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Showbiz Tonight
Teri Hatcher Helps in Arrest of Child Molester; Thoughts Turn to Orphaned Son of Dana Reeve; Smoking in Movies Makes an Impression; TV Show Restores Blind Man`s Sight; New "Sopranos" Season Almost Underway
Aired March 08, 2006 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. TV`s only live entertainment news show starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Teri Hatcher`s startling secret. Her uncle molested her, and she was just 5 years old when it started. Tonight the "Desperate Housewives" star reveals why she`s speaking out now and her tragic connection to a teenager who committed suicide.
Also, Dana Reeve and the painful questions about her teenage son. He`s lost his mom. He`s lost his dad. What will happen to him now? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the heart-breaking story.
And trading races. Tonight, the amazing story of two families who switched places by changing the color of their skin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s been a long time since this kind of an examination has really been done.
HAMMER: And it`s all caught on tape. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the revealing look at what happens when the worlds of black and white are turned inside out.
ALYSSA MILANO, ACTRESS: Hi, I`m Alyssa Milano. And if it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer live in New York City.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson live in Hollywood.
We`re starting tonight with Teri Hatcher. A sick pedophile is in prison tonight because of her. A man who did things so disgusting to little kids even reading about it will disgust you.
ANDERSON: And the "Desperate Housewives" star has now revealed that the same man sexually abused her when she was a child. And wait, it gets even worse. The man was her uncle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TERI HATCHER, ACTRESS: It sounds like it`s coming from your house.
ANDERSON: She plays a desperate housewife on a cheerful all-American street, Wisteria Lane. But Teri Hatcher has spent much of her own life in a quiet desperation, because for several years, starting when she was 5, Hatcher was sexually molested by her uncle, Dick Stone.
Only now, as a 41-year-old Golden Globe-winning actress, is Hatcher ready to come forward with her intensely private story. She did so in this month`s "Vanity Fair" magazine.
LESLIE BENNETTS, "VANITY FAIR" MAGAZINE: I would have thought that I was doing a light little charming feature story.
ANDERSON: Hatcher hadn`t planned on revealing her secret. But this woman, "Vanity Fair" writer Leslie Bennetts, gained her trust and told Teri`s story to NBC`s "Today Show."
BENNETTS: It grew out of a series of conversations that Teri and I had over a period of several weeks, where it became clear to me that there was something really troubling her that needed to come out. And she`s been wrestling with this demon for a very long time.
ANDERSON: Bennetts wrote in her article just how hard it was for Hatcher to reveal her story, saying she was quote, "scrunching up her face as if she were a scared child who knows she has to face something really awful."
BENNETTS: She remembers very specific things. And they were fascinating to me, the words she used because it was almost as if you were seeing it through a child`s eyes.
ANDERSON: Hatcher thinks she was molested until she was about 9 years old. But even now, as a grown woman, she`s still haunted by her uncle. She confessed, quote, "The most horrible thing that has stuck with me all my life is that he was touching me and doing things to me and he said, `Doesn`t that feel good?` I said, `No, it doesn`t.` He said, `Well, someday you`ll know what I`m talking about`."
Through the years, Hatcher has tried to forget. But recently, all that changed.
BENNETTS: Her mother showed Teri some clippings from the local paper, which revealed that her uncle, who by then was divorced from her aunt, had been arrested and charged with child molestation.
ANDERSON: Molestation of a different girl, Sarah Van Cleemput, who lived across the street from Hatcher`s uncle, Dick Stone.
Sarah, unable to cope with her own molestation, killed herself. She was 14 years old. In her suicide note, she wrote, "You`re probably thinking a normal teenager doesn`t do this. Well, ask Dick."
But the note wasn`t enough to convict Hatcher`s uncle. Prosecutors needed more. That`s when Teri`s well-hidden demons of the past forced themselves into her present-day life.
BENNETTS: She started wrestling with her conscience, because she felt as though, you know, do I have a moral responsibility to come forward with what I know?
ANDERSON: Ultimately, she chose to step forward. Not for herself, but because she hoped she might be able to help other molested children. Hatcher testified in a top-secret hearing, which sent her uncle behind bars.
It was a time in Hatcher`s career when she was between jobs.
HATCHER: At least you stuck around long enough to have a conversation.
ANDERSON: "Lois and Clark" had been cancelled, and Hatcher was down and out. She admits she couldn`t get a job. Sure, she could have used the publicity, but Hatcher remained silent about her uncle and her testimony.
BENNETTS: She was terrified that people would say, "Oh my god. Another actress coming forward to get attention."
MATT LAUER, CO-HOST, NBC`S "THE TODAY SHOW": Publicity hound.
BENNETTS: With her story. Publicity. Childhood sex abuse. Blah blah blah. Everybody -- you know, it happens to everybody. And she just was -- it just filled her with horror that anybody could trivialize this this way.
ANDERSON: But now a woman at the top of her career, she has nothing to gain from this kind of admission except one thing, to save other girls.
BENNETTS: If one girl says to herself, you know here`s Teri Hatcher. She`s successful. She`s had a full, rich life. She`s managed to transcend this, maybe I can too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: A tragic story indeed. And Teri`s uncle, related to her through marriage, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. If you want to read more, "Vanity Fair" magazine will hit newsstands next Tuesday.
HAMMER: From Hollywood to Washington tonight everyone is still reeling from the shocking death of Dana Reeve from lung cancer. But the sadness and the tragedy is only compounded when you think of her only child with husband Christopher Reeve, 13-year-old Will.
In an agonizingly short amount of time, the young teen has lost both parents. And now, in a report every parent should watch, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT looks at the pain Will has endured and what`s going to become of it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA REEVE, SPINAL CORD RESEARCH ACTIVIST: How much can one little soul bear?
HAMMER (voice-over): That was the anguished question Dana Reeve asked on ABC last November about her young son Will soon after she found out she had lung cancer just months after becoming a widow. Now that the cancer has claimed her life, all of America is wondering the same thing, about the now orphaned only child of Christopher and Dana Reeve.
LAUER: Immediately you think of Will, their son.
HAMMER: At the "Sopranos" premier last night in New York City, "The Today Show`s" Matt Lauer told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT Will is in his thoughts, too.
LAUER: He`s been through a terrible few years, and I just hope he`ll be all right.
HAMMER: In the past 14 months Will has endured more heartbreak than anyone, much less a child of 13, can be expected to endure.
In October of 2004 his famous father, Christopher Reeve, who was paralyzed when Will was only 3, died of heart failure. Soon after, Dana Reeve`s mother, Will`s grandmother, died of ovarian cancer. And in November of last year came his mom`s devastating news.
REEVE: That was one of the toughest things I`ve ever had to do.
HAMMER: In a "Good Morning America" interview soon after her diagnosis Dana Reeve talked about how hard it was to tell Will that she had lung cancer.
REEVE: I`ve always been his rock. And just following so quickly on the heels of his father`s death and my mother`s death, who Will was very close to, his grandmother. And it just has been a very rough year on our family. He needs a break. He`s had a lot in a little life.
HAMMER: But as they deal with their own grief, those who were close to the Reeves are rallying around Will.
KATHY LEWIS, CEO, CHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION: He`s an amazing kid. And he really has his parents` genes. And I`m sure he will be just fine. And Dana and him spent a lot of time together. And she made plans for him that he`s well aware of.
HAMMER: Some media reports are saying that before her death, Dana arranged for Will to live with family friends in Pound Ridge, New York, near the house the Reeve family once shared. Prominent estate-planning attorney Martin Shenkman says that could be helpful for Will`s recovery.
MARTIN SHENKMAN, AUTHOR AND ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY: There`s very little more tragic to a child than losing a parent, but losing both parents. What anchor does the child have? So to at least keep some familiar surroundings in his friends and family is really vital. And hopefully, that`s what`s they`ve been able to do.
HAMMER: Shenkman says the Reeves` sad situation should remind parents everywhere how important it is to plan ahead for their children`s care, should the unthinkable happen.
SHENKMAN: If you don`t spell out exactly who the guardian is, you will end up with a court proceeding for a court appointed guardian, not what any parent wants for the child.
You really need to sit down and write a heartfelt letter of what you want done for your child, how you want the child raised. Should it be in the same community you were living in, or should he go to a different state to be with family? You can`t assume that people know that. They really don`t.
HAMMER: Perhaps the words that could best help Will amid his personal tragedy come from his own mother, who talked about her son in a "LARRY KING LIVE" interview soon after Christopher Reeve`s death.
REEVE: I think that he can trust that life has a lot of joy and laughter, even amidst pain and hardship. It`s a life lesson I wouldn`t have wished on him, but at the same time, he has coping skills that I think a lot of 12-year-olds might not.
HAMMER: And hopefully, those coping skills are what young Will Reeve can draw upon now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Will Reeve has a grown half-brother and half-sister, Matthew and Alexandra. They are Christopher Reeve`s children from a previous relationship.
ANDERSON: Dana Reeve`s friend and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong is speaking out about his ex-fiance`s battle with the disease. Armstrong told CNN`s Larry King that Reeve`s shocking death really made him think about his ex, Sheryl Crow, who underwent surgery for breast cancer two weeks ago. That even though he and Crow are no longer a couple, he knows she`ll pull through and he`ll always be behind her 100 percent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANCE ARMSTRONG, TOUR DE FRANCE CHAMPION: I`m 100 percent confident she`ll recover. I know that woman, I think, better than anybody, except for perhaps her parents or her family. And she`s as focused of a lady as they come.
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Great to know you`re still friends, though. That`s good.
ARMSTRONG: We try. It gets hard to be in that situation and to go through a break-up of an engagement and to have somebody diagnosed right in the middle of it. But Sheryl knows that I love her very much. And I`d -- I would be there, either close or far, any time she needed me. And I`m confident she`ll be fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Armstrong, a seven-time Tour De France cycling winner, beat testicular cancer after he was given only less than a 50 percent chance of survival ten years ago.
HAMMER: Lighting up on the big screen. Tonight SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates whether movies are sending a dangerous message to our kids, next.
Plus, we also have this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We definitely wanted to take a look at what`s going on with race in America right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Trading races. Tonight the controversial story of two families who switched places by changing the color of their skin. And it`s all caught on tape. Coming up.
HAMMER: And also on the way, an amazing story of a blind man who was never able to see his children, and he finally got his wish, thanks to a new TV show. He`ll join us live next in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
First here comes tonight`s "`Entertainment Weekly` Great American Pop Culture Quiz." On TV`s "The A-Team, Mr. T.`s B.A. Baracus had one phobia. What is it? Snakes, water, flying or mimes? We`re coming right back with the answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Once again tonight`s "`Entertainment Weekly` Great American Pop Culture Quiz." On TV`s "The A-Team, Mr. T.`s B.A. Baracus had one phobia. What is it? Snakes, water, flying or mimes? I pity the fool that thinks B.A., which stands for "Bad Attitude," isn`t afraid of flying. I didn`t like that. The answer is "C."
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s only live entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson.
The tragic death of Dana Reeve has once again brought attention to the disease of lung cancer. And although Reeve herself never smoked, 80 percent of lung cancer victims do smoke, and some are wondering if they`re picking up the habit from Hollywood.
It seems lighting up on and off screen is once again being shown as glamorous.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS, ACTOR: So, tell me, what`s a beautiful, young American ping-pong player doing mingling amongst the British upper class?
ANDERSON (voice-over): Well, at the moment, she`s smoking. And whether it`s Scarlett Johansson in "Match Point," Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in "Fight Club," Natalie Portman in "Closer," Matt Damon in "Good Will Hunting" or the young stars of "Reality Bites"...
ETHAN HAWKE, ACTOR: This is all we need, a couple of smokes, a cup of coffee.
ANDERSON: ... depictions of Hollywood`s elite puffing away on the big screen are rivaled only by images of them smoking in real life. But when the smoke clears, many experts are concerned all we`re left with are devastating effects on our nation`s youth.
Dr. Jonathan Fielding is the director of public health for Los Angeles County.
DR. JONATHAN FIELDING, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: There have been some very good studies, particularly from researchers at Dartmouth. And what they showed us was that if your stars are smoking and you watch some of the movies, you`re much more likely to smoke.
ANDERSON: Some in Hollywood think it`s time to take a stand. Silver screen veteran James Woods tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT he won`t take any more roles that involve smoking on screen.
JAMES WOODS, ACTOR: As important as AIDS is, as important as alcoholism is, as important as highway accidents are, as a consideration, smoking kills more than all those things combined, including gun fire. Why don`t we think about that?
ANDERSON: Others aren`t so sure.
MATT DILLON, ACTOR: I can`t take a moral stand on something when it comes down to character. I mean, if a character would then I would.
RACHEL WEISZ, ACTRESS: I think that black and white movies have already glamorized smoking, you know, down in history to a point where whatever we try and do now, it`s too late. Smoking is glamorous.
ANDERSON: Action superstar Vin Diesel, seen smoking here in "Saving Private Ryan" and again in "Knockaround Guys", says it`s complicated.
VIN DIESEL, ACTOR: At what point do you alter a scene that would call for smoking just to make a political statement? That`s where the tricky thing comes into play, because, yes, I do think that our whole country smokes because of the movies.
SHARON STONE, ACTOR: What are you going to do? Charge me with smoking?
ANDERSON: So from Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct" to the black and white movies of Hollywood`s past, whether it`s harmful to viewers or not, smoking will always be part of cinema`s history, even though most would agree, it`s better left out of our children`s future.
BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: It`s not that much fun. It`s not that cool and it`s really hard to quit and you`ll hate yourself later.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And according to Dr. Fielding, who you just heard from in the piece, more than 70 percent of PG-13 movies feature smoking.
And that leads us to the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Smoking in Hollywood. Should it be banned from TV shows and movies? Vote at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. And send us an e-mail: ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. We are going to read some of your thoughts later on in the show.
HAMMER: Tonight, will a man who has never seen his children get his wish? Well, a new TV show called "Miracle Workers" on ABC made that long- time dream come true. Each week, the show takes two people with seemingly insurmountable conditions and hooks them up with world class doctors.
Todd Heritage has been blind since childhood. He underwent a revolutionary procedure allowing him to see his three children for the very first time.
Todd joins me now live here in New York, along with his sister, Celeste Neuman, and doctors Billy Cohn and Redmond Burke. I want to thank you all for joining us.
And Todd, yours is truly an amazing story. Twenty-two years ago you lost your vision because of an allergy to penicillin. Five months ago you had a procedure, and now you can see. Tell me about that amazing moment when they first pulled the bandages back and you had vision.
TODD HERITAGE, HAD VISION RESTORED: It`s really hard to put into words. You know, you wait 22 years to see. And you know, to see my family. And to see my wife. A lot of people asked me, you know, how did it feel to see your wife? And I just tell them, you know I married her for who she is on the inside. And then I saw how truly beautiful she is on the outside, as well.
HAMMER: Close to what you had imagined? Or did you never really paint a picture in your mind of exactly what she would look like visually?
HERITAGE: Far better than what I could have ever expected. I mean, she`s very beautiful.
HAMMER: And your children, as well.
HERITAGE: Oh, and my children. You know, I love -- I couldn`t love my children anymore. But now to see them, you know, it just helps me enjoy them that much more.
HAMMER: The idea of it is just so overwhelming. I want to get to more of what that was like in just a moment.
But I want to throw it over to the doctors. This is -- this is science fiction not all that long ago. What did you guys do? What was done to restore his vision?
DR. REDMOND BURKE, "MIRACLE WORKERS": Well, Todd had actually a stem cell transplant. And that was really possible because his sister`s one of the bravest people we`ve ever met. And she was willing to donate a part of her eye, which she`ll never get back, so that Todd could see again.
And our role really was to find the physicians who could perform that kind of surgery. And we searched the medical literature. Todd`s doctors did, as well. And all the paths led to Dr. Ed Holland.
HAMMER: And Celeste, you had to make a big sacrifice here. There was actually a chance of you losing your vision as a result of this procedure.
CELESTE NEUMAN, SISTER: Yes, but I love my brother. And it was worth it. And I`m honored that I even had, you know, the chance to help him this way. Help him be a part of him getting his sight back is wonderful.
HAMMER: We`re taking a look at the procedure right now. Todd, for the last 22 years, your visual frame of reference, the time that you were inside is based on what you had when you were a kid before you lost your sight. How different is what you are seeing now from what you remembered? Or from what you imagined it to be?
HERITAGE: Wow, things have changed. You know, the best reference that I can come up with is video games. My son, now that I can see, wants me to play video games. And wow, they`re a lot different. You know, things have really progressed. And he just kills me. I try to play games with him. And they`re all 3D. And you know, I grew up with Pacman and Space Invaders, and technology has just come so far.
HAMMER: And obviously, it`s come so far being able to do this type of a procedure. Obviously, people seeing this show and seeing what you were able to have done. It`s going to give a lot of people hope. How accessible is a procedure like this, really?
DR. BILLY COHN, "MIRACLE WORKERS": That`s what the show`s about is restoring hope. And Redmond and I were talking earlier. When we went to school nobody knew about stem cells. Certainly, nobody thought of the applications for eye -- for restoring vision.
And so there`s a lot of stuff that`s been developed in the last year or two that patients don`t know about. And the only way to get that message out is through a mechanism like this, a show like this. We think there are a lot of people probably who have exactly what Todd has that can benefit from this.
HAMMER: And Todd, do you plan to have the other eye done? Are you going to go through the procedure at some point?
HERITAGE: Hopefully, yes. We`ll see what the next year brings. And I would like to, yes.
HAMMER: And real quickly, your other senses remained heightened after you got your vision back?
HERITAGE: Yes.
HAMMER: That`s really I know that happens without sight. I want to thank you all for being with us, Todd, Celeste, doctors Burke and Cohn. I really appreciate you sharing this story with us tonight.
BURKE: Thanks for having us.
HAMMER: And "Miracle Workers" airs Monday nights on ABC.
ANDERSON: Coming up, a big announcement by the rock band The Who, next.
Plus we also have this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he thought I was white he had that comfort zone. He spilled his guts. I was really blown away for him to say all that to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Two families trade races and are shocked by what they find. The couples from the fascinating new reality show "Black White," coming up in a bit.
ANDERSON: Also, as we told you earlier, Teri Hatcher reveals the startling secret that her uncle molested her when she was a child. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT reveals other stars who took the courageous step of coming forward with their stories of sexual abuse, still to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Tonight, The Who could be coming to you. The legendary rock band just announced plans for a huge world tour at the Hard Rock Cafe in London. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was right there, with band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend. We asked Daltrey why hitting the road is still fun after all these years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER DALTREY, MUSICIAN: There`s always something more to explore. And to say now, what I`m finding interesting now, is I find more in the song, not less. You think it would be less after 35 years. It`s not. Musically it`s -- there`s always more to find.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Daltrey also says that The Who, The Stones and even the Beatles wouldn`t make it past the first round of "American Idol" today, a sign of changing times in the music biz.
The Who`s "Ambassadors of Rock" tour will stop in New York, Singapore and Caracas, Venezuela, among other places, beginning this summer.
HAMMER: Well, Bobby Brown in trouble with the law again. Find out what Whitney Houston`s husband is accused of doing this time. That`s next.
Plus we`ve also got this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We definitely wanted to take a look at what`s going on with race in America right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Trading races. Tonight, the controversial story of two families who switch places by changing the color of their skin. And it`s all caught on tape. That`s coming up.
HAMMER: Also, we told you earlier that Teri Hatcher revealed the startling secret that her uncle molested her when she was a child. Well, coming up, other stars who took the courageous step of coming forward with their stories of sexual abuse.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It is 31 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. And you are watching TV`s only live entertainment news show.
A.J., we`ve all heard of the TV show trading places. Well, now there`s a new one called trading races. And in it, two families change the color of their skin, one from white to black, the other from black to white. And coming up, two of the couples who are a part of this experiment will tell us the interesting things they learned from this experience.
HAMMER: Yes, a fascinating social experiment, indeed.
And also coming up, Brooke, are you a fan of the competitive cooking shows, you know, like the "Iron Chef" program?
ANDERSON: I love "Iron Chef." It rocks.
HAMMER: We sit and we watch people competing with food. Well coming up, the host of a brand-new competitive cooking show with a lot of money on the line. This is a woman who, by the way, gets to have dinner every single night with a very famous rock star.
Her name is Katie Lee Joel. I`m going to let you guess as to who her husband may be. She`s on the way in just a few minutes.
ANDERSON: That sounds great. All those cooking shows always come down to the wire. I love that part about it.
OK, tonight, "Desperate Housewives" star Teri Hatcher has made a startling admission. She tells "Vanity Fair" that, when she was five years old, her uncle starting sexually abusing her. She came forward when her uncle was accused of molesting another young girl who later committed suicide. This revelation will certainly have an impact on Hatcher`s fans, as well as children who may be victims themselves.
But Hatcher is not the first celebrity to come forward. Ellen DeGeneres, Roseanne Barr, Oprah Winfrey, even Ozzy Osbourne have all gone public with their very personal stories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): She made Americans laugh for almost a decade, but comedian Roseanne Barr`s painful story of sexual abuse was no laughing matter. Roseanne Barr was one of the first Hollywood stars to open up about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her own family in her tell-all book, "My Lives." And she told CNN`s Larry King, even after all the pain, she found closure.
ROSEANNE BARR, COMEDIAN: ... I was able to, you know, go to my family, and make amends, and ask their forgiveness, and they mine. And we`ve mended that one, too.
ANDERSON: And on the mend from her own personal torment, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. She opened up about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepfather. DeGeneres says she went public in a revealing magazine article to help teenage girls who may have been victimized.
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: I`m going to change, with your help, the laws in this country.
ANDERSON: Oprah Winfrey, the most powerful woman on television, hid a secret that haunted her. She, too, was a victim of sexual abuse, but Oprah`s now turned her own nightmarish ordeal into something positive. She`s doing it by launching her own crusade against sexual predators on her show. Oprah says she`s come full-circle in her own healing process.
WINFREY: I know that this is what I`m supposed to do in my life; I know this. This is a full-circle moment for me.
ANDERSON: And it`s not just women. Rocker Ozzy Osbourne game forward with his own story three years ago, admitting to suffering from sexual abuse when he was just 11 years old. Therapy, he says, got him through the ordeal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: So what impact could these celebrities` stories of abuse have? Joining us now is Ernie Allen, president and CEO for the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.
Ernie, I want to pose that question to you. There are so many people out there who have experienced similar things and kept it inside their whole lives. Do celebrities coming forward like this really inspire people to do the same?
ERNIE ALLEN, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Brooke, they really do. We know that in this country just one in three of the children who are sexually victimized ever tell anybody about it.
Celebrity is powerful. And when somebody like Teri Hatcher has the courage to come forward and say this happened to her, it`s inspiring. It provides hope for thousands of others and really encourages kids to come forward and tell.
ANDERSON: Ernie, Teri kept this to herself for more than 30 years. It must have been unbelievably difficult for her to reveal these things after so long.
ALLEN: It`s enormously difficult. We think that what she`s done really makes her a role model. Because, in so many situations, the victim feels like it`s their fault. They feel alone, that nobody cares, that they can`t talk to anybody.
And particularly for a celebrity, there`s risk in coming forward and saying these kinds of things, so I think it`s a real act of courage.
ANDERSON: And for those out there who are watching and saying, "Oh, I wish I could just rid myself of this burden, this secret that has been weighing so heavily upon me for so long," what can you say to give them strength to come forward and do what Teri has done?
ALLEN: Well, Brooke, our message to these people is that the first step in healing, the first step in getting help is to tell somebody about it. Call your local police department, then contact us at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. We`ll make sure that whoever`s hurting you, whoever has hurt you, will be followed up, will be investigated and brought to justice, and that you will get help.
ANDERSON: Ernie, as a result of what Teri has done, very quickly, do you think it will cause a floodgate to open and other people to say, "Yes, this has happened to me"?
ALLEN: We certainly hope so. We know that two out of three of those people who are victimized, those children who are victimized haven`t told. It`s time that we deal with America`s dirty little secret. And Teri Hatcher, and Oprah, and all these other courageous celebrities are helping to bring that about.
ANDERSON: All right. Ernie Allen, great work you`re doing. Thank you so much.
ALLEN: Thank you, Brooke.
ANDERSON: President and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Ernie Allen. All right. And if you are a victim of sexual abuse looking for help, you can logon to www.NCMEC.org.
HAMMER: Now, here come tonight`s "Hot Headlines."
Boy George is going to rehab. Today in New York, the former Culture Club singer made a deal to avoid possible a jail sentence for his arrest on cocaine charges. He`ll go to rehab in England, and he also has to do five days of community service here in New York, where he was arrested.
Well, it`s a restraining order that only Paris Hilton could inspire. A court in Los Angeles has signed off on a restraining order against Hilton, ordering her to stay at least 100 yards away from a party planner who said she threatened him. But here`s the really weird part about this: If Hilton and a party planner wind up at the same social event, he only has to stay 25 feet away.
Bobby Brown has been arrested once again. The singer was picked up in Massachusetts on an outstanding warrant for motor vehicle violations from back in 1992. He was held for about an hour and released on a whopping $40 bond. That`s right, $40. Brown was in Massachusetts for his daughter`s cheerleading tournament, by the way.
And those are tonight`s "Hot Headlines."
ANDERSON: We`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." Smoking and Hollywood: Should it be banned from TV shows and movies?
Keep on voting, CNN.com/showbiztonight, and write us, showbiztonight@CNN.com. Your e-mails are coming up a bit later.
HAMMER: "Sopranos" fans are counting down to Sunday. I can`t wait. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is hanging out with the cast at the premiere of the new season of "The Sopranos." That`s next.
Also coming up...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN SPARKS, TRIED LIVING AS A WHITE MAN: ... because he thought I was white, he had that comfort zone. He spilled his guts. I was really blown away for him to say all that to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Two families trade races and are shocked by what they find. The couples from the fascinating new reality show, "Black.White," next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: And Billy Joel`s wife is cooking up another new reality show. Katie Lee Joel comes up in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s only live entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer.
Now, imagine for just a moment living in another person`s skin, literally, in a race other than your own. Well, in the new FX series, "Black.White," two families did just that. And with the help of movie make-up specialists, the Wurgel family changed their look from white to black and the Sparks family went from black to white.
Well, these transformations already have the critics buzzing about the show. I had the chance to sit down with the show`s executive producer, R.J. Cutler, Bruno and Carmen Wurgel, and Brian and Renee Sparks to talk about what they learned from their experience.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: We all know that racism exists globally in very broad strokes, but you really did this to shed some light on some of the specific day-to-day things that happened that people might not otherwise think about, isn`t that right?
R.J. CUTLER, EXEC. PRODUCER, "BLACK.WHITE": Well, we definitely wanted to take a look at what`s going on with race in America right now. It`s been a long time since this kind of an examination has really been done. Certainly, nobody`s ever done exactly what we pulled off, where you really were swapping skins and getting the experience of seeing the world through the other guys` eyes. So we thought it would be a really revealing thing to do.
HAMMER: Brian, I want to start with you. What happens to you that really surprised you, that definitely happened and occurred because you appeared to be white, people thought you were a white person?
BRIAN SPARKS, TRIED LIVING AS A WHITE MAN: Some of the stories I got. Just like the guy in the bar saying that he wanted his neighborhood to stay the last white bastion, you know, of that area, so...
HAMMER: And in your head, are you just shocked, that, "Oh, my god, people really talk like this?"
B. SPARKS: I`m shocked. I`m shocked.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: And he certainly wouldn`t have said it to you if he was talking to a black man.
B. SPARKS: Exactly. So, yes, I was shocked. I had my teeth gritted and clenched, but, you know what? Like I say, I always say that this was beyond the six of us. It was for America. So whatever, you know, came my way, I just dealt with it like that, so...
HAMMER: And, Bruno, I`m curious about your experience appearing as a black man. I understand the two of you, actually, Brian and Bruno, you had the opportunity to go shopping together. And you thought that he was being profiled at one point during the shopping experience? Do I have that right? But you didn`t see it that way.
BRUNO WURGEL, TRIED LIVING AS A BLACK MAN: I think one of the proprietors of the store came by and said, "Hello, sir. How are you doing today? Can I help you?" And I just don`t see -- when that happens, I don`t see that as somebody checking me out; I just see it as somebody being polite and meaning to help me out in case I need some help. And Brian had a different take on it.
HAMMER: You shed some light on that and thought that`s not what`s going on there?
B. SPARKS: You know, a lot of times, you know, as blacks in the store sometimes, you know, you`re coming in, and sometimes you are getting great service. I`m not saying it`s always -- but sometimes, you know, when you`re getting great service or when you`re getting sized up.
HAMMER: So you have a different awareness of what`s actually going on.
B. SPARKS: Absolutely.
B. WURGEL: And I think that`s due to different lives that we`ve lived. I`ve lived as a white guy in Los Angeles. And I`m quoting Brian -- you know, I`m just -- and if you don`t mind me speaking for you, if I say something wrong -- as a light-skinned black man, he experienced racism, not only from whites but blacks.
So we see the world completely differently, and that was the most fascinating thing for me.
HAMMER: Renee, what about you? What`s a specific experience that you had that just kind of blew you away? "Oh, my goodness. They`re talking to me this way because they think I`m a white woman."
RENEE SPARKS, TRIED LIVING AS A WHITE WOMAN: Well, you know, I`ve said this before, but there was a 20-year-old young man who said that his parents had taught him that, when you shake the hand of a black person, to wipe his hands on his legs or to go to the bathroom and wash them.
HAMMER: This is a white man who`s talking to you?
R. SPARKS: A white man who`s talking, yes. And I was just like, "Oh, people still teach this to their kids today?"
HAMMER: Isn`t that amazing?
R. SPARKS: Yes.
HAMMER: And that`s so much of where it comes from and from culture.
What about you, Carmen?
CARMEN WURGEL, TRIED LIVING AS A WHITE WOMAN: I would say shopping in Santa Monica.
HAMMER: What specifically happened when you were shopping out there?
C. WURGEL: I was walking with my daughter who was in black and her friend from a poetry group. And I came face to face -- almost face to face with a woman in a store, an older woman, and she just diverted me. And then it happened several times, and there was no other apparent reason.
HAMMER: And you`ve never experienced that as a white woman out in Santa Monica or shopping?
C. WURGEL: Not in that way. I mean, we all have issues. Women have incurred certain forms of prejudice.
HAMMER: Sure.
C. WURGEL: Blondes have, frankly. It sounds strange, but not like this.
HAMMER: How did this make you feel differently than how you have felt in those cases?
C. WURGEL: This was affronting. This was shocking. It was like, what did you just -- was that? Oh, my god.
HAMMER: Yes. And real quickly, I only have a few seconds, what was the biggest thing that you learned or the way your mind was changed about racism in America as a result of this?
C. WURGEL: I learned that people really have their perceptions based on their history. And it may have to do with race or it may not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: You know, to pull this off, they had to get the make-up just right. Incredibly, the family spent six hours a day in that make-up chair to look as convincing as they do. The very first episode of "Black.White" will air tonight on the FX channel.
And, Brooke, it is my hope people will watch this show and, more importantly than anything else, they will have a dialogue about it, because there`s still so much to talk about and so much to overcome in this nation.
ANDERSON: A.J., it certainly does provoke conversation about attitudes towards race and discrimination. You`re right; it`s fascinating. What an interesting show.
OK. The first episode of season six of "The Sopranos" is just four days away. The excitement is reaching a fever pitch. Last night, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was right there as the cast members showed up for the premiere in New York.
Now, the stars aren`t giving away any major secrets about what the new season has in store, but we did talk to them about how they`re feeling about going into this, the final season of one of the most acclaimed and popular shows on TV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LORRAINE BRACCO, "DR. JENNIFER MELFI": Yes, I`m happy it`s here. I`m happy everybody will see it already. They`ll stop yelling at me in the streets. It`s a really good thing.
TONY SIRICO, "PAULIE WALNUTS": It`s a great show coming down the pipe this year. You`re going to like it. You`ll like it, a lot of surprises.
JAMIE-LYNN SIGLER, "MEADOW SOPRANO": I`m excited. I haven`t seen the episodes. This is the first time we get to see it, too. And, you know, it`s just celebrating, you know, another year of the show, and how lucky we are, and how great it is that people still care.
FRANK VINCENT, "PHIL LEOTARDO": We`re all old friends from before the show, so we have a good time. We have a drink together. We have a little glass of wine, and we have fun.
EDIE FALCO, "CARMELA SOPRANO": It`s a 10-year relationship it will be by the time we finish up. And it`s a big deal to walk away from that. It will be very hard.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: "The Sopranos" is back in action for its final season this Sunday, HBO.
HAMMER: Well, once again, cooking is getting competitive. Reality TV took to the kitchen with shows like "Iron Chef" and then again with "Hell`s Kitchen." Well, the pilot light on the genre still burns brightly. Bravo is adding its own to the mix with "Top Chef."
Joining us live, the host of the show, long-time foodie Katie Lee Joel. And, yes, if you`re wondering about the last name, she is the wife of rock legend Billy Joel.
Katie Lee, it is a pleasure to have you here. I`m calling you Katie Lee. You said just Katie?
KATIE LEE JOEL, HOST, "TOP CHEF": Katie`s my name, but Lee`s my maiden name.
HAMMER: Lee`s your maiden name.
JOEL: People, you know, since I was five years old have always called me Katie Lee. It just kind of goes together. I guess it`s a southern thing.
HAMMER: And to be very clear, this is not a learn how to cook show; this is competition, people going for $100,000 and a new kitchen. What is the deal? We find ourselves suddenly sitting on the couch watching these competitive cooking shows as if they were sports. Why do you think there`s such a fascination? "Iron Chef" really set the bar, and now you guys are doing this.
JOEL: Well, I think that people are fascinated with food right now. We live in a real food-y culture. Everyone likes to cook, go out to eat. We all love to eat, so this kind of goes with that.
And I think that people like a good old-fashioned talent show, just with so many other reality shows. And these are people who are really talented. They`re very creative, and you see that.
HAMMER: And I mentioned that you are married to Billy Joel.
JOEL: I am.
HAMMER: I imagine -- well, you guys live pretty well, I`m sure, or it would be my guess that you have some people helping you around at the house. But do you do the cooking?
JOEL: I do the cooking. You know, everybody always thinks we have this big staff. We have a housekeeper.
HAMMER: You have somebody helping.
JOEL: A caretaker for our grounds, but I do the cooking. And we still wash dishes.
HAMMER: Do you do the shopping?
JOEL: I do do the shopping. I have to be able to pick out my own stuff. You know, I want to see what`s fresh at the market. I want to see the best vegetables, which fish looks fresh. You know, I`ve got to do that myself.
HAMMER: Now does Billy cook?
JOEL: He does.
HAMMER: He does?
JOEL: My husband`s a good cook, as well.
HAMMER: Really?
JOEL: Yes, he has a few dishes that he`s really mastered. If I`ve had a long day, you know, I`ll come home. And he makes the best salad dressing, so he always makes a salad and terrific Spaghetti Bolognese.
HAMMER: Now, does that get competitive at all? Do you ever have little cook-offs?
JOEL: Sometimes. Sometimes I`m in the kitchen and I`m like, "OK, get out of my hair. You know, get out my way. Let me do my thing." But, for the most part, he`ll be my sous-chef.
HAMMER: And is there ever a time when you`re in the kitchen -- I have to ask this -- you know, you`re busy working away, is he serenading you on the piano?
JOEL: Well, the piano room is pretty far from the kitchen, but I can still hear it. So sometimes I`ll hear him in there playing, which always makes cooking even more delightful.
HAMMER: Well, tell me more about the show and really what sets it apart from any other competitive-type cooking show that we`ve seen, because it seems like it has many dimension to it.
JOEL: Well, I think that this is really about talent, like I said. You know, you see people with a real passion. And there`s 12 chefs, six men, six women. And they have two challenges in each episode.
There`s a quick-fire challenge, which is a short test that, you know, whoever wins that gets immunity for the longer elimination challenge. And those elimination challenge is everything from making their signature dish, to catering a wedding on 16-hour`s notice, to making meals for working moms.
HAMMER: And are people really serious? And do they sort of go at each other in their highly competitive way?
JOEL: People are really serious. And, you know, chefs are known for these big personalities. A lot of them have big egos. So you can imagine putting 12 of them in a kitchen together. There`s definitely some heat and too many cooks in the kitchen.
HAMMER: We`re going to see some drama. Katie Lee Joel, it`s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much for coming on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
JOEL: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. I hope you like my show.
HAMMER: And you can catch it on Bravo tonight.
ANDERSON: Catering a wedding with 16-hours notice? Looking forward to that.
OK. We`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." Smoking and Hollywood: Should it be banned from TV shows and movies?
The vote so far: 33 percent of you say yes; 67 percent of you say no.
Here are some of the e-mails we`ve received. Jay from Ohio says that, "Yes, smoking needs to definitely be banned. Otherwise, this will entice more and more underage children to start smoking."
Camille from Tennessee writes, "Why should they prohibit smoking on television if they don`t prohibit sex and alcohol?"
Keep voting, CNN.com/showbiztonight. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: It is time to see what`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Well, tomorrow we have your preview of one of the most highly anticipated nights on television. Yes, after a 10-year wait -- well, at least it has felt like 10 years -- "The Sopranos" back on Sunday. We were hanging out with the cast at the premiere here in New York City. And we`ll more with the cast of "The Sopranos" tomorrow.
And right after "The Sopranos" on Sunday night, HBO debuting a new show getting an awful lots of buzz. It`s called "Big Love." It`s a show about one man with three wives. Well, one of those wives happens to be the lovely Jeanne Tripplehorn. Jeanne Tripplehorn will be joining us live right here tomorrow.
And that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. Thanks for watching, everyone. And stay tuned for the very latest from CNN Headline News.
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