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Showbiz Tonight
Inside Hollywood`s Baby Boom; Book Claims to Compile Hillary Quotes; Fugees Star Lives on Street for Documentary on Homelessness
Aired April 19, 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: Why a big music star has suddenly found himself homeless, begging on the street for change. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: And did Jessica Simpson cheat on Nick Lachey while they were married? We hear from Nick himself. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. TV`s only live entertainment news show starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, the Hollywood baby boom. New details about Tom and Katie`s little girl, Brooke Shields` newborn. Plus, exclusive pictures of Gwyneth Paltrow and Donald Trump`s new bundles of joy. What`s going on here? Why is everyone so obsessed with celebs giving birth? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates going bonkers over babies.
Tonight, the shocking web sites that say eating disorders are a good thing. Girls encouraging other girls to be anorexic, offering startling tips on how to starve themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twelve and 13-year-old girls that would come on saying, "I`m so fat. Please teach me how to be anorexic."
HAMMER: Plus the primetime TV star who followed the advice to become anorexic. Telling all, live, in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Hi there, I`m Brooke Anderson live in Hollywood.
HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer live in New York.
Brooke, it was a Tom and Katie frenzy today.
ANDERSON: Yes, yes.
HAMMER: At this very time last night we were the very first TV show to bring you the news that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had their baby. And today, we got revealing new details about how it all happened.
ANDERSON: So it begs the question, A.J. What is going on in Hollywood anyway? Not just Tom and Katie. Brooke Shields having her baby on the same day. You got to love that. In fact there`s so much baby news today we`re feeling a little bit like a celebrity maternity ward around here.
And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Sibila Vargas is live with me here in Hollywood with more.
Hi, Sibila.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. It certainly seems that way, doesn`t it? A maternity ward.
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes named their child Suri, which according to Cruise`s publicist, means "princess" in Hebrew and "red rose" in Persian. And Brooke Shields` new baby also has a name, Greer Hammond Henchy.
If it seems like all of Hollywood is in baby mode right now, well, that`s because it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANE SAWYER, CO-HOST, ABC`S "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": Paparazzi, start your engines.
REGIS PHILBIN, CO-HOST, ABC`S "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had their baby last night.
SOLEDAD O`BRIEN, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": Yesiree, that`s their baby.
VARGAS: From the sounds of it, you`d think that every channel was the baby channel. The eagerly awaited birth of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes` new baby daughter Suri had all the news shows talking baby talk, including "The Today Show".
MATT LAUER, CO-HOST, NBC`S "THE TODAY SHOW": We`re all about babies today.
VARGAS: And it`s not all about Tom and Katie. Hollywood seems to be in the middle of a baby boom.
PETER CASTRO, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: It is just completely freaky to me that everyone is just popping babies at the same time. I`ve never seen such a thing.
HAMMER: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are parents.
VARGAS: We would be remiss if we didn`t point out that SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was the first program to bring you the news of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes` new arrival. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT went straight to "People" magazine`s Peter Castro for the inside scoop on the birth of little Suri.
CASTRO: It was by natural means. Katie Holmes, believe it or not, had an epidural. And she`s doing absolutely fine. It was very, very easy and smooth. In fact, she left the hospital within 24 hours. And she`s at home right now.
In a freaky Hollywood coincidence. I mean, you could say irony, Tom had -- well Katie Holmes had the baby not only on the same day, but in the very same hospital and on the same floor as his former nemesis, Brooke Shields.
VARGAS: You may remember that Tom and Brooke had a big dust up recently after Tom Cruise criticized Brooke on "The Today Show" for using drugs to treat postpartum depression.
TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: The thing that I`m saying about Brooke is that there`s misinformation, OK, and she doesn`t understand the history of psychiatry. She doesn`t understand in the same way that you don`t understand it, Matt.
VARGAS: Maybe it`s all water under the bridge as Tom, Katie and Brooke join a growing list of Hollywood parents.
"People" magazine has exclusive photos of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin with their new baby, Moses, born earlier this month. In addition to Donald and Melania Trump with their new son, Barron, born last month. Check out the golden stroller. Nice ride.
But wait, there`s more. Actor Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal recently announced they`re expecting. And singer Melissa Etheridge announced her partner, actress Tammy Lynn Michaels, is pregnant with twins.
And we all know that an entire army of paparazzi is flocking to the African country of Namibia, where Angelina Jolie is about to give birth to her kid with Brad Pitt. What`s going on here?
ADRIANNE FROST, AUTHOR, "I HATE OTHER PEOPLE`S KIDS": It`s an epidemic.
VARGAS: Adrianne Frost is the comedian and author of the book "I Hate Other People`s Kids."
FROST: Actresses are needy as it is. And when people stop paying attention to them, or they`re not getting the right kind of attention, they can just make their own people to give them attention.
VARGAS: But still, maybe it`s not just the celebrities or the paparazzi that have a baby obsession. It`s all of us.
CASTRO: Anything having to do with family, big events, you know, thing like that, the great milestones in life, are always very, very big attractions.
VARGAS: So as long as celebs keep having babies, we`ll all keep obsessing about them.
So to the new Cruise, Holmes, and Shields bundles of joy, welcome to the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: And as we said, now that baby Tomkat is here, all eyes are on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt`s child. We`re not being told a lot about that, other than the fact that they`re holed up in a resort in Namibia, Africa. And you`d better believe that when Brad and Angelina make their own contribution to Hollywood, we will all be there to tell you about it. Won`t we?
ANDERSON: Yes, we will. The Hollywood baby frenzy continues with Brangelina. OK, Sibila Vargas thanks so much.
And coming up later on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, star reaction to Tom and Katie`s baby. Plus, we`ll take a look at the paparazzi frenzy to get that very first photo of little Suri. That`s coming up at 45 past the hour.
HAMMER: It all just warms your heart, doesn`t it?
But first tonight, we want to hear from you. It is our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Tom, Katie and baby: should the paparazzi leave them alone? You can vote at CNN.com/ShowbusinessTonight. You can also e-mail us at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. We`ll get into what you have to say later in the show.
ANDERSON: Tonight, the secrets of what really might of happened between Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey that led them to divorce court in one of Lachey`s most revealing interviews ever.
He really opens up to "Rolling Stone" about his break-up with Simpson, which happened last November. Lachey, who even cried during the interview, says he was shocked at how his marriage ended.
"I`ll tell you how I knew my marriage was over. I was told."
Ouch.
On rumors of Jessica`s cheating, he says, "I don`t know if there were other men. But if she did cheat, it was the result of something bigger, not the reason we didn`t work. Even if she cheated five times over, I still love her. Love isn`t the easiest thing to cut off."
Nick also says he still speaks with Jessica every couple of days and says he does not want spousal support.
More of Lachey`s interview is in "Rolling Stone" magazine. It is on newsstands this Friday.
HAMMER: Well, now it`s the story and the interview you saw only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that everybody`s talking about today.
Only we got to speak exclusively with Neil Young about his upcoming new album that just rips into President Bush and the Iraq war. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Sibila Vargas interviewed Neil Young exclusively. She`s back with us once again live from Hollywood.
Sibila, this was a great moment.
VARGAS: It really was. What a great exclusive interview with him. This week Young`s stunning about face has been causing quite a stir, as you know. The country rock icon had supported the president`s actions after 9/11 in the past, but now Neil Young is calling for his impeachment.
His latest album "Living with War" has a song called, "Let`s Impeach the President." Now, I caught up with Young exclusively after he played the album for record executives in California, and I asked him if he thought or he was concerned that it would be seen as unpatriotic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEIL YOUNG, MUSICIAN: I feel like I`m exercising my right of free speech, which is what our boys are fighting for the Iraqi people to have. And I think if we take it away from the people here in the United States that we`re taking a step really in the wrong direction.
That`s what`s great about this country and about all free countries, is freedom of speech and the ability to express yourself. That makes us different from everybody else. And so I`m not worried about that.
We don`t all have to believe in what our president believes to be patriotic. And we also, you know, this talk about a 9/11 mentality, no one, George Bush or anyone else, owns the 9/11 mentality. It belongs to the United States of America. It belongs to everyone who was sitting there with their family watching TV, watching those buildings get hit by those jets.
It belongs to George Bush and his family. It belongs to John Kerry and his family. It belongs to me and my family, my American family. So I have a post-9/11 mentality. It`s just not the same as George Bush`s.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Well, Sibila, I wanted to ask you, you know, Neil Young is a native Canadian. He`s been in our country for awhile. But because he is Canadian there are a lot of people who would be very quick to criticize his taking such a public stance on American politics. What did he have to say to you about that?
VARGAS: Well, I definitely asked him specifically about that, and he told me that he is proud to be Canadian. That`s the first off the bat. Proud to have been living in the United States, though, for 40 years and paying taxes.
Not only that, he`s also proud of his three American children and his lovely American wife. And as well, as all the American fans who have supported him over the years. So he`s absolutely admitting that.
But he thinks everybody needs a chance to say what they think. That`s ultimate.
HAMMER: Freedom of speech. Freedom of speech. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Sibila Vargas, thanks for that from Hollywood.
Well, coming up, comedians certainly have a field day with all the stuff that comes out of President Bush`s mouth. Well, a lot of it anyway. Now there`s a controversial new book out with some of Hillary Clinton`s not so finer moments. That`s coming up next.
Plus we have this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 12- and 13-year-old girls that would come on saying, "I`m so fat. Please teach me how to be anorexic. Teach me how to be bulimic."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Why girls are teaching other girls how to get an eating disorder. And the primetime TV star who`s followed the startling advice to become anorexic, live.
HAMMER: Plus, this is fascinating. The big music star who suddenly finds himself homeless on the street, begging for spare change. He`s live next in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: But first, tonight`s "`Entertainment Weekly` Great American Pop Culture Quiz." Which group performed the 2000 alternative rock hit "Kryptonite"? Staind, Lifehouse, 3 Doors Down or Nickelback? Think about it. We`ll be right back with your answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go 15. You`re never going to believe who has a state park named after them. We`ll tell you coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Dissolve seven, go.
ANDERSON: So again, tonight`s "`Entertainment Weekly` Great American Pop Culture Quiz." Which group performed the 2000 alternative rock hit "Kryptonite"? Staind, Lifehouse, 3 Doors Down or Nickelback? The answer is C, 3 Doors Down.
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer. This is TV`s only live entertainment news show.
All right. So I want you to take a look at this crazy little piece of video that`s a battle that made us say that`s ridiculous. Look at them going at it.
Now we`ve heard of fans getting into fights at, you know, NFL football games. But this is an arena football game. Come on. What are they doing here? This was in Orlando, Florida. It`s at a showdown between the Georgia Force and Orlando Predators. Fans just out of control. It looked kind of like Wrestlemania, didn`t it?
There`s a guy who`s trying to protect his beer while there`s a woman getting tossed onto the field.
So we`ve just got to say, arena football fighting -- now that`s ridiculous. Although Brooke, I must tell you. I can respect the guy who was protecting his beer.
ANDERSON: It`s out of control. I mean, the fans are going to have to start wearing helmets and pads themselves to protect themselves in the stands.
HAMMER: What has this world come to?
ANDERSON: OK, so now a story about some ridiculous things that supposedly came out of a former first lady`s mouth. There`s a new book about Hillary Clinton`s words of, well, not really wisdom. Here`s CNN`s Jeanne Moos for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There`s practically a cottage industry in Bushisms, presidential sentence mangling that turns phrases like "trade barriers and tariffs" into...
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tarriers and barifs.
MOOS: But Hillaryisms? Quotable quotes from Hillary Clinton?
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had tea.
MOOS: She may wish she had stayed home after she sees the new book, "I`ve Always Been a Yankees Fan", featuring Hillary wearing a Cubs cap. No matter that she`s already explained she`s been a fan of both teams.
CLINTON: I needed an American League team that could win.
MOOS: "Hillary Clinton in her own words," says the cover, though even the author seems to hedge.
THOMAS KUIPER, AUTHOR, "I`VE ALWAYS BEEN A YANKEES FAN": Everything in the book is -- I believe it to be true. But since I wasn`t there, I can`t verify that it`s 100 percent true.
MOOS: Which is what makes it different from, say, the book of Donald Rumsfeld comments turned into poetry and even turned into songs.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The world thinking all these things happened. They never happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): They never happened, never happened
MOOS: The Rumsfeld quotes tend to be on the record. Same for the five Bushisms books. The president himself held up a copy.
BUSH: Then there`s my most famous statement: "Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?"
MOOS: The editor of "Slate", who collected the Bushisms, wasn`t so amused with the Hillary book.
JACOB WEISBERG, EDITOR, "SLATE": I`m just looking at this thing. Every single quote has the "f" word in it. This is kind of a Hillary haters` fantasy of what Hillary sounds like in private.
MOOS: Many of the quotes are unverifiable, coming from books attacking the Clintons. The Republican paralegal who compiled the quotes says he`s proud of the book but...
KUIPER: I do think it`s a legitimate criticism that the book at times comes off as almost mean-spirited.
I had so many sources of her using the profanity. That`s just the way it kind of came about.
MOOS (on camera): But if you ask someone who works for Hillary Clinton if this sounds like the Hillary they know, they say no way. She just doesn`t talk like that.
(voice-over) At least one remark Hillary allegedly made about her husband, "He`s a hard dog to keep on the porch," never appeared in the talk magazine interview that BBC Online said it came from.
Some quotes are indisputable.
CLINTON: I`m not sitting here as some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.
MOOS: The question is, who`s going to stand by these quotes?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: That was CNN`s Jeanne Moos for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Well, tonight, one of music`s biggest stars has been homeless, begging for spare change on skid row. Pras Michel is one of the founding members of the hip-hop group the Fugees. You`ll remember the remake of Roberta Flack`s "Killing Me Softly", among their other many hits.
Well, he spent nine days with nothing but the clothes on his back and nine bucks in his pocket as a homeless person in downtown Los Angeles for a new documentary he`s working on, called "First Night".
Pras Michel joining me live here in New York. It`s good to see you, man.
PRAS MICHEL, HIP-HOP ARTIST: Thanks, man.
HAMMER: What an undertaking this is. And I understand -- and you just got off of skid row. You brought some of the footage with you. So I want to roll that right away.
It`s really amazing to see. Tell me what was the most shocking thing for you about being homeless and what it was like.
MICHEL: I think the first night when I slept. And -- you know I slept on the sidewalk and I had a tent. But the second night when it rained. I had rats trying to get into my tent. And, you know, everybody was laying down like it was a normal thing, because you know the sewer was flooded so the rats came up. They`re like don`t worry about it. They`re just trying to get some sleep also.
HAMMER: So you learned how to adapt?
MICHEL: I have to. It`s about survival.
HAMMER: And speaking of survival, you obviously have to learn how to prioritize very quickly. What was the most important thing for you while you were out there?
MICHEL: The most important thing for me that I learned was food. That`s the first thing. And people don`t understand when homeless people beg for money, some of them it`s really because of food. That`s why, like, people will be like what can I do? Why can I do?
You know, this guy named Phil Romano, who created Macaroni Grill and Fuddrucker, created this things called Hungerbuster, where you can give money to go and give food around to people who are homeless.
HAMMER: Yes. And this guy drives around with a truck and actually.
MICHEL: He drives around.
HAMMER: Got all this money, and he...
MICHEL: He`s a billionaire. He does that. So you know, you look for different organizations that`s giving away food. You support that. Or you give the homeless people some change. That`s it. So they can eat.
HAMMER: Did you -- I`m sure you met a lot of very interesting people while you were out there. Did you meet anybody who had at one time been in a position like yourself? A person of wealth and now they`re living on the street?
MICHEL: I met someone who was -- interestingly enough. I met someone who was pretty wealthy, and his wife and his children died in an accident while he was in the accident. So he just gave up on life. His whole thing was he had nothing to live for.
So you have different stories. You know, some people just give up on life because they lose a loved one or they have financial problems. You know, like seven out of 10 Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless.
HAMMER: Yes.
MICHEL: That`s just a real fact.
HAMMER: You know, we see the images of you out there. And you`ve cleaned up quite a bit since you got off the street. Did anybody recognize you while you were out there?
MICHEL: A couple of people did. They thought I looked familiar. But it was like no.
HAMMER: It couldn`t possibly be.
MICHEL: It couldn`t possibly be.
HAMMER: So I have to ask you this. You knew you were going to be out there for just nine days and then you were going to go home to your nice home and your nice cars and all the luxuries that are a part of your life.
Do you think you really got a sense of what it`s like to be homeless? Could you really get into that mindset, knowing you were returning to the lap of luxury?
MICHEL: Well, here`s the thing. You`ve got to remember, I`m a human being. So as I`m panhandling and people are looking at me like I`m a scumbag or ignoring me, my natural reaction as a human being is, I felt hurt.
Or like when I was sleeping and it was raining on me when they stole my tent, I felt frustrated. I was pissed off. Now imagine the ones that have no options. You see what I`m saying? So you`re a human being because I`m there. Even though I know in the back of my mind. But for the moment, I`m acting naturally.
HAMMER: That`s all you got. So when you made that transition, you know, shaved, got into one of your nice cars. You live in a nice home, right?
MICHEL: Right.
HAMMER: Did you feel differently and a little uncomfortable with it at all?
MICHEL: You know it`s funny. When I was leaving I kind of felt a little bit sad, because I made some friends down in skid row. And it was like, believe it or not, skid row`s like a community. People don`t understand.
Like homelessness or people who are homeless have a sense of community within one another. Because that`s the only way you can survive. You`ve got to be able to know I`ve got to go here to get cigarettes. I`ve got to get some bread here or tissues, you know, because they don`t have outlets like bathrooms like we do.
HAMMER: We`re going to really look forward to seeing it all unfold on film. I know you`re working it on all summer. Pras Michel, thanks for stopping by.
MICHEL: Thank you very much.
HAMMER: Appreciate it. And you can look for Pras` documentary. It`s going to be in theaters this fall.
ANDERSON: Coming up, the latest star reaction to Tom and Katie`s baby. Plus, the paparazzi frenzy. Who will get that first picture of little Suri?
HAMMER: And, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby carriage, right? Well, stars like Tom and Katie are having babies, but they aren`t married. Are they sending the right message? Coming up, we`ll get into that.
Plus, a startling trend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Laxatives, spending four hours a day at the gym. At my worst I was throwing up seven or eight times a day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Tonight, the shocking web sites that say eating disorders are a good thing. And the prime-time star whose life spiraled out of control because she followed the advice. That`s live in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Stay with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Takei`s new mission, coming up after this break on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Roll it. Effect.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: OK tomorrow, Julia Roberts on Broadway. It`s opening night for Julia`s Broadway debut in "Three Days of Rain." SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is there, of course. We have your ticket reserved for the hottest show in town. That`s tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Tonight a "Star Trek" star is speaking out for gay rights. George, who played, of course, Mr. Sulu on the original television series of "Star Trek" and several of the movies, made a surprise appearance at a Minnesota college.
Now, there was a group that was trying to speak to students at North Central University in downtown Minneapolis about faith and gay rights. But they were locked out of the campus, which happens to be a private Christian school. Takei, who is openly gay, showed up to lend his support to the group, which is traveling across the country, visiting colleges with policies opposed to homosexuality.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE TAKEI, ACTOR/ACTIVIST: It reminded me of the `60s when I used to be a part of the civil rights movement and we used to have rallies like that. It was very stirring, and the cause was just.
We are struggling for the fundamental rights of an American citizen, equality and justice. And I see it in the context of that same civil rights movement, when African-Americans were denied equality and justice. And today now African-Americans are part of the mainstream and fully participant in American society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: George Takei tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT he`s actually on his own tour, as well, to promote gay rights, and it`s called "The Equality Trek."
ANDERSON: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has the latest star reaction to Tom and Katie`s big baby news. That`s coming up.
HAMMER: Plus, a stunning apology to a "Desperate Housewives" star, who`s saying -- who`s saying "I`m sorry" to Teri Hatcher and why are they saying it?
Plus, we`ve also got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 12- and 13-year-old girls that would come on saying, "I`m so fat. Please teach me how to be anorexic. Teach me how to be bulimic."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Why girls are teaching other girls how to become anorexic and bulimic. And the prime-time TV star who followed the startling advice. That is live next. It`s shocking. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for a Wednesday night. 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 all know Tom-Kitten has arrived. Coming up, we`ll show you how the paparazzi are frantically trying to get that first photo of Baby Suri, and also Tom and Katie`s fellow celebrities are reacting to the big birth. And we will have that, as well.
HAMMER: I put my head down, because you actually said Tom-Kitten, but I`ll get into that later.
ANDERSON: I love that. It`s cute.
HAMMER: No, it`s not.
More and more Hollywood couples are having families without the burden of getting hitched. We`re going to be looking into the trend of Hollywood love children. That is coming up, too.
ANDERSON: It certainly is, tonight.
But first, an alarming trend online. Tips on how to starve yourself, ways to learn about speed vomiting, they`re all available at the click of a mouse. For those of you who haven`t heard about these Web sites, referred to as pro-ana, they`re teaching people -- mostly teen girls -- how to be anorexic and bulimic. They even provided one primetime TV star with dangerous tips, tips that sent her life into a tailspin. We`ll speak with her in just a moment.
But first, a look inside pro-ana.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): A hunger to find others like them, a desire to be thin, to be perfect. That`s what`s driving more and more people to sites like these.
They`re called pro-ana for pro-anorexia, or pro-mia for pro-bulimia. They`re places people go to trade disturbing tips. This one recommends using a spoon instead of your finger to purge food after a binge.
LEIGH VAN DUSEN, EATING DISORDER TREATMENT SPECIALIST: Some of the things are things that can cause someone to be in medical danger immediately.
ANDERSON: Many of the pro-ana sites use pictures of stars, "thinspiration" for girls looking to replicate their favorite actresses or models.
LYNN GREFE, NATIONAL EATING DISORDERS ASSOCIATION: Encouraging people to be ill is really what it is, and it`s like a secret cult. It`s a secret society. And word spreads around.
ANDERSON: Word has most definitely been spreading around. Sites like these are popping up all over the Web. Do a Google search for pro-ana, and you`ll get thousands of hits, each and every one sending a dangerous message about eating disorders, that they`re actually a good thing.
VAN DUSEN: If you just type in anorexic, sometimes these come up. So, unfortunately, someone who is looking for help could come across a pro- ana site. In that vulnerable state, they could easily be swayed into participating in one of these communities or so-called communities.
ANDERSON: Marna Palmer was one of those people. She started her battle with eating disorders when she was 13 years old.
MARNA PALMER, LEANED ABOUT EATING DISORDERS FROM WEB SITE: I was taking laxatives, spending four hours a day at the gym. At my worst, I was throwing up seven or eight times a day.
ANDERSON: Our cameras caught up with her when she was 22 and on her way to recovery at the time, and she talked about her constant obsession with food.
PALMER: I honestly don`t know what normal people think about. That is something that`s just incredibly mind-boggling to me, to be able to think about something other than food, and working out, and comparing yourself to the other girls.
ANDERSON: During the height of her illness, Marna says she was a regular visitor to these Web sites.
PALMER: The 12-year-old and 13-year-old girls that would come on saying, "I`m so fat. Please teach me how to be anorexic, teach me how to be bulimic."
ANDERSON: While no one knows for sure how many people visit the pro- ana sites, it is believed that it`s mainly adolescent girls who are clicking around.
PALMER: When you feel like you can`t talk to anybody, and you don`t want to get treatment, then these girls understand.
ANDERSON: And that`s precisely the problem: Eating disorders involve a great deal of shame, and professionals say the sites function as a crutch, as a way for visitors to remain closed off from help.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Actress and singer Scarlett Pomers says she used pro-ana sites while suffering from anorexia. Her illness got so bad, she had to enter rehab and leave the set of "Reba," the TV show she starred in alongside Reba McEntire. Pomers is now in recovery and is an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association. She joins me live here in Hollywood.
Scarlett, thanks for being here.
SCARLETT POMERS, SINGER AND ACTRESS: Thank you for having me.
ANDERSON: First, help me understand this. Why would you, why would anyone go to these sites that basically teach you to become very, very sick, maybe deathly ill?
POMERS: Well, I mean, in my case, it`s actually very strange, because about a year before I ever developed anything that resembled an eating disorder, I actually stumbled upon one of the Web sites through a very popular blogging site. And I was really upset and very disturbed by it.
And I immediately contacted the host of the site and said, "Look at this. You have to get rid of this. This is horrible. I mean, look at what they`re doing, and saying, and telling each other." And basically, the blogging site wrote back to me saying that it was OK, it was free speech, and it`s better for them to have a place to talk. But...
ANDERSON: So you were healthy then?
POMERS: Yes.
ANDERSON: What changed? You were working on "Reba." What changed and when did you realize you had a serious problem?
POMERS: You know, it gets to a point where it goes from something maybe innocent, like just a diet, or you trying maintain the weight you have, or something like that, to where, you know, you start to develop more and more habits that are not ordinary or are destructive.
And then I think, you know, it kind of starts out in the sense of, "I want to look a certain way," but then it becomes something completely different where it`s about the control.
ANDERSON: So it kind of creeps up on you?
POMERS: Yes, it really does.
ANDERSON: Many say that these pro-ana sites are addictive. How was it for you? Were you looking on these Web sites monthly, weekly, daily?
POMERS: Daily, when it was really bad, yes. And I think also your question before about why people would go to them if they were actively searching out pro-ana Web sites, I think it`s because they want to find something -- they want to find other people who they can relate to and so they won`t feel so alone, because when you have an eating disorder, you tend to isolate yourself very much.
And, you know, in so many situations in which people are eating or you have to be normal with food, you can`t be sociable with people.
ANDERSON: But these are people you could identify with on this Web site?
POMERS: Yes, so we`re going through the same things.
ANDERSON: I was looking at the Web sites today, looking at some of them, and I was shocked at some of the tips that I read. They included smelling the garbage when you get a hunger pain so that you don`t want to eat, or cleaning something gross so that you lose your appetite.
What are some of the more outrageous tips that you learned, and you used, and that also you were teaching others?
POMERS: Well, I actually don`t really like to talk about specifically what I did when I had my eating disorder or the tips that I learned, because I know that other girls who do have eating disorders, even though they might see someone like me who is in recovery and who is, you know, making healthier choices and living a good life after an eating disorder, they will use the tips for, you know, destructive behavior.
So I prefer not to talk about it specifically what I did or what I learned, but definitely the ones that you described are some of the less extreme ones, I would say.
ANDERSON: Wow.
POMERS: And it`s very upsetting. And it`s very hard, because I think, you know, kids are spending so much time on the Internet and learning all of this stuff and have so much access to it. And their parents don`t know, because the Internet wasn`t really part of their generation.
So I think people just really need to kind of take care and watch what their kids are doing, no matter what age they are.
ANDERSON: Do you think you would have gotten as sick as you did, had you not stumbled upon these Web sites?
POMERS: No, I don`t think -- I think, well, I mean, it`s hard to say. But I think that it might not have happened as fast as it did, which maybe that`s a better thing, because I did get help very quickly. But definitely I think that I wouldn`t have gotten so sick so fast if I hadn`t learned the different tricks and things.
ANDERSON: Some of these Web sites feature pictures of skinny celebrities, Mary Kate Olsen, I saw Calista Flockhart. How does the pressure in Hollywood to be so thin contribute to eating disorders and obsession with weight?
POMERS: You know, I think I`ve actually been really lucky as an actress in Hollywood, because I`ve never been pressured by a producer or a studio or anything like that to be thinner or to lose weight. And I never had a problem with my weight. It wasn`t something that I overly obsessed about before I had an eating disorder.
So I`ve been lucky, in that sense. And like I said, really, it starts out maybe you kind of feel like you need to improve something about yourself or you, you know, go on a diet.
ANDERSON: It gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
POMERS: But it becomes something where it`s not even about how you look anymore, because when you look so sick, and people know that you`re sick by looking at you, obviously, you know something is wrong.
ANDERSON: Well, we are very glad that you are in recovery. We know that it takes a lot of courage. Scarlett Pomers, thanks for being here with us tonight. We appreciate it.
POMERS: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Scarlett`s new CD, "Project Chains," which includes her cover of Fleetwood Mac`s "Chains," will be released on April 28th, with proceeds benefiting the National Eating Disorders Association.
HAMMER: Tom and Katie`s baby news. It`s what everybody`s talking about, including some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. We have the very first reactions from the stars. That`s coming up next.
ANDERSON: Plus, first comes the baby, then comes the paparazzi, and plenty of them. We will take a look at the paparazzi frenzy and how much that first picture could be worth, coming up.
HAMMER: Also, from Tom and Katie to Brad and Angelina, why some of Hollywood`s a-listers are deciding not to tie the knot before they have a baby. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s only live entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.
OK, Tom and Katie and Suri makes three. Tom and Katie`s baby news is the talk of the town, from Hollywood to New York. Today we learned that Jamie Foxx has already sent a baby gift. He says Cruise is one of the nicest guys in the world and, quote, "It`s just great to see him win." And when fellow Scientologist Kirstie Alley heard the baby news, she reportedly reacted with a resounding, "Yay!"
HAMMER: Well, Tom and Katie certainly took the media by storm last year, from the very moment they stepped in front of the cameras together in Italy. And from the looks of it yesterday`s birth of their daughter, Suri, is stirring the paparazzi pot once again in a huge way.
Everybody`s wondering how much that first photo of the baby`s going to be worth. We`re going to get into that in a minute.
Joining me live in New York, Deborah Schoeneman of "New York" magazine. It`s nice to see you, Deborah.
DEBORAH SCHOENEMAN, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: It`s nice to see you, too.
HAMMER: This paparazzi frenzy, as I mentioned, well, it`s been going on for a year, but really building into this major blitz over the last couple of weeks. Is this the most sought-after photo in the world right now?
SCHOENEMAN: The Tom-Kitten?
HAMMER: Don`t say it.
SCHOENEMAN: I think it probably is today. However, Angelina Jolie`s about to give birth, and that`s a very close second, if not beating these two out.
HAMMER: So but at this very moment, as you and I sit here, everybody wants this photo. Well, you guys did something very interesting on the cover of "New York" magazine. I want to throw up that photo that you guys did.
This is actually a mock-up, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and baby. Those are actually actors, just because -- well, you got the photo first, you can say, in a matter of speaking. Is the competition to get a hold of that first picture of Tom, Katie and the baby, is the competition just out of control?
SCHOENEMAN: I mean, it`s completely crazy, because it`s a lot of money we`re talking about. They might stage something where they end up releasing their own photo and maybe using the money to sell it to people for charity, like other people have done before.
HAMMER: Right. Gwyneth Paltrow, for instance, they released the very first photo to charity, and that really gives them control over it, and perhaps, I would think, sort of sets up a scenario where, if the competition dies down a little bit, people aren`t, you know, going to get hurt in the process.
SCHOENEMAN: Right, after the first photo, you know, it declines. The more photos there are, the less valuable they are.
HAMMER: So let me ask you about that. The price will actually go down, but do you think in the case of Suri, Katie and Tom`s baby, the competition will go down for an actual paparazzi to get a shot?
SCHOENEMAN: They`re going to be stalked by the paparazzi probably forever. I think that it`s most frenzied right now in the next few weeks, and I`m sure they will release a picture and take control of it.
HAMMER: You think that`s...
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOENEMAN: I mean, they have such a savvy P.R. machine behind them, I`d be shocked if some guy could jump out of the bushes and catch that picture. However, you never know.
HAMMER: Well, if the paparazzi do get off that first shot and try to sell it to somebody, what kind of money are we talking about here? I know it`s huge dollars, and I`d seen amounts from experts, you know, up to $5 million. What`s your take?
SCHOENEMAN: Yes, we had talked to some experts for that story about Brad and Angelina, and they said in the millions, you know, up to $5 million that photo could fetch, especially because they`re so private. Tom and Katie are photographed all the time, so pictures of them together now are only going for about $1,000. But Katie alone could be $30,000, because then the magazine could say, "Where`s Tom?"
So I think it depends on the pictures that they get. Is it all three of them? Is it her and the baby? What are they doing? Can you actually see the baby`s face? It`s really hard to photograph a newborn.
HAMMER: And they really will go to any lengths, and this is the sad thing that we`ve seen continuing to happen. There was just a story today of somebody actually invading where Brad and Angelina are holed up, trying to get a picture, and get a talking to by the security there.
SCHOENEMAN: Yes.
HAMMER: So it still is a security risk, no matter what the case here.
SCHOENEMAN: It is dangerous. And, you know, I don`t think they`ll be walking around the streets with their newborn any time soon.
HAMMER: All right, well, we appreciate you chiming in with us, Deborah Schoeneman.
SCHOENEMAN: Thanks for having me.
HAMMER: It`s going to be so interesting to see how it actually plays out.
SCHOENEMAN: Who wins?
HAMMER: And who wins when that photo comes out? Deborah Schoeneman joining us from "New York" magazine.
Now, we`ve been asking to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day" tonight. We`re asking, Tom and Katie and Baby: Should the paparazzi leave them alone? You can vote at CNN.com/showbiztonight. You can also write to us at showbiztonight@CNN.com. We`ll get into the e-mails in just a bit.
ANDERSON: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are engaged, of course, and are expected to get married sometime this summer, and Tom and Katie are not the only Hollywood couple who are putting the baby carriage before the wedding. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Sibila Vargas joins us live once again in Hollywood with that story -- Sibila?
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Whatever happened to first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage?
ANDERSON: It`s all out of order.
VARGAS: Remember that? It`s all out of order. Certainly, now the trend in Hollywood these days for some of these a-list celebrities and power couples, it seems like the trip to the delivery room comes before the trip down the aisle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS (voice-over): Tom and Katie, Brad and Angelina, Heath and Michelle, some of Hollywood`s hottest couples either just had or are expecting babies. Another thing they have in common: None of these new parents is married.
KEN BAKER, "US WEEKLY": I think there`s a lot of burn out, a lot of fear, a lot of sort of suspicion among celebrities that, if we get married, wait, they always end up getting divorced.
VARGAS: Tom Cruise has been down that road before with Nicole Kidman, and so has Brad Pitt with Jennifer Aniston. When it comes to lasting love in Hollywood, sometimes what works best is staying away from the traditional script.
BAKER: You will get people like Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon, they`ve had long-term relationships that are basically marriages, but not on paper, and they are very, very happy.
VARGAS: And Hollywood may just be reflecting a trend. All across the country, more and more people are choosing not to tie the knot. According to a 2005 study by the National Marriage Project, the marriage rate in the U.S. has dropped nearly 50 percent since 1970.
And there are individual celebrities who are making a clean break with custom and adopting children on their own. Sharon Stone, Calista Flockhart, and Angelina Jolie did it. And Jessica Simpson recently said she wants to adopt.
The Christian group Concerned Women for America says those wealthy stars might be sending the wrong message to their fans.
DR. JANICE CROUSE, CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA: It`s very detrimental to particularly the young women who look and say, "Well, I don`t need a ring on my finger. I don`t need a husband. I can do it all by myself." And they learn the hard way that they cannot.
VARGAS: They think celebrities should be leading the charge when it comes to getting married.
CROUSE: You know, it`s really cool today to not be traditional, and I think somebody has to take the lead. One of our celebrities has to start going back to the traditional values.
VARGAS: Some star-watchers say expecting celebrities to conform to an ideal notion of love and family is unrealistic.
BAKER: They`re famous for pretending to be other people on the big screen and the small screen. They are not politicians; we did not vote for them and expect them to uphold some higher standard. They aren`t public servants; they are celebrities.
VARGAS: When you consider that, in the United States, now more than one-third of all children are born to unmarried parents and that 50 percent of all children will live in a single-parent home at some point in their lives, what`s happening these days in Hollywood seems just about normal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: And Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have been engaged since last June, and he said that they would tie the knot after the baby was born. So now that the baby watch is over, I guess it`s safe to say, Brooke, that we are officially on marriage watch. Are you ready?
ANDERSON: I`m ready, and hopefully it will be a long and happy marriage. We do wish them well. Sibila Vargas, thank you so much.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT will be right back. Keep it here.
HAMMER: But first, we`re going to get into tonight`s "Hot Headlines."
The story of the autistic teenager who became a media sensation after a basketball game coming to the big screen. Columbia Pictures bought the rights to the story of Jason McElwain, the teenager from New York State, who hit six three-pointers in the last four minutes of a high school game. Magic Johnson serving as the executive producer of the movie.
A British tabloid has apologized to Teri Hatcher. "The Sun" ran a story last summer that claimed she had sex with men in a van outside her house. Well, "The Sun" now says the article was totally incorrect and they`ve apologized to Hatcher for any embarrassment they`ve caused. The newspaper reportedly has agreed to pay undisclosed damages.
And pretty soon you`ll be able to walk all over Donald Trump. That`s right: Trump has donated 436 acres of land north of New York City which will become the Donald J. Trump State Park. Trump bought the land back in the 1990s for $2 million.
Those are tonight`s "Hot Headlines." SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Now, throughout the show we have been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day."
Tom, Katie and baby: Should the paparazzi leave them alone? Let`s take a look at how the vote is going so far: 71 percent of you say yes; 29 percent of you say no.
Here`s some of the e-mails we`ve received. Chris from California writes, "The press follows these people everywhere they go while saying the public wants this. No, we do not."
Brenda from New York says, "With all the hoopla, you would think they were Joseph and Mary. They aren`t the first people ever to have a child."
We do appreciate your e-mails. You can keep voting, CNN.com/showbiztonight.
A.J., Brenda taking us back to biblical times there.
HAMMER: And, Brooke, if you want to call the baby Tom-Kitten, it is your prerogative, absolutely OK.
ANDERSON: I think it`s cute.
HAMMER: All right. 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, and stay tuned for more from CNN Headline News.
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