistake to go along with it. It took me about three days to get on board. I was fighting tooth and nail. This was just a bridge too far for me… They came back to me and said Cheri had agreed, that I was the only one who was not agreeing. I couldn’t believe Cheri agreed. How could she agree to this? She was my out. I really thought that that would be…” Oprah says “That his wife is not going to agree.” Rielle says “Ever going to go along with that. Ever, ever, ever. And Johnny called me back and said, “Andrew says yes and Cheri’s on board, and you’re the only one who won’t get on board.” It was a horrid time, Oprah. Devastating. Devastating.” Oprah asks “When you finally said yes, you said yes because of what?” Rielle says “Well, because of my daughter… I thought that she had so many things against her. That would be a bad thing for both of them, a really bad thing… If she at all blamed herself for…if he got out of the race because of her, me being pregnant with her. And if he always had that thing in his head, “I could have been president,” and some blame toward her at all. And if she somehow flipped it in her head that it was her fault coming into the world. That was too hard for me. So that was the only reason I said yes.” Oprah says “So you were thinking about your daughter when you said, “Yes, I’m going to go along with Andrew.” Can you honestly say to me that there’s no part of you that was also thinking about yourself in that?”Rielle, wiping away a tear says, “No, I didn’t care. Something happened in me. Maybe it was there all along, but something in our relationship happened when I became pregnant. It did not become about us anymore. It became about her.”

Rielle gave birth on February 27th, 2008, And John Edwards met his daughter on March 19. Rielle says the meeting was  “Filled with love, very emotional for me.” Oprah asks what was it like for her watching him do that interview with Bob Woodruff? Rielle says “It was surreal. It was surreal.” Oprah: And he is asked directly, point blank, “Are you the father of that baby?” Of Quinn. And he lies about it. Rielle: Yes. She says there were a lot of tears when she watched it, she was devastated. Rielle didn’t want him to do the interview, but Elizabeth did. She wanted him to tell the whole truth, but she didn’t know about the baby. He came clean after the interview and told her. Oprah asks who he was afraid of finding out, the public or Elizabeth, and Rielle says Elizabeth. John called Rielle afterwards and said that it didn’t mean anything. Oprah splutters a little. Rielle says that he was trying to fix what was broken- not a defense, but he was trying to hold on while drowning. Oprah says “He’s denied you, denied your child, lied on national television point blank, close up. What makes you think he’s not lying to you?” Rielle replies “ I know him like the back of my hand. I know when someone’s lying. I can feel it. He’s not lying. He’s messed up. He was screwed up. He was trying to make his life one of integrity.

Oprah says “Well, this is making no sense to a lot of people I’m sure. You’re talking about him trying to get to his truth, and all we’re seeing is lies and lies and more lies and more lies.” Rielle says “Right, trying to cover and keep the way life was. “I’m trying to fix it. I’ve got to fix it. I’ve got to make it better, so I’m going to keep lying.” … It wasn’t working. Life had changed, who he was had changed, who he is was changing. The old remedies didn’t work anymore.”

Former aide, Andrew Young dropped a bombshell in January 2010. In his tell-all book, The Politician, Andrew says he and Cheri found a sex tape John made with Rielle. Rielle says the Youngs took the tape from her, but the one thing she doesn’t dispute was that it’s her and John on the video. Oprah says “So let’s talk about the infamous sex tape. First of all, why did you all decide to put yourselves on tape having sex? I’m assuming that’s what’s on the tape, right? Sex.” Rielle says, “There is sex…I don’t think there was a lot of thought going on in the heat of the moment. It was something behind closed doors that was private, and I believe should remain private. So it was meant for that, and then, after the fact of doing this, because of being a public person and because of it being taped, we said: Well, that was not a great idea. Let’s do something to prevent anyone from seeing it, because we don’t want anyone to see our private business. So I took action to destroy the tape and kept it in my personal belongings so no one would get ahold of the tape.” She thought she had destroyed it by cutting it up.

Oprah asks why didn’t you burn it or stomp on it or throw it in the incinerator? Rielle says “Right, that was the first thought now that comes to me, “Why didn’t I burn it?” I have no idea why that thought didn’t occur to me then.”Oprah says, “Tell me this. Was John Edwards upset with you that that tape had not been destroyed?” Rielle replies “I think he’s as mortified or exposed as I am. I mean, it’s not a good thing for either one of us. It’s violating on every single level.”

Just as that media storm was dying down, there was another one. It wasn’t the article in GQ that caused an uproar, it was the photographs. Oprah thought that GQ interview was really a solid representation of Rielle. It was really a good interview, but she couldn’t understand the photos. Rielle says what a mistake that was- huge mistake. Oprah says “It seemed like such a contradiction of what you’re saying in the article. What you’re saying you want us to see, you want us to see that you’re not the home wrecker. You’re not the flashy broad who comes in and takes the politician.” Rielle says “It’s not that I want you to see that. I want to express who I am. And you can see whatever you see. But I’m not those things, and the photos make you believe, or go along with that story line, that that’s who I am. Big mistake. One I will never repeat again. Live and learn.” Oprah says “I know I’m going to sound like Dr. Phil here, but what were you thinking?.. Because you actually have to take your pants off.” Rielle says “Right. What I was thinking was, “I would like to have one sexy shot where the world can see me as a beautiful woman, as opposed to all those photos that are out there of me looking like some Wicked Witch of the West—the ugliest thing you could ever imagine.” So there’s definitely ego in that. Look where ego gets you. Oprah reiterates “Big ego move on your part.” Rielle says “Big ego move. Big mistake. No excuses, though. I made the mistake. I take responsibility for the mistake. It won’t happen again.” Oprah asks “What did Johnny think about those photos?” Rielle says he said, “”Where are your pants?” He knew I was upset about them, but I think that he felt protective. He wished he would have been there to say, “No, don’t do that.””

Oprah asks what’s the status of the relationship now? Rielle says “It’s private., Oprah, it is. Because what we’ve been through, I need a boundary. We need boundaries on our personal lives.” Oprah says she accepts that and says that it seems odd that now John is no longer with his wife, all the secrets could come out- she doesn’t know why Rielle couldn’t say that. Rielle says that she needs boundaries, and that John does see Quinn. Oprah asks Does he know you’re doing this interview and how does he feel about that? Rielle says “He didn’t think it was a great idea, but he supports me if I feel like in my heart I need to do it.” She still loves him very much. Oprah asks if John still loves her? Rielle says “I believe he does. You would have to ask him, but in my experience, the answer is yes… It’s my experience that he loves me. Oprah: Do you trust him? Rielle: Very much. Oprah: Do you want to marry him? Rielle replies “I’m not sure I want to get married ever. I’ve been married, and I mean, I can’t say never. I don’t know if that’s something I want. I don’t need marriage to define who I am. It’s not a pull for me.” Oprah asks “When this is all said and done and we look back on this time of you, Rielle Hunter, the mistress and all of that, what is it you want people to really understand about what has happened here?” Rielle says “All of their feelings that they’re feeling and hatred that’s directed toward me has to do with their fears or their anger and disappointment and sadness about their mother cheating on their father or their father or their husband or their spouse. It has to do with them, and it doesn’t have to do with me, because they don’t know me.” Oprah: Why can’t it just be that they think that it’s wrong? Rielle replies “People can think that it’s wrong for me to do that. They can think it’s wrong for anyone to do that, but it still has to do with them thinking it’s wrong. It doesn’t have to do with me. It’s their judgement… Based upon their life experience, it has to do with them.” Oprah asks What is the lesson in all of this for you? Rielle says “There’s been a lot of them because I have become a better person from the process—more compassionate, more patient, more understanding, more aware. And so has he.” Rielle wants people to know her true authentic self, following her heart. Her intention is never to hurt anyone. Oprah says Do you think you hurt Elizabeth Edwards? Rielle says  “I think Elizabeth has been hurt by this whole process. I think Johnny’s been hurt by the whole process. I think everyone in his family has been hurt by the whole process.” Oprah says “That was really good, but you didn’t answer that question. Do you think you hurt her?” Rielle says “Do I think I hurt Elizabeth? You would have to ask Elizabeth that. I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that.” Oprah asks Do you regret being a mistress? Rielle says “No, because I learned a lot. It went against every part of who I am and everything I believe, but I learned so much from it. So I don’t regret it, but I would not repeat it.”

Oprah asks Rielle what her life is like now. Rielle is a full-time mom, Quinn gets child support and John helps support Rielle’s life in her house. Oprah asks one more time the status of their relationship and Rielle says that it is private. Oprah thanks her and they shake hands.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Rielle Hunter wanted to help John Edwards be more his authentic self so people could see who he really was.

Despite the media scrutiny and Oprah interview, Rielle Hunter is “a really private person” with her personal life.

She believes that you need to get all your ducks in a row and live a life of integrity before you step out into the public.

She does not know if she hurt Elizabeth Edwards or not.

She does not regret anything that happened because she has become a better person from the process—more compassionate, more patient, more understanding, more aware.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Any issues you may have with the John Edwards/ Rielle Hunter affair/ pregnancy/ cover-up, are to do with you, and that doesn’t have to do with Rielle, because you don’t know her.

Date: May 7th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Public Service Announcement, Transformation

Episode 64: Former Miss USA Tara Conner Comes Clean, Plus Todd Bridges

Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger and former child star Corey Haim all shared the same tragic fate—untimely deaths caused by suspected drug use. Former Miss USA Tara Connor is now ready to tell the ugly truth of her addiction, says Oprah.

In 2006, this is exactly what happened. Shortly after being crowned Miss USA, Tara Conner’s unbecoming behavior began to make headlines. The media ran reports of Tara’s underage drinking and drug abuse, as well as scandalous photos of this blonde beauty queen running wild, left many people shaking their heads. Eight months into her yearlong reign, Tara tested positive for cocaine. When business mogul Donald Trump, co-owner of the Miss USA organization, called a press conference, everyone—including Tara—expected him to strip Tara of her crown. Instead, Donald offered her a second chance. Tara agreed to go to rehab. She apologized to her family for this crazy ordeal. During this time, Tara says that she was living a lie. Now, Tara is ready to speak publicly about her path of self-destruction and drug addiction.

She is in the studio with Oprah and says that she had problems from the beginning. “I started using when I was 14 years old. I had my first drink when, I think, I was 14,” she says. “It wasn’t me moving to New York and becoming Miss USA that thrust me into the spotlight and put all this pressure on me. It wasn’t that at all. I had the disease of alcoholism from the get-go.”

“Everyone thought I was professional and this sweet girl who showed up for what I needed to show up for, and I was a pageant girl. Everyone thinks the pageant girls are Polly Purebred perfect,” she says. “You can’t make a mistake, but on the inside, I felt dirty. I felt ashamed. I felt less than, not enough. I was never enough for me.” No one knew that she was doing drugs.  In Kentucky, her drug of choice was pain pills. She says that they were always around her. Oprah says that she has never been offered a pain pill. Tara says that you are the company that you keep. Oprah says that we are conditioned to think that beautiful people don’t have problems, don’t have pain to be suppressed. At age 14, Tara’s parents divorced, and soon after, her beloved grandfather died. “I feel like I was crying out for help, but no one could hear me because everyone was so concerned with their own life,” Tara says. Around this time, Tara says she started cutting to ease the emotional pain building up inside her. “It was a controlled pain,” she says. “For cutters, like if you are having a moment or had a feeling—because, heaven forbid, we feel—it’s a way of controlling what you’re feeling.” She inflicted her own pain.

Oprah asks to go back to the pageant, the moment where she won. Tara says that the moment her name was announced—a moment millions of little girls dream of—Tara says she thought, “What now?” “Honest to God, I didn’t think I was going to win,” she says. Everyone thought Miss California was going to win, including Tara.  “So when they called my name, I just kind of covered my face. … I think, ‘This is what I’m supposed to do.’ But I didn’t even feel it.” Earlier that day, Tara says she’d taken a Xanax and was still feeling the effects. She had slept most of it off, but she was still not feeling pain or anything at all at the time of the ceremony. She did drugs so that she didn’t have to feel her feelings.Tara stood onstage with a smile plastered on her face and tried to hide what she was feeling inside. Oprah and Tara agree that it’s all the same pain, the pain of feelings, being hidden by all addictions.

In the A&E special Fame and Recovery, Tara reveals for the first time what led to her headline-making drug scandal. When she was just 13 years old, Tara started turning heads in Russell Springs, Kentucky, the small town where she was raised. On the advice of a family friend, she began entering beauty pageants. AT 14 her parents divorced and they lost their stable life. In High school she tried Vicodin and found her relief, she loved it. Her mother says that her grades plummeted, they had screaming matches, but then Tara would turn around and win a pageant. If Tara got in trouble at school or her grades started to slip, she says she learned that if she won a pageant, all was forgiven. “My name was in the papers all over again,” she says. “And [people thought], ‘Well, she can’t be a drug addict if she’s winning pageants.’” Tara also discovered that she could numb her feelings with prescription pills like Vicodin. “I started taking Percocet, Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, morphine pills, methadone OxyContin,” she says. “It consumed every minute of my day. There would be times where I could do 30 pain pills in a day.”

Oprah asks how in the world she could take 30 pills a day, Tara says it takes practice and tolerance. The scariest part is when the drug does not take effect any more. Tara agrees that it is a wonder that she is alive. She says that she was usually on drugs when in pageants. Oprah is shocked that Tara could do the walk and the talk and function on so many pain pills. Tara says that it became a way of life.

When she was 14, something awful happened, One night, after drinking and taking pills with a group of friends, Tara found herself alone with a man. “I acted a little bit more wasted than I was so I could go to sleep, because I didn’t want to deal with the guy that was there,” she says. “Then, he picks me up. … I knew something was off, and he was being bizarre, but part of me was just thinking: ‘I wonder what he’s going to do. I wonder how far he’s going to take it.’” Tara says the man carried her from her home to his car. Then, she says he raped her. “I didn’t do anything about it. I just sat there,” she says. “I was like: ‘Wow. Everyone else hurts me. Now, what are you going to do?’ I would bring on all of these situations and put myself through this pain because I felt so dirty, and I felt so ashamed and I felt like damaged goods. I expected these things to happen to me.” That felt normal to her.

Oprah asks how she felt being next to Donald Trump. When Donald called a press conference to address Tara’s positive drug test, she says she thought she was going to lose her crown. Although Tara asked Donald for a second chance, she says she would have been okay either way. “Part of me was like, ‘Wow, all of my skeletons are out there,’” she says. “There’s a freedom that comes with that.”

After hearing Tara’s revelations about her drug use during the pageant, Donald says Tara shouldn’t have won the title. “We didn’t know about her drug use,” he says. “Had we had an idea, she probably wouldn’t have been in the contest to start off with. I’m sure that she would not be Miss USA.” From the beginning of Tara’s reign, Donald says the Miss USA staff wanted her out. Originally, Donald planned on firing her, but after meeting with her in his office, he had a change of heart. “I hated it from the concept of what it would do to somebody’s life,” he says. “I said I was going to give her a second chance. … The biggest backlash I had was not from the public. I think the public liked it. The biggest backlash I had was from the staff.” Donald has personal reasons for his decision. His brother, Fred, who was a  great guy, was an alcoholic. “He had everything, but he got hooked on alcohol, and it killed him,” Donald says. “I believe in second chances, and sometimes it works when you give somebody a second chance. She went from being a disaster to being a terrific Miss USA. But, much more importantly, she sets an example for so many other people that are going through the same thing.”

Oprah asks Tara what she thinks of that. Tara says that it was touching. The organization hated her, she was unloveable at the time. Tara thinks she should have been let go, she didn’t expect the second chance, Donald was good to her. To anyone facing the same battle, Tara says there’s someone out there who feels the same way you do, and there’s help available. “Even if you don’t love yourself at all, other people do love you,” she says. “I’ve had so many people come forward and help me, and I’ve been so fortunate in my life. I don’t feel I deserve any of the good things I got, but apparently I do. And through the course of other people loving me, I learned how to love myself.” Tara cries as she speaks.

Oprah asks Tara if she now thinks that she is enough. Yes, says Tara. “Every day I learn something new about myself, and I prove myself wrong,” she says. “I’m allowing myself to feel. I’m allowing myself to love. I’m allowing myself to feel pain where I wouldn’t before.” Now, Tara is three years sober, and she loves the woman she’s becoming. Oprah thanks Tara and Donald Trump.

Todd Bridges was one of the most famous young actors of the 70‘s and 80‘s, but his reckless behavior made him the poster child for child stars gone bad.  He was just 7 years old when he landed his first acting job. After appearing in dozens of commercials, this talented, precocious child was cast on hit TV shows like The Love Boat and Barney Miller. In the ’70s, Todd also earned the distinction of being one of the first African-American actors to appear on popular series like The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie. After appearing in the groundbreaking mini-series Roots, Todd landed the role of a lifetime. He was cast as Willis Jackson on the sitcom Diff’rent Strokes. Alongside child actors Gary Coleman and Dana Plato, Todd became a household name. The hit series keep audiences laughing for eight seasons. But, when Diff’rent Strokes was canceled in 1986, Todd says he felt like his life was over. Soon after, Todd’s fall from stardom began. This beloved TV star became hooked on crack cocaine and methamphetamines, and he started dealing drugs to support his addiction. Fame quickly turned to infamy as reports of drug abuse and arrests made headlines. Todd was arrested for felony assault and cocaine possession, and in 1989, he faced his most serious charge—attempted murder. Todd was accused of shooting a drug dealer eight times after a cocaine binge, but after two trials and nine months behind bars, he was acquitted. He continued to bounce in and out of jail. Then, in 1992, Todd was arrested yet again, but this time was different. Instead of returning to jail, Todd entered a yearlong drug rehabilitation program. To this day, many people still think of Todd as a poster child for child stars gone bad and remember him for his mistakes, but he says he turned his life around long ago.

This 44-year-old father of two has been clean and sober now for 17 years. In his memoir “Killing Willis.” He says that he cannot escape the role of WIllis. Todd reveals painful, underlying issues that drove his addiction. When Todd wasn’t on the set of Diff’rent Strokes, he says there was little laughter in his life. “The only time when I was happy was when I was on the sets,” he says. “I was going through a lot at the time. I really was hurting.” When he looks back at his decline, he sees all the pain that he was going through, which he couldn’t reveal. Oprah says that we think that child stars and famous people have nothing to complain about.

Oprah asks Todd to read from page 68 of the book, about the sexual molestation he received at age 11. Oprah feels passionately as an abuse survivor that we must educate parents. When she was reading Todd’s story, she found it classic. Todd says he was sexually molested by a family friend when he was just 11 years old, and he’s been trying to cope with the pain ever since. Todd says the grooming process started early. The abuser bought Todd a bicycle and showered him with attention. “He started setting me up for things by telling me that girls were no good and that you could feel the same way with a girl that you could with a guy,” Todd says. At age 11, he knew nothing about sex. Then, after the man gained Todd’s trust and the trust of his parents, the molestation began. In his book, Killing Willis, Todd describes the first time. “‘Pull your pants down,’ he said. I didn’t want to lose everything he had given me. And so I did. He put his mouth on me. I got hard. I didn’t know where to look or how to feel. I squirmed against the back of the seat. He kept on going, getting into it. I hoped it would be over fast. Then it happened. I came. As confused and upset as I was, I liked the feeling,” Todd writes. “I didn’t think about whether it was wrong that a man had done that to me. I just wanted it to be over. I held on to the fact that it felt good.” Todd cries and covers his face with his hand. It’s been more than 30 years since that day, but Todd is still overcome with emotion when discussing his abuse. “I’m past it, but it still hurts,” he says. “It ruined my life. I spent the rest of my time trying to cover up how I felt about it and that pain, and I hated it.” Oprah says that after the break Todd will tell us what is worse than being abused.

From ages 11 to 12, Todd says the man abused him three separate times. The abuser tried to take the place of his father, saying he loved Todd more than his father did. When he tried for the fourth time, Todd fought back. “He wanted to go places, and I didn’t want to go at that point because I knew something was wrong. It just didn’t feel right,” he says. “I remember I was sitting on my living room couch in Baldwin Hills, and my mom was there. He came in the room, and I just jumped on him. I wanted to kill him at that point, because I really felt like I was in such pain, and I wanted to attack him.” Todd attacked his abuser before his mother, Betty, could pull him away. At that moment, she says she realized what had happened. In the audience, she says, “I had been molested myself,” Betty says. “I knew something was wrong. I told him, ‘Leave my house right now.’” When the man refused to leave, Betty says she went into the kitchen and came back with a knife. “I forced him out of the house,” she says. “And I called Todd’s father and told his father what had happened. He didn’t believe it.” Todd’s father accused his son of lying about the abuse. “That really destroyed me because my father was supposed to be my protector. He didn’t protect me. He allowed this man to do this to me and didn’t help me,” he says. He cries. “That was the breaking point for me.” From that moment on, Todd says he was hell-bent on getting even with his father and making him pay for how his accusations made him feel. He says he no longer cared about the abuser, only his father’s reaction. He says that he has kids and if one of them told him they’d been abused then “that man’s dead. There is no way that he’s going to live.” The crowd applaud. Um, yeah, says Oprah. Todd says that he was never a liar, so he didn’t know why his father didn’t believe him. Todd says he thought he was gay after being abused because his first—and only—sexual experience up until that point had been with a man. “I didn’t know because I was thinking, ‘Well, I liked the way it felt, and maybe that’s what I’m into,’” he says. Then, when he was 12 1/2 years old, Todd says he and his co-star Dana Plato began experimenting sexually. “That proved to me that I liked girls,” he says. The audience laugh.

Oprah says that reading the book made it clear to her that Todd’s desire for sex and using and abusing women was connected to the abuse. But, from adolescence on, Todd says his sexual abuse affected the way he treated the women in his life. For years, he used, abused and discarded girlfriends…except one. “There’s only one girl in my life that I had feelings for that I did not want to hurt. Only one woman, and that was Janet [Jackson],” he says. “I backed away from her because she was such a nice person. She was so good to me that I just couldn’t see myself hurting her like that.” Todd says he chose Janet to play his girlfriend on Diff’rent Strokes, and they dated for a short time in the ’80s.

Around this time, when Todd was 15 or 16, he says he began experimenting with drugs. “I wouldn’t do it on the set. I would never do that. I would always wait until the weekends and do it just to try to forget what I was going through,” he says. “When I was on the set, I felt such peace and safety.” Todd says Conrad Bain, the actor who played Mr. Drummond, his father on Diff’rent Strokes, was more of a dad to him than his own father was.

Oprah asks about his father. At home, Todd lived in fear of his father. “Whenever the garage door would start to come open, that’s when we got nervous because we knew my dad was going to be drunk,” he says. “We knew that he was going to be angry, and most times, he was always angry at me.” He would shout and scream and slap Todd on the back of the head, and to this day that is why he will hit someone who slaps him on the back of the head.

When Diff’rent Strokes went off the air in 1986, Todd was a star. Two years later, he says he was living in South Central Los Angeles, the neighborhood where his downward spiral began. He takes the camera crew back to his life. “I had no shoes on, no shirt on, no money in my pocket, and I felt horrible about myself,” he says. “I felt that my life was over.” To support his voracious drug habit, Todd began dealing marijuana, speed, crack and cocaine. “I wasn’t Willis when I was over here. I was Todd Bridges, the drug dealer,” he says. “I was considered a pretty notorious character. I had a .45-caliber MAC-10 I used to carry on me. I had a 9 mm, and if I showed you it and it came out of my waistband, you were shot,” he says. “It was a matter of survival of the fittest.”

He takes the crew to the house he used to deal meth from, and says that he was so paranoid he dug a tunnel from the house to the corner of the street, to get away from the police. “That’s how I would get away from the police,” he says. “Because I knew the police were watching me.”

He shows the crew the payphone that he used to run his whole operation. During this time, Todd says he also employed girls as drug dealers so he could have sex with them. “I was a pimp in a lot of ways. I’m not happy saying that I was, but I was. That’s the reality of it,” he says. “I can’t hide behind what I’ve done wrong, but I can say that everything I did was in the depth of me being loaded.”

He was addicted to crack, and then meth amphetamine. The first time he shot up meth, he had an orgasm. He wanted to feel nothing. After Todd became addicted to meth, he says he cut off contact with his family, holed up in his home and battled vivid hallucinations.

Oprah asks if it is true that Todd used to be recognized all the time. He says people used to recognize him on the street and in crack houses, but he would tell them to shut up and stay away. Todd says he once stayed up for 14 days straight doing drugs, an unimaginable feat that caused psychosis. “I started having grand mal seizures,” he says. “I went into that house, and I started seeing these little green men that came up, and I thought my grandmother had put these inside my house, underneath it. I was chasing them. I was shooting at them.”

Oprah asks how it was to see her boy in this state. Betty says she had no idea what was happening to her son. “He disappeared. I didn’t know where he was,” she says. “I did know that he was gone on drugs, and I just went into prayer, and I said to God, ‘If you want to take him, take him.’ I don’t want to see him like that.” She said she is giving her son back to God, Todd puts his head in his hands.

Oprah asks Todd what saved him. He got arrested and he was offered by the judge to go to jail or rehab.  He went to rehab again, thinking it would never work and after a violent episode he ended up being put in a straightjacket and a diaper. Oprah asks if there is anything more demoralizing than being strapped in four ways wearing only a diaper? No, “nothing more demoralizing,” he says. “I said, ‘This is a far cry from being Willis Jackson.’” As he lay there, Todd realized something had to change. “I go: ‘This has got to stop. I’ve got to get my life together,’” he says. “And another voice came and said, ‘Just give yourself time.’ He says. ‘I want you to learn to listen.’ And I was like, ‘Well, listen to who?’ He goes, ‘Listen to who I put in front of you.’” By the third day he couldn’t hold it anymore and he pooped in the diaper. He was 26, this was “not cool.” Oprah says that everyone has stories of not being loved enough. She says that he got so much love, but not from his father. Since Todd says he never got enough love from his own father, he focuses on being positive and present with his own children. “I tell them I love them. I hug them. When my son wakes in the morning, he doesn’t have to worry about whether his dad’s in a bad mood,” he says. “I give him a hug and talk with him, because I don’t want him to be missing what I was missing.”

Todd, Gary and Dana, the child stores from Different Strokes all have had terrible issues with drugs and more, Dana died from an overdose. Oprah asks if they were all cursed. Todd says that they all had similar backgrounds. Todd has a very strong mother, and unfortunately the others don’t. He says that it was not a curse because he has been sober for 17 years. He is upset that people still judge him on his past. In Killing Willis, Todd says he makes his pain and mistakes known so people realize what he’s gone through to get to this point. “I accept full responsibility,” he says. “I made some stupid decisions and some horrible choices. But my question always is: ‘How long is the media going to continue to make me pay for it? What do I have to do?’”

He saved someones life and still his past baggage was brought up- sensationalism sells he said. He says that his life is great. Money is sometimes a worry. Oprah asks if he gets money from TV reruns. He got a check for $400 for Little House, Different Strokes he gets maybe $2 an episode and no DVD money. Oprah thanks him.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Even beautiful people and rich people and child stars have problems.

All addictions are attempts to hide the pain of feelings.

Even if you don’t love yourself at all, other people do love you.

You are the company that you keep.

There is nothing more demoralizing than being restrained in a straitjacket and wearing only a diaper.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

If you are a poster child for child stars gone bad, you may always be remembered for your mistakes.