[Written by Erika Waddell, based on NYPost.com article]
(Anchor – in studio)
A young man fell to his death from the 59th Street Bridge last night. Erika Waddell is covering the story. Erika, what do we know?
(Live shot – On 60th street, Bridge in background)
Well, we know that the young man was 27 year-old Christian Milin of Woodside Queens. And he’d been walking home after a night of celebrating the Fourth of July when his life took a tragic turn.
(Photo of victim, UES bars, Cars driving on bridge)
VO: Milin and a friend had gone bar-hopping in the city that night. Instead of taking a taxi to get home, the two men decided to walk.
(Victim’s friend)
SOT: We decided we were going to be adventurous. We decided we were going to walk across the bridge.
(Close up on bridge, Zoom out to show water)
VO: It’s not clear how Milin fell, but it appears to be accidental. According to police, he was walking about 35 feet behind his friend when he either tripped or slipped.
(Policeman)
SOT: He tumbled two stories. There doesn’t appear to be any foul play involved, but alcohol probably played a part.
(More bar shots)
VO: Milin’s friend admits that the two had been drinking that night.
(Friend, more bridge shots)
SOT: Honestly, we probably shouldn’t have been walking on that point of the bridge.
(Hospital shots)
VO: Milin was rushed to Cornell Medical Center, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
(Father and mother, father talking)
SOT: The last time I saw him was at dinner. Then the hospital called us at 4 o’clock in the morning, and he died. We are just devastated. We only had him.
(Live shot – 60th St.)
Milin was a budding cameraman for New York 1. Funeral services will be held early next week in Queens. Reporting live from Manhattan, Erika Waddell.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Shore Pollution Package
[Written by Erika Waddell, based on news stock footage]
(Anchor – in studio)
Polluted waters and empty beaches in New Jersey are making headlines across the country. Erika Waddell is live in Asbury Park, the center of all the controversy. Erika –
(Live shot – boardwalk in background)
As you can see behind me, the boardwalk is almost completely empty. Those who used to flock to the Jersey shore have decided to stay home or go elsewhere. Poor sewage treatment has had a devastating effect on the ocean and the city’s economy.
(Two people walking on empty street, desolate houses/hotels)
VO: The usually thriving beach town of Asbury Park has become a ghost town. Owners of concession stands and hotels have taken a hard financial hit.
(Hotel owner)
SOT: We have 40 rooms that are occupied anywhere from 80 to 90 percent on an average weekend. This past weekend we were down to about 10 percent.
(Close up on Ormond sign, older people on porch swing)
VO: Josh Smith owns The Ormond Accommodations, which typically brings in its most business in July. He says he’s losing about $4,000 a day.
(Hotel owner, few people on boardwalk)
SOT: Not only did we lose reservations, but we lost the people who had usually come down.
(Audience at meeting)
VO: Business owners aren’t the only ones feeling the loss. Residents feel they’re paying the price for the mayor’s negligence. Many gathered this evening to urge local politicians to take action.
(Man at mic, close-ups on concerned faces, different audience shots)
SOT: For the past 16 years the people and the government of Asbury Park have not only been negligent but I feel what they’ve done has been criminal (applause).
(Woman reading ‘Join the Fight’ pamphlet, close-up on it’s cover)
VO: Residents of Asbury Park are so fed up that they’re ready to take legal action. Local politicians admit they have a huge problem on their hands.
(Man in suit #1)
SOT: I feel very strongly that it’s been a cumulative effect. That every year over the last three or four years it’s gotten worse.
(Dirty water, foam in waves)
VO: But plant operators insist that they’re working as fast as they can to remedy the situation.
(Man in suit #2)
SOT: On Friday the new plant should be online and operating which will treat the waste much better than it is right now and discharge it farther out into the ocean.
(Live shot – boardwalk behind)
Business owners hope the sewage problem clears up immediately and wonder if the summer is even salvageable. Reporting live from New Jersey, Erika Waddell.
(Anchor – in studio)
Polluted waters and empty beaches in New Jersey are making headlines across the country. Erika Waddell is live in Asbury Park, the center of all the controversy. Erika –
(Live shot – boardwalk in background)
As you can see behind me, the boardwalk is almost completely empty. Those who used to flock to the Jersey shore have decided to stay home or go elsewhere. Poor sewage treatment has had a devastating effect on the ocean and the city’s economy.
(Two people walking on empty street, desolate houses/hotels)
VO: The usually thriving beach town of Asbury Park has become a ghost town. Owners of concession stands and hotels have taken a hard financial hit.
(Hotel owner)
SOT: We have 40 rooms that are occupied anywhere from 80 to 90 percent on an average weekend. This past weekend we were down to about 10 percent.
(Close up on Ormond sign, older people on porch swing)
VO: Josh Smith owns The Ormond Accommodations, which typically brings in its most business in July. He says he’s losing about $4,000 a day.
(Hotel owner, few people on boardwalk)
SOT: Not only did we lose reservations, but we lost the people who had usually come down.
(Audience at meeting)
VO: Business owners aren’t the only ones feeling the loss. Residents feel they’re paying the price for the mayor’s negligence. Many gathered this evening to urge local politicians to take action.
(Man at mic, close-ups on concerned faces, different audience shots)
SOT: For the past 16 years the people and the government of Asbury Park have not only been negligent but I feel what they’ve done has been criminal (applause).
(Woman reading ‘Join the Fight’ pamphlet, close-up on it’s cover)
VO: Residents of Asbury Park are so fed up that they’re ready to take legal action. Local politicians admit they have a huge problem on their hands.
(Man in suit #1)
SOT: I feel very strongly that it’s been a cumulative effect. That every year over the last three or four years it’s gotten worse.
(Dirty water, foam in waves)
VO: But plant operators insist that they’re working as fast as they can to remedy the situation.
(Man in suit #2)
SOT: On Friday the new plant should be online and operating which will treat the waste much better than it is right now and discharge it farther out into the ocean.
(Live shot – boardwalk behind)
Business owners hope the sewage problem clears up immediately and wonder if the summer is even salvageable. Reporting live from New Jersey, Erika Waddell.
Discovery of Dead Newborn Package
[Written by Erika Waddell, based on NYTimes.com article]
(Anchor – in studio)
Police discovered the body of a baby girl early this morning in a Brooklyn apartment. Erika Waddell is live with that story. Erika –
(Live shot – on street, apartment behind)
The mood is very grim in this neighborhood as police are try to figure out exactly how this baby died. But they have confirmed finding a newborn wrapped in a garbage bag here at this Brooklyn complex earlier today.
(Signs and stuffed animals people left outside door, hospital)
VO: At about 2:15 this morning police searched the home of 20 year-old Shirley Courcelle. They were summoned by doctors at Coney Island Hospital after Courcelle came in claiming to have had a miscarriage.
(Doctor, police going in and out of hospital)
SOT: When she came in, she was bleeding very badly. She told us she had suffered a miscarriage, but we did an exam on her, and it was clear that she had in fact given birth. That’s when we called the police to investigate.
(Apartment building shots, garbage shoot/dumpster)
VO: According to police, Courcelle confessed to giving birth but said the baby had been stillborn. She told them she through the body down the garbage shoot of her apartment building.
(Police officer)
SOT: That actually turned out to be a lie. But we kept searching and eventually found the body in her closet in a dark plastic bag.
(Press conference)
VO: The medical examiner’s office has yet to confirm or deny that the baby was stillborn, but we are slowly learning more details.
(Medical examiner spokeswoman)
SOT: We now know that the baby was carried to term, and that she was born at approximately 8am. She weighed six pounds.
(Hospital entrance, photos of Courcelle)
VO: According to police, Courcelle went to the hospital alone. And we’ve since learned that no one, not even her boyfriend, knew she was pregnant. Apparently she’d been hiding in baggy clothes for months.
(Boyfriend)
SOT: She couldn’t have been in her correct state of mind. If anything, she’s for kids. That’s not what she’s about.
(Neighbor)
SOT: She’s just a regular girl. I never thought she could cause anyone any harm.
(Live shot – on street)
Police escorted Courcelle home earlier today. Prosecutors are waiting to hear if the baby was born alive before they decide how to handle the case. Reporting live from Brooklyn, Erika Waddell.
(Anchor – in studio)
Police discovered the body of a baby girl early this morning in a Brooklyn apartment. Erika Waddell is live with that story. Erika –
(Live shot – on street, apartment behind)
The mood is very grim in this neighborhood as police are try to figure out exactly how this baby died. But they have confirmed finding a newborn wrapped in a garbage bag here at this Brooklyn complex earlier today.
(Signs and stuffed animals people left outside door, hospital)
VO: At about 2:15 this morning police searched the home of 20 year-old Shirley Courcelle. They were summoned by doctors at Coney Island Hospital after Courcelle came in claiming to have had a miscarriage.
(Doctor, police going in and out of hospital)
SOT: When she came in, she was bleeding very badly. She told us she had suffered a miscarriage, but we did an exam on her, and it was clear that she had in fact given birth. That’s when we called the police to investigate.
(Apartment building shots, garbage shoot/dumpster)
VO: According to police, Courcelle confessed to giving birth but said the baby had been stillborn. She told them she through the body down the garbage shoot of her apartment building.
(Police officer)
SOT: That actually turned out to be a lie. But we kept searching and eventually found the body in her closet in a dark plastic bag.
(Press conference)
VO: The medical examiner’s office has yet to confirm or deny that the baby was stillborn, but we are slowly learning more details.
(Medical examiner spokeswoman)
SOT: We now know that the baby was carried to term, and that she was born at approximately 8am. She weighed six pounds.
(Hospital entrance, photos of Courcelle)
VO: According to police, Courcelle went to the hospital alone. And we’ve since learned that no one, not even her boyfriend, knew she was pregnant. Apparently she’d been hiding in baggy clothes for months.
(Boyfriend)
SOT: She couldn’t have been in her correct state of mind. If anything, she’s for kids. That’s not what she’s about.
(Neighbor)
SOT: She’s just a regular girl. I never thought she could cause anyone any harm.
(Live shot – on street)
Police escorted Courcelle home earlier today. Prosecutors are waiting to hear if the baby was born alive before they decide how to handle the case. Reporting live from Brooklyn, Erika Waddell.
Beach Cop Runs Over Sunbather Package
[Written by Erika Waddell, based on CNN.com article]
(Anchor – in studio)
A Florida patrol truck ran over a young woman on the beach. Could this happen to you? Erika Waddell is covering the story from Jones Beach. Erika -
(Live shot – walking on beach, sunbathers in back)
If you thought the ocean was the most dangerous part of a day at the beach, think again. Yesterday a Daytona Beach patroller accidentally ran over a sunbather! Sounds like a freak accident, but the officers here on Jones Beach drive the same kind of trucks as the one in the accident. It could just as easily happen here.
(Tire tracks in the sand)
VO: Officer Robert Augustynowski was reportedly driving his patrol truck at two and a half miles per hour when he ran over 20-year-old Danielle Taylor.
(Patrol spokeswoman)
SOT: The officer didn’t see her and drove diagonally over her body. Two of the tires rolled over her shoulder and her hip.
(Medical aid facility/EMTs on beach)
VO: Taylor was rushed to Halifax Medical Center. Doctors have yet to say how she’s doing.
(Beach Patrol Capt.)
SOT: She was clearly hurt, but she seemed awake and alert right after the accident. But that’s all I know.
(Jones beach lifeguards, patrol trucks driving, sunbathers, first aid signs)
VO: A shocking incident in itself, but even more appalling is that this kind of thing has happened before. Last August, a sunbather was run over while sitting in a lounge chair. And in 2003, a Miami policeman drove over two women, killing one, while on a chase.
(Beach goer #1)
SOT: That’s so scary. You assume that you’re safe on the beach. At least you’re out of the water so you shouldn’t have to worry about anything.
(Beach goer #2)
SOT: Patrollers should be there to protect us, not to hurt us.
(More beach shots, patrollers and trucks)
VO: So should you worry about this happening to you or your children? Officers of the Jones Beach Patrol don’t think so.
(Officer #1)
SOT: Though they’re unfortunate, those are isolated incidents. Accidents happen, but I assure you, these kinds of things are rare.
(Officer #2)
SOT: If you’re sunbathing, you should always make sure to stay with the crowd. You’ll be safer in many ways if you’re with a group and stay visible.
(Live shot – beach with sunbathers in background)
And those are definitely some important tips to remember this summer no matter where you are. Reporting live from Long Island, Erika Waddell.
(Anchor – in studio)
A Florida patrol truck ran over a young woman on the beach. Could this happen to you? Erika Waddell is covering the story from Jones Beach. Erika -
(Live shot – walking on beach, sunbathers in back)
If you thought the ocean was the most dangerous part of a day at the beach, think again. Yesterday a Daytona Beach patroller accidentally ran over a sunbather! Sounds like a freak accident, but the officers here on Jones Beach drive the same kind of trucks as the one in the accident. It could just as easily happen here.
(Tire tracks in the sand)
VO: Officer Robert Augustynowski was reportedly driving his patrol truck at two and a half miles per hour when he ran over 20-year-old Danielle Taylor.
(Patrol spokeswoman)
SOT: The officer didn’t see her and drove diagonally over her body. Two of the tires rolled over her shoulder and her hip.
(Medical aid facility/EMTs on beach)
VO: Taylor was rushed to Halifax Medical Center. Doctors have yet to say how she’s doing.
(Beach Patrol Capt.)
SOT: She was clearly hurt, but she seemed awake and alert right after the accident. But that’s all I know.
(Jones beach lifeguards, patrol trucks driving, sunbathers, first aid signs)
VO: A shocking incident in itself, but even more appalling is that this kind of thing has happened before. Last August, a sunbather was run over while sitting in a lounge chair. And in 2003, a Miami policeman drove over two women, killing one, while on a chase.
(Beach goer #1)
SOT: That’s so scary. You assume that you’re safe on the beach. At least you’re out of the water so you shouldn’t have to worry about anything.
(Beach goer #2)
SOT: Patrollers should be there to protect us, not to hurt us.
(More beach shots, patrollers and trucks)
VO: So should you worry about this happening to you or your children? Officers of the Jones Beach Patrol don’t think so.
(Officer #1)
SOT: Though they’re unfortunate, those are isolated incidents. Accidents happen, but I assure you, these kinds of things are rare.
(Officer #2)
SOT: If you’re sunbathing, you should always make sure to stay with the crowd. You’ll be safer in many ways if you’re with a group and stay visible.
(Live shot – beach with sunbathers in background)
And those are definitely some important tips to remember this summer no matter where you are. Reporting live from Long Island, Erika Waddell.
Westfield Tornado Package
[Written by Erika Waddell, based on news stock footage]
(studio – anchor)
A tornado ripped through a New Jersey neighborhood this afternoon. There’s a lot of damage, but fortunately, no one was hurt. Erika Waddell is live on the scene. Erika -
(live shot – on street, fire trucks in background)
We’re on North Avenue in Westfield, New Jersey, a place where people usually don’t have to worry about tornadoes. But tonight, power lines are down and residents are shaken after one touched down right here.
(trees down, garage collapsed)
VO: This neighborhood was left a mess after a tornado whipped through around 3 this
afternoon. Winds were strong enough to uproot large trees and even caused some structural damage.
(Woman with umbrella)
SOT: It was a very big cloud up in the sky swirling around. It was coming from South Avenue up toward North Avenue, and it was just coming across the railroad tracks.
(Man witness)
SOT: Very dark clouds. The wind was blowing maybe over 75 miles per hour.
(Residents gathered on street, scene shots)
VO: When the weather cleared up, stunned residents gathered to survey the damage and share their experiences.
(Woman witness)
SOT: I’ve never seen anything like it, myself. It was swirling around like something you might see on a TV program how the wind whips around in a big circle.
(Uprooted trees, close up on roots)
SOT: And then you saw the trees fall? Yeah. The roots ripping out of the ground, you could hear that. It was a sight.
(Home with tree on roof)
VO: One home was seriously damaged when two uprooted trees crashed on its roof.
(Man next to house)
SOT: There’s a lot of structural damage and every room is pretty well smashed. The ceilings are down and there’s a lot of damage on the walls.
(House from different angles, zoom on roof damage, backyard shot)
SOT: It’s pretty lucky that no body was here. You see the news, you see it all the time but you never think it’s going to hit in New Jersey.
(live shot – on street, fire trucks in background)
Trees also fell onto power lines, causing a transformer to spark. Crews are busy trying to restore power tonight. North Avenue and other streets in the area will be blocked off until sometime tomorrow. Reporting live from New Jersey, I’m Erika Waddell.
(studio – anchor)
A tornado ripped through a New Jersey neighborhood this afternoon. There’s a lot of damage, but fortunately, no one was hurt. Erika Waddell is live on the scene. Erika -
(live shot – on street, fire trucks in background)
We’re on North Avenue in Westfield, New Jersey, a place where people usually don’t have to worry about tornadoes. But tonight, power lines are down and residents are shaken after one touched down right here.
(trees down, garage collapsed)
VO: This neighborhood was left a mess after a tornado whipped through around 3 this
afternoon. Winds were strong enough to uproot large trees and even caused some structural damage.
(Woman with umbrella)
SOT: It was a very big cloud up in the sky swirling around. It was coming from South Avenue up toward North Avenue, and it was just coming across the railroad tracks.
(Man witness)
SOT: Very dark clouds. The wind was blowing maybe over 75 miles per hour.
(Residents gathered on street, scene shots)
VO: When the weather cleared up, stunned residents gathered to survey the damage and share their experiences.
(Woman witness)
SOT: I’ve never seen anything like it, myself. It was swirling around like something you might see on a TV program how the wind whips around in a big circle.
(Uprooted trees, close up on roots)
SOT: And then you saw the trees fall? Yeah. The roots ripping out of the ground, you could hear that. It was a sight.
(Home with tree on roof)
VO: One home was seriously damaged when two uprooted trees crashed on its roof.
(Man next to house)
SOT: There’s a lot of structural damage and every room is pretty well smashed. The ceilings are down and there’s a lot of damage on the walls.
(House from different angles, zoom on roof damage, backyard shot)
SOT: It’s pretty lucky that no body was here. You see the news, you see it all the time but you never think it’s going to hit in New Jersey.
(live shot – on street, fire trucks in background)
Trees also fell onto power lines, causing a transformer to spark. Crews are busy trying to restore power tonight. North Avenue and other streets in the area will be blocked off until sometime tomorrow. Reporting live from New Jersey, I’m Erika Waddell.
Scarsdale Traffic Shooting Package
[Written by Erika Waddell, based on news stock footage]
(Studio - anchor)
A traffic dispute turned ugly in Scarsdale this afternoon when a well-known former investment banker allegedly shot another driver. That man is in stable condition tonight. Erika Waddell is reporting live from Village Court. Erika –
(Live shot – Courthouse)
An interesting turn of events has landed one man in the hospital and an investment banker jail. I’m standing in front of the Scarsdale Village Court where Arthur K. Solomon is awaiting arraignment tonight.
(Perp walking out of building)
VO: Arthur K. Solomon looked subdued as police escorted him to jail. The 67 year-old had turned himself in to police at 7 this evening.
(Scene shot)
VO: Around 2 o’clock today, Solomon allegedly shot a man off of Highway 95 near the Weaver Street exit.
(Police interview)
SOT: According to witnesses, both operators seemed to be arguing back and forth, yelling between the cars.
(Men searching white Honda)
VO: Witnesses report that the victim, 34 year old Michael Katugno, left his white Honda and approached Solomon’s red Mercedes on foot. Solomon then allegedly shot him in the abdomen.
(Police interview)
SOT: At that time witnesses heard a shot rang out. Mr. Katugno stumbled and the red Mercedes left the area.
(Police interview/scene shot)
SOT: Witnesses obtained his license plate number and we tracked that number to some offices in Manhattan.
(Perp getting into car and hiding face)
VO: Solomon offered to come to police headquarters and speak with investigators. They took him into custody upon arrival. Solomon was charged with attempted murder in the 2nd degree.
(Live shot – Courthouse)
Solomon is a retired partner of the Solomon Brothers banking firm. He faces 15-25 years in prison if convicted. For ___ News, I’m Erika Waddell.
(Studio - anchor)
A traffic dispute turned ugly in Scarsdale this afternoon when a well-known former investment banker allegedly shot another driver. That man is in stable condition tonight. Erika Waddell is reporting live from Village Court. Erika –
(Live shot – Courthouse)
An interesting turn of events has landed one man in the hospital and an investment banker jail. I’m standing in front of the Scarsdale Village Court where Arthur K. Solomon is awaiting arraignment tonight.
(Perp walking out of building)
VO: Arthur K. Solomon looked subdued as police escorted him to jail. The 67 year-old had turned himself in to police at 7 this evening.
(Scene shot)
VO: Around 2 o’clock today, Solomon allegedly shot a man off of Highway 95 near the Weaver Street exit.
(Police interview)
SOT: According to witnesses, both operators seemed to be arguing back and forth, yelling between the cars.
(Men searching white Honda)
VO: Witnesses report that the victim, 34 year old Michael Katugno, left his white Honda and approached Solomon’s red Mercedes on foot. Solomon then allegedly shot him in the abdomen.
(Police interview)
SOT: At that time witnesses heard a shot rang out. Mr. Katugno stumbled and the red Mercedes left the area.
(Police interview/scene shot)
SOT: Witnesses obtained his license plate number and we tracked that number to some offices in Manhattan.
(Perp getting into car and hiding face)
VO: Solomon offered to come to police headquarters and speak with investigators. They took him into custody upon arrival. Solomon was charged with attempted murder in the 2nd degree.
(Live shot – Courthouse)
Solomon is a retired partner of the Solomon Brothers banking firm. He faces 15-25 years in prison if convicted. For ___ News, I’m Erika Waddell.
Dentist/Child Abuse Package
[Written by Erika Waddell, based on news stock footage]
(Studio – Anchor)
We’ve got breaking news tonight out of Queens. A retired dentist was arrested this evening for sexually abusing at least three young boys. It happened at 190th street. Our own Erika Waddell is live on the scene. Erika –
(Live – front of house)
I’m standing in front of the home where police arrested John Smith earlier this evening. They began investigating Smith after concerned parents tipped them off. If convicted, he faces 8 counts of sodomy, sexual abuse, and child endangering.
(Perp walking out of building)
VO: The 65 year old retired dentist looked dazed as police walked him out of the station in handcuffs. Police took him into custody at about 4:30 this afternoon after searching his home. They found sexually explicit books, magazines, and video tapes. They’ve identified three victims but believe there are more.
(Press conference)
SOT: We don’t have a specific figure. What we’re doing is we talk to one individual we are getting other names and we’re trying to interview those people.
(Perp getting in car)
VO: Even more disturbing, Smith is a father, himself. According to police, the victims are all boys ranging in age from 11 to 13. For several months they had gone willingly to his home after school.
(Press conference)
SOT: Some children were shown like current movies and other children might be taken to other parts of the house where sexual activity would take place.
(Smith’s home, kids toys in yard)
VO: The video tapes police found in Smith’s home included child pornography, many depicting young boys. The tapes do not appear to be homemade.
(Street signs and neighborhood homes)
VO: Police also recovered what they believe to be marijuana.
(Press conference)
Drug paraphernalia was recovered. We don’t have any indication at this point that the children were offered drugs but that is a possibility.
(Live – front of house)
Police believe the abuse has been happening for several months but the investigation is ongoing. Police are currently booking Smith at County Jail. They have not yet questioned him. Reporting live from Queens, I’m Erika Waddell.
(Studio – Anchor)
We’ve got breaking news tonight out of Queens. A retired dentist was arrested this evening for sexually abusing at least three young boys. It happened at 190th street. Our own Erika Waddell is live on the scene. Erika –
(Live – front of house)
I’m standing in front of the home where police arrested John Smith earlier this evening. They began investigating Smith after concerned parents tipped them off. If convicted, he faces 8 counts of sodomy, sexual abuse, and child endangering.
(Perp walking out of building)
VO: The 65 year old retired dentist looked dazed as police walked him out of the station in handcuffs. Police took him into custody at about 4:30 this afternoon after searching his home. They found sexually explicit books, magazines, and video tapes. They’ve identified three victims but believe there are more.
(Press conference)
SOT: We don’t have a specific figure. What we’re doing is we talk to one individual we are getting other names and we’re trying to interview those people.
(Perp getting in car)
VO: Even more disturbing, Smith is a father, himself. According to police, the victims are all boys ranging in age from 11 to 13. For several months they had gone willingly to his home after school.
(Press conference)
SOT: Some children were shown like current movies and other children might be taken to other parts of the house where sexual activity would take place.
(Smith’s home, kids toys in yard)
VO: The video tapes police found in Smith’s home included child pornography, many depicting young boys. The tapes do not appear to be homemade.
(Street signs and neighborhood homes)
VO: Police also recovered what they believe to be marijuana.
(Press conference)
Drug paraphernalia was recovered. We don’t have any indication at this point that the children were offered drugs but that is a possibility.
(Live – front of house)
Police believe the abuse has been happening for several months but the investigation is ongoing. Police are currently booking Smith at County Jail. They have not yet questioned him. Reporting live from Queens, I’m Erika Waddell.
Teacher: Football Star Just Jovial, Not Stupid
by Erika Waddell
In an interview that aired last week on HBO's "Costas Now," Washington Redskins tackle Jon Jansen (left) said that "maybe 15, 20 percent" of NFL players use illegal performance-enhancing substances including human growth hormone. Less than 24 hours after the broadcast Jansen backed down from his initial estimate, saying, "What I meant by it was that it was a small number of players... being a football player, I'm not real good at math." Twenty percent of the NFL would translate into about 300 players.
But Jansen's high school math teacher thinks his former student was just flustered. He says Jansen knows percentages well enough.
"I think he was in the middle of an interview and probably came up with some small numbers thinking that they were small enough to cover the situation," explains David Waddell of Clawson High School in southeastern Michigan. Waddell, who retired in 1999, taught advanced algebra and trigonometry to Jansen when the future NFL star was in the eleventh grade. "I just think his math was off, and I can see that happening," he says.
According to Waddell, whose daughter, Erika, is a reporter for the Hollywood Heat web site, Jansen was actually "one of the smarter people," in his classroom. "He was a playful giant [who] was very respectful and did a good job in math... He was one of my favorite students, him and his brother."
Regarding Jansen's self-depreciating comments about his math skills, his former teacher says: "I enjoyed him saying that because that's the kind of jovial, fun person he is."
Though he took back his initial estimate, Jansen, 30, stands by his statement that it would be "very naive and foolish" to think players in the league aren't using human growth hormone. The league does not test for HGH.
Jansen joined the Redskins in 1999 after playing for the University of Michigan.
(Published on CourtTV.com Sept. 11, 2006)
In an interview that aired last week on HBO's "Costas Now," Washington Redskins tackle Jon Jansen (left) said that "maybe 15, 20 percent" of NFL players use illegal performance-enhancing substances including human growth hormone. Less than 24 hours after the broadcast Jansen backed down from his initial estimate, saying, "What I meant by it was that it was a small number of players... being a football player, I'm not real good at math." Twenty percent of the NFL would translate into about 300 players.
But Jansen's high school math teacher thinks his former student was just flustered. He says Jansen knows percentages well enough.
"I think he was in the middle of an interview and probably came up with some small numbers thinking that they were small enough to cover the situation," explains David Waddell of Clawson High School in southeastern Michigan. Waddell, who retired in 1999, taught advanced algebra and trigonometry to Jansen when the future NFL star was in the eleventh grade. "I just think his math was off, and I can see that happening," he says.
According to Waddell, whose daughter, Erika, is a reporter for the Hollywood Heat web site, Jansen was actually "one of the smarter people," in his classroom. "He was a playful giant [who] was very respectful and did a good job in math... He was one of my favorite students, him and his brother."
Regarding Jansen's self-depreciating comments about his math skills, his former teacher says: "I enjoyed him saying that because that's the kind of jovial, fun person he is."
Though he took back his initial estimate, Jansen, 30, stands by his statement that it would be "very naive and foolish" to think players in the league aren't using human growth hormone. The league does not test for HGH.
Jansen joined the Redskins in 1999 after playing for the University of Michigan.
(Published on CourtTV.com Sept. 11, 2006)
The Great Chases
by Erika Waddell
In " The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time " (Motorbooks), British auto writer Jesse Crosse takes a loving look at what went into the making of some of the best automobile pursuits in the history of the cinema. Full of interesting details and great action photos, the book ranks Crosse's 20 favorite car chases, including " The Seven-Ups ," (1973) " The French Connection " (1971), and " The Bourne Identity " (2002).
We recently spoke to Crosse about his love of the genre and why it's become a bit of a lost art.
Q: Do you remember the first chase scene you ever watched?
A: It would have been in a UK TV program like "The Saint," which was a detective story with Roger Moore that ran in the '60s. Or another one I remember seeing early on was "Hell Drivers." It was a great film with Stanley Baker, and it was more about people going mad in trucks and cars, but it was the same kind of idea.
Q: You were fascinated with chases early on?
A: Yeah, I think we all get gripped by these things. It's partly to do with the whole excitement of the images you're watching, but it's also a way of engaging yourself with what other people are doing without having to take the risk yourself.
Q: Why do you prefer the original versions of movies over their remakes?
A: If there's one main reason why the earlier movies were better, it's because the filming technology was raw, which gave it a very gritty, real feeling. When you watch films like "Bullitt" (1968), or any of the films from that era, you get a sense of poor quality, a certain amount of vibration in the film. I used to race cars a little bit, and I can remember the view from inside a race car looking quite similar. Often your eyeballs are vibrating and everything's jiggling around.
The very fact that things have gotten so good and technology is so slick actually doesn't help. The other thing I don't like about modern movies is the tendency to fast-edit everything. If you watch "Ronin " (1998), you see shots lasting about one second, and you don't get a chance to look at the cars and savor the moment.
Q: So you think new technology takes away?
A: Yes, I do, and I know that a lot of people in the film industry feel this way, especially in the stunt industry. CGI (computer-generated imagery), which has become more and more popular, takes away a lot. It just isn't real, and you can always tell.
Q: But aren't there always elements in a movie car chase that would never happen in real life?
A: It's unlikely we'd ever see any of these chase scenes in real life, if the truth be known. But if you look at something like the original "The Italian Job" (1969), when the cars jump the gap in the Fiat factory, that was done for real, no safety net. Rémy Julienne, the great French stunt driver, told me that the Italian workers were all queuing up to shake his hand [before attempting the jump] and it was only afterwards he found out it was because they thought they'd never see him again. It's just fantastic to look at the pictures of that and realize that the guys just got in the cars and did this for real. Something about knowing that makes it more compelling. If it's just fake, then it's not compelling.
Q: What is the Golden Age of the car chase?
A: The 1960s and early '70s when most of the great ones came out, like "The Italian Job" and "Bullitt." But looking at the dates of my top 20, there's actually quite a broad range, from the '60s right through to the '80s and even the '90s, with "Taxi" and "Taxi 2." So it implies that there's still the opportunity to make great chase scenes. "Die Another Day " was released in 2002, so the story isn't over yet.
Q: What ruins a good movie car chase?
A: When people clearly aren't driving the cars. I think what makes some car chase movies into cult movies is when the public finds out that some of those [actors] were doing [their own driving] for real. There's always been a lot of debate over whether (Steve) McQueen drove the cars himself (in "Bullitt"), and we know that it was mixture of him and the stunt guys driving, but he no doubt did do a lot of those sequences, and that made it compelling.
Q: Do you prefer actors to do their own stunts?
A: I think it's very cool if they do. Nic Cage is a guy from this era of filmmaking who's known for being very keen to do this stuff. Roger Moore also did a lot of his own stuff. But it's not a crucial thing. What is crucial is that the cars are driven for real and that the action you see is real.
Q: How willing are actors to do their own stunts?
A: Oh, that's a tough one. I would think it's a two-fold thing; not everybody wants or has the ability to drive in that way, and they have a tough time with insurance. But if you look back over the years, there are people who've been keen on getting involved in the action themselves. Quite a lot of driving went on, going way back, in films like "Grand Prix," which is a 1966 John Frankenheimer film. It wasn't a chase film, but it's important because it was part of the dynasty of car-chase filmmaking. It was where people like Frankenheimer were learning their craft of making films with cars.
Q: How do you feel about real-life chases, like on "COPS"? Are they as exciting?
A: That's a very good question. Some of them are absolutely horrendous, aren't they? We can enjoy the films because they're fantasy, but coming into the reality of the danger is obviously worrying. I don't like to see people doing that in real life, I don't think any of us do. And the other thing is that the people doing it are usually completely unskilled and it nearly always ends up in an awful accident. So I guess we get a bit of comfort in watching the movies because our heroes are always very skilled people because that's what the scriptwriter has decided.
Q: How much of a movie's budget typically goes into a chase scene?
A: This was difficult for me to pin down because the figures aren't really published. But the most expensive was probably the freeway chase in "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003), and that was actually a film set. It wasn't a closed freeway. The cost of the highway was reputedly $30 million. Now that's many times more than the entire budget for "Bullitt." They had a huge number of cars to do that ("The Matrix Reloaded") scene, and General Motors provided the cars. With "Bullitt," they had four cars in total: two Mustangs and two Chargers. So the scale is hard to imagine compared to what was done in the early days. And then you have to ask yourself, "How good was that chase scene in 'The Matrix Reloaded,' compared to 'Bullitt'?"
Q: Is it more or less dangerous today for stuntmen?
A: I think it's less dangerous today because the craft of stunt performance has been developed and there are so many lessons being learned and so much experience being gained. Now there are so many specialized companies around that have developed all this technology and equipment for doing these stunts. Today, the emphasis is always on safety; stunt performers now will tell you that they never really take risks.
Q: How cooperative are local authorities when these chase scenes are being filmed?
A: I think a lot of it comes down to luck. But Hollywood carries a lot of clout and I get the impression that most authorities are eager to cooperate. You see this a lot with the "Bond" movies, where they have all these boat scenes down the Thames, where you aren't allowed to drive a jet boat.
Q: What's your opinion on cars being modified to make them go faster? Does that take away from the realism?
A: No! I grew up modifying cars. There's something exciting about taking a car and making it much better and more capable than it was.
Q: Which cities lend themselves nicely to car chases?
A: San Francisco, obviously. But I don't really think it matters where it is because the focus is on the cars and the action. For you to notice the background, it has to be somewhere that is very dramatic visually. And obviously because of the hills, San Francisco is, so you immediately know where you are with that. And places like New York, which has got such familiar landmarks.
Q: Is there a formula, a recipe for a great chase scene?
A: Yeah. Keep it real. Don't fast-edit everything. And no CGI, thank you.
(Published on CourtTV.com Feb. 8, 2007)
In " The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time " (Motorbooks), British auto writer Jesse Crosse takes a loving look at what went into the making of some of the best automobile pursuits in the history of the cinema. Full of interesting details and great action photos, the book ranks Crosse's 20 favorite car chases, including " The Seven-Ups ," (1973) " The French Connection " (1971), and " The Bourne Identity " (2002).
We recently spoke to Crosse about his love of the genre and why it's become a bit of a lost art.
Q: Do you remember the first chase scene you ever watched?
A: It would have been in a UK TV program like "The Saint," which was a detective story with Roger Moore that ran in the '60s. Or another one I remember seeing early on was "Hell Drivers." It was a great film with Stanley Baker, and it was more about people going mad in trucks and cars, but it was the same kind of idea.
Q: You were fascinated with chases early on?
A: Yeah, I think we all get gripped by these things. It's partly to do with the whole excitement of the images you're watching, but it's also a way of engaging yourself with what other people are doing without having to take the risk yourself.
Q: Why do you prefer the original versions of movies over their remakes?
A: If there's one main reason why the earlier movies were better, it's because the filming technology was raw, which gave it a very gritty, real feeling. When you watch films like "Bullitt" (1968), or any of the films from that era, you get a sense of poor quality, a certain amount of vibration in the film. I used to race cars a little bit, and I can remember the view from inside a race car looking quite similar. Often your eyeballs are vibrating and everything's jiggling around.
The very fact that things have gotten so good and technology is so slick actually doesn't help. The other thing I don't like about modern movies is the tendency to fast-edit everything. If you watch "Ronin " (1998), you see shots lasting about one second, and you don't get a chance to look at the cars and savor the moment.
Q: So you think new technology takes away?
A: Yes, I do, and I know that a lot of people in the film industry feel this way, especially in the stunt industry. CGI (computer-generated imagery), which has become more and more popular, takes away a lot. It just isn't real, and you can always tell.
Q: But aren't there always elements in a movie car chase that would never happen in real life?
A: It's unlikely we'd ever see any of these chase scenes in real life, if the truth be known. But if you look at something like the original "The Italian Job" (1969), when the cars jump the gap in the Fiat factory, that was done for real, no safety net. Rémy Julienne, the great French stunt driver, told me that the Italian workers were all queuing up to shake his hand [before attempting the jump] and it was only afterwards he found out it was because they thought they'd never see him again. It's just fantastic to look at the pictures of that and realize that the guys just got in the cars and did this for real. Something about knowing that makes it more compelling. If it's just fake, then it's not compelling.
Q: What is the Golden Age of the car chase?
A: The 1960s and early '70s when most of the great ones came out, like "The Italian Job" and "Bullitt." But looking at the dates of my top 20, there's actually quite a broad range, from the '60s right through to the '80s and even the '90s, with "Taxi" and "Taxi 2." So it implies that there's still the opportunity to make great chase scenes. "Die Another Day " was released in 2002, so the story isn't over yet.
Q: What ruins a good movie car chase?
A: When people clearly aren't driving the cars. I think what makes some car chase movies into cult movies is when the public finds out that some of those [actors] were doing [their own driving] for real. There's always been a lot of debate over whether (Steve) McQueen drove the cars himself (in "Bullitt"), and we know that it was mixture of him and the stunt guys driving, but he no doubt did do a lot of those sequences, and that made it compelling.
Q: Do you prefer actors to do their own stunts?
A: I think it's very cool if they do. Nic Cage is a guy from this era of filmmaking who's known for being very keen to do this stuff. Roger Moore also did a lot of his own stuff. But it's not a crucial thing. What is crucial is that the cars are driven for real and that the action you see is real.
Q: How willing are actors to do their own stunts?
A: Oh, that's a tough one. I would think it's a two-fold thing; not everybody wants or has the ability to drive in that way, and they have a tough time with insurance. But if you look back over the years, there are people who've been keen on getting involved in the action themselves. Quite a lot of driving went on, going way back, in films like "Grand Prix," which is a 1966 John Frankenheimer film. It wasn't a chase film, but it's important because it was part of the dynasty of car-chase filmmaking. It was where people like Frankenheimer were learning their craft of making films with cars.
Q: How do you feel about real-life chases, like on "COPS"? Are they as exciting?
A: That's a very good question. Some of them are absolutely horrendous, aren't they? We can enjoy the films because they're fantasy, but coming into the reality of the danger is obviously worrying. I don't like to see people doing that in real life, I don't think any of us do. And the other thing is that the people doing it are usually completely unskilled and it nearly always ends up in an awful accident. So I guess we get a bit of comfort in watching the movies because our heroes are always very skilled people because that's what the scriptwriter has decided.
Q: How much of a movie's budget typically goes into a chase scene?
A: This was difficult for me to pin down because the figures aren't really published. But the most expensive was probably the freeway chase in "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003), and that was actually a film set. It wasn't a closed freeway. The cost of the highway was reputedly $30 million. Now that's many times more than the entire budget for "Bullitt." They had a huge number of cars to do that ("The Matrix Reloaded") scene, and General Motors provided the cars. With "Bullitt," they had four cars in total: two Mustangs and two Chargers. So the scale is hard to imagine compared to what was done in the early days. And then you have to ask yourself, "How good was that chase scene in 'The Matrix Reloaded,' compared to 'Bullitt'?"
Q: Is it more or less dangerous today for stuntmen?
A: I think it's less dangerous today because the craft of stunt performance has been developed and there are so many lessons being learned and so much experience being gained. Now there are so many specialized companies around that have developed all this technology and equipment for doing these stunts. Today, the emphasis is always on safety; stunt performers now will tell you that they never really take risks.
Q: How cooperative are local authorities when these chase scenes are being filmed?
A: I think a lot of it comes down to luck. But Hollywood carries a lot of clout and I get the impression that most authorities are eager to cooperate. You see this a lot with the "Bond" movies, where they have all these boat scenes down the Thames, where you aren't allowed to drive a jet boat.
Q: What's your opinion on cars being modified to make them go faster? Does that take away from the realism?
A: No! I grew up modifying cars. There's something exciting about taking a car and making it much better and more capable than it was.
Q: Which cities lend themselves nicely to car chases?
A: San Francisco, obviously. But I don't really think it matters where it is because the focus is on the cars and the action. For you to notice the background, it has to be somewhere that is very dramatic visually. And obviously because of the hills, San Francisco is, so you immediately know where you are with that. And places like New York, which has got such familiar landmarks.
Q: Is there a formula, a recipe for a great chase scene?
A: Yeah. Keep it real. Don't fast-edit everything. And no CGI, thank you.
(Published on CourtTV.com Feb. 8, 2007)
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Famous Fakes: Looking like the Stars
by Erika Waddell
In September, 2005, a man who looked remarkably like Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger walked into New York City's Spirit nightclub. Within moments, club employees seated him, pampered him like a VIP and sheltered him from fans anxious to say hello or get an autograph. "Jagger" rang up an $800 bar tab and told at least one attractive female patron that he was the famous musician, offering her a part in his newest music video.
The man, of course, was not Jagger, but a fake.
Club director Fedor Banuchi attributes the case of mistaken identity to perfect timing on the look-alike's part. "The [Rolling Stones] tour had just happened, and [Jagger] had been in the area a lot," he says. "It sort of feeds on itself," Banuchi reflects, "because when he came in with one girl, maybe it was just some guy that looked like Mick Jagger. But by the time he was there for 20 minutes, it had to be Mick Jagger because he had bodyguards and an entourage."
With Internet sites like Gawker and Defamer covering anything related to celebrities in great detail, news of star look-alikes using their looks for some sort of gain are on the rise. There's a fake David Cross haunting New York's lower East side scoring free drinks and young tail. A couple of Paris Hilton imposters (including Natalie Reid, left) are practically making a living off of their looks.
But when is it illegal to pretend that you are someone else? Does a celebrity have any legal recourse in the matter?
The most obvious issue involves using a celebrity look-alike in an advertisement.
In New York, it is against the state's civil rights law to use a person's name, picture or portrait for advertising or commercial purposes, without first getting his authorization. In 1983, Rick Kurnit, partner in the law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, represented a Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis look-alike who had appeared in an advertisement for Christian Dior that featured several actual celebrities and a couple of look-alikes. It was not obvious that "Onassis" was a fake. A New York County Supreme Court judge found that in that context, the look-alike was using Jackie O's image without consent.
Also in New York, Jake Laufer, a partner in Laufer & Halberstam, sued a video rental chain for $10 million on behalf of Woody Allen in 1985 for a similar violation of U.S. federal law. An Allen look-alike had appeared in the company's ads smiling while renting Woody Allen movies. The case was settled out of court for a reported $425,000.
It's not only stealing a star's image that's against the law; musical acts including Bette Midler, Tom Waits and the Spin Doctors have prevailed in court against ad agencies that have used singers and musical styles that sounded nearly identical to the originals.
In California, the statute has been expanded to also protect the use of one's likeness or persona, which means that even if there is no picture of the person, it is still forbidden to use anything recognizable or a signature of that person without consent. In 1993, Vanna White won a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics over their use of a robot turning letters on a game show in a futuristic ad. White claimed that the ad evoked her image, even though Samsung did not use her name or picture.
But outside of advertising and commercial issues, it's not nearly as clear. Rick Kurnit says the key issue is fraud, or whether or not the look-alike has obtained a benefit or a value from someone under false pretenses. "To the extent that someone passes himself off as something else... and he gets anything of value from another person, he's defrauded that person," he says.
So does walking away with $800 in free alcohol make the fake Mick Jagger guilty of fraud? In order to have a fraudulent claim, there must be proof that the look-alike took affirmative action to misrepresent himself. But the imposter never told any bar employees that he was Jagger. "He didn't really say much or ask for anything," says Banuchi. "Everyone just assumed." According to Kurnit, "If you don't say anything to anybody... and you don't fail to correct anyone, then the fact that you look like somebody isn't your fault and you haven't done anything [wrong]. If somebody asks you to sign an autograph and you sign someone else's name, then you've taken affirmative action to mislead." But without such proof, Kurnit says look-alikes can get away with freebies on the argument that clubs like having them because their presence turns heads and creates a buzz.
In regard to the Spirit incident, the club director agrees with this theory. "It ended up working in our favor because we got more press because he was fake than if he had been real," says Banuchi.
According to Kurnit, look-alikes also have the good argument that if people gaze closely enough, it should become obvious that they're not the real thing. "We resemble one another. I don't look just like [Tom Cruise]," says part-time Cruise impersonator Mike Hoagland, 33, of Boston. "I'm not 5'7", I'm 5'10"," he says. "I don't have his nose. I don't have his teeth." Regardless, Jake Laufer doesn't believe the law would punish anyone for getting some free drinks.
But could Mick Jagger sue the imposter? According to Laufer, "There is a claim that can be filed called the right of publicity, or the right of the celebrity to exploit the value of his celebrity, but New York does not recognize the right in and of itself." And Mick Jagger would probably be unsuccessful in a lawsuit with regard to endorsement because there were no commercial elements to the look-alike's big night out. "If the only harm is that Mick Jagger's personal feelings are slighted, New York law does not recognize that. But California law might, under the right of publicity," explains Laufer. "Of course, I am not giving legal advice," Laufer adds.
But there are imposters out there who have darker and illegal intentions. In 1992, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a man had been calling women, identifying himself as Howard Stern radio producer Gary Dell'Abate, and offering them money to appear on Stern's show. He would then ask the women personal questions and try to persuade them to meet him to engage in sexual activity. More recently, a New Jersey woman was arrested for posing as Jessica Simpson's assistant, CaCee Cobb, in order to entice designers to send free jewelry, clothing and handbags. She reportedly told companies that Simpson was interested in their products and received more than $12,000 in freebees.
In 2003, a man falsely identified himself as Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, at The Cutting Room bar in New York City. Co-owner Steve Walter says the fake even fooled actress Janeane Garofalo, who had met the real Ament before. "She was performing at the bar and he went up to her and said, 'Remember me? We were on SNL together.' He really played it up and actually got her phone number out of her," he recalled. According to Walter, the fake would also attend fashion shows and convince designers to give him free clothing. The look-alike took his act so far that Pearl Jam's manager caught wind and eventually hired a private investigator to try to stop him.
But what about the people who fake for a living and do so legally? For the purpose of this article, we will use the term "celebrity impersonator" to mean a look-alike who is paid to show up at events and simply look like a celebrity. Impersonators might be hired to mingle or even perform as the stars, but in almost every case, guests are aware that these are fakes. There are jobs where impersonators are hired to create an "is that...?" buzz; however, impersonators usually have agents to protect them from getting involved in sticky legal situations. But impersonators don't stop looking like celebrities once they're off the clock, which is where it can get interesting.
Twenty-three year-old Alyson Bradshaw of Las Vegas is a Britney Spears impersonator who occasionally finds herself in tricky ethical situations outside of work. On the subject of being approached by strangers, "I don't ever say, 'Yes, I'm Britney.' I'll say, 'What do you think?' or just smile and wave," she says. "I think it's fun for [people] because they might never get the chance to meet her... It's their choice whether they want to believe it." Bradshaw's agent at the Lookalike-USA agency educates her on the law so she stays out of trouble. She admits to posing for photos and even signing autographs in her everyday life, but Bradshaw knows better than to sign Spears' name. "I just [sign] my last name sort of scribbley... and it [looks] kind of like Britney," she confesses.
Mike Hoagland, the Cruise impersonator, is also with Lookalike-USA, and he believes that, although he's constantly told that he has the same quirks and mannerisms as Tom Cruise, people know he's not the real thing. "Never when I've been out in public has anybody been fooled," he says. "I'm sure there's some ambiguity in people's minds, but once you come up and see me, I don't look [exactly] like him." He does pose for photos, but claims that these people just want to "wow their husbands and wives," and that "it's really about the fun of it." But Hoagland still takes legal precautions, a smart idea considering how litigious the real Cruise can be. "I won't sign anything as Tom Cruise because I can get in major trouble for that. I might print something and put it in quotes so it's known that I'm not trying to portray myself as Tom Cruise," he says. And when asked if he would ever take advantage of his looks at a nightclub, "It's never happened... But if somebody was giving me the [VIP] treatment, I would probably run with it," Hoagland says. "I would not go out of my way to make sure that somebody thinks I'm him, but I can't say that I would necessarily dissuade someone from carrying on with what they believe."
According to Laufer, the acts of signing autographs and taking photos as celebrities are not punishable by law in the state of New York as long as there are no commercial elements and you are not garnering a monetary benefit. However, when it comes to sexual relations, there is another layer to the law to consider: that of assault. "[Sex with someone who claimed to be someone else] would come in the realm of assault because it's only consensual under affirmatively fraudulent pretenses," says Laufer. He likens this scenario to someone who knows he has a sexually transmitted disease claiming to a prospective partner that he is disease-free. "The other person would not have consented to the relations had they not been affirmatively misled, which is potentially criminal," he explains.
Not everyone enjoys looking famous or tries to take advantage. Actor Devin Harjes, 22, says his striking similarity to Leonardo DiCaprio hinders his professional success and is annoying in his personal life. The Texas native has not only been told he looks like DiCaprio, but also gets Matt Damon, James Van Der Beek, Val Kilmer, and Christian Slater on a daily basis. "[At auditions] they always want the new face, so considering I look like everyone, it doesn't leave much room for anything," he says. Devin works two jobs, one of which is located in touristy Times Square. He claims he can't even walk in the area without people following him, trying to get his attention. "I've learned to walk really fast through big tourist spots," he says. In addition to the annoyance of being hounded by young girls and gay men, Devin says he's also tired of the drunks sending him drinks at bars and the older women who try to fix him up with their daughters: "I don't want anything based off of looking like someone else," he says. "To me, it's more of a nuisance than anything."
(Published on CourtTV.com May 25, 2006)
In September, 2005, a man who looked remarkably like Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger walked into New York City's Spirit nightclub. Within moments, club employees seated him, pampered him like a VIP and sheltered him from fans anxious to say hello or get an autograph. "Jagger" rang up an $800 bar tab and told at least one attractive female patron that he was the famous musician, offering her a part in his newest music video.
The man, of course, was not Jagger, but a fake.
Club director Fedor Banuchi attributes the case of mistaken identity to perfect timing on the look-alike's part. "The [Rolling Stones] tour had just happened, and [Jagger] had been in the area a lot," he says. "It sort of feeds on itself," Banuchi reflects, "because when he came in with one girl, maybe it was just some guy that looked like Mick Jagger. But by the time he was there for 20 minutes, it had to be Mick Jagger because he had bodyguards and an entourage."
With Internet sites like Gawker and Defamer covering anything related to celebrities in great detail, news of star look-alikes using their looks for some sort of gain are on the rise. There's a fake David Cross haunting New York's lower East side scoring free drinks and young tail. A couple of Paris Hilton imposters (including Natalie Reid, left) are practically making a living off of their looks.
But when is it illegal to pretend that you are someone else? Does a celebrity have any legal recourse in the matter?
The most obvious issue involves using a celebrity look-alike in an advertisement.
In New York, it is against the state's civil rights law to use a person's name, picture or portrait for advertising or commercial purposes, without first getting his authorization. In 1983, Rick Kurnit, partner in the law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, represented a Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis look-alike who had appeared in an advertisement for Christian Dior that featured several actual celebrities and a couple of look-alikes. It was not obvious that "Onassis" was a fake. A New York County Supreme Court judge found that in that context, the look-alike was using Jackie O's image without consent.
Also in New York, Jake Laufer, a partner in Laufer & Halberstam, sued a video rental chain for $10 million on behalf of Woody Allen in 1985 for a similar violation of U.S. federal law. An Allen look-alike had appeared in the company's ads smiling while renting Woody Allen movies. The case was settled out of court for a reported $425,000.
It's not only stealing a star's image that's against the law; musical acts including Bette Midler, Tom Waits and the Spin Doctors have prevailed in court against ad agencies that have used singers and musical styles that sounded nearly identical to the originals.
In California, the statute has been expanded to also protect the use of one's likeness or persona, which means that even if there is no picture of the person, it is still forbidden to use anything recognizable or a signature of that person without consent. In 1993, Vanna White won a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics over their use of a robot turning letters on a game show in a futuristic ad. White claimed that the ad evoked her image, even though Samsung did not use her name or picture.
But outside of advertising and commercial issues, it's not nearly as clear. Rick Kurnit says the key issue is fraud, or whether or not the look-alike has obtained a benefit or a value from someone under false pretenses. "To the extent that someone passes himself off as something else... and he gets anything of value from another person, he's defrauded that person," he says.
So does walking away with $800 in free alcohol make the fake Mick Jagger guilty of fraud? In order to have a fraudulent claim, there must be proof that the look-alike took affirmative action to misrepresent himself. But the imposter never told any bar employees that he was Jagger. "He didn't really say much or ask for anything," says Banuchi. "Everyone just assumed." According to Kurnit, "If you don't say anything to anybody... and you don't fail to correct anyone, then the fact that you look like somebody isn't your fault and you haven't done anything [wrong]. If somebody asks you to sign an autograph and you sign someone else's name, then you've taken affirmative action to mislead." But without such proof, Kurnit says look-alikes can get away with freebies on the argument that clubs like having them because their presence turns heads and creates a buzz.
In regard to the Spirit incident, the club director agrees with this theory. "It ended up working in our favor because we got more press because he was fake than if he had been real," says Banuchi.
According to Kurnit, look-alikes also have the good argument that if people gaze closely enough, it should become obvious that they're not the real thing. "We resemble one another. I don't look just like [Tom Cruise]," says part-time Cruise impersonator Mike Hoagland, 33, of Boston. "I'm not 5'7", I'm 5'10"," he says. "I don't have his nose. I don't have his teeth." Regardless, Jake Laufer doesn't believe the law would punish anyone for getting some free drinks.
But could Mick Jagger sue the imposter? According to Laufer, "There is a claim that can be filed called the right of publicity, or the right of the celebrity to exploit the value of his celebrity, but New York does not recognize the right in and of itself." And Mick Jagger would probably be unsuccessful in a lawsuit with regard to endorsement because there were no commercial elements to the look-alike's big night out. "If the only harm is that Mick Jagger's personal feelings are slighted, New York law does not recognize that. But California law might, under the right of publicity," explains Laufer. "Of course, I am not giving legal advice," Laufer adds.
But there are imposters out there who have darker and illegal intentions. In 1992, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a man had been calling women, identifying himself as Howard Stern radio producer Gary Dell'Abate, and offering them money to appear on Stern's show. He would then ask the women personal questions and try to persuade them to meet him to engage in sexual activity. More recently, a New Jersey woman was arrested for posing as Jessica Simpson's assistant, CaCee Cobb, in order to entice designers to send free jewelry, clothing and handbags. She reportedly told companies that Simpson was interested in their products and received more than $12,000 in freebees.
In 2003, a man falsely identified himself as Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, at The Cutting Room bar in New York City. Co-owner Steve Walter says the fake even fooled actress Janeane Garofalo, who had met the real Ament before. "She was performing at the bar and he went up to her and said, 'Remember me? We were on SNL together.' He really played it up and actually got her phone number out of her," he recalled. According to Walter, the fake would also attend fashion shows and convince designers to give him free clothing. The look-alike took his act so far that Pearl Jam's manager caught wind and eventually hired a private investigator to try to stop him.
But what about the people who fake for a living and do so legally? For the purpose of this article, we will use the term "celebrity impersonator" to mean a look-alike who is paid to show up at events and simply look like a celebrity. Impersonators might be hired to mingle or even perform as the stars, but in almost every case, guests are aware that these are fakes. There are jobs where impersonators are hired to create an "is that...?" buzz; however, impersonators usually have agents to protect them from getting involved in sticky legal situations. But impersonators don't stop looking like celebrities once they're off the clock, which is where it can get interesting.
Twenty-three year-old Alyson Bradshaw of Las Vegas is a Britney Spears impersonator who occasionally finds herself in tricky ethical situations outside of work. On the subject of being approached by strangers, "I don't ever say, 'Yes, I'm Britney.' I'll say, 'What do you think?' or just smile and wave," she says. "I think it's fun for [people] because they might never get the chance to meet her... It's their choice whether they want to believe it." Bradshaw's agent at the Lookalike-USA agency educates her on the law so she stays out of trouble. She admits to posing for photos and even signing autographs in her everyday life, but Bradshaw knows better than to sign Spears' name. "I just [sign] my last name sort of scribbley... and it [looks] kind of like Britney," she confesses.
Mike Hoagland, the Cruise impersonator, is also with Lookalike-USA, and he believes that, although he's constantly told that he has the same quirks and mannerisms as Tom Cruise, people know he's not the real thing. "Never when I've been out in public has anybody been fooled," he says. "I'm sure there's some ambiguity in people's minds, but once you come up and see me, I don't look [exactly] like him." He does pose for photos, but claims that these people just want to "wow their husbands and wives," and that "it's really about the fun of it." But Hoagland still takes legal precautions, a smart idea considering how litigious the real Cruise can be. "I won't sign anything as Tom Cruise because I can get in major trouble for that. I might print something and put it in quotes so it's known that I'm not trying to portray myself as Tom Cruise," he says. And when asked if he would ever take advantage of his looks at a nightclub, "It's never happened... But if somebody was giving me the [VIP] treatment, I would probably run with it," Hoagland says. "I would not go out of my way to make sure that somebody thinks I'm him, but I can't say that I would necessarily dissuade someone from carrying on with what they believe."
According to Laufer, the acts of signing autographs and taking photos as celebrities are not punishable by law in the state of New York as long as there are no commercial elements and you are not garnering a monetary benefit. However, when it comes to sexual relations, there is another layer to the law to consider: that of assault. "[Sex with someone who claimed to be someone else] would come in the realm of assault because it's only consensual under affirmatively fraudulent pretenses," says Laufer. He likens this scenario to someone who knows he has a sexually transmitted disease claiming to a prospective partner that he is disease-free. "The other person would not have consented to the relations had they not been affirmatively misled, which is potentially criminal," he explains.
Not everyone enjoys looking famous or tries to take advantage. Actor Devin Harjes, 22, says his striking similarity to Leonardo DiCaprio hinders his professional success and is annoying in his personal life. The Texas native has not only been told he looks like DiCaprio, but also gets Matt Damon, James Van Der Beek, Val Kilmer, and Christian Slater on a daily basis. "[At auditions] they always want the new face, so considering I look like everyone, it doesn't leave much room for anything," he says. Devin works two jobs, one of which is located in touristy Times Square. He claims he can't even walk in the area without people following him, trying to get his attention. "I've learned to walk really fast through big tourist spots," he says. In addition to the annoyance of being hounded by young girls and gay men, Devin says he's also tired of the drunks sending him drinks at bars and the older women who try to fix him up with their daughters: "I don't want anything based off of looking like someone else," he says. "To me, it's more of a nuisance than anything."
(Published on CourtTV.com May 25, 2006)
John Langley: The Man Behind "Cops"
by Erika Waddell
John Langley is the creator and executive producer of "Cops." Since he developed the show in 1988, "Cops" has filmed across the U.S. and the world, taping episodes in Hong Kong, London, Russia, and South America.
Last week, "Cops" aired its 600th episode. To mark this accomplishment, we spoke with Mr. Langley to hear his thoughts on why it has succeeded.
Q: Why are people so fascinated with this show?
A: Maybe because it's still unpredictable and immediate and deals with raw reality.
Q: I understand that you can only show the faces of people who have signed a release form. What percentage of people sign it?A: I'd say 90%.
Q: And is that up or down since the show started?
A: It's more. It may even be 95% now. And I think it's because "Cops" has become part of pop culture, almost everybody knows the show even if they haven't watched it. They've heard of it or they know what it deals with, or they know the theme song. Over the years it's become almost de rigueur to be on "Cops" if you happen to get caught.
Q: That's why I asked that question. I feel like people would want to do it now, it's sort of cool.
A: Yeah, they're very receptive. I mean, we have people say "Get that damn news camera out of my face," and my crew will say, "We're not with the news, we're with 'Cops'," and they'll go "Cool!"
Q: How do you go about getting people to sign the release? If someone is hesitant, how do you try to talk him or her into it?
A: Our guys say, "Look, why shouldn't you be on? This really happened, nobody's saying it didn't happen, this shows what happened. If you claim that the cops have mistreated you or aren't being fair to you or whatever the case may be, you have the proof of it. It's right on tape. Why wouldn't you want it to be shown?" I mean, they just use psychology along these lines, or try to convince them that there's nothing to lose.
Q: And when does this happen? Does it happen at the scene, or do you wait a while?
A: It usually happens at the scene because they're going from call to call. It's very difficult to track people down afterwards.
Q: What if someone's intoxicated?
A: [With] intoxicated people, we go back to get releases. So that it's ironclad.
Q: Are people ever paid to sign the release?
A: No, we don't pay people for a release, and the reason is we're a reality show, we're a documentary. It's about what's real. These aren't actors. We're not going to pay them to be who they are.
Q: Do people ever try to get out of the releases?
A: Occasionally. But signing a release is a contract, and contract law is pretty specific. Once you sign it, that's it, baby. You're an adult. You know what you're signing. It's just like signing a purchase for a car.
Q: At the end of the show, a disclaimer says that all suspects are innocent until proven guilty. What percentage of people are actually convicted?
A: I have no idea, because we don't follow up on every call. It's more of a slice-of-life show. It shows you what's happening when it's happening. It's not a traditional documentary in that it follows the case all the way through the courts... It doesn't go into the epilogues.
Q: How and why do you choose locations?
A: Well, I try to make "Cops" a road show. I like to travel it across the country because I think it keeps it fresh and it also gives a portrait of law enforcement all over America. So rather than just see one eye or an eye and an eyebrow, I like to show the ears, the nose, the chin, the entire portrait.
Q: So how do you choose those locations? Do you go back to cities that have given you good stuff before?
A: Sometimes, yes. Sometimes we repeat cities, but never one year after another. I usually wait and give them a break for a while. We're filming our 18th season now. The luxury of longevity is that we can keep going back to places where we've been before and still travel the show and still incorporate new locations.
Q: How long do you tape in each location?
A: Usually about eight weeks.
Q: How much footage do you generally have before something worthy of being on television happens?
A: I may have eight to ten crews out at any given time, and I try to get a show a week. I don't always succeed. Sometimes I'll get half a show and the next week I'll get a show and a half. But it kind of averages out to that, so we're on the road for 30 to 40 weeks a year.
Q: Do you take all the officers in an area, or do you choose certain officers?
A: It's like a casting call in some respects. We like to be with the most proactive cops because that's where the most stuff happens. We like to be in the busier areas. Otherwise you can never do a show like this because you'll sit around. There's a lot of paperwork involved in this work and a lot of downtime, and that doesn't make for good television. So we try to find the most proactive, telegenic cops and the most active areas just as a matter of practicality.
Q: Are officers willing to do this?
A: Pretty much, yeah. We have a really good reception, obviously, because it's a show about police officers, so it's kind of their show in that sense. They're the protagonists.
Q: Do your crews ever help apprehend criminals?
A: No, that's not our job. We're there to capture what's going on, not to create what's going on. The minute we become the story, there is no story. So that's my mandate to all of our crews: "If you're in the middle of a riot and they start focusing on you, turn off the cameras. Get out of there." We're under the supervision and direction of law enforcement when we're filming with them. They're the cops, not us.
Q: I've always wondered that, because when you watch a chase and the cameraman almost has him, you're kind of rooting for him to do it.
A: What's happening is the cameraman is trying to get the shot, he's not trying get the suspect. Sometimes the cameraman may be in better shape than the cop and will outrun the cop, but he has to fall back and let the cop catch up.
Q: Is "Cops" footage ever used as evidence in a trial?
A: Yes.
Q: How often does that happen?
A: Not as often as you would think, but it does occasionally happen.
Q: So do you provide attorneys with footage that was not broadcast?
A: No, never. In fact, we just recycle footage that isn't broadcast, because I don't have the wherewithal to keep thousands upon thousands of tapes that aren't being used.
Q: Has a police officer ever been fired or sued because of his behavior on the show?
A: No.
Q: Has "Cops" ever caught a celebrity doing something illegal?
A: Oh yeah. Many years ago an Academy Award-winning composer was on one of our shows. Jack Nitzsche. I think he was waving a gun around and might've been drunk. It was in Hollywood.
Q: Does the show ever revisit arrestees from past episodes?
A: No, but we've had arrestees from prior episodes show up in a different city and appear again. Not intentionally, it just shows recidivism is a reality.
Q: What is your favorite segment ever?
A: You know, I'm sometimes asked this and I genuinely and honestly do not have a favorite segment, because there have been so many, and they're like flavors of ice cream. One day you might like Neapolitan, another day you might like chocolate, vanilla or rocky road...
Q: Do you have a favorite genre, like Bad Girls or Shots Fired, or Best Chases?
A: Well, to be honest with you, those are all promotional tools to get people to watch the show. To me, the show is best when it's balanced, when it maybe has an action piece, and then a lyrical piece, and then a think piece. Because it's a three-segment structure. If you do all chases, my theory is you'll get tired of the chases after a while. So you don't want to do just chase, chase, chase. It's better to have a chase and then something that's a little slower, more humorous, more lyrical, more whatever, and then it's nice to shift gears again and have something that provokes thought about our laws or the nature of law enforcement or the nature of human behavior or crime or whatever the case may be. It's just more interesting to me that way.
Q: Do you have a favorite cop?
A: No. I've seen a lot of really great cops over the years, really proactive and courageous, just good guys. I mean, not all cops are good guys, but the good news is that most are. I came to appreciate police officers over the years, because I wasn't a big fan when I was a kid. I'm a kid of the 60s, so I never thought I would do a show called "Cops." It just turns out that I like the documentary form and I like so-called reality television. To me there's nothing more interesting then what's real, what's true.
Q: You're pretty much the founder of reality TV.
A: Oh, I don't know if I can be blamed for that, but I was probably one of the early guys in that genre.
Q: Tell me about the moment when you realized "Cops" was such a big part of the country's pop culture.
A: When my kid came to me one day and said, "Oh, my friend was on 'Cops' last night!" (laughs). And probably when I started seeing all the spoofs. "Saturday Night Live" and "Mad TV" have done things on us, "The Simpsons" has done things on us. And [the movie] "There's Something About Mary." "Cops" was in that.
Q: What do you think about "Reno 911"?
A: Oh, I love it! It's flattering and amusing.
Q: Do you think there's a limit to how much you can say about law enforcement?
A: You know, I don't think it's just about law enforcement I think it's about human behavior, and it's about man in extremes, or woman in extremes. It's about a context that involves a lot of different issues. It's not only law enforcement, it's crime and punishment, it's good and bad. All the fundamental themes of literature and film are involved in that arena.
Q: Now here's an urban myth: When police officers see people with either a big, baggy shirt or no shirt at all, does that signal to them that they are using drugs?
A: (Laughs) No. Not at all. Because crimes and misdemeanors come in all shapes and forms. You can have a crew cut, wear glasses, be dressed in a suit and be a murderer or a criminal or a crook or a con man, or you could have tats all over your arms and wear baggy pants and be an upstanding citizen. But having said that, if you see a bunch of kids riding around in a car and they look like gangbangers, chances are they are gangbangers, you know what I mean? And if it's a new car, chances are they might've stolen it.
There are just fundamental experiential issues that aren't so-called "profiling," which is a big controversy. There is natural profiling that takes part of life, and it's based on experience. If you see a guy with tattoos all over his arms and wild, dilated pupils and he gets on an elevator with you, are you going to feel comfortable, as opposed to a guy that gets on that has a Brooks Brothers suit and a briefcase? I mean, how are you going to feel at midnight on an isolated elevator? Well, cops use that same technique based on their experience to look at likely suspects.
Q: What about that theme song? Are you going to use that forever?
A: Oh yeah, it's too much a part of [pop culture]. It's too associated with "Cops," and I wouldn't change it. I was fortunate to find it, and I'm happy I put it in.
Q: Well, that's all I've got. Do you have anything that you'd like to say about the show?
A: I would say that "Cops" is an existential variety show with authentic décor. How's that? Designed to instruct and entertain, in equal parts.
(Published on CourtTV.com May 5, 2005)
John Langley is the creator and executive producer of "Cops." Since he developed the show in 1988, "Cops" has filmed across the U.S. and the world, taping episodes in Hong Kong, London, Russia, and South America.
Last week, "Cops" aired its 600th episode. To mark this accomplishment, we spoke with Mr. Langley to hear his thoughts on why it has succeeded.
Q: Why are people so fascinated with this show?
A: Maybe because it's still unpredictable and immediate and deals with raw reality.
Q: I understand that you can only show the faces of people who have signed a release form. What percentage of people sign it?A: I'd say 90%.
Q: And is that up or down since the show started?
A: It's more. It may even be 95% now. And I think it's because "Cops" has become part of pop culture, almost everybody knows the show even if they haven't watched it. They've heard of it or they know what it deals with, or they know the theme song. Over the years it's become almost de rigueur to be on "Cops" if you happen to get caught.
Q: That's why I asked that question. I feel like people would want to do it now, it's sort of cool.
A: Yeah, they're very receptive. I mean, we have people say "Get that damn news camera out of my face," and my crew will say, "We're not with the news, we're with 'Cops'," and they'll go "Cool!"
Q: How do you go about getting people to sign the release? If someone is hesitant, how do you try to talk him or her into it?
A: Our guys say, "Look, why shouldn't you be on? This really happened, nobody's saying it didn't happen, this shows what happened. If you claim that the cops have mistreated you or aren't being fair to you or whatever the case may be, you have the proof of it. It's right on tape. Why wouldn't you want it to be shown?" I mean, they just use psychology along these lines, or try to convince them that there's nothing to lose.
Q: And when does this happen? Does it happen at the scene, or do you wait a while?
A: It usually happens at the scene because they're going from call to call. It's very difficult to track people down afterwards.
Q: What if someone's intoxicated?
A: [With] intoxicated people, we go back to get releases. So that it's ironclad.
Q: Are people ever paid to sign the release?
A: No, we don't pay people for a release, and the reason is we're a reality show, we're a documentary. It's about what's real. These aren't actors. We're not going to pay them to be who they are.
Q: Do people ever try to get out of the releases?
A: Occasionally. But signing a release is a contract, and contract law is pretty specific. Once you sign it, that's it, baby. You're an adult. You know what you're signing. It's just like signing a purchase for a car.
Q: At the end of the show, a disclaimer says that all suspects are innocent until proven guilty. What percentage of people are actually convicted?
A: I have no idea, because we don't follow up on every call. It's more of a slice-of-life show. It shows you what's happening when it's happening. It's not a traditional documentary in that it follows the case all the way through the courts... It doesn't go into the epilogues.
Q: How and why do you choose locations?
A: Well, I try to make "Cops" a road show. I like to travel it across the country because I think it keeps it fresh and it also gives a portrait of law enforcement all over America. So rather than just see one eye or an eye and an eyebrow, I like to show the ears, the nose, the chin, the entire portrait.
Q: So how do you choose those locations? Do you go back to cities that have given you good stuff before?
A: Sometimes, yes. Sometimes we repeat cities, but never one year after another. I usually wait and give them a break for a while. We're filming our 18th season now. The luxury of longevity is that we can keep going back to places where we've been before and still travel the show and still incorporate new locations.
Q: How long do you tape in each location?
A: Usually about eight weeks.
Q: How much footage do you generally have before something worthy of being on television happens?
A: I may have eight to ten crews out at any given time, and I try to get a show a week. I don't always succeed. Sometimes I'll get half a show and the next week I'll get a show and a half. But it kind of averages out to that, so we're on the road for 30 to 40 weeks a year.
Q: Do you take all the officers in an area, or do you choose certain officers?
A: It's like a casting call in some respects. We like to be with the most proactive cops because that's where the most stuff happens. We like to be in the busier areas. Otherwise you can never do a show like this because you'll sit around. There's a lot of paperwork involved in this work and a lot of downtime, and that doesn't make for good television. So we try to find the most proactive, telegenic cops and the most active areas just as a matter of practicality.
Q: Are officers willing to do this?
A: Pretty much, yeah. We have a really good reception, obviously, because it's a show about police officers, so it's kind of their show in that sense. They're the protagonists.
Q: Do your crews ever help apprehend criminals?
A: No, that's not our job. We're there to capture what's going on, not to create what's going on. The minute we become the story, there is no story. So that's my mandate to all of our crews: "If you're in the middle of a riot and they start focusing on you, turn off the cameras. Get out of there." We're under the supervision and direction of law enforcement when we're filming with them. They're the cops, not us.
Q: I've always wondered that, because when you watch a chase and the cameraman almost has him, you're kind of rooting for him to do it.
A: What's happening is the cameraman is trying to get the shot, he's not trying get the suspect. Sometimes the cameraman may be in better shape than the cop and will outrun the cop, but he has to fall back and let the cop catch up.
Q: Is "Cops" footage ever used as evidence in a trial?
A: Yes.
Q: How often does that happen?
A: Not as often as you would think, but it does occasionally happen.
Q: So do you provide attorneys with footage that was not broadcast?
A: No, never. In fact, we just recycle footage that isn't broadcast, because I don't have the wherewithal to keep thousands upon thousands of tapes that aren't being used.
Q: Has a police officer ever been fired or sued because of his behavior on the show?
A: No.
Q: Has "Cops" ever caught a celebrity doing something illegal?
A: Oh yeah. Many years ago an Academy Award-winning composer was on one of our shows. Jack Nitzsche. I think he was waving a gun around and might've been drunk. It was in Hollywood.
Q: Does the show ever revisit arrestees from past episodes?
A: No, but we've had arrestees from prior episodes show up in a different city and appear again. Not intentionally, it just shows recidivism is a reality.
Q: What is your favorite segment ever?
A: You know, I'm sometimes asked this and I genuinely and honestly do not have a favorite segment, because there have been so many, and they're like flavors of ice cream. One day you might like Neapolitan, another day you might like chocolate, vanilla or rocky road...
Q: Do you have a favorite genre, like Bad Girls or Shots Fired, or Best Chases?
A: Well, to be honest with you, those are all promotional tools to get people to watch the show. To me, the show is best when it's balanced, when it maybe has an action piece, and then a lyrical piece, and then a think piece. Because it's a three-segment structure. If you do all chases, my theory is you'll get tired of the chases after a while. So you don't want to do just chase, chase, chase. It's better to have a chase and then something that's a little slower, more humorous, more lyrical, more whatever, and then it's nice to shift gears again and have something that provokes thought about our laws or the nature of law enforcement or the nature of human behavior or crime or whatever the case may be. It's just more interesting to me that way.
Q: Do you have a favorite cop?
A: No. I've seen a lot of really great cops over the years, really proactive and courageous, just good guys. I mean, not all cops are good guys, but the good news is that most are. I came to appreciate police officers over the years, because I wasn't a big fan when I was a kid. I'm a kid of the 60s, so I never thought I would do a show called "Cops." It just turns out that I like the documentary form and I like so-called reality television. To me there's nothing more interesting then what's real, what's true.
Q: You're pretty much the founder of reality TV.
A: Oh, I don't know if I can be blamed for that, but I was probably one of the early guys in that genre.
Q: Tell me about the moment when you realized "Cops" was such a big part of the country's pop culture.
A: When my kid came to me one day and said, "Oh, my friend was on 'Cops' last night!" (laughs). And probably when I started seeing all the spoofs. "Saturday Night Live" and "Mad TV" have done things on us, "The Simpsons" has done things on us. And [the movie] "There's Something About Mary." "Cops" was in that.
Q: What do you think about "Reno 911"?
A: Oh, I love it! It's flattering and amusing.
Q: Do you think there's a limit to how much you can say about law enforcement?
A: You know, I don't think it's just about law enforcement I think it's about human behavior, and it's about man in extremes, or woman in extremes. It's about a context that involves a lot of different issues. It's not only law enforcement, it's crime and punishment, it's good and bad. All the fundamental themes of literature and film are involved in that arena.
Q: Now here's an urban myth: When police officers see people with either a big, baggy shirt or no shirt at all, does that signal to them that they are using drugs?
A: (Laughs) No. Not at all. Because crimes and misdemeanors come in all shapes and forms. You can have a crew cut, wear glasses, be dressed in a suit and be a murderer or a criminal or a crook or a con man, or you could have tats all over your arms and wear baggy pants and be an upstanding citizen. But having said that, if you see a bunch of kids riding around in a car and they look like gangbangers, chances are they are gangbangers, you know what I mean? And if it's a new car, chances are they might've stolen it.
There are just fundamental experiential issues that aren't so-called "profiling," which is a big controversy. There is natural profiling that takes part of life, and it's based on experience. If you see a guy with tattoos all over his arms and wild, dilated pupils and he gets on an elevator with you, are you going to feel comfortable, as opposed to a guy that gets on that has a Brooks Brothers suit and a briefcase? I mean, how are you going to feel at midnight on an isolated elevator? Well, cops use that same technique based on their experience to look at likely suspects.
Q: What about that theme song? Are you going to use that forever?
A: Oh yeah, it's too much a part of [pop culture]. It's too associated with "Cops," and I wouldn't change it. I was fortunate to find it, and I'm happy I put it in.
Q: Well, that's all I've got. Do you have anything that you'd like to say about the show?
A: I would say that "Cops" is an existential variety show with authentic décor. How's that? Designed to instruct and entertain, in equal parts.
(Published on CourtTV.com May 5, 2005)
Rocker Feels Heat, Doesn't Care For It
by Erika Waddell
For over a decade, Nick Hexum has devoted his time and energy to being the frontman of alternative rock-and-reggae band 311. Nowadays he's got a new cause, and there's nothing musical about it. After his beloved home in the Florida Keys was ravaged last year by devastating hurricanes, Hexum became driven to raise awareness about global warming, which he believes to be our most dire environmental issue. He recently started the non-profit organization Liberal Hexum, which is dedicated to various environmental and social causes, the first of which is to fund research on global warming.
As the son of a scientist, taking up such a cause seems like a natural step for Hexum, who continues to educate himself and doesn't profess to know everything. But should he stick to being a rock star and keep his politics to himself? You be the judge.
Q: What inspired you to get the word out about global warming?
A: Well, I have a vacation home in the Florida Keys that got hit by four hurricanes last year, so that made it kind of personal. But I think if anybody really looked into it and really considered it, they would become alarmed. It's our biggest crisis; it's bigger than terrorism, immigration, and all of these different things that you see in the polls that Americans are really worried about.
The waters are getting warmer, the hurricanes are getting stronger, and that's one of the first negative effects of global warming. If people understood, they would be a lot more concerned. But I guess people don't get worried about things until they start affecting their pocketbooks. Global warming is already affecting peoples' pocket books; they just don't know it, because it comes in the form of insurance premiums, and taxes that have to go to FEMA to bail out these places with emergency funding.
Q: How are you educating yourself?
A: Reading and watching every documentary I can find on the subject. On Earth Day, I saw HBO's "Too Hot Not to Handle" documentary, which I thought was just brilliant, really well done.
Q: Have you seen Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"?
A: Yeah. I pledged to see it on opening day. It's really exciting to see that he's finally being paid attention to for something that he's been warning everybody about for so long. In the same way that Jimmy Carter talked about our addiction to foreign oil when he was president, and nobody listened to that. The whole political aspect of global politics and the business of importing oil, that's one thing in itself, but global warming and the greenhouse effect are also serious problems. But they basically both can be solved by the same ingenuity and a shift in our economic energy policy.
Q: So what are some things that we can do to help prevent global warming?
A: If people, for both economic and conscience reasons, switch from SUVs to a hybrid cars, that would reduce our emissions by 75-80 percent. Solar and wind have become really viable lately, to the point where people are powering their whole houses and actually selling energy back to the power companies.
Q: But is it as simple as reducing the amount of energy used?
A: No, the government has to take the lead, there's no question about it. And that's the last thing on Bush's agenda, which is what's so upsetting.
Q: Have you tried to get involved politically?
A: Absolutely. I went on a one-month tour with my brother [Zack Hexum], called "Hexum Brothers Rock for Kerry," trying to support Kerry a couple years ago. It was really disappointing, but at least I feel like I tried.
Q: How hands-on are you with Liberal Hexum?
A: Very. I have even learned to design Web sites. A lot of young people are interested in environmental issues, but understanding the science of it is pretty confusing. So at Liberalhexum.org I've made a primer course, like Global Warming 101. It's an overview of why this is so serious and what the problems are projected to be. In the scientific community, there isn't this big debate about whether it's going on or not; that's been over for quite some time. That's just something that conservatives do to try and put off having to clean up their acts.
Q: Do you ever get the reaction: What does a musician know about global warming?
A: I haven't gotten that. I just try to collect as much information as I can from as many different sources as I can.
I have a lot of liberal beliefs, and I had been involved in anti-war things previously. In doing that, I learned more and more about global warming and about how the Bush administration has blurred the issue and silenced the scientists, so that kind of made the transition for me. Then, when you add to it that I had also been victimized by a hurricane, it all kind of worked together to motivate me.
Q: How has being in a band helped your cause?
A: It's just a platform. I've always felt that when something really urgent comes up, for example the invasion of Iraq, I've felt that I had a responsibility to try and use whatever sort of platform where I had peoples' ears and their attention to speak my mind about what I felt was a grave mistake being made. There are plenty of people who say that musicians have no business to be talking about politics, but I just have to follow my conscience.
Q: Does it ever scare you that you can affect so many people, especially because your fan base is heavily made up of young, impressionable people?
A: No. I think that people are more affected by their family and people around them than they are by Hollywood people. I certainly do take responsibility. I would be worried if I was spreading any sort of hateful message or anything destructive or even just a sort of a pessimistic, life-sucks message. I think a lot of people just wash their hands of what they're doing and say that they're just reporting what they see on the streets, but people are listening and impressionable.
Q: Do you find it hard to stay positive these days?
A: Yeah. After the disappointment of the presidential election, I went through a time when I just had to really wash my hands of politics for a while because I was so disheartened.
Q: So how did Liberal Hexum come about, and what do you do with your donations?
A: Originally I was thinking about a political action committee, but those are much more lobbyist-oriented, and being an educational non-profit environmental charity is a lot easier to get the paperwork through. I just talked to a lawyer about it, and just the start-up cost of getting yourself registered as a non-profit organization is substantial, and running a Web site. But we do have a significant war chest now, so I'm doing research as to where the money that we've raised so far would be best spent.
Q: In school, were you a science guy? I've noticed that science even creeps into your song lyrics.
A: Yeah. My dad is a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and I always loved to go to the lab with him. He researches the most basic building blocks of human anatomy as far as amino acids and stuff like that. And I was really into physics class; I guess it's sort of a hobby of mine.
Q: What motivates you?
A: At this stage in my life, it's feeling like I'm having a positive effect, whether it's by encouraging people through lyrics or my side projects.
Q: What fascinates you?
A: Well, I've become fascinated with meteorology, and that's been my obsession lately, and politics. But let's have something fun. I love power pop. I love Jellyfish, you know, that band. I can't wait to hear Jack White and Brendan Benson's new band, The Raconteurs.
Q: What would you do if you weren't a musician? Would you be a scientist?
A: I've always said I'd go into law, because I like to debate. I don't think I would be happy just being in the laboratory like my father. I'm much more into human contact.
Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: Is the trend of hurricane seasons getting longer and the hurricanes getting more severe going to continue as it has over the past three years? That worries me. And not just for myself. There are a lot of people whose lives are ruined, and those insurance companies do everything they can to find loopholes and ways not to pay.
Q: 311 is touring this summer - will you be doing anything to raise awareness while you're on the road?
A: I try to keep them separate. We don't sit as a band and come to a collective political stance on anything. Though I know I have support and agreement from members of the band, I just think that 311 is an all-inclusive; it doesn't matter if you're a red state or blue state or whatever, it's about bringing people together. Therefore if each night if I decided to take a few minutes to talk about global warming, I would piss off a lot of people who think that it's just a liberal nutcase sort of thing. And I have had a couple of people who say that global warming doesn't even exist, you're off your rocker, and you should shut up and stick to music. But the vast majority of people have been saying that's so cool that you're trying to help out with something you believe in. But there's not going to be a big global warming booth or something like that on the 311 tour. They're separate things.
(Published on CourtTV.com June 28, 2006)
For over a decade, Nick Hexum has devoted his time and energy to being the frontman of alternative rock-and-reggae band 311. Nowadays he's got a new cause, and there's nothing musical about it. After his beloved home in the Florida Keys was ravaged last year by devastating hurricanes, Hexum became driven to raise awareness about global warming, which he believes to be our most dire environmental issue. He recently started the non-profit organization Liberal Hexum, which is dedicated to various environmental and social causes, the first of which is to fund research on global warming.
As the son of a scientist, taking up such a cause seems like a natural step for Hexum, who continues to educate himself and doesn't profess to know everything. But should he stick to being a rock star and keep his politics to himself? You be the judge.
Q: What inspired you to get the word out about global warming?
A: Well, I have a vacation home in the Florida Keys that got hit by four hurricanes last year, so that made it kind of personal. But I think if anybody really looked into it and really considered it, they would become alarmed. It's our biggest crisis; it's bigger than terrorism, immigration, and all of these different things that you see in the polls that Americans are really worried about.
The waters are getting warmer, the hurricanes are getting stronger, and that's one of the first negative effects of global warming. If people understood, they would be a lot more concerned. But I guess people don't get worried about things until they start affecting their pocketbooks. Global warming is already affecting peoples' pocket books; they just don't know it, because it comes in the form of insurance premiums, and taxes that have to go to FEMA to bail out these places with emergency funding.
Q: How are you educating yourself?
A: Reading and watching every documentary I can find on the subject. On Earth Day, I saw HBO's "Too Hot Not to Handle" documentary, which I thought was just brilliant, really well done.
Q: Have you seen Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"?
A: Yeah. I pledged to see it on opening day. It's really exciting to see that he's finally being paid attention to for something that he's been warning everybody about for so long. In the same way that Jimmy Carter talked about our addiction to foreign oil when he was president, and nobody listened to that. The whole political aspect of global politics and the business of importing oil, that's one thing in itself, but global warming and the greenhouse effect are also serious problems. But they basically both can be solved by the same ingenuity and a shift in our economic energy policy.
Q: So what are some things that we can do to help prevent global warming?
A: If people, for both economic and conscience reasons, switch from SUVs to a hybrid cars, that would reduce our emissions by 75-80 percent. Solar and wind have become really viable lately, to the point where people are powering their whole houses and actually selling energy back to the power companies.
Q: But is it as simple as reducing the amount of energy used?
A: No, the government has to take the lead, there's no question about it. And that's the last thing on Bush's agenda, which is what's so upsetting.
Q: Have you tried to get involved politically?
A: Absolutely. I went on a one-month tour with my brother [Zack Hexum], called "Hexum Brothers Rock for Kerry," trying to support Kerry a couple years ago. It was really disappointing, but at least I feel like I tried.
Q: How hands-on are you with Liberal Hexum?
A: Very. I have even learned to design Web sites. A lot of young people are interested in environmental issues, but understanding the science of it is pretty confusing. So at Liberalhexum.org I've made a primer course, like Global Warming 101. It's an overview of why this is so serious and what the problems are projected to be. In the scientific community, there isn't this big debate about whether it's going on or not; that's been over for quite some time. That's just something that conservatives do to try and put off having to clean up their acts.
Q: Do you ever get the reaction: What does a musician know about global warming?
A: I haven't gotten that. I just try to collect as much information as I can from as many different sources as I can.
I have a lot of liberal beliefs, and I had been involved in anti-war things previously. In doing that, I learned more and more about global warming and about how the Bush administration has blurred the issue and silenced the scientists, so that kind of made the transition for me. Then, when you add to it that I had also been victimized by a hurricane, it all kind of worked together to motivate me.
Q: How has being in a band helped your cause?
A: It's just a platform. I've always felt that when something really urgent comes up, for example the invasion of Iraq, I've felt that I had a responsibility to try and use whatever sort of platform where I had peoples' ears and their attention to speak my mind about what I felt was a grave mistake being made. There are plenty of people who say that musicians have no business to be talking about politics, but I just have to follow my conscience.
Q: Does it ever scare you that you can affect so many people, especially because your fan base is heavily made up of young, impressionable people?
A: No. I think that people are more affected by their family and people around them than they are by Hollywood people. I certainly do take responsibility. I would be worried if I was spreading any sort of hateful message or anything destructive or even just a sort of a pessimistic, life-sucks message. I think a lot of people just wash their hands of what they're doing and say that they're just reporting what they see on the streets, but people are listening and impressionable.
Q: Do you find it hard to stay positive these days?
A: Yeah. After the disappointment of the presidential election, I went through a time when I just had to really wash my hands of politics for a while because I was so disheartened.
Q: So how did Liberal Hexum come about, and what do you do with your donations?
A: Originally I was thinking about a political action committee, but those are much more lobbyist-oriented, and being an educational non-profit environmental charity is a lot easier to get the paperwork through. I just talked to a lawyer about it, and just the start-up cost of getting yourself registered as a non-profit organization is substantial, and running a Web site. But we do have a significant war chest now, so I'm doing research as to where the money that we've raised so far would be best spent.
Q: In school, were you a science guy? I've noticed that science even creeps into your song lyrics.
A: Yeah. My dad is a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and I always loved to go to the lab with him. He researches the most basic building blocks of human anatomy as far as amino acids and stuff like that. And I was really into physics class; I guess it's sort of a hobby of mine.
Q: What motivates you?
A: At this stage in my life, it's feeling like I'm having a positive effect, whether it's by encouraging people through lyrics or my side projects.
Q: What fascinates you?
A: Well, I've become fascinated with meteorology, and that's been my obsession lately, and politics. But let's have something fun. I love power pop. I love Jellyfish, you know, that band. I can't wait to hear Jack White and Brendan Benson's new band, The Raconteurs.
Q: What would you do if you weren't a musician? Would you be a scientist?
A: I've always said I'd go into law, because I like to debate. I don't think I would be happy just being in the laboratory like my father. I'm much more into human contact.
Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: Is the trend of hurricane seasons getting longer and the hurricanes getting more severe going to continue as it has over the past three years? That worries me. And not just for myself. There are a lot of people whose lives are ruined, and those insurance companies do everything they can to find loopholes and ways not to pay.
Q: 311 is touring this summer - will you be doing anything to raise awareness while you're on the road?
A: I try to keep them separate. We don't sit as a band and come to a collective political stance on anything. Though I know I have support and agreement from members of the band, I just think that 311 is an all-inclusive; it doesn't matter if you're a red state or blue state or whatever, it's about bringing people together. Therefore if each night if I decided to take a few minutes to talk about global warming, I would piss off a lot of people who think that it's just a liberal nutcase sort of thing. And I have had a couple of people who say that global warming doesn't even exist, you're off your rocker, and you should shut up and stick to music. But the vast majority of people have been saying that's so cool that you're trying to help out with something you believe in. But there's not going to be a big global warming booth or something like that on the 311 tour. They're separate things.
(Published on CourtTV.com June 28, 2006)
Rhonda Saunders: Stopping the Stalkers (video interview)
by Erika Waddell
Rhonda Saunders has been prosecuting stalkers since 1991. She has handled the high-profile cases of celebrities such as Madonna, Steven Spielberg, Anna Nicole Smith, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Although best known for putting away the "stalkers to the stars," Saunders has also handled hundreds of terrifying cases involving less well-known victims. After 22 years as Los Angeles County prosecutor, Saunders is still as active as ever in her crusade for victims' rights and stricter stalking penalties. In this interview with Court TV's Erika Waddell, she discusses the legal issues of stalking and recounts the details of some of her most famous cases.
(Published on CourtTV.com May 19, 2005)
Rhonda Saunders has been prosecuting stalkers since 1991. She has handled the high-profile cases of celebrities such as Madonna, Steven Spielberg, Anna Nicole Smith, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Although best known for putting away the "stalkers to the stars," Saunders has also handled hundreds of terrifying cases involving less well-known victims. After 22 years as Los Angeles County prosecutor, Saunders is still as active as ever in her crusade for victims' rights and stricter stalking penalties. In this interview with Court TV's Erika Waddell, she discusses the legal issues of stalking and recounts the details of some of her most famous cases.
(Published on CourtTV.com May 19, 2005)
Eleven Reasons You Should Be Watching "Arrested Development"
By Erika Waddell
"Arrested Development" is the best show on network television. Sadly, its ratings aren't representative of its brilliance. Many viewers were surprised when the show was picked up for a second season, but after winning five Emmys and receiving unremitting praise from television critics across the country, Fox wouldn't give up on its little treasure. Currently in its third season, "Arrested Development" fans are still fighting to secure the show's future by writing letters to Fox, proposing strategies to the network on message boards and creating Web sites dedicated to saving their beloved Bluth family. While those who have seen the show love it, the hard part is rousing new viewers to tune in. So here is our list of the reasons you should be watching. We hope the hilarity will compel you to turn the dial to Fox on Monday nights at 8/7c. We know we will.
The Scripts
The writing is undeniably genius, with a perfect balance of in-your-face funny and over-your-head funny. Fans versed in the show's complex storylines and quick-witted humor still tend to miss a joke or four, as many of the family's predicaments result from misunderstandings rooted in crafty wordplay. Like when the youngest son, Buster, looses his hand to a "loose seal" (which escaped from his brother's magic show) while swimming in the ocean in an act of rebellion against his mother, Lucille. Or when the Bluth Company employs the slogan "Solid As a Rock" after George Sr. is jailed for doing business with Iraq. In an email interview with Courttv.com, actor Michael Cera (who plays George-Michael) says his favorite thing about the show is that they are able to get away with filthy humor. "It always amuses me," he says, "how critics go on about the plot twists and how not just anybody can watch, when really it's just the dirtiest show on TV. All we do is disguise it with fancy talk."
The Cast
Talk about group dynamic, there hasn't been a show cast this perfectly since "Seinfeld." Veteran actors Jeffrey Tambor, Portia de Rossi, and Jason Bateman, along with Will Arnett, David Cross, Tony Hale, and Jessica Walter give the show's writers an extremely talented lot to work with. Not to mention some of the best young actors we've ever believed.
Bateman, who plays Michael, the only level-headed Bluth, truly shines. His balance of frustrated company president and compassionate brother and father is absolute perfection. We think we're in love.
The Model Home
As much a character as any animate being, the model home is probably the single funniest element of the show. It was built by the Bluth Company to function as the model unit in their latest housing tract, but after the family got into legal hot water, Michael, his son, and the Fünke family decided to move in together. At any given time, additional family members can be found squatting there as well, making it so crowded that first cousins who are in love with each other (although their parents are unaware of it) are forced to share a room. Items like the television set and dining-room turkey are plastic fakes (like in the showroom of a furniture store), and the place is falling apart due to "shoddy workmanship." In a pivotal scene, Michael catches a news report on American-built mini-palaces in Iraq and recognizes that one of the homes resembles the Bluth Company's Sea Wind unit. The reporter points out the "shoddy workmanship" while reminding viewers that there have been sanctions against doing business with Saddam Hussein's regime since the early 1990s. Looks like George Sr. is in bigger trouble than we originally thought.
The Stair Car
You'll laugh out loud when you see the family's mode of transportation, a truck with a full staircase descending from its cab (it was once used as a gangway to the family jet). Though the Bluths make good use of the staircase -- Michael runs the stairs while training for a triathlon, Lindsay walks an activist down from a tree -- many mishaps result too. In one very funny scene, while attempting to park at the airport, Lindsay's husband, Tobias, is waved onto the tarmac and makes headlines after causing delays to the entire western flight grid. And, of course, stair-car drivers must watch out for "hop-ons." Cera tells us his favorite hop-on scene is when George Sr. escapes prison and heads to Mexico, where locals use the stairs to jump over the border into the United States.
The Never-Nude
One of our favorite characters, Tobias Fünke (pronounced Fyoonk-A), suffers from a seriously funny phobia. Tobias is what the Bluths call a "never-nude," or one with a psychological aversion to being completely naked. He wears tiny denim cut-offs at all times, under clothing, under towels and even in the shower.
Tobias also always chooses the wrong words. A favorite example is his business card, indicating that he's both an analyst and a therapist. It reads: "Tobias Fünke, Analrapist." Priceless.
The Names
Whether they're puns, indications of the character's personality, or just sound funny, character names are reflective of the show's clever writing. You've got Michael's son, George-Michael, which is the unfortunate combination of his grandfather and father's names. Then there's GOB (pronounced "Jobe"), short for George Oscar Bluth II, which is constantly being mispronounced as Gobb. Lindsay and Tobias' daughter is named Maeby, pronounced "Maybe." There are wonderful wordplays almost every time her name is spoken -- for example, "This is Tobias' daughter, Maeby." Maeby is also Michael Cera's favorite character name, which he says, "actually came from [creator] Mitch Hurwitz's two daughters, Maisie and Phoebe." And of course there's Bob Loblaw (Scott Baio), the family's newest attorney. Say his name and it comes out "blah blah blah."
The Magician
GOB, the eldest Bluth son, adds another layer of hilarity to the show with his magic tricks. He attempts outrageous "illusions" like making the family yacht disappear (he sinks it) and taking a sword in the stomach (he loses two fingers). Michael Cera says that GOB's best trick is when he attempts to impress people with mini-explosions from the palms of his hands, but ends up squirting lighter fluid all over them, to which he responds, "But still, where did the lighter fluid come from?" GOB even tries his hand at ventriloquism, with an African American puppet that says all the racist things GOB can't away with. And like a true magician, GOB uses live animals in his act... but almost always accidentally kills them. He also thinks he should be able to return the dead animals to the pet store.
The Cameos
Often playing the most eccentric of characters, celebrity guests are highlights of the show. Liza Minnelli, Heather Graham, Ben Stiller, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Charlize Theron as a British spy have all made appearances. The list goes on and on, but our favorite scene involving a guest star takes place when Zach Braff plays a director for the video series, "Girls With Low Self-Esteem," which Lindsay and Tobias protest for its exploitation of young women. In order to give Braff's character a taste of his own medicine, Lindsay and Tobias pull down his pants in the middle of a spring break shoot, revealing his cut-off jean shorts -- turns out he's a never-nude too.
The Legal Stuff
Any fan of the crime and investigation genre will enjoy this satirical take on the legal process. Take, for example, George Sr. (who was convicted on a host of SEC violations) who thinks of jail as a vacation. When reminded that he's doing time, George Sr. replies, "I'm doing the time of my life!" He's often shown in the pen playing baseball and eating ice-cream sandwiches. He even discovers Judaism in solitary confinement and produces a series of inspirational videos under the title, "Caged Wisdom." And of course there are hilarious cracks at lawyers. Henry Winkler, whom Michael Cera calls "mind-blowingly funny," plays the family's longtime attorney, who has more amusing, creative and terrible ways to wiggle out of a legal bind than any other TV lawyer.
The Frozen Banana Stand
A big hit in the '70s, kids had turned the Bluth's banana-shaped business on Balboa Island into a pot-dealing mecca so widely known that a song had been written in its honor, "Big Yellow Joint."
But more recently, it had served as more of teaching tool for Michael to instill values in his son, requiring George-Michael to work there the same way that he had. Out of rebellion, father and son torch the stand, not realizing that when George Sr. had repeatedly said, "There's always money in the banana stand," he was speaking literally — he had stashed $250,000 in the walls.
The Blue Man Group
Many of the show's best jokes and plot twists stem from Tobias' fascination with the performance art group, The Blue Man Group. Feeling low about his failing marriage, he stumbles upon a flyer for the act and attends a performance under the impression that it's a support group for depressed men. From that moment on, the struggling actor is obsessed with becoming an understudy, often walking around the house painted blue. But when he finally makes the trek to Las Vegas to audition for an opening, he learns the spot has just been filled by someone whom the casting director says is "always in character" -- none other than George Sr., who is on the run and incognito.
(Published on CourtTV.com Nov. 10, 2005)
"Arrested Development" is the best show on network television. Sadly, its ratings aren't representative of its brilliance. Many viewers were surprised when the show was picked up for a second season, but after winning five Emmys and receiving unremitting praise from television critics across the country, Fox wouldn't give up on its little treasure. Currently in its third season, "Arrested Development" fans are still fighting to secure the show's future by writing letters to Fox, proposing strategies to the network on message boards and creating Web sites dedicated to saving their beloved Bluth family. While those who have seen the show love it, the hard part is rousing new viewers to tune in. So here is our list of the reasons you should be watching. We hope the hilarity will compel you to turn the dial to Fox on Monday nights at 8/7c. We know we will.
The Scripts
The writing is undeniably genius, with a perfect balance of in-your-face funny and over-your-head funny. Fans versed in the show's complex storylines and quick-witted humor still tend to miss a joke or four, as many of the family's predicaments result from misunderstandings rooted in crafty wordplay. Like when the youngest son, Buster, looses his hand to a "loose seal" (which escaped from his brother's magic show) while swimming in the ocean in an act of rebellion against his mother, Lucille. Or when the Bluth Company employs the slogan "Solid As a Rock" after George Sr. is jailed for doing business with Iraq. In an email interview with Courttv.com, actor Michael Cera (who plays George-Michael) says his favorite thing about the show is that they are able to get away with filthy humor. "It always amuses me," he says, "how critics go on about the plot twists and how not just anybody can watch, when really it's just the dirtiest show on TV. All we do is disguise it with fancy talk."
The Cast
Talk about group dynamic, there hasn't been a show cast this perfectly since "Seinfeld." Veteran actors Jeffrey Tambor, Portia de Rossi, and Jason Bateman, along with Will Arnett, David Cross, Tony Hale, and Jessica Walter give the show's writers an extremely talented lot to work with. Not to mention some of the best young actors we've ever believed.
Bateman, who plays Michael, the only level-headed Bluth, truly shines. His balance of frustrated company president and compassionate brother and father is absolute perfection. We think we're in love.
The Model Home
As much a character as any animate being, the model home is probably the single funniest element of the show. It was built by the Bluth Company to function as the model unit in their latest housing tract, but after the family got into legal hot water, Michael, his son, and the Fünke family decided to move in together. At any given time, additional family members can be found squatting there as well, making it so crowded that first cousins who are in love with each other (although their parents are unaware of it) are forced to share a room. Items like the television set and dining-room turkey are plastic fakes (like in the showroom of a furniture store), and the place is falling apart due to "shoddy workmanship." In a pivotal scene, Michael catches a news report on American-built mini-palaces in Iraq and recognizes that one of the homes resembles the Bluth Company's Sea Wind unit. The reporter points out the "shoddy workmanship" while reminding viewers that there have been sanctions against doing business with Saddam Hussein's regime since the early 1990s. Looks like George Sr. is in bigger trouble than we originally thought.
The Stair Car
You'll laugh out loud when you see the family's mode of transportation, a truck with a full staircase descending from its cab (it was once used as a gangway to the family jet). Though the Bluths make good use of the staircase -- Michael runs the stairs while training for a triathlon, Lindsay walks an activist down from a tree -- many mishaps result too. In one very funny scene, while attempting to park at the airport, Lindsay's husband, Tobias, is waved onto the tarmac and makes headlines after causing delays to the entire western flight grid. And, of course, stair-car drivers must watch out for "hop-ons." Cera tells us his favorite hop-on scene is when George Sr. escapes prison and heads to Mexico, where locals use the stairs to jump over the border into the United States.
The Never-Nude
One of our favorite characters, Tobias Fünke (pronounced Fyoonk-A), suffers from a seriously funny phobia. Tobias is what the Bluths call a "never-nude," or one with a psychological aversion to being completely naked. He wears tiny denim cut-offs at all times, under clothing, under towels and even in the shower.
Tobias also always chooses the wrong words. A favorite example is his business card, indicating that he's both an analyst and a therapist. It reads: "Tobias Fünke, Analrapist." Priceless.
The Names
Whether they're puns, indications of the character's personality, or just sound funny, character names are reflective of the show's clever writing. You've got Michael's son, George-Michael, which is the unfortunate combination of his grandfather and father's names. Then there's GOB (pronounced "Jobe"), short for George Oscar Bluth II, which is constantly being mispronounced as Gobb. Lindsay and Tobias' daughter is named Maeby, pronounced "Maybe." There are wonderful wordplays almost every time her name is spoken -- for example, "This is Tobias' daughter, Maeby." Maeby is also Michael Cera's favorite character name, which he says, "actually came from [creator] Mitch Hurwitz's two daughters, Maisie and Phoebe." And of course there's Bob Loblaw (Scott Baio), the family's newest attorney. Say his name and it comes out "blah blah blah."
The Magician
GOB, the eldest Bluth son, adds another layer of hilarity to the show with his magic tricks. He attempts outrageous "illusions" like making the family yacht disappear (he sinks it) and taking a sword in the stomach (he loses two fingers). Michael Cera says that GOB's best trick is when he attempts to impress people with mini-explosions from the palms of his hands, but ends up squirting lighter fluid all over them, to which he responds, "But still, where did the lighter fluid come from?" GOB even tries his hand at ventriloquism, with an African American puppet that says all the racist things GOB can't away with. And like a true magician, GOB uses live animals in his act... but almost always accidentally kills them. He also thinks he should be able to return the dead animals to the pet store.
The Cameos
Often playing the most eccentric of characters, celebrity guests are highlights of the show. Liza Minnelli, Heather Graham, Ben Stiller, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Charlize Theron as a British spy have all made appearances. The list goes on and on, but our favorite scene involving a guest star takes place when Zach Braff plays a director for the video series, "Girls With Low Self-Esteem," which Lindsay and Tobias protest for its exploitation of young women. In order to give Braff's character a taste of his own medicine, Lindsay and Tobias pull down his pants in the middle of a spring break shoot, revealing his cut-off jean shorts -- turns out he's a never-nude too.
The Legal Stuff
Any fan of the crime and investigation genre will enjoy this satirical take on the legal process. Take, for example, George Sr. (who was convicted on a host of SEC violations) who thinks of jail as a vacation. When reminded that he's doing time, George Sr. replies, "I'm doing the time of my life!" He's often shown in the pen playing baseball and eating ice-cream sandwiches. He even discovers Judaism in solitary confinement and produces a series of inspirational videos under the title, "Caged Wisdom." And of course there are hilarious cracks at lawyers. Henry Winkler, whom Michael Cera calls "mind-blowingly funny," plays the family's longtime attorney, who has more amusing, creative and terrible ways to wiggle out of a legal bind than any other TV lawyer.
The Frozen Banana Stand
A big hit in the '70s, kids had turned the Bluth's banana-shaped business on Balboa Island into a pot-dealing mecca so widely known that a song had been written in its honor, "Big Yellow Joint."
But more recently, it had served as more of teaching tool for Michael to instill values in his son, requiring George-Michael to work there the same way that he had. Out of rebellion, father and son torch the stand, not realizing that when George Sr. had repeatedly said, "There's always money in the banana stand," he was speaking literally — he had stashed $250,000 in the walls.
The Blue Man Group
Many of the show's best jokes and plot twists stem from Tobias' fascination with the performance art group, The Blue Man Group. Feeling low about his failing marriage, he stumbles upon a flyer for the act and attends a performance under the impression that it's a support group for depressed men. From that moment on, the struggling actor is obsessed with becoming an understudy, often walking around the house painted blue. But when he finally makes the trek to Las Vegas to audition for an opening, he learns the spot has just been filled by someone whom the casting director says is "always in character" -- none other than George Sr., who is on the run and incognito.
(Published on CourtTV.com Nov. 10, 2005)
Q & A with Allison DuBois of "Medium" (Part 1)
by Erika Waddell
Best known as the inspiration for Patricia Arquette's character on NBC's "Medium," Allison DuBois uses her psychic abilities to help police departments around the country find missing persons, as well as working with the district attorney's office in Phoenix, where she lives, assisting them with jury selection. Courttv.com's Erika Waddell recently caught up with DuBois, 33, to talk about being the inspiration for a hit show, her work with law enforcement, and what it's like to see dead people.
"Medium" airs Mondays at 10pm E/P on NBC. Season premiere September 19.
Q: I understand that you are a consultant on "Medium." How much of what happens on the show has happened to you in real life?
A: I'd have to break each episode down to answer that, but I could give some examples. There was an episode where my brother, who also has the ability, was in the military and it prompted him to get out because he knew he was going to [die] had he stayed which is true. There is also an episode where my middle daughter had an imaginary friend who turned out to be a child that had died, and that happened. There's the episode where my older daughter actually worked a case with me and that's true. Sure there's some Hollywood magic thrown in, great background music and stuff, but what's surprising is that people will look at the murders and go, "That couldn't possibly happen," and I say, "I've worked way more [complicated cases] than that." But they do change a lot of the characteristics of the murder scenarios. I don't want to re-victimize the families.
Q: Do you have any script control?
A: No, but Glenn Gordon Caron [the show's creator] and I made a pact that if he wrote something I just couldn't live with, to tell him and he would try to find a way to make it okay for me. The only episode that was bothersome to me was the one about my brother because it was so personal.
Q: How did they choose you?
A: I did a pilot almost five years ago called "The Oracles," where they were testing people in my genre. I ended up making it and met Kelsey Grammer. He was co-producing it at the time, and we kept in touch. Then I got a call from his assistant about a year and a half later saying that he was interested in a series based on my life.
Q: Did it change your life?
A: Yes. It's difficult sometimes to keep your feet on the ground. I get used to having my hair done for me. Little things like that. And people are very respectful of me, too, especially in Arizona, where I live. They'll stare at me a little, but they're very courteous.
Q: Has your celebrity has given you more credibility?
A: I hope my track record speaks for itself, but I think the show has given people more of a playing field to talk about the subject of mediumship, and a comfortable place to talk about it. My mission in doing this is to break stereotypes of what a medium is because I never wanted to be tied to crystal balls, or 13 cats. I wasn't relating to what I saw mediums as being, so I appreciate being able to put my own image out there.
Q: In one episode of "Medium," your character is asked by the D.A. to lie on the stand about how she helped the prosecution. Has that happened to you?
A: No. And I said to [the writer], "The D.A.s I work with [are not allowed to] put me on the stand. They can't [use] a medium's testimony." So what does he do? He goes out and writes an episode where I can take the stand! [laughs]
Q: So a psychic's testimony is inadmissible in a court of law?
A: Of course. And now when I work on a jury -- I'm a jury consultant for the D.A.— I have a problem because people know what I look like. I can no longer sit in the courtroom, so all of the jury consultations I've done since the show's come out I've had to do from my office. They give me the completed jury questionnaires and I tell the [prosecutors] who the defense will think is okay. Also, for example, I know if a potential juror had a sexual assault or something in her history and if she'll take it out on the defendant. So we'll [choose] that person [as a juror]. It's something that the defense could never know.
Q: When you're working for the prosecution, you don't have to inform the defense that you're helping out?
A: Our argument is that they wouldn't believe it anyway. They'd have to prove that I do have the ability. And if they tried to discredit me, saying that I didn't know what I was talking about -- well, if I don't know what I'm talking about, then it doesn't really matter if I'm consulting, right?
Q: In the same episode, the defense attorney thinks your character is lying and tries to get her to crack on the stand. She fires back with information from his past and he backs off. Can you really get specific information about people?
A: I've done that more than a few times. Mediums go bad! We can't separate what we do from our everyday lives, but we do have to try and keep ourselves in check.
Q: Why do you choose to help the prosecution over the defense?
A: The prosecution puts the bad guys away.
Q: Have you ever defended someone?
A: No. But I make sure the DNA backs up in each case and that this is truly the person who tortured and killed another human being. I'm very careful about that.
Q: Have you ever gotten a strong feeling that a defendant was innocent?
A: No. I've only worked on the worst of the worst. The triple homicides, the rapes and murders.
Q: Is that emotionally draining?
A: It is, but I'm just one of many people who choose to take that on in order to make things better for the victim. When I was able to physically be in the courtrooms working the cases, the victims who had died were always sitting there, watching the court proceedings. But I don't believe that I'm supposed to be the answer in every situation.
Q: How does law enforcement deal with your legitimacy?
A: This happens all the time: Police will say, "So the medium was in another state. How could she have known where the body would be found?" And they end up investigating the profiler, thinking that she may have had something to do with the murder.
Q: Do you think that law enforcement is welcoming to mediums, or are they a last resort?
A: They're becoming more open-minded, but I do think we're used as a last line of defense. If they knew who the valid profilers were, and if there was some way to keep track of these people, that would make it a lot easier. I'm trying to train one of my friends how to profile cases. She's profiled with me but needs to learn how to read things better. For example, tattoos on the knuckles is something that people do in prison, and if you see that, you know it's someone who's served time for a violent crime.
Q: Are you paid to work a case?
A: I never accept payment to work a murder or missing-person case. I don't want to further hinder the people who have gone through such a tragedy that they have to worry about how they are going to pay me.
Q: You offered your help in the search for Elizabeth Smart. Were you approached by law enforcement?
A: A search-and-rescue team approached another profiler, and she asked me if I'd give them my information on the Smart case. I did, but the problem was that I gave the name Brian and the abductor went by the name Emmanuel. Police didn't figure out until a lot later that his real name was Brian. I had also told the profiler that it was a groundskeeper who abducted Elizabeth, but she edited my information and didn't include that. You can understand how irritated I was.
Q: Have you worked on any other well-known cases?
A: The only reason you have the Elizabeth Smart case to read about is because she's alive. In most of the cases I work the person is deceased, and I don't want to re-injure the family by them having to hear about it over and over just so I can show how great I am.
Q: What about Natalee Holloway, the missing teen in Aruba. Have you been approached by law enforcement for help?
A: Nobody's approached me on that. From what I've seen, the police there are doing a bungling job. It's hard enough working with the law enforcement here. How the hell am I supposed to work with the cops in a foreign country?
Q: Do you think there are psychics trying to get involved?
A: Oh sure. The only way for someone who does what I do to become well-known is to crack a high profile case and make a name. I understand it, but at the same time it's not the route that I took.
Q: What is your favorite part of what you do?
A: I love bringing people through who have died. I love seeing what they saw. One time an organization for parents of murdered children asked me to come and speak. There were 60 people there, and all their children had been murdered. All the kids that had died were there, too, and I could see them. I ended up reading everybody in the room. When they all walked out, they had smiles on their faces, and they hadn't smiled in a long time. That's why I do what I do.
(Published on CourtTV.com Sept. 15, 2005)
Best known as the inspiration for Patricia Arquette's character on NBC's "Medium," Allison DuBois uses her psychic abilities to help police departments around the country find missing persons, as well as working with the district attorney's office in Phoenix, where she lives, assisting them with jury selection. Courttv.com's Erika Waddell recently caught up with DuBois, 33, to talk about being the inspiration for a hit show, her work with law enforcement, and what it's like to see dead people.
"Medium" airs Mondays at 10pm E/P on NBC. Season premiere September 19.
Q: I understand that you are a consultant on "Medium." How much of what happens on the show has happened to you in real life?
A: I'd have to break each episode down to answer that, but I could give some examples. There was an episode where my brother, who also has the ability, was in the military and it prompted him to get out because he knew he was going to [die] had he stayed which is true. There is also an episode where my middle daughter had an imaginary friend who turned out to be a child that had died, and that happened. There's the episode where my older daughter actually worked a case with me and that's true. Sure there's some Hollywood magic thrown in, great background music and stuff, but what's surprising is that people will look at the murders and go, "That couldn't possibly happen," and I say, "I've worked way more [complicated cases] than that." But they do change a lot of the characteristics of the murder scenarios. I don't want to re-victimize the families.
Q: Do you have any script control?
A: No, but Glenn Gordon Caron [the show's creator] and I made a pact that if he wrote something I just couldn't live with, to tell him and he would try to find a way to make it okay for me. The only episode that was bothersome to me was the one about my brother because it was so personal.
Q: How did they choose you?
A: I did a pilot almost five years ago called "The Oracles," where they were testing people in my genre. I ended up making it and met Kelsey Grammer. He was co-producing it at the time, and we kept in touch. Then I got a call from his assistant about a year and a half later saying that he was interested in a series based on my life.
Q: Did it change your life?
A: Yes. It's difficult sometimes to keep your feet on the ground. I get used to having my hair done for me. Little things like that. And people are very respectful of me, too, especially in Arizona, where I live. They'll stare at me a little, but they're very courteous.
Q: Has your celebrity has given you more credibility?
A: I hope my track record speaks for itself, but I think the show has given people more of a playing field to talk about the subject of mediumship, and a comfortable place to talk about it. My mission in doing this is to break stereotypes of what a medium is because I never wanted to be tied to crystal balls, or 13 cats. I wasn't relating to what I saw mediums as being, so I appreciate being able to put my own image out there.
Q: In one episode of "Medium," your character is asked by the D.A. to lie on the stand about how she helped the prosecution. Has that happened to you?
A: No. And I said to [the writer], "The D.A.s I work with [are not allowed to] put me on the stand. They can't [use] a medium's testimony." So what does he do? He goes out and writes an episode where I can take the stand! [laughs]
Q: So a psychic's testimony is inadmissible in a court of law?
A: Of course. And now when I work on a jury -- I'm a jury consultant for the D.A.— I have a problem because people know what I look like. I can no longer sit in the courtroom, so all of the jury consultations I've done since the show's come out I've had to do from my office. They give me the completed jury questionnaires and I tell the [prosecutors] who the defense will think is okay. Also, for example, I know if a potential juror had a sexual assault or something in her history and if she'll take it out on the defendant. So we'll [choose] that person [as a juror]. It's something that the defense could never know.
Q: When you're working for the prosecution, you don't have to inform the defense that you're helping out?
A: Our argument is that they wouldn't believe it anyway. They'd have to prove that I do have the ability. And if they tried to discredit me, saying that I didn't know what I was talking about -- well, if I don't know what I'm talking about, then it doesn't really matter if I'm consulting, right?
Q: In the same episode, the defense attorney thinks your character is lying and tries to get her to crack on the stand. She fires back with information from his past and he backs off. Can you really get specific information about people?
A: I've done that more than a few times. Mediums go bad! We can't separate what we do from our everyday lives, but we do have to try and keep ourselves in check.
Q: Why do you choose to help the prosecution over the defense?
A: The prosecution puts the bad guys away.
Q: Have you ever defended someone?
A: No. But I make sure the DNA backs up in each case and that this is truly the person who tortured and killed another human being. I'm very careful about that.
Q: Have you ever gotten a strong feeling that a defendant was innocent?
A: No. I've only worked on the worst of the worst. The triple homicides, the rapes and murders.
Q: Is that emotionally draining?
A: It is, but I'm just one of many people who choose to take that on in order to make things better for the victim. When I was able to physically be in the courtrooms working the cases, the victims who had died were always sitting there, watching the court proceedings. But I don't believe that I'm supposed to be the answer in every situation.
Q: How does law enforcement deal with your legitimacy?
A: This happens all the time: Police will say, "So the medium was in another state. How could she have known where the body would be found?" And they end up investigating the profiler, thinking that she may have had something to do with the murder.
Q: Do you think that law enforcement is welcoming to mediums, or are they a last resort?
A: They're becoming more open-minded, but I do think we're used as a last line of defense. If they knew who the valid profilers were, and if there was some way to keep track of these people, that would make it a lot easier. I'm trying to train one of my friends how to profile cases. She's profiled with me but needs to learn how to read things better. For example, tattoos on the knuckles is something that people do in prison, and if you see that, you know it's someone who's served time for a violent crime.
Q: Are you paid to work a case?
A: I never accept payment to work a murder or missing-person case. I don't want to further hinder the people who have gone through such a tragedy that they have to worry about how they are going to pay me.
Q: You offered your help in the search for Elizabeth Smart. Were you approached by law enforcement?
A: A search-and-rescue team approached another profiler, and she asked me if I'd give them my information on the Smart case. I did, but the problem was that I gave the name Brian and the abductor went by the name Emmanuel. Police didn't figure out until a lot later that his real name was Brian. I had also told the profiler that it was a groundskeeper who abducted Elizabeth, but she edited my information and didn't include that. You can understand how irritated I was.
Q: Have you worked on any other well-known cases?
A: The only reason you have the Elizabeth Smart case to read about is because she's alive. In most of the cases I work the person is deceased, and I don't want to re-injure the family by them having to hear about it over and over just so I can show how great I am.
Q: What about Natalee Holloway, the missing teen in Aruba. Have you been approached by law enforcement for help?
A: Nobody's approached me on that. From what I've seen, the police there are doing a bungling job. It's hard enough working with the law enforcement here. How the hell am I supposed to work with the cops in a foreign country?
Q: Do you think there are psychics trying to get involved?
A: Oh sure. The only way for someone who does what I do to become well-known is to crack a high profile case and make a name. I understand it, but at the same time it's not the route that I took.
Q: What is your favorite part of what you do?
A: I love bringing people through who have died. I love seeing what they saw. One time an organization for parents of murdered children asked me to come and speak. There were 60 people there, and all their children had been murdered. All the kids that had died were there, too, and I could see them. I ended up reading everybody in the room. When they all walked out, they had smiles on their faces, and they hadn't smiled in a long time. That's why I do what I do.
(Published on CourtTV.com Sept. 15, 2005)
Q & A with Allison DuBois of NBC’s "Medium." (Part II)
by Erika Waddell
Q: Do you get ignored by law enforcement?
A: I don’t “ambulance-chase” cases, so the only ones I work are the cases brought to me. I’m very fortunate that way.
Q: Do you think that law enforcement is welcoming to mediums or are they a last resort?
A: The police are becoming more open-minded, but I do think we’re used as a last line of defense. If the police knew who the valid profilers were… it would make it a lot easier.
Q: Do you ever get information that is so strange that your mind tells you it can’t be right?
A: Oh sure but you just have to go with it. If we start editing, we’ll mess up.
Q: What happens if more than one psychic offers help and the information is contradictory?
A: Oh, I’ve had that happen. I worked a case in Texas where a man was abducted. Three other psychics claimed he was alive. I knew that he wasn’t, and sure enough, they found the guy’s body two or three days after that. The other psychics claimed he was still alive because then the family would keep paying them to find him.
Q: Have you ever given information that turned out to be completely incorrect?
A: None of my entire write-ups have been wrong. But with my first case, I could have read my information better.
Q: So you get the right signs, but sometimes you just interpret them incorrectly?
A: Right. That’s why we give our information as cryptic as it may seem, because once law enforcement or the family has it, it makes sense to them.
Q: Are you constantly combing for missing persons stories in the news?
A: No, I actually stay away from them. But if I see something on TV or in the paper, a lot of times I just know what happened. I don’t watch the news very much because my life is so heavy as it is. I watch mindless television.
Q: So if you’re watching something, let’s say like “Law & Order,” can you figure out what’s going to happen in the end?
A: Yeah, it’s generally boring for me, and my husband doesn’t like going to movies with me. Something that I see as being obvious ruins the movie for him.
Q: I bet you’re good at gambling.
A: Yes, when I’m playing poker I can hear other people’s thoughts. But I can’t pick lottery numbers because people aren’t attached.
Q: Do you think the ability is hereditary?
A: I believe it’s completely genetic. And it runs in family lines. It ran in mine, all three of my girls have it. Easter egg hunts in our household are different than in other homes!
Q: So with the recent explosion of psychic dramas and documentaries on TV, do you think that mediums are starting to get more credibility or more skeptics?
A: I think the skeptics and the believers already existed before this explosion occurred. I think “Psychic Detectives” is an awesome show because it shows what people want to know, what they are curious about. It shows the cases in the action, not taking our word for it but actually showing it. I think that’s helping a lot because skeptical people watch it and go, “Well how do they know that?” Of course you are going to have some religious zealots out there [who disagree], but I don’t let that bother me. I know that people that commit suicide don’t go to hell. I have talked to people who have committed suicide and are on the other side with their family and friends, and they’re fine. And they give me all this great information to corroborate that it’s really them. I live on a different plain than a lot of people, and I feel very lucky not to have to wonder.
(Published on CourtTV.com for show "Psychic Detectives")
Q: Do you get ignored by law enforcement?
A: I don’t “ambulance-chase” cases, so the only ones I work are the cases brought to me. I’m very fortunate that way.
Q: Do you think that law enforcement is welcoming to mediums or are they a last resort?
A: The police are becoming more open-minded, but I do think we’re used as a last line of defense. If the police knew who the valid profilers were… it would make it a lot easier.
Q: Do you ever get information that is so strange that your mind tells you it can’t be right?
A: Oh sure but you just have to go with it. If we start editing, we’ll mess up.
Q: What happens if more than one psychic offers help and the information is contradictory?
A: Oh, I’ve had that happen. I worked a case in Texas where a man was abducted. Three other psychics claimed he was alive. I knew that he wasn’t, and sure enough, they found the guy’s body two or three days after that. The other psychics claimed he was still alive because then the family would keep paying them to find him.
Q: Have you ever given information that turned out to be completely incorrect?
A: None of my entire write-ups have been wrong. But with my first case, I could have read my information better.
Q: So you get the right signs, but sometimes you just interpret them incorrectly?
A: Right. That’s why we give our information as cryptic as it may seem, because once law enforcement or the family has it, it makes sense to them.
Q: Are you constantly combing for missing persons stories in the news?
A: No, I actually stay away from them. But if I see something on TV or in the paper, a lot of times I just know what happened. I don’t watch the news very much because my life is so heavy as it is. I watch mindless television.
Q: So if you’re watching something, let’s say like “Law & Order,” can you figure out what’s going to happen in the end?
A: Yeah, it’s generally boring for me, and my husband doesn’t like going to movies with me. Something that I see as being obvious ruins the movie for him.
Q: I bet you’re good at gambling.
A: Yes, when I’m playing poker I can hear other people’s thoughts. But I can’t pick lottery numbers because people aren’t attached.
Q: Do you think the ability is hereditary?
A: I believe it’s completely genetic. And it runs in family lines. It ran in mine, all three of my girls have it. Easter egg hunts in our household are different than in other homes!
Q: So with the recent explosion of psychic dramas and documentaries on TV, do you think that mediums are starting to get more credibility or more skeptics?
A: I think the skeptics and the believers already existed before this explosion occurred. I think “Psychic Detectives” is an awesome show because it shows what people want to know, what they are curious about. It shows the cases in the action, not taking our word for it but actually showing it. I think that’s helping a lot because skeptical people watch it and go, “Well how do they know that?” Of course you are going to have some religious zealots out there [who disagree], but I don’t let that bother me. I know that people that commit suicide don’t go to hell. I have talked to people who have committed suicide and are on the other side with their family and friends, and they’re fine. And they give me all this great information to corroborate that it’s really them. I live on a different plain than a lot of people, and I feel very lucky not to have to wonder.
(Published on CourtTV.com for show "Psychic Detectives")
Interview with Dustin Hawthorne of Hot Hot Heat
by Erika Waddell
Originally from Victoria, British Columbia, indie-rock band Hot Hot Heat had their major label debut in 2002 with "Make Up the Breakdown." After touring nonstop for almost two years, the Vancouver-based quartet released their follow-up album, "Elevator," in the spring of 2005 and have already achieved great success with singles "Goodnight Goodnight" and "Middle of Nowhere." Lead singer Steve Bays describes the essence of the band as "catchy, fun, danceable, Friday-night music with some dark undertones to keep it interesting." And although Hot Hot Heat has a sound all their own, the band has been cited as a major catalyst in the success of other current favorites like The Killers. Courttv.com's Erika Waddell spoke with bassist Dustin Hawthorne while the band was on tour in Santa Cruz, CA about their new album, life on the road, and more.
Q: When was the first time you decided you wanted to be a musician?
A: I decided I wanted to be a musician when I was fourteen years old, when I saw my first punk-rock show. Seeing the kids on stage and them being not that much older than I was, I realized that it wouldn't be that difficult to do. As far as being a musician as a career, that's something that didn't really even dawn on me until it pretty much happened. I never thought I'd pursue it and actually be able to make a living doing it.
Q: What had you thought about going into?
A: Well, I was working in a drugstore, and I was kind of starting to go to school, but not really. I was only going to go because I knew that I had to do something like that if I wanted to better my life.
Q: Why did you name the new album "Elevator"?
A: The main reason is because we wanted to highlight the track "Elevator" on the record. It's kind of a slower song, and we were hoping that people would pay more attention to it.
Q: So how has the "Elevator" experience been as compared the experience of your first album, "Make Up The Breakdown"? You had a lot of success with the first record, but with this latest one you're more established.
A: It's been good. People react to both records well, and there hasn't been any negative publicity whatsoever for either album.
Q: Why did Dante [DeCaro, the band's former guitarist] leave the band?
A: He basically didn't like touring.
Q: So what inspires you?
A: Nice long walks. Haha. Really quirky, weird, obscure music inspires me.
Q: What are you listening to these days? Are there any up-and-coming bands out there that you think are just groundbreaking?
A: Maximo Park. They're a band from the UK, and they sound kind of like the Talking Heads, and they're just fantastic. I really, really like them.
Q: What else are you listening to?
A: Obscure, random hip-hop. The new Quasimodo record is good. I really dig that.
Q: You have a very original sound and have had a lot of success so far, but do you think other bands have ripped off your sound, your look, or your style?
A: I wouldn't necessarily say "ripped off," but there is a certain style of music going on right now that's popular, and I think we certainly had something to do with those bands actually being played on the radio. I would be an idiot to say we didn't help out with that.
Q: What do you think about bands that don't recognize you when they're asked about your influence?
A: I just don't care. I'm not looking for a pat on the back.
Q: What's the ring tone on your cell phone right now?
A: Right now it's 50 Cent, "P.I.M.P."
Q: Which city has the best groupies?
A: Umm... not going to answer that one. Pass. Haha.
Q: Which city has the best fans?
A: Probably Los Angeles.
Q: What do you do right before you go onstage?
A: Right before I go onstage, I usually take a pee in the bathroom about 20 times!
Q: Because you're nervous?
A: It might be partly that, but I've got a really small bladder and it's terrible when you're on stage and halfway through the set you have to go to the bathroom.
Q: Do you watch reality TV?
A: No. I haven't had television for about 10 years now.
Q: Is it hard to keep up with the news when you're on the road?
A: Yeah. When I'm at home, and not on tour, I read the newspaper every day, and go to BBC.com and I listen to BBC on the radio. But when I'm on tour, I don't know what newspapers to read or anything like that, so I'm kind of lost.
(Published on CourtTV.com Sept. 1, 2005)
Originally from Victoria, British Columbia, indie-rock band Hot Hot Heat had their major label debut in 2002 with "Make Up the Breakdown." After touring nonstop for almost two years, the Vancouver-based quartet released their follow-up album, "Elevator," in the spring of 2005 and have already achieved great success with singles "Goodnight Goodnight" and "Middle of Nowhere." Lead singer Steve Bays describes the essence of the band as "catchy, fun, danceable, Friday-night music with some dark undertones to keep it interesting." And although Hot Hot Heat has a sound all their own, the band has been cited as a major catalyst in the success of other current favorites like The Killers. Courttv.com's Erika Waddell spoke with bassist Dustin Hawthorne while the band was on tour in Santa Cruz, CA about their new album, life on the road, and more.
Q: When was the first time you decided you wanted to be a musician?
A: I decided I wanted to be a musician when I was fourteen years old, when I saw my first punk-rock show. Seeing the kids on stage and them being not that much older than I was, I realized that it wouldn't be that difficult to do. As far as being a musician as a career, that's something that didn't really even dawn on me until it pretty much happened. I never thought I'd pursue it and actually be able to make a living doing it.
Q: What had you thought about going into?
A: Well, I was working in a drugstore, and I was kind of starting to go to school, but not really. I was only going to go because I knew that I had to do something like that if I wanted to better my life.
Q: Why did you name the new album "Elevator"?
A: The main reason is because we wanted to highlight the track "Elevator" on the record. It's kind of a slower song, and we were hoping that people would pay more attention to it.
Q: So how has the "Elevator" experience been as compared the experience of your first album, "Make Up The Breakdown"? You had a lot of success with the first record, but with this latest one you're more established.
A: It's been good. People react to both records well, and there hasn't been any negative publicity whatsoever for either album.
Q: Why did Dante [DeCaro, the band's former guitarist] leave the band?
A: He basically didn't like touring.
Q: So what inspires you?
A: Nice long walks. Haha. Really quirky, weird, obscure music inspires me.
Q: What are you listening to these days? Are there any up-and-coming bands out there that you think are just groundbreaking?
A: Maximo Park. They're a band from the UK, and they sound kind of like the Talking Heads, and they're just fantastic. I really, really like them.
Q: What else are you listening to?
A: Obscure, random hip-hop. The new Quasimodo record is good. I really dig that.
Q: You have a very original sound and have had a lot of success so far, but do you think other bands have ripped off your sound, your look, or your style?
A: I wouldn't necessarily say "ripped off," but there is a certain style of music going on right now that's popular, and I think we certainly had something to do with those bands actually being played on the radio. I would be an idiot to say we didn't help out with that.
Q: What do you think about bands that don't recognize you when they're asked about your influence?
A: I just don't care. I'm not looking for a pat on the back.
Q: What's the ring tone on your cell phone right now?
A: Right now it's 50 Cent, "P.I.M.P."
Q: Which city has the best groupies?
A: Umm... not going to answer that one. Pass. Haha.
Q: Which city has the best fans?
A: Probably Los Angeles.
Q: What do you do right before you go onstage?
A: Right before I go onstage, I usually take a pee in the bathroom about 20 times!
Q: Because you're nervous?
A: It might be partly that, but I've got a really small bladder and it's terrible when you're on stage and halfway through the set you have to go to the bathroom.
Q: Do you watch reality TV?
A: No. I haven't had television for about 10 years now.
Q: Is it hard to keep up with the news when you're on the road?
A: Yeah. When I'm at home, and not on tour, I read the newspaper every day, and go to BBC.com and I listen to BBC on the radio. But when I'm on tour, I don't know what newspapers to read or anything like that, so I'm kind of lost.
(Published on CourtTV.com Sept. 1, 2005)
K-Fed, Meet Shoshanna
By Erika Waddell
Now that Britney Spears is divorcing Kevin Federline, we're taking bets to see how long before he's completely forgotten. His album fell flat and his tour dates got cancelled, so taking a spill right off the face of the earth seems imminent for the man now known as Fed-Ex.
It can be tough when you go from being a celebrity's paramour to obscurity, but the path is well-trod. Here are 10 others who were once famous, twice forgotten.
Jason Alexander
Not George Costanza. The Alexander who was married to Britney Spears for 55 hours back in 2004. As quickly as he'd appeared, the poor guy faded back to civilian-hood. He even tried to hold the media's interest by giving away intimate pre-ceremony details, but being famous only by association, Alexander just couldn't hold the attention. Now that Spears has announced she'll divorce her second no-name hubby, Alexander's gotten himself back in the press announcing plans to write a book about his experience growing up and marrying the pop tart, admitting he'll include some things that Brit "will be mad at."
Cris Judd
Known for marrying Jennifer Lopez in 2001, Judd went from an unknown dancer to a household name in an instant. But the two didn't even make it to their paper anniversary. Judd tried to stretch his fifteen minutes on the 2003 reality show, "I'm a Celebrity--Get Me Out of Here," but was immediately forgotten a second time.
He's currently trying his hand at reality TV again; this time as the host of a competition called "Dirty Dancing," which premiered this week on the Women's Entertainment network. But that doesn't seem promising; anyone remember "The Wade Robson Project"? Maybe he should just threaten a tell-all book about his marriage to Lopez. That seems to be working for her first husband, Ojani Noa, who's recently gotten his name back in the papers.
Ashley Madison
Until recently, the 20-year-old aspiring actress used to play the role of actor James Woods' arm candy. But since being kicked to the curb in August, she's vanished from the red carpet and the gossip columns.
Her voluptuousness had made her almost as famous as Woods had, but who would have seen the buxom blond if Woods hadn't gotten her bit parts that coincided with his roles on "Shark" and "Entourage"? Maybe we shouldn't write her off just yet, but bad-acting blonds have the shelf life of... wait, what was her name again?
Jason Shaw
As the spokesmodel for Tommy Hilfiger, Shaw had already been making a name for himself. But getting involved with Paris Hilton took him to celebrity status. They got engaged in 2002, but the flames quickly fizzled and Shaw was demoted back to just plain model. He's popped up on TV a few times since parting ways with the party girl, but looks don't necessarily translate to talent. Shaw is reportedly considering going into business or going back to school, but without the heiress to share the limelight we're guessing he's probably seen his day in the sun.
Rob Camilletti
Rob Camilletti may not be a household name, but most people remember his nickname: "Cher's Bagel Boy." In the late eighties he dated the singer, 18 years his senior, while working as a bartender and struggling actor. When it surfaced he'd once worked in a New York bagel shop, the media gave him the moniker that stuck. The pair broke up a few years later, reportedly because Camilletti was frustrated that his acting wasn't being taken seriously. Cher went on to date several A-list musicians, and Camilletti's acting career has yet to take off. Rumors swirled that Cher took him back in 2000, but her Farewell tour probably helped her bid farewell to Camilletti for good, and we haven't heard of him since.
Shoshanna Lonstein
We first heard her name in 1993 when the then 17-year-old high school student was dating Jerry Seinfeld. She was an instant intrigue to the public not only because of the barely legal nature of their relationship, but also because she was stunning to the eye. The coupling lasted four years, but the eventual split sent Shoshanna back into the realm of the relatively unknown. "Relatively" because she'll always be somewhat of a New York City celebrity, but unless you're keen on the fashion world, her name probably hasn't come to mind in years.
Since the break-up she's gotten married, had a daughter, started her own fashion label (which features a "revolutionary system [that] accommodates all different types of body types and proportions") and worked as contributor to Cosmopolitan magazine.
Apollonia
As is the norm when unknowns hook up with major stars, Patricia Kotera became an overnight sensation after attracting Prince, who renamed her Apollonia. Clearly taken with her, Prince cast Apollonia in his 1984 film, "Purple Rain," and gave her the lead in his female musical group, Vanity 6. But it wasn't long before he lost interest in the band, and the public subsequently followed suit. Apollonia went on to land a recurring role on nighttime soap "Falcon Crest," starred in several straight-to-video movies and has reportedly been trying to revive her acting and singing careers since the mid-nineties. But so far she's yet to do anything as memorable as hanging on the arm of Prince.
Rick Salomon
A film producer who first became known for his turbulent marriage and break-up with actress Shannen Doherty, Rick Salomon rose to actual fame for releasing the sex tape of he and ex, Paris Hilton. When "1 Night in Paris" emerged in 2003, Salomon was the man of the hour, whether you considered him a hero or a total sleaze. He stayed in the press while engaged in legal battles with the Hilton family, but has pretty much gone MIA since. He most recently produced the BET series, "DMX: Soul of a Man," but who's ever even heard of that? Regardless, the profits Salomon made from the Hilton tape can no doubt pay for his staying out of the spotlight.
Carlos Leon
Celebrity personal trainer Leon came into his own celebrity when he and client Madonna got together in the mid-nineties. Leon solidified his place in pop culture history in 1996 when the megastar gave birth to their daughter Lourdes. And though he went on to land roles on "Oz" and "Law & Order," Leon has been quiet of late. He's shown up on a couple Broadway bills, most recently last summer's "The Threepenny Opera." But we can only assume the stage lights will never be as bright for Leon as the flashbulbs that used to trail him with Madge.
Eric Benet
He was already an established musician, but Benet rose to star status when he married Halle Berry in 1991. Their messy divorce, not to mention his treatment for a "sex addiction" made it tabloid-fodder and the media took Berry's side. She publicly chastised him for cheating and trying to extort money out of her, using his daughter as leverage in their ugly settlement, which tarnished Benet's image beyond repair. Though he's still making music, Benet's kept a low-profile since the split, so low that he'll probably never be able to climb back up to that A-list pedestal.
(Published on CourtTV.com Dec. 7, 2006)
Now that Britney Spears is divorcing Kevin Federline, we're taking bets to see how long before he's completely forgotten. His album fell flat and his tour dates got cancelled, so taking a spill right off the face of the earth seems imminent for the man now known as Fed-Ex.
It can be tough when you go from being a celebrity's paramour to obscurity, but the path is well-trod. Here are 10 others who were once famous, twice forgotten.
Jason Alexander
Not George Costanza. The Alexander who was married to Britney Spears for 55 hours back in 2004. As quickly as he'd appeared, the poor guy faded back to civilian-hood. He even tried to hold the media's interest by giving away intimate pre-ceremony details, but being famous only by association, Alexander just couldn't hold the attention. Now that Spears has announced she'll divorce her second no-name hubby, Alexander's gotten himself back in the press announcing plans to write a book about his experience growing up and marrying the pop tart, admitting he'll include some things that Brit "will be mad at."
Cris Judd
Known for marrying Jennifer Lopez in 2001, Judd went from an unknown dancer to a household name in an instant. But the two didn't even make it to their paper anniversary. Judd tried to stretch his fifteen minutes on the 2003 reality show, "I'm a Celebrity--Get Me Out of Here," but was immediately forgotten a second time.
He's currently trying his hand at reality TV again; this time as the host of a competition called "Dirty Dancing," which premiered this week on the Women's Entertainment network. But that doesn't seem promising; anyone remember "The Wade Robson Project"? Maybe he should just threaten a tell-all book about his marriage to Lopez. That seems to be working for her first husband, Ojani Noa, who's recently gotten his name back in the papers.
Ashley Madison
Until recently, the 20-year-old aspiring actress used to play the role of actor James Woods' arm candy. But since being kicked to the curb in August, she's vanished from the red carpet and the gossip columns.
Her voluptuousness had made her almost as famous as Woods had, but who would have seen the buxom blond if Woods hadn't gotten her bit parts that coincided with his roles on "Shark" and "Entourage"? Maybe we shouldn't write her off just yet, but bad-acting blonds have the shelf life of... wait, what was her name again?
Jason Shaw
As the spokesmodel for Tommy Hilfiger, Shaw had already been making a name for himself. But getting involved with Paris Hilton took him to celebrity status. They got engaged in 2002, but the flames quickly fizzled and Shaw was demoted back to just plain model. He's popped up on TV a few times since parting ways with the party girl, but looks don't necessarily translate to talent. Shaw is reportedly considering going into business or going back to school, but without the heiress to share the limelight we're guessing he's probably seen his day in the sun.
Rob Camilletti
Rob Camilletti may not be a household name, but most people remember his nickname: "Cher's Bagel Boy." In the late eighties he dated the singer, 18 years his senior, while working as a bartender and struggling actor. When it surfaced he'd once worked in a New York bagel shop, the media gave him the moniker that stuck. The pair broke up a few years later, reportedly because Camilletti was frustrated that his acting wasn't being taken seriously. Cher went on to date several A-list musicians, and Camilletti's acting career has yet to take off. Rumors swirled that Cher took him back in 2000, but her Farewell tour probably helped her bid farewell to Camilletti for good, and we haven't heard of him since.
Shoshanna Lonstein
We first heard her name in 1993 when the then 17-year-old high school student was dating Jerry Seinfeld. She was an instant intrigue to the public not only because of the barely legal nature of their relationship, but also because she was stunning to the eye. The coupling lasted four years, but the eventual split sent Shoshanna back into the realm of the relatively unknown. "Relatively" because she'll always be somewhat of a New York City celebrity, but unless you're keen on the fashion world, her name probably hasn't come to mind in years.
Since the break-up she's gotten married, had a daughter, started her own fashion label (which features a "revolutionary system [that] accommodates all different types of body types and proportions") and worked as contributor to Cosmopolitan magazine.
Apollonia
As is the norm when unknowns hook up with major stars, Patricia Kotera became an overnight sensation after attracting Prince, who renamed her Apollonia. Clearly taken with her, Prince cast Apollonia in his 1984 film, "Purple Rain," and gave her the lead in his female musical group, Vanity 6. But it wasn't long before he lost interest in the band, and the public subsequently followed suit. Apollonia went on to land a recurring role on nighttime soap "Falcon Crest," starred in several straight-to-video movies and has reportedly been trying to revive her acting and singing careers since the mid-nineties. But so far she's yet to do anything as memorable as hanging on the arm of Prince.
Rick Salomon
A film producer who first became known for his turbulent marriage and break-up with actress Shannen Doherty, Rick Salomon rose to actual fame for releasing the sex tape of he and ex, Paris Hilton. When "1 Night in Paris" emerged in 2003, Salomon was the man of the hour, whether you considered him a hero or a total sleaze. He stayed in the press while engaged in legal battles with the Hilton family, but has pretty much gone MIA since. He most recently produced the BET series, "DMX: Soul of a Man," but who's ever even heard of that? Regardless, the profits Salomon made from the Hilton tape can no doubt pay for his staying out of the spotlight.
Carlos Leon
Celebrity personal trainer Leon came into his own celebrity when he and client Madonna got together in the mid-nineties. Leon solidified his place in pop culture history in 1996 when the megastar gave birth to their daughter Lourdes. And though he went on to land roles on "Oz" and "Law & Order," Leon has been quiet of late. He's shown up on a couple Broadway bills, most recently last summer's "The Threepenny Opera." But we can only assume the stage lights will never be as bright for Leon as the flashbulbs that used to trail him with Madge.
Eric Benet
He was already an established musician, but Benet rose to star status when he married Halle Berry in 1991. Their messy divorce, not to mention his treatment for a "sex addiction" made it tabloid-fodder and the media took Berry's side. She publicly chastised him for cheating and trying to extort money out of her, using his daughter as leverage in their ugly settlement, which tarnished Benet's image beyond repair. Though he's still making music, Benet's kept a low-profile since the split, so low that he'll probably never be able to climb back up to that A-list pedestal.
(Published on CourtTV.com Dec. 7, 2006)
'The Devil' Has the Details
By Erika Waddell
How close to real-life is "The Devil Wears Prada?" To find out, we recently spoke with a 28 year-old woman who spent almost three years working in the brutal world of New York fashion, to get her take on abusive bosses, outrageous demands, and over-the-top egos. It seems that Meryl Streep (who plays the Anna Wintouresque Miranda Priestly) hit the mark. Our insider - now two years removed from the business - would only agree to speak to us under complete anonymity, to protect her poor friends who still toil in the fashion world.
Q: What was your job in the fashion industry?
A: I worked in public relations and special events at a major fashion trade organization. We worked with everyone connected to fashion including designers, executives, publicists, editors, and celebrities. I was there for two and a half years, and it was a real bird's-eye view of the fashion industry.
Q: What were some of the ridiculous things you encountered?
A: At one event, there was a major American designer who was walking towards the exit. The door was closed, but he didn't slow down, and when it seemed like he was about to walk right into it, his publicist came out of nowhere and yanked the door open just in time. The designer -- totally unfazed -- whipped out his sunglasses and walked through without ever breaking his stride. Later, someone told me that this guy doesn't like to open his own doors.
I think the mean-spirited things are attempts at one-upmanship, which is really more like catfighting between rivals. Whether they're designers, publicists, magazine editors, or whatever, it's always a competition of who has the better table, party guests, clients, news coverage, car service, etc... The backstabbing is rampant, and you learn very quickly to keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut. You don't really have friends in the industry, you have contacts. Your relationships are based solely on what you can do for each other.
Q: Did you experience any bosses from hell?
A: Yes. A friend of mine worked at a major fashion PR firm as an assistant to the agency head. One time, her boss got so angry that she dumped a cup of water down my friend's back, and this girl had nothing to do with the issue at all. Another friend's boss, also in PR, was so emotionally abusive toward her that she almost had to go into therapy. She would get to work at 9 a.m. and would be in tears by 9:15 a.m. She would get screamed at for the most random things; his breakfast wasn't warm enough, the flowers in the conference room weren't nice enough; why wasn't this letter that she had never heard of faxed the night before? Then, two seconds later, he'd be laughing and joking like nothing was wrong.
My own boss was so angry at me for going back to school that a month before I was supposed to leave, she informed me that if I wanted to keep working the last four weeks, it would have to be as a freelancer. She even cut my health insurance and told me it was because the company couldn't afford it. And so many times, we were denied our minuscule raises because the money had to go toward company flowers, my boss's personal car service, and her own raise.
Q: Why do you think people in the fashion industry are so mean to their employees?
A: Major inferiority complexes. Fashion is a serious business in economic terms -- I believe it's New York City's second or third largest industry -- but the promotional sideshow that goes along with it is not. This is a business based on the superficial, which makes it hard to take seriously. So people tend to overcompensate by inflating their self-importance. It's a bunch of diva wannabes trying to out-diva each other.
People at the top need constant coddling and reassurance that they're fabulous, whether that means having it told to them by their minions or making themselves feel powerful by abusing those minions. And the minions feel that in order to prove themselves and get ahead, they also need to embody this type of bitchy neediness. It's a vicious cycle, and no one is interested in changing it.
Q: Do you think abusive bosses are exclusive to the fashion industry?
A: No. There are plenty of mean bosses everywhere. It's just that in the fashion industry, there's this kind of expectation that if you're cruel and cutthroat, then you're obviously worth it.
Q: Did you see or read "The Devil Wears Prada"?
A: No, I didn't, and don't really plan on it. It's not part of my life anymore, and there's no need to revisit it.
(Published on CourtTV.com July 14, 2006)
How close to real-life is "The Devil Wears Prada?" To find out, we recently spoke with a 28 year-old woman who spent almost three years working in the brutal world of New York fashion, to get her take on abusive bosses, outrageous demands, and over-the-top egos. It seems that Meryl Streep (who plays the Anna Wintouresque Miranda Priestly) hit the mark. Our insider - now two years removed from the business - would only agree to speak to us under complete anonymity, to protect her poor friends who still toil in the fashion world.
Q: What was your job in the fashion industry?
A: I worked in public relations and special events at a major fashion trade organization. We worked with everyone connected to fashion including designers, executives, publicists, editors, and celebrities. I was there for two and a half years, and it was a real bird's-eye view of the fashion industry.
Q: What were some of the ridiculous things you encountered?
A: At one event, there was a major American designer who was walking towards the exit. The door was closed, but he didn't slow down, and when it seemed like he was about to walk right into it, his publicist came out of nowhere and yanked the door open just in time. The designer -- totally unfazed -- whipped out his sunglasses and walked through without ever breaking his stride. Later, someone told me that this guy doesn't like to open his own doors.
I think the mean-spirited things are attempts at one-upmanship, which is really more like catfighting between rivals. Whether they're designers, publicists, magazine editors, or whatever, it's always a competition of who has the better table, party guests, clients, news coverage, car service, etc... The backstabbing is rampant, and you learn very quickly to keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut. You don't really have friends in the industry, you have contacts. Your relationships are based solely on what you can do for each other.
Q: Did you experience any bosses from hell?
A: Yes. A friend of mine worked at a major fashion PR firm as an assistant to the agency head. One time, her boss got so angry that she dumped a cup of water down my friend's back, and this girl had nothing to do with the issue at all. Another friend's boss, also in PR, was so emotionally abusive toward her that she almost had to go into therapy. She would get to work at 9 a.m. and would be in tears by 9:15 a.m. She would get screamed at for the most random things; his breakfast wasn't warm enough, the flowers in the conference room weren't nice enough; why wasn't this letter that she had never heard of faxed the night before? Then, two seconds later, he'd be laughing and joking like nothing was wrong.
My own boss was so angry at me for going back to school that a month before I was supposed to leave, she informed me that if I wanted to keep working the last four weeks, it would have to be as a freelancer. She even cut my health insurance and told me it was because the company couldn't afford it. And so many times, we were denied our minuscule raises because the money had to go toward company flowers, my boss's personal car service, and her own raise.
Q: Why do you think people in the fashion industry are so mean to their employees?
A: Major inferiority complexes. Fashion is a serious business in economic terms -- I believe it's New York City's second or third largest industry -- but the promotional sideshow that goes along with it is not. This is a business based on the superficial, which makes it hard to take seriously. So people tend to overcompensate by inflating their self-importance. It's a bunch of diva wannabes trying to out-diva each other.
People at the top need constant coddling and reassurance that they're fabulous, whether that means having it told to them by their minions or making themselves feel powerful by abusing those minions. And the minions feel that in order to prove themselves and get ahead, they also need to embody this type of bitchy neediness. It's a vicious cycle, and no one is interested in changing it.
Q: Do you think abusive bosses are exclusive to the fashion industry?
A: No. There are plenty of mean bosses everywhere. It's just that in the fashion industry, there's this kind of expectation that if you're cruel and cutthroat, then you're obviously worth it.
Q: Did you see or read "The Devil Wears Prada"?
A: No, I didn't, and don't really plan on it. It's not part of my life anymore, and there's no need to revisit it.
(Published on CourtTV.com July 14, 2006)
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