Posts Tagged ‘Star Jones’

Star Says She & Rosie are “Buddies”

April 6th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff

The brief time that Star Jones and Rosie O’Donnell spent together on The View was infamously tense — and the two have long been rumored to be foes off screen. However, Star tells OK! that the two haven’t just buried the hatchet — in fact, they’re pairing up to auction off a lunch with both of them to raise money for children in need.

"Rosie and I didn’t grow up as children of privilege," Star explained to OK! at Monday’s Skating With the Stars event at Central Park’s Wollman Rink in NYC. "We always had that in common. We talked about it all the time."

Star says it was then a no-brainer to approach Rosie about the auction to help children in Harlem. "Without hesitation, she immediatley said ‘of course!’" she recalled.

So have the two managed to put their past troubles behind them?

"What most people dont know is Rosie and I have been buddies for over a year and a half," Star revealed. "We’ve been talking, we e-mail, we text. As a matter of fact, in the cab on the way here she was sending me a text."

Star says she’s actually surprised that folks she and Rosie are still at each other’s throat. "People don’t believe that adult women know how to say, ‘I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings. That was not my intent. Let’s get back to hanging like we should.’ We’re grownups."

That being said, the business-savvy Star was well aware of the publicity a joint project with Rosie would generate. "We knew that it would get buzz. That’s why we did it," she explained. :We’re not stupid. What we want is that buzz to turn into money for figure skating in Harlem."

You can learn more about the auction at Star’s new personal blog.

By Laura Lane

Everything’s Rosie Between O’Donnell and Star

April 3rd, 2009

OK, guys — you can put your "Team Rosie" and "Team Star" t-shirts away now. Rosie O’Donnell and The View host Star Jones have buried the hatchet.

The two of them used to squabble when they hosted the show together — and eventually fell out off screen after Rosie said that Star was "delusional" for saying she had lost weight without the help of surgery.

But now Rosie has told Extra that they’re socialising again — and, anyway, it was never personal.

"It was never a personal thing with her. We’re both strong women," Rosie told the show.

 

"We’re the same exact age and I admired her in the beginning and then I watched her sort of get swept away in the insanity of fame.”

(Erm, that sounds just a little personal, doesn’t it?)

“We’re actually having dinner next week," O’Donnell said.  
 
O’Donnell told the show that she changed her opinion about Jones’ weight loss saying, “To see her evolved into the woman that she is…I liked her. I watched her on that show and was really proud of her and happy for her.”

And as for the delusional comment? "Everyone gets there in their own time," said Rosie. "It’s sort of like people saying, ‘Gay people should come out more’….Why didn’t she talk about it? She wasn’t ready to talk about it. But it was just hard to pretend as though we [The View co-hosts] believed."
 
Now O’Donnell and Jones are auctioning off a lunch date with the two of them in New York City to benefit the Figure Skating in Harlem’s Skating with the Stars Gala. Jones is co-chair of the charity.
 
Extra’s interview with Rosie airs tonight, and you can click here for more on this story.

Star Jones’ Health Scare

March 31st, 2009

Before she was Star Jones, famous TV personality, she was a teenage girl struggling with a weight problem and a scary diagnosis.

 

"I was diagnosed with a tumor in my chest cavity," she tells Extra in an interview airing tonight of her health scare as a teen. "It left me with some physical scars and some emotional ones and I used to do everything in my power to hide the scar on the center of my chest."

 

"When they took the bandages off in the hospital, I had a complete nervous breakdown, almost," she adds. "[I wasp] crying because I saw my chest with stitches and sutures and it really devastated me at 19 years old."

 

Star also says the radiation treatment she underwent affected her weight.

 

"My thyroid was completely irradiated. So I saw myself balloon over the years and then that coupled with being lethargic and sedentary and overeating and relying on food, it just became an epidemic," says the formerly overweight TV personality.

 

Star will continue to shed light on her 160-pound weight loss on Oprah tomorrow, praising the daytime diva by saying,"She gives you a very safe place to share and sort of free yourself from demons. Oprah has been very candid about her weight struggles and I think it gave me a little bit of camaraderie to know that I was not just talking to her but I was talking to a number of her viewers who face the same struggle daily."

Star Jones Talks Friendship

November 10th, 2008

Star Jones is dear friends with philanthropist Denise Rich, and shows it by attending her Gabrielle’s Gala benefiting Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research.

The former View host, 46, who has filed for divorce from Al Reynolds, talks about why her female friendships matter most.

“It has been said that ‘a woman without good girlfriends is a sad woman indeed,’” Star tells me. “I couldn’t agree more.  When life hands you ups, downs and sideways, it is your girls who have your back — and often your front.  Denise and I have surrounded each other with love and support in good times and bad.  It’s just what we do.”

Why does this North Carolina native make a great friend?

“Loyalty and trust — the only two things that really matter between friends,” she says. “If you’re my girlfriend, I love who you love — and then I’m there standing with you when you decide you don’t.  You can trust me with your secrets. I’m a vault.”

Supporting Denise’s cause is another way Star shows her loyalty. Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research was formed in loving memory of Denise’s daughter Gabrielle, who succumbed to Leukemia in 1996.

“We can’t cure cancer without the vital research that young researchers are providing by pushing the envelope and stepping outside of the box,” she says. “We here at the foundation believe that the only way we can adequately honor Gabrielle’s memory is to find a cure. And if you know anything about Denise, you know that she won’t stop until we do.”

Spotted!

October 28th, 2008

Kurt Russell and Alex Waldrop, the President of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, attend the 2008 Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships at the Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

 

Jeremy Piven, Elizabeth Moss and Mad Men’s Jon Hamm celebrating at the Bombay Sapphire Gin-sponsored Speed the Plow opening in NYC on Oct. 23rd. Additional celebs in attendance included Liev Schreiber and Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie.

Jessica Stroup sipped on cocktails from Pavé at Kitson’s launch party for the 90210 clothing collection

Star Jones at Gabrielles Angel Foundation for Cancer Research event at Cipriani Wall Street in NYC.

Chuck star Zac Levi watching the Smashing Pumpkins perform at the Best Buy Guitar Hero World Tour Launch party at Best Buy in West Hollywood Oct. 25.

Luke Wilson and Bai Ling at the opening of W Scottsdale.

While husband Nick Cannon was DJing at the Blackberry party at Prive, Mariah Carey went mostly unnoticed at Miami hotspot The Florida Room at Delano.

Hosts Kate Beckinsale and Len Wiseman presenting their favorite film, All About Eve, at new American clothing brand Martin + Osas In-House Series garden screening at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont in support of FilmAid International.

Elton John joining husband David Furnish to celebrate his birthday at the Hard Rock’s Pool at the Palapa hut.

Diddy grooving in the DJ booth with DJ Kiss while celebrating his cover of L’Uomo Vogue at 1Oak in NYC.

 

Ryan Phillipe and Breckin Meyer having cocktails and shots at Dan Tana’s in L.A.

Naomi Watts at the Thompson LES in NYC.

Selena Gomez at the Comme des Garcons for H&M Collection Preview event in NYC.

Michelle Trachtenberg at the Macdella Cooper Foundation fundraiser at the New York Athletic Club.

Jessica Alba and family renting an apartment at 20 Exchange Place in NYC’s Financial District.

Paula Abdul at Ra Sushi.

Karina Smirnoff at AXE PROXIMITY and 944 Magazine’s Behind the UnScene, an exclusive one-night charity event at Rande Gerbers Stone Rose Lounge in Los Angeles featuring fragrance-inspired cocktails by Belvedere.

Will, Jada Crash ‘Lakeview Terrace’ Premiere

September 20th, 2008

Will Smith commands the spotlight when he and Jada Pinkett Smith dash into the Lakeview Terrace premiere held at AMC Lincoln Square in NYC. Her brother, Caleeb, has a role in the flick, and the family is out in full force to support.

Will, who produced the thriller, runs through. “I’m a fantastic neighbor!” he says emphatically.

Samuel L. Jackson plays a bad cop and Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are his interracial-couple neighbors in the film that is in theaters now.

Hey Will, why Sam for bad cop?

“He has the specific karma to let it all out,” Will says. “He has the specific point of view. I saw Sam from day one with that thing.”

Eva La Rue says Britney Spears would make the worst neighbor. Why? “Can you imagine trying to get out of your driveway every morning with everybody else parked with coffee and doughnuts waiting for her to get up and come out and drive down the street?” she tells me. “I’m sure it would just be a nightmare. Poor thing.”

Here’s Kerry. “Good to see you!” she says. And who would be her pick for worst celeb neighbor? “I would hate to say,” kind and thoughtful Kerry tells me. “You might think that somebody’s going to be a bad neighbor, and then they might surprise you. That’s the miracle of the human spirit.”

Star Jones slides through, looking super-amazing for her. She’s dating a chef, so what’s her favorite dish he cooks for her? “None of your business!” she says, laughing.

Samuel’s worst neighbor? None other than John McCain. “He’s too short,” he tells me.

Patrick is married to Dagmara Dominczyk, whose sister Marika is married to Felicity’s Scott Foley – who was once married to Jennifer Garner (who is now married to Ben Affleck). Tangled web, right? (He also appears with Katie Holmes in All My Sons on Broadway now.)

What’s the key to a happy marriage?

“Communication,” Patrick tells me. “For me, that’s really the important thing. Talking, communicating, trying to be on the same page about everything and making the right decisions.”

Lakeview Terrace is in theaters now.

Live from Denver…

August 27th, 2008

Setting: MySpace Cafe, downtown Denver.

 

I’m sitting in a satellite MySpace Cafe enjoying a free grilled cheese, tomato soup and coffee while I wait for Kal Penn and Star Jones to stop by for lunch - and a few questions from yours truly. I heard stars from Madonna to Gwyneth, Bono to George Clooney were going to be in town but am so far disappointed. George is actually in Venice palling around with BFF Brad Pitt and promoting his film in the Venice Film Festival as I write and was saying last night how he’s better suited to be at a film festival than taking the limelight off the candidates at the DNC.

That said, at this point I’m taking what I can get. I like Kal and his character on House and I’ve interviewed Ms. Jones several times before, but they’re not Ben Affleck. I was slated to interview Ben while he was at a City Harvest event at the local Food Bank, but alas, that was not to be.

Eva Longoria was here at MySpace Cafe yesterday. I saw her Desperate Housewives co-star Dana Delaney this morning at a Creative Coalition event honoring the film "14 Women" and its narrarator Annette Benning, who Anne Hathaway gushed ‘is perfect.’

Dana told me, ‘There are so, so, so many surprises next season on Desperate Housewives!" She told me she took a couple of days off to come to the DNC, they’re currently shooting episode five of the season and since it’s five years later than when last season left off, hair/make-up takes a little bit longer, except ‘Not for Eva’ who decided to chop her locks and put on some pounds to change her look in both her real and false realities. Dana, who said she’s been emailing with Eva since she got here, thinks Eva’s dedication to the role ‘is great.’  Conversely, she obvs. doesn’t speak as much to her other co-star Nicolette Sheridan because was quite surprised when I’d informed her Nicolette and her fiance Michael Bolton had called off their long engagement.

 

Stay tuned for more, live from the DNC in Denver…

Donald Trump Comments on Star-Barbara Feud

May 13th, 2008

Everyone has an opinion on the war of words between Star Jones and Barbara Walters – including Donald Trump himself.

The business mogul, who had an infamous feud with former View moderator Rosie O’Donnell, finds the Jones-Walter verbal feud “very interesting.”

“I’m surprised that Star took such a tough shot at Barbara, but she felt slighted in the book, so I guess she figured she was hitting back,” Donald tells Extra. “But I think that it was unfortunate that Star took such a tough stand.”

After Barbara revealed she had to “lie” about Star’s gastric bypass surgery in her new memoir, Audition, Star fought back with a harsh statement, which also alluded to the journalist’s affair with then-married Senator Edward Brooks.

“It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book. It speaks to her true character,” Star said.

As for his own relationship with Barbara – which faltered when he pitted her between him and Rosie – the Trumpster says they’re on the road to making amends.

“Barbara wrote me a beautiful letter and the letter said that she really missed me in her life and I thought that was very nice,” he says.

The 61-year-old, who says that O.J. will not be on the next Celebrity Apprentice, also had some thoughts on Alec Baldwin’s consideration for a future in politics.

“Nobody could be worse than our current president and I’d love to see Alec Baldwin in politics," he says. "He’d be terrific. He’d do a very good job. He’d work hard and he’s smart!”

Barbara Walters Responds to Star Jones

May 8th, 2008

A day after Star Jones lambasted Barbara Walters’ character in a harsh statement, the TV icon is responding to her war-of-words foe in the most diplomatic way possible.

"I didn’t see the statement,” Barbara tells Entertainment Tonight. “I have very good memories of Star and I’d like to keep it that way."

Star, who last had a bitter feud with the View matriarch when she left the chat-fest in 2006, released a statement yesterday following Barbara’s revelation in her new memoir, Audition, that she was forced to lie about Star’s gastric bypass surgery in 1999.

The statement read:

“It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book. It speaks to her true character.”

Barbara details her and her View co-hosts’ uneasiness about lying for Star in the tome, along with a shocking admission to having had an affair with then-married Senator Edward Brooke in the 1970s.

 

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