Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Interview with Janice Min

Aired October 18, 2002 - 11:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Actress Winona Ryder goes on trial next week on federal charges of shoplifting at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. She is accused of taking nearly $6,000 in merchandise. The 30-year-old star of such films as "Girl: Interrupted" and "Little Women" was arrested outside of Saks last December, and she could be facing up to three years in prison if she is convicted.
Now, earlier this week, a judge dropped the drug charges that were filed against Ryder. The judge said that she was carrying prescription painkillers when she was arrested. The film star's recent troubles are the subject of this week's cover story in "Us Weekly" magazine. The article features an interview with Ryder's parents.

Janice Min, the magazine's executive editor, joins us now from New York. How are you doing, Janice? Good to see you.

JANICE MIN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good to see you, thanks.

HARRIS: All right. First question that everybody wants to know is will the videotape from the surveillance camera be shown in the courtroom here?

MIN: It probably will be, but what the shocking thing is, is that the videotape doesn't actually contain any evidence of Winona shoplifting. The spokesperson for the L.A. DA's office, the district attorney's office, told us, in fact, they had erroneously put out that information earlier after the arrest that the tape showed her shoplifting. It did not.

HARRIS: No, you are kidding. So after all that, it is Oh, never mind, sorry about that?

MIN: Yes, exactly. Exactly.

HARRIS: So, what do they have, then?

MIN: They say they have evidence that will convict -- that will convict Ryder. However, they are not letting that evidence be known at this moment.

Ryder's defense, though, is saying they themselves have smoking guns showing that this is all -- that they are just basing this on the testimony of a security guard, who may have been watching Winona illegally through the dressing room door.

HARRIS: So the peeping Tom is reporting and calling in on the shoplifter?

MIN: What the spokesperson for the DA's Office told us was that a female security guard saw Ryder through the slats of the dressing room door cutting tags off of clothes.

HARRIS: OK. Did they ever catch here -- did she have the clothes, and no receipt, and cut up tags or what?

MIN: This case gets murkier and murkier. Basically, Winona, according to her lawyer, had purchased $3,700 worth of clothes from Saks Fifth Avenue that day on her credit card -- and like a lot of stars -- celebrities don't shop like the rest of us. They can leave their credit card at the front desk and just walk out of a store with clothes. Many stores have told us this. This is what he said Ryder was doing that day, she was just behaving like any star, pulling clothes if she wanted them, left her -- leaving her credit card on file and walking out.

HARRIS: OK. So, what about her parents? I understand you had a chance to sit down and talk with them for a while. I know they are painting a picture of her as a sympathetic little victim here, correct?

MIN: Well, her parents -- her parents are not coming out and saying Winona is innocent or guilty...

HARRIS: Oh, they are not?

MIN: No. What they are saying, though, is that she -- this has been a witch-hunt, that she is being prosecuted with a lot of zeal because she is a celebrity. They feel that -- her father told us she had two prescription pills in her purse and they turned this into a drug cartel case, that a minor allegation is becoming a major felony case. They feel that her celebrity status is hurting her. And, in fact, the DA's Office, the current DA of Los Angeles, Steve Cooley, when he ran in 2000, he ran on a platform to be tougher on celebrities.

HARRIS: You know, these lawyers always say that stuff. Celebrity status hurts, but we've never seen it hurt. That's just me being a cynic here on this one.

Well, let me ask you real quickly, did you get any hint that they have got some kind of movie deal coming out of this?

MIN: Oh, no. I think the last thing Winona Ryder's camp wants to do is to feel -- to have any perception that they're exploiting this to the benefit of her career. I think Winona -- once this goes away, she wants it to go away forever.

HARRIS: Yes. Unless she can make a couple million off it, or 20 million...

MIN: No.

HARRIS: That's just me. We will see. Janice Min. Thanks. Appreciate your time today. Have a good weekend.

MIN: Thank you. You too.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 18, 2002 - 11:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Actress Winona Ryder goes on trial next week on federal charges of shoplifting at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. She is accused of taking nearly $6,000 in merchandise. The 30-year-old star of such films as "Girl: Interrupted" and "Little Women" was arrested outside of Saks last December, and she could be facing up to three years in prison if she is convicted.
Now, earlier this week, a judge dropped the drug charges that were filed against Ryder. The judge said that she was carrying prescription painkillers when she was arrested. The film star's recent troubles are the subject of this week's cover story in "Us Weekly" magazine. The article features an interview with Ryder's parents.

Janice Min, the magazine's executive editor, joins us now from New York. How are you doing, Janice? Good to see you.

JANICE MIN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good to see you, thanks.

HARRIS: All right. First question that everybody wants to know is will the videotape from the surveillance camera be shown in the courtroom here?

MIN: It probably will be, but what the shocking thing is, is that the videotape doesn't actually contain any evidence of Winona shoplifting. The spokesperson for the L.A. DA's office, the district attorney's office, told us, in fact, they had erroneously put out that information earlier after the arrest that the tape showed her shoplifting. It did not.

HARRIS: No, you are kidding. So after all that, it is Oh, never mind, sorry about that?

MIN: Yes, exactly. Exactly.

HARRIS: So, what do they have, then?

MIN: They say they have evidence that will convict -- that will convict Ryder. However, they are not letting that evidence be known at this moment.

Ryder's defense, though, is saying they themselves have smoking guns showing that this is all -- that they are just basing this on the testimony of a security guard, who may have been watching Winona illegally through the dressing room door.

HARRIS: So the peeping Tom is reporting and calling in on the shoplifter?

MIN: What the spokesperson for the DA's Office told us was that a female security guard saw Ryder through the slats of the dressing room door cutting tags off of clothes.

HARRIS: OK. Did they ever catch here -- did she have the clothes, and no receipt, and cut up tags or what?

MIN: This case gets murkier and murkier. Basically, Winona, according to her lawyer, had purchased $3,700 worth of clothes from Saks Fifth Avenue that day on her credit card -- and like a lot of stars -- celebrities don't shop like the rest of us. They can leave their credit card at the front desk and just walk out of a store with clothes. Many stores have told us this. This is what he said Ryder was doing that day, she was just behaving like any star, pulling clothes if she wanted them, left her -- leaving her credit card on file and walking out.

HARRIS: OK. So, what about her parents? I understand you had a chance to sit down and talk with them for a while. I know they are painting a picture of her as a sympathetic little victim here, correct?

MIN: Well, her parents -- her parents are not coming out and saying Winona is innocent or guilty...

HARRIS: Oh, they are not?

MIN: No. What they are saying, though, is that she -- this has been a witch-hunt, that she is being prosecuted with a lot of zeal because she is a celebrity. They feel that -- her father told us she had two prescription pills in her purse and they turned this into a drug cartel case, that a minor allegation is becoming a major felony case. They feel that her celebrity status is hurting her. And, in fact, the DA's Office, the current DA of Los Angeles, Steve Cooley, when he ran in 2000, he ran on a platform to be tougher on celebrities.

HARRIS: You know, these lawyers always say that stuff. Celebrity status hurts, but we've never seen it hurt. That's just me being a cynic here on this one.

Well, let me ask you real quickly, did you get any hint that they have got some kind of movie deal coming out of this?

MIN: Oh, no. I think the last thing Winona Ryder's camp wants to do is to feel -- to have any perception that they're exploiting this to the benefit of her career. I think Winona -- once this goes away, she wants it to go away forever.

HARRIS: Yes. Unless she can make a couple million off it, or 20 million...

MIN: No.

HARRIS: That's just me. We will see. Janice Min. Thanks. Appreciate your time today. Have a good weekend.

MIN: Thank you. You too.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com