On Star Jones, Barbara Walters and the bygone days of sisterhood

I do not care if Star had surgery or not, but if she did, just tell the truth about the weight loss. A lot of people lose weight and if they do hey, that is great, but just confess to how you did it. There are so many people, myself included, who want to lose weight, and if anyone has done it and has secret formula for it, share it with the world. I have been on a weight loss program for months now, dieting and exercising and trying to lose weight and none of it is helping me, I am beginning to wonder if it is the asthma and allergy meds that I am on that will not allow me to do it? Star should have said, "I lost weight and this is how I did it" instead of ignoring the subject. She went from being big to thin on television, everyone is going to notice, so just confess.

Rogue
(The X-Woman most of you tend to forget.)

Robin wrote:

And if she is to be believed, it all occurred within the same week that a) Rosie O’Donnell spoke derogatorily (in Star’s opinion) about her in the media and b) Walters then asked O’Donnell to replace Star as the next co-host on The View.

Actually, Rosie is replacing Meredith Viera who left to replace Katie Couric who left to replace Dan Rather... who didn't want to leave.

I loved The View when it premiered.. got terribly tired of it over time. It seemed to hype drama at the cost of useful content. And it became strident. I stopped watching long before Star marketed her wedding on the show (the real turn off to lots of viewer), or lost all that weight suddenly.

With two new members coming on, I may revisit it some time in the future. But I suspect that the best View of the show will be on the cancellation list.

Debra
A Stitch In Time ( http://astitchintime.blogspot.com )
Deb's Daily Distractions ( http://debsdistractions.blogspot.com )

I’m weighing in *snicker* on Star’s weight loss. I don’t think the point is the method by which she lost the weight, but rather how frank and truthful she was about it. The View is a program that comes into people’s homes five days a week. The women sit at a kitchen table, giving the appearance of having an intimate coffee klatch with viewers. Folks who are watching expect a degree of openness and honesty, just as you would from having a good friend in your home. Star was giving the false impression that she lost a large amount of weight through diet and exercise. I’m not saying it isn’t possible, and I congratulate those who can lose over a hundred pounds without surgery. But it was wrong to mislead people who had come to trust her.

Five years from now, Barbara Walters is still going to be a respected journalist, and Star Jones is going to be nothing more than a Trivial Pursuit question.

Marti ( http://enterthelaughter.com/ )

Both Walters and Jones-Reynolds are strong-minded women. CNN has a short video expose on the departure and if accurate, sheds some light on the big picture. I think it’s safe to say that Star was extremely upset and hurt that her contract was not renewed last spring. And if she is to be believed, it all occurred within the same week that a) Rosie O’Donnell spoke derogatorily (in Star’s opinion) about her in the media and b) Walters then asked O’Donnell to replace Star as the next co-host on The View. For Jones-Reynolds, this must have felt like rubbing a lot of salt in an open wound (I’m not defending either her or Walters… just observing what she probably felt as a human).

I would imagine Star has kept all of this anger bottled up inside her until the “explosion� beginning Tuesday. Instead of continuing to play by others’ “rules,� she instead took matters into her own hands and made the announcement herself instead of doing a scripted and graceful exit as planned by The View producers. No doubt she shocked and scared Walters who felt blindsided by the unscripted announcement. For a couple of months Star has likely felt out of control regarding this matter and she made an attempt to be in control again (a common human response)…perhaps a final dig or maybe just a strong-minded woman leaving on her own terms. Surely though, I can’t imagine she didn’t flash forward and think about the repercussions of her actions. Even I would have known from Working Relationships 101, that you do not make such a move without feeling the consequence of “the boot.� As quoted on the CNN video, she truly “burned her bridges.�

Walters was her boss, and you don’t do things like that to your boss without your boss retaliating. I’m a librarian at a small-town elementary school and I would never surprise my boss with such a bold move without realizing it would spell the end of my job at the school (or at least a lot of pain until I quit on my own!). Walters’ immediate removal of Jones-Reynolds was not a surprise to me in light of the circumstances (no judgment of right or wrong regarding it) and I really suspect it wasn’t a surprise to Star either. After nine years, she knew her boss well enough to know that was going to be the consequence to her choice. She was prepared on Larry King Live the very next day and has subsequently spoken to Al Roker on NBC.

As for Walters, surely she isn’t surprised by Star’s reaction either. If so, perhaps she should revisit the opening credits to her show from almost ten years ago as well: “I've always wanted to do a show with women of different generations, backgrounds and views… somebody who's done almost everything and will say almost anything. And in a perfect world, I'd get to join the group whenever I wanted.� Well, in Walters’ “perfect� world she certainly joined her cast whenever she wanted but it looks as if she also got a woman who “will say almost anything.� How prophetic…She would do well to remember that sometimes we should watch our words, because the Universe has a way of giving us what we ask for.

And by the way, congratulations on your achievement, but this is something that I really don't understand.

I know that in broadcasting, people pay a lot of attention to the physical appearance of a television personality, and I suppose that there were people who identified with the heavier Star Jones because of her size. But she chose to lose the weight by whatever means, and she succeeded. Why does it matter how she did it?

Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com )
BlogHer Contributing Editor, Law and Journalism/Media ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/kim-pearson )

Hi Melinda,

I confess that I was being provocative, and I'm glad you've responded. Yes, men do the same thing, although this episode bears some disquieting resemblance to last year's feud between Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens, and that definitely wasn't seen as healthy competition.

It's not important to me whether Star Jones and Barbara Walters like each other. That's their business. What I'm interested in is what this means for the kind of programming that Walters says she's trying to do. As I said in my post, Walters and Jones have the talent and clout to direct public attention to things that really matter to women, and on many occasions in the past, they have. But in this episode, it seems as if that lofty goal got lost. Maybe they'll get back to that when this has all blown over.

Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com )
BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/kim-pearson ) Law and Journalism/Media

I don't believe that Star deserved the treatment she received. I have lost my admiration for Barbara Walters as well, but all this mess is just another example of how Holly-would shapes "the view" of the world. I mean, who really cares if Star had gastric bypass or not? Was it really out of line for her to take matters into her own hands and come out on Tuesday and announce her leaving the show? More importantly, who really cares about The View anymore? They have managed to run off any new, young talent from the show leaving us with the decrepit remains of a once great power interviewer and a couple of loud mouths. What I want to see is Barbara WaWa do an interview with Tom Cruise that doesn’t sugar coat his insanity! Where is that interview! We will never see it because Holly-would is so scared of itself that no one wants to step on anyone’s toes. I say go on with yer bad self to people like Star who challenge the conventions and do what they feel is right. It’s only entertainment…

I am amazed how many people assume she had bypass surgery- I lost 150 lbs. in 10 months with nothing but exercise and Weight Watchers- Again I do not know if she had any surgery - but please don't assume she did- There were so many people who keep telling me that if they did not know I did not have the procedure they too might assume the same of me- J'accuse is not a good thing-

Star should have never done what she did. She should have never promoted her marriage on television and she should never have lied about her body (we can all tell that she has had gastric surgery, come on, going from big to thin in that amount of time? It is so obvious). I am glad she left. She had such a big ego and she seemed to always want to be the center of attention. I think the women of "The View" will be fine without her.

Rogue
(I may be down, but I am never out.)

"And now, she is embroiled in a media spectacle that only shows that women can be as cutthroat as men."

Actually, rather than this being a story that surprises people with the 'revelation' that women can be just as cutthroat as men, it's being used to support entrenched misogynist ideas about women: e.g., it's being spun as a "catfight".

It's a double-standard: when men do it, it's not spun as a sign that men don't like each other, it's portrayed as being competitive, in a healthy way. When women do it, it's 'catty' and a 'spectacle' - and used as evidence that women don't like each other.

It's an old, old story...

Melinda
Sour Duck ( http://sourduck.blogspot.com/ )