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Showbiz Tonight
Hollywood`s Battle With Body Image; Addictions of Skinny Stars; Body Launch
Aired September 01, 2006 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: Heidi Klum opens up about the pressure to be thin.
I`m A.J. Hammer.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: And how some stars revive their careers by making over their bodies.
I`m Brooke Anderson.
A special edition of TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Hollywood`s battle with body image.
KATE BOSWORTH, ACTRESS: I think that part of being an actress is that your body is your tool.
HAMMER: Tonight, why thin is so in, it`s driving some female stars crazy in the fight against fat.
UMA THURMAN, ACTRESS: I can get kind of insecure, like, if I`ve put on a lot of weight or something.
HAMMER: So, here`s what we want to know. How come it`s OK for men to be flabby and fabulous?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re starting to see America love realness. They need leading men who have a little bit of a paunch.
HAMMER: Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with both sides of Hollywood`s diet dilemma.
Is the media just being mean to these lean ladies, or are these bony beauties sending a bad message?
Tonight, celebrities who look shockingly anorexic, but they insist nothing is wrong.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT reveals whether these stars really are bad to the bone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Hello I`m A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson.
And welcome to a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
This evening, Hollywood and body image.
If the pressure to lose weight and stay thin is driving you nuts, imagine what it`s like for big Hollywood stars whose careers depend on it.
HAMMER: And to that point, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has been bombarded by major women stars speaking out about the almost ridiculous pressure to look like a skeleton, as if that is what beauty is really all about.
Well, tonight, we are here to show you what we found out, that in Hollywood the thin is in craze has gotten to the point that it`s become a joke.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "WHERE MY DOG`S AT?": Hey, Nicole, you look so emaciated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "WHERE MY DOG`S AT?": Thanks. Ten more pounds and I`ll be down to my birth weight.
HAMMER (voice over): Nicole Richie is a painfully easy target for MTV2`s new series, "Where My Dog`s At?" -- a laugh-out-loud take on Hollywood`s super-skinny celebs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "WHERE MY DOG`S AT?": Mischa, let`s see your engagement ring.
HAMMER: Former "OC" star Mischa Barton and "The Simple Life`s" Nicole Richie have become poster children for Hollywood`s weight obsession, which is at a fever pitch. From "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Keira Knightly...
KEIRA KNIGHTLY, ACTRESS: You know what? How does it feel to always be called anorexic? I had no idea that I was.
HAMMER: ... to singer Nelly Furtado...
NELLY FURTADO, SINGER: There`s a lot of pressure to be thin.
HAMMER: ... and even Uma Thurman, who told me...
THURMAN: I can get kind of insecure if I`ve put on a lot of weight.
HAMMER: And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you the pressure to be thin is something the stars can`t talking about.
KNIGHTLY, "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2": I`m here to find the man I love.
JOHNNY DEPP, ACTOR, "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2": I`m deeply flattered, but my first and only love is the sea.
HAMMER: These days, Keira Knightly is not just answering questions about her role in the box office smash "Pirates of the Caribbean 2," she finds herself forced to publicly deny that she suffers from anorexia.
KNIGHTLY: I don`t have it. I`m very sure I don`t have it.
HAMMER: At a press conference in England to promote "Pirates," Keira insisted she`s not an anorexic, although the disease has touched her personally.
KNIGHTLY: I`ve got a lot of experience with anorexia. It was in my family hugely. My grandmother and my great grandmother suffered from it. And I`ve got a lot of friends at school who suffered from it. So I don`t think it`s anything to be taken lightly.
HAMMER: Just days before Keira Knightly denied she had an eating disorder...
KATHARINE MCPHEE, "AMERICAN IDOL CONTESTANT" (SINGING): Man, I feel like a woman.
HAMMER: ... "American Idol" star Katharine McPhee admitted she did, revealing her longtime battle with bulimia.
Nelly Furtado tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that she sympathizes with McPhee.
NELLY FURTADO, SINGER: There`s a lot of pressure to be thin. There`s a lot of pressure to be stick thin, because to look thin on camera, you have to be like five pounds underweight, under your healthy body weight. So there`s a lot of pressure. So I think it`s easy to develop an eating disorder in this business.
HAMMER: Twenty-something stars aren`t the only ones thinking about the diet dilemma. Even tough girl but still gorgeous Uma Thurman tells me that sometimes she doesn`t like what she sees on the scale.
(on camera): You seem so comfortable in your own skin. And I don`t know if it was always that way.
THURMAN: I can get kind of insecure, like, if I put on a lot of weight or something. You know? But I just -- I try to even then not to be too -- too, like, killed over it. You know what I mean?
It`s easy to feel embarrassed when you feel like people will comment if you`re fat or this or that or the other, and I think that makes a lots of people in my line of work extremely self-conscious. And I certainly know that when I feel insecure about something, you deal feel self- conscious.
HAMMER (voice over): Stars have their own ways of dealing with the weight pressure. Elizabeth Taylor says she ignores it.
In an interview with "Harper`s Bizaar," Liz sounds off on these rail- thin actresses, saying, "I wish I could be that size, but I can`t be. I enjoy food too much. In the end, I`m too hedonistic. I enjoy pleasures."
But, despite having their bodies scrutinized for the whole world to see, some stars are philosophical about the debate over Hollywood`s weight obsession.
KNIGHTLY: I suppose in a way it`s good that it`s out there and people are talking about.
THURMAN: Life beats you up enough. I mean, I`ve always been accused of being really hard on myself, and so I guess, you know, you`ve got to take it easy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: So, is it a good thing that the stars are talking about their bodies? Well, I sat down with clinical psychologist Dr. Judy Kuriansky and Lola Ogunnaike from "The New York Times" and we talked about why stars like Keira Knightly would even address rumors about eating disorders and why we are so obsessed in the first place.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Frankly, talking about weight in this culture makes for news, and I think she knew that, hey, she could grab headlines. I think I may be a bit jaded, but we`re still talking about her.
And look at our obsession with people and their weight gain and their weight loss. Janet Jackson is launching her album comeback on the fact that she`s lost 60 pounds in four months. She`s on the cover of "US Weekly."
We`re still obsessed with how Star Jones lost all that weight. People want to know what this medical intervention is. Was it gastric bypass, was it not gastric bypass? We`re just obsessed with people`s ups and downs.
HAMMER: And the stars are talking about or they`re denying it. They`re making an announcement, "I do have an eating disorder," "I don`t have an eating disorder."
Particularly for people who may be dealing with these issues themselves, Dr. Judy, can`t this kind of mess with their heads?
DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes, and there are good things about it and bad. I think the good part about it is what Keira Knightly said, which is, thank goodness we`re talking about.
The word "anorexia" is out there. "Bulimia" is out there. What is it? It`s the need to control some part of your life when you can`t be in control.
And in Hollywood, but in real life, too, girls don`t feel in control of what`s going on. So, how you control your food, if you`re bulimic and you`re going to purposely throw up, that`s a control over your life. If you`re anorexic and you can refuse your food, you`re controlling your life. That`s the issue.
So, talking about Keira Knightly being accused, rightly or wrongly, Nicole Richie being stick thin gets girls to talk about it.
HAMMER: Let`s talk about that Nicole Richie for just a second, because it has gotten to the point of the ridiculous.
Can we -- Danny (ph), can you roll that cartoon one more time? This is a thing that MTV2 is doing that is lampooning these stars, like Mischa Barton, like Nicole Richie. And this isn`t so far off the mark what we`re looking at right now.
What, Lola, is feeding into their need to look like that? Because I don`t know about you, that ain`t sexy to me.
OGUNNAIKE: Well, not to you, but to the fashion industry, it`s not sexy to be a size 8. It`s sexy to be a size 2 and a size 4. And these girls have got to fit into sample sizes. They want to wear the beautiful gowns on the red carpet. And those don`t come in the double digits. Those come in the very small, small single digits.
HAMMER: Yes, I hear you, Lola. I don`t -- I don`t...
OGUNNAIKE: They have to be a glorified hangers. That`s it. That`s it.
HAMMER: ... buy it that they are motivated to look like a stick because they want to fit into fashion.
OGUNNAIKE: They are. There`s that, and there`s also -- they`re competitive. And if Lindsay is a 2, then Nicole has to be 2. Jessica Simpson can`t be an 8 while Lindsay`s a 2. That`s not fair.
HAMMER: The competition I understand. The clothes, not so much.
OGUNNAIKE: How can you not understand fashion? If a Galiano gown is a size 4 and you`re a size 8, you`ve got to purge or you`ve got do something to get into that gown.
KURIANSKY: It`s not realistic. I mean, it really hurts me to see that girls are putting themselves through that. And I think what they need to do is to really realize, this is fashion and that`s the way Nicole Richie, or Paris Hilton, because she`s so stick thin, as you know, too.
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
KURIANSKY: And that`s the way she is, but I don`t have to be that way. And to recognize, just as you said, A.J., there are guys who like breasts and who like, you know, buns. And J. Lo is a good example. And I think if you look at people like Brooke Shields, even, and Liv Tyler, one of the most beautiful women, I think.
Don`t you agree?
OGUNNAIKE: But Liv Tyler is considered humongous in Hollywood. It`s unfortunate, but it`s true.
(CROSSTALK)
KURIANSKY: So I`m saying, be -- let her be your role model. Because she got pregnant, she`s not worried about it now. She`s wearing baggy clothes and walking happily with Royston Langdon. She`s...
OGUNNAIKE: But she is not able to fit into the Marc Jacobs sample size. And that`s the huge issue.
HAMMER: Well, you know what accentuates or sort of calls attention to all this absurdity? Anybody who saw "The Devil Wears Prada"....
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
HAMMER: ... Stanley Tucci`s character basically infers that if you`re wearing a size 6, you`re huge. Now, to that, I say, "That`s ridiculous!"
Lola Ogunnaike and Dr. Judy Kuriansky, always wonderful to have you here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Supermodel Heidi Klum is speaking out about eating disorders and the pressure to be thin. In "Jane" magazine she says the modeling industry wants everyone to have a certain body type that when she started, "They`re like, `Oh my God, you`re too fat. You have to lose weight. And I`m like, `I`m 18, I`m a bit chunky still. What do you want me to do?`"
Klum says despite the pressure, she avoided an eating disorder because she`s not the type of person to say "how high" when someone says "Jump."
That "Jane" magazine issue was a partnership with Clothes Off Our Back, a charity that sells outfits donated from celebrities.
HAMMER: Now we`d like to turn it over to you.
For our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day," we`re asking: Thin stars, do they make you feel fat? You can vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight.
Got more to say? The e-mail address is showbiztonight@cnn.com.
ANDERSON: A friendly reminder now. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is on seven nights a week. We are bringing TV`s most provocative entertainment news show to your weekends. Be sure to check us out, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. That`s 8:00 Pacific.
In Hollywood, where thin is definitely in and it seems women are thinner than ever, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT takes a look at women who are resisting the trend. How the curves are making a comeback.
That`s still ahead.
We`ll also have this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The average American wants to see an averaged-body person on the big screen, without a doubt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Female stars tell us they feel more pressure than ever to be thin. But does that apply to the guys?
Coming up, how flab is becoming fashionable on the main men in Hollywood.
ANDERSON: Plus, stars using their bodies to launch new projects. How do they do it? And do their buff bodies overshadow their work?
That`s still ahead as this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "Hollywood and Body Image," continues.
HAMMER: First, here comes tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly" Great American Pop Culture Quiz.
What major actress overcome a 25-year battle with an eating disorder?
Was it, A, Nicole Kidman, B, Judy Garland, C, Audrey Hepburn, or D, Jane Fonda?
Stick around. We are coming straight back with the answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Once again tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly" Great American Pop Culture Quiz. What major actress overcame a 25-year battle with an eating disorder? A, Nicole Kidman, B, Judy Garland, C, Audrey Hepburn, or D, Jane Fonda?
Let`s see the answer. It`s D, Jane Fonda.
ANDERSON: Welcome back to a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "Hollywood and Body Image."
I`m Brooke Anderson.
You know, skinny isn`t always sexy, especially in Hollywood. In the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom we get every celebrity magazine out there, but recently we can`t help but notice almost every cover has featured a super- skinny star. And, quite frankly, we`re getting a little sick of it.
So, tonight, we ask you: What happened to Hollywood`s curvy women?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice over): Kate Bosworth, Nicole Richie, Keira Knightly, starlets looking thinner than ever. But here`s what SHOWBIZ TONIGHT wants to ask: Is this really how our leading ladies should look? Should they be wasting away right before our eyes?
A generation ago we were mesmerized by this: a curvaceous and oh-so- sexy Marilyn Monroe.
Now it`s this: big screen stars like "Superman`s" Kate Bosworth, who some say are, quite simply, scary skinny.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Size 2 used to be in, but now it`s size 0. So everybody is just getting thin. It`s Hollywood, baby.
ROB CHILTON, "OK!" MAGAZINE: You know, people are just obsessed by this at the moment. People are just fascinated by skinny people.
ANDERSON: But why? Why in the world are we fascinated by stick-thin stars?
Most women don`t look like them. In fact, several studies show the average woman in America is 5`4" and weighs 144 pounds. That`s a size 14.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You wouldn`t know that. You wouldn`t know that looking at all these covers of the magazines and all these celebrity shows.
CHILTON: Most of the women that we see in magazines and on TV -- on TV screens and cinema screens are, you know, a size 0 or a size 2. To there is a kind of fascination from people, I think, especially women, to see these very, very skinny celebrities.
ANDERSON: Well, we at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT say it`s time to end the addiction to skinny stars. We want leading ladies with some meat on their bones.
We want more women like J. Lo.
CHILTON: Nicole Kidman, who is, you know, famously not curvy, actually came out and said that she admires Jennifer Lopez`s curvy body. And she said, "I wish I had boobs and a butt like Jennifer Lopez." You know, she said, "I think that`s more beautiful on a woman to have curves."
So, it`s not just women in the street who want J. Lo`s body, it`s -- you know, it`s $25-million-a-movie Nicole Kidman who wants -- who wants J. Lo`s body.
ANDERSON: Wow. Who knew?
But, hey, if we`re talking about J. Lo, we can`t forget about Beyonce. She loves her curves so much she wrote a hit song about them.
CHILTON: What better attributes to your body can you get than that?
ANDERSON: We think bigger is most definitely better.
Just ask Kate Winslet, who has often talked about her full figure and how she`s just fine with it.
Well, so are we. But are you?
We sent SHOWBIZ TONIGHT producer Carrie Hill to find out.
CARRIE HILL, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT PRODUCER: Do you think Hollywood has gotten to thin?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. I think they celebrate bodies that aren`t normal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of them, they look good, but some of them, they need to eight a piece of bread.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t be scared of the carbs. Eat as much as you can, if that`s what makes you happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I personally think that curvier women are sexier.
ANDERSON: We at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT think a star like Kelly Clarkson puts it all in perspective: beautiful, confident, successful, all in one perfectly curvy package.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: While skinny isn`t always in, being healthy is. And the stars have all their nutritionists, their personal trainers, everything they could possibly need to get into shape, and, quite frankly, to stay that way. And sometimes it seems they pull out all the stops when a new project is riding on a new look.
So, we decided to look into how stars use their newly-trained figures to revive their careers, or even to get noticed for the very first time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice over): Kate Bosworth surfed on to the Hollywood scene in "Blue Crush."
BOSWORTH: I did "Blue Crush" when I was 18, and I had to change my body dramatically for that. You know, I think that part of being an actress is that your body is your tool.
HAMMER: From Janet Jackson...
JANET JACKSON, SINGER: I hate working out.
HAMMER: ... to Jessica Simpson...
JESSICA SIMPSON, SINGER: I had to really get into tip-top physical shape.
HAMMER: ... SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that celebs everywhere are lifting weights to help lift their careers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think if you`re talented enough, then your talent should speak for yourself and you shouldn`t have to use your physical attributes to promote yourself.
HAMMER: Case in point, Janet Jackson.
Back in the `90s, everyone was looking at her body with the release of her self-titled album "Janet." The complete body transformation was evident in "Love Will Never Do."
Take two. In 2006, the pop icon came out of hiding with this eye- popping "US Weekly" cover back in May after dropping 60 pounds, and just in time for the publicity rush for her upcoming new album, "20 Years Old."
Jackson tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT she hopes to inspire others.
JACKSON: I feel that if I can get this off -- and that was 60 pounds, that`s a lot -- then other people can, too. And to know that there is hope, especially when you feel hopeless.
SIMPSON, "DUKES OF HAZZARD": Are you all ready to order?
HAMMER: Jessica Simpson used her super-sexy, super-toned figure to launch her movie career in the "Dukes of Hazzard" and tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT she worked at it.
But here`s what we want to know: Are these built-up bodies trying to hide something?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For some celebrities, you know, like Jessica Simpson, they have to use their bodies, because obviously she has no talent.
HAMMER: But before Jessica there was Demi Moore. Her fabulous physique was the draw for 1996`s "Striptease," followed by "G.I. Jane" a year later. And she still had it six years later in "Charlie`s Angels Full Throttle."
MADONNA, SINGER (SINGING): Like a virgin...
HAMMER: Then there`s Madonna, who started her Reinvention Tour at the ripe age of 47. It used to be her songs, their messages and her outrageous behavior that got our attention. But now it`s Madge and her yoga-inspired figure that steals the show.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Madonna has used, you know, a myriad of talents to come and show you, this is who I am, this is who I am, through reinvention. One of the ways was her body. She didn`t say, "This is my body, therefore I am," like a lot of others which I`d rather not mention, because they know who they are.
HAMMER: So, in the end, it`s not just about talent when you have a bod that everyone wants to gawk at. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you right now...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you`ve got it, you`ve got to flaunt it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: And, just incase you wondering how Janet Jackson lost the incredible 60 pounds, stick around, because coming up later on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Ms. Jackson lets us in on her secret.
ANDERSON: Put this on your calendar. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is now on seven nights a week. We`re bringing TV`s most provocative entertainment news show to your weekends every weekend. So be sure to tune in, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Saturday and Sunday 11:00 p.m. Eastern. That`s 8:00 Pacific.
Stars who look anorexic but insist nothing is wrong, is the press being too hard on them, or are they sending a dangerous message?
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates coming up.
HAMMER: Plus, Kate Hudson strikes back against tabloids that say she is dangerously skinny. We`re going to tell you who won the fight coming up.
We`ll also have this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I truly believe that this is the century of the average American and that Hollywood is just starting to catch up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Female stars tell us they feel more pressure than ever to be thin, but does that apply to the guys?
Coming up, how flab is becoming fashionable on the main men in Hollywood.
TV`s most provocative entertainment news show, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, is coming right back.
Sit tight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "Hollywood and Body Image."
Kate Hudson is one star who fought back when the tabloids said she was too skinny, and she won. The actress accepted libel damages from the British edition of "The National Enquirer." Last year the paper claimed Hudson was dangerously thin and foolishly endangering her health. "The National Enquirer" also printed an apology.
HAMMER: Stars who lock anorexic but insist nothing is wrong. The question is, is the press being too hard on them, or are they sending a dangerous message?
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates that coming up in just a bit.
We`ll also have this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The average American wants to see an averaged-body person on the big screen, without a doubt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Female stars tell us they feel more pressure than ever to be thin. But does that apply to the guys? Coming up, how flab is becoming fashionable on the main men in Hollywood.
You don`t want to miss it.
HAMMER: Plus, believe this or not, even someone as beautiful, someone as talented and successful as Uma Thurman actually struggles with insecurity. She tells us how she copes, and that`s coming up in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: "Hollywood and Body Image." It is 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
A.J., you know, everybody sees the pictures - the images of the super- skinny celebrities.
HAMMER: Sure.
ANDERSON: Well, the speculation then follows that these waifish stars have eating disorders. Coming up - coming up, we find out why the rumors are so rampant, how they could affect the celebrity`s reputation, and how they should respond.
HAMMER: Now Brooke, when you`re talking about the waifish stars, we`re usually talking about the women. For some reason, there`s this terrible double standard: women have to stay impossibly thin. For men, a little flab`s OK.
Is it all right for the men in Hollywood to be flabulous, as we say?
ANDERSON: Of course.
HAMMER: We`ll investigate, coming up in just a moment.
But first tonight, I have to tell you that when we saw a recent picture of Anna Kournikova, our jaws dropped. The reason: because of how much weight she`s dropped. It really does seem to be the newest sport in Hollywood: speculation on who`s too thin, why they`re so thin. And everybody`s wondering if they have an eating disorder.
So here`s what SHOWBIZ TONIGHT wants to know: has all this guessing and obsessing gone too far?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: (voice-over): Remember Anna Kournikova, the tennis-playing hottie who was as famous for her bod as her backhand?
Well, now people have saying she`s gone from curvy to skinny -- too skinny. This is her at a recent tennis event. Her bone-thin frame is a stark contrast to the muscular form she displayed on the tennis courts, and on the red carpet during her tennis-playing heyday.
Anna writes in "Elle" magazine - quote -- "I`m naturally long, lean and lanky. When I was playing tennis on the professional circuit, my body completely changed. Now almost three years have passed since I was on the court full time, and my body has changed again."
Kournikova may be naturally skinny, but that didn`t stop "The New York Post" from posting a headline jokingly calling her "Anna-Rexic." In fact, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has noticed that, be it a tennis star like Anna Kournikova, or a film star, like Keira Knightley .
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, ACTRESS: I`m here to find the man I love.
HAMMER: Almost every thin star in Hollywood eventually has to swat down talk of an eating disorder.
"CosmoGirl!" editor-in-chief Susan Schultz says that`s just not fair.
SUSAN SCHULTZ, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "COSMOGIRL!": If they look a little fat in a picture, everybody goes crazy. And if they look skinny in a picture, everybody says they`re anorexic. If every top actress in Hollywood has an eating disorder - that`s just ridiculous.
HAMMER: Despite a record-breaking opening for her movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man`s Chest," Keira Knightley still has to respond to inquiries that she has anorexia.
KNIGHTLEY: They went, How does it feel to be always called anorexic? I had no idea that I was. I don`t have it. I`m very sure I don`t have it.
SCHULTZ: Whether it`s Keira or the other ones that are accused of having an eating disorder, it really diverts attention from this woman`s accomplishments and it`s completely wrong and unfair.
HAMMER: Scarlet Johansson agrees. She bristled when SHOWBIZ TONIGHT asked her about Keira Knightley`s situation.
JENNY D`ATTOMA, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT PRODUCER: She had to come on the defense saying, No, I`m not too thin. You know, No, I don`t have an eating disorder.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON, ACTRESS: Well, I mean, whatever. I - it`s like, what can you do? Like, you`re -- I mean, it`s difficult to say because on one hand you have somebody, you know, like yourself, and, you know, from the media saying, what do you think of this and blah blah. And at the same time, like, you feed into it because this is what the media reports.
D`ATTOMA: Right.
JOHANSSON: I`m sure on, you know, the same show that this, you know, person is asking me, How do you deal with it, they`re also reporting on Keira Knightley`s, you know, supposed eating disorder or whatever. And, you know, you can`t play both sides of the game. It doesn`t work like that.
HAMMER: Yes, it is true: Hollywood is full of super-thin stars, some of whom, like Mary-Kate Olsen, really have dealt with an eating disorder. But what about those who really may be naturally thin?
TERI HATCHER, ACTRESS: This is insane.
HAMMER: Even "Desperate Housewives" star Teri Hatcher, who`s thin but not exactly waifish, has had to knock down anorexia rumors, circulated by the tabloids.
Keira Knightley says she sees why people are so quick to associate eating disorders with Hollywood.
KNIGHTLEY: It`s normally high-achieving young women that suffer from it. So, I guess, control - sort of control freaks. So, I mean, it`s - it`s understandable why you`d associate that with - with sort of high- achieving people in - in a - in the film industry as well. And - and I`m not saying that there aren`t people that suffer from it, because I`m sure that there are. I`m not one of them.
HAMMER: Still, the anorexic-or-not speculation continues. And stars like Anna Kournikova and Keira Knightley are learning that you can be thin, but you do so at the risk of your reputation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: So the question is: How should stars respond to the endless rumors about whether or not they have an eating disorder?
I had the chance to sit down with Susan Schultz, the editor in chief of "CosmoGirl!" magazine. I asked her why rumors are rampant around skinny stars like Keira Knightley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHULTZ: Everybody -- it seems like they`ll just jump on you.
I think it`s more about, you know, What`s the story today? You know, what`s juicy to say? Keira shows up at the premiere, she looks a little thin, could she have an eating disorder? You know, everybody starts to say, Oh, could she? I mean, people start to talk. It`s juicy gossip, and gossip is something that people, of course, have a total - a real appetite for.
So it`s really more about that than it really is about these poor actresses who are constantly accused of, you know, whether they`re too fat, too thin. I mean, they can`t get a break.
HAMMER: It is possible for people to be naturally thin.
SCHULTZ: Absolutely.
HAMMER: And you look at what we saw with Anna Kournikova in this photo today.
In fact, Charles (ph), can you throw that photo?
We have a before-and-after photo. There is her when she was, you know, in -- in her heyday on the tennis court. She is very different than she looks now.
SCHULTZ: Right. Well, the thing is though, when you`re an athlete, you`re muscular, because, you know, you`re eating more, because you need the carbs, you need the energy. You`re working out all the time; you`ve got bigger muscles. And, you know, she`s just slimmed down. And as she was saying, it just -- your body does change.
HAMMER: But it - but in her case, you have to admit, it was pretty dramatic. And you can understand. You look at that photo and - let`s put that up one more time -- because it is such a change, you can understand.
SCHULTZ: What year was the other one, though? Because it - could she -- was she a teenager then? Because you do lose a lot of your baby fat in those five years. You just -- it happens. It happened to me.
HAMMER: OK. Well, the before picture is the one on the left side of the screen. And - and the one where she`s actually playing tennis is the after shot.
SCHULTZ: OK.
HAMMER: But - but.
SCHULTZ: OK.
HAMMER: You know, it is dramatic enough that it can certainly raise some eyebrows.
SCHULTZ: Yes. I mean, it definitely -- everybody is always going to question, OK, Well, what`s going on?
But I think that, you know, with Anna and with Keira - I mean, these are really confident girls. You know, they`ve always been, you know, completely out in the media. They`ve never been the type to kind of hide behind anything. They show their bodies off.
You know, a lot of times when you`re anorexic, you do layer on the clothing to hide it. And they`ve never been like that. So why would they suddenly be accused of being anorexic? They`ve got nothing to hide; they`re perfectly confident. So it`s really unfair that, you know, all of their other accomplishments are being overshadowed by this silly conversation that everybody seems to be having over, you know, what they`re eating.
HAMMER: You`ve been hearing from your readers about.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
HAMMER: .this very subject. What have they been telling you?
SCHULTZ: Well, you know, because with all of the debate over eating disorders in Hollywood and everything, you know, it - it`s all about, you know, Are you too thin? And there`s thin girls who write in and they say - they say, I`m naturally thin. How can I gain weight? Because people are accusing me of being anorexic and it`s really hurtful.
I mean, it`s - it`s really sad, because girls at that age - you know, no matter what size they are, they feel insecure. It`s just something you kind of go through at that age. And for them -- now, they love Keira. They really look up to her; they feel that she`s somebody they can relate to.
And now to kind of have her, you know, her ability to be a role model to be compromised, when she`s done nothing really to ask for that.
HAMMER: Yes.
SCHULTZ: .it`s - it`s tricky. You know, and it couldn`t - it`s very confusing to the girls.
HAMMER: And when a star does come out and say they do have an eating disorder, I also see that as possibly being very confusing. On the one hand, it sheds light on - on an issue.
SCHULTZ: Right.
HAMMER: .that, you know, somebody might recognize in themselves. On the other hand, you may have somebody saying, you know what? She looks pretty good, and that`s how she got that way?
SCHULTZ: Well, that`s a problem, too. And you know, it`s always the -- everybody says, the camera adds 10 pounds. And, you know, these women are photographed constantly. And so they tend to slim down a little bit to look better in photographs.
And it doesn`t mean they have an eating disorder. And yet, that does send an odd message to girls about, How do you look your best? You know, its everybody gives so many - so much attention to women when they lose weight - you know, it sends a message of, do something like this, you`ll get attention, whether it`s a good or bad thing you`re doing. So.
HAMMER: It`s - it`s good to have the dialogue. It can backfire.
Susan Schultz, thanks for joining us. I really appreciate it.
SCHULTZ: Thanks, A.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: And we`d like to hear from you. For our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day," we`re asking, "Thin Stars: Do they make you feel fat?" Vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight. Or e-mail us at showbiztonight@cnn.com.
ANDERSON: Singer Britney Spears isn`t immune to body-image issues. Even though she was willing to pose nude while pregnant on the cover of "Harper`s Bazaar," she says it wasn`t easy to stay positive about her looks.
In the article, Britney says during pregnancy - quote - "You don`t feel the most beautiful all the time." And while she felt empowered by carrying a baby, she was - quote - "unprepared and paranoid." She went on to say, "It was weird for me at first, because of who I am. Wherever you go, they expect you to look a certain way. I`m not supposed to be this big huge pregnant superstar."
Janet Jackson`s dramatic weight loss: how did she lose 60 pounds? That`s coming up.
HAMMER: Also, actress Uma Thurman opens up to me about she copes with insecurity. It`s an interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
We also have this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN O`KEEFE, AUTHOR, "THE AVERAGE AMERICAN": I truly believe that this is the century of the average American, and that Hollywood is just starting to catch up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Find out why it`s OK for celebrity men to be both flabby and fabulous. That`s ahead on this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: "Hollywood and Body Image." I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
Uma Thurman is an Oscar-nominated actress who can open a movie at the top of the box office. And not only is she talented, but she`s also graced the covers of hundreds of magazines because of her beauty.
But when I sat down with her recently, I found out that Uma shares a whole lot with most women, because even she battles body-image issues.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: You seem so comfortable in your own skin. And I don`t know if it was always that way.
THURMAN: No, I - I wasn`t always comfortable in my own skin. But, you know, I think that - I think that - you know, I try to take care of myself. And I try to keep it together. It`s part of what I do.
But I`m also sort of feeling - trying to be forgiving about it all. Do you know what I mean? Like, you just can`t - you know, you`re not going to stay the same. You`re going to change, and everybody`s aging. It`s a unilateral issue. And, you know, it`s just - I don`t know. I - I can get kind of insecure, like, if I put on a lot of weight or something, you know? But I just - I - I try to even then not be to - to, like, killed over it. Do you know what I mean? Like you just - it`s - it`s - it`s easy to feel embarrassed when you feel like people will comment if you`re fat or this or that or the other. And I think that makes a lot of people in my line of work extremely self conscious. And I certainly know that when I feel insecure about something, you do feel (INAUDIBLE).
HAMMER: Well what you say though to young actors, or even to just people watching? You know, young kids, they`re dealing with it everyday. And you have figured out a way, it seems quite clear, to - to sort of come to terms with it.
THURMAN: Well, you`ll grow out of the acne, but you`re going to grow into the wrinkles.
You know, I mean, it`s just - I don`t know. I haven`t come to terms with anything. I mean, life is an ever-evolving process, and - as we all know. Duh.
But, you know, it`s like - I don`t know. Life beats you up enough. I - I mean, I`ve always been accused of being really hard on myself. And - and so I guess, you know, you got to take it easy, you know? And let down, like, the belt, and try to stop whacking yourself. There`s nothing you can do about it.
You know, you can do something about a lot of things that will - will make your life better. But you can`t necessarily do something about some things that are natural to you. You just got to do what you can.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Well on to the flip side here. What if we told you that flabby is fabulous for the fellas? That`s right; SHOWBIZ TONIGHT actually has the proof that from New York to Hollywood to Middle America, more in the middle is in. And if that whole buff-body thing is something you`re concerned, well say bye-bye to that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL FERRELL, ACTOR: Hey honey!
HAMMER (voice-over): OK, listen up: that right there, gentlemen, is now sexy in Hollywood.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is here to tell you: chiseled, buff bodies are out. And let`s see, How do we say this? Man flab is in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man flab is in?
HAMMER: Yep, it`s in. Trust us. From real life to show business.
JACK BLACK, ACTOR: Keep up if you can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
HAMMER: .men with more in the middle are making a comeback.
That`s right. Just listen to this guy. He`s the author of "The Average American."
O`KEEFE: The average American wants to see an average-bodied person on the big screen without a doubt, because they see men that are trim, and they think that those men are spending too much time in the gym, not enough time with their female mates. And women don`t want guys that are weighing less than they are.
BLACK: Big dudes.
HAMMER: Love handles are taking hold in Hollywood.
Just look at this summer`s blockbusters. You`ve got Jack Black in "Nacho Libre"; Tom Hanks in "The Da Vinci Code"; and Vince Vaughn in "The Break-Up."
VINCE VAUGHN, ACTOR: I don`t have any idea what`s happening.
HAMMER: What do they have in common? A leading man with a little more, well, substance.
O`KEEFE: And that`s part of the Vince Vaughn attractiveness, is that he`s a guy who looks like can go - go out and have a good time, have a few beers, have a few burgers. But not go crazy. Not to obesity land. Love the Bond guy.
HAMMER: OK, he loves him. But do you?
We sent out SHOWBIZ TONIGHT producer Kerri Hill (ph) to find out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn`t know man flab is in?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn`t know that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, are you happy about it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not particularly, no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re won over by a couple extra pounds?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It`s nice to have a little flab, a little cushioness to sleep on. It`s always nice to see somebody and say, Hey, you know what? I could - I could get that, you know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Man flab is in. What does that do for you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s really gross.
HAMMER: OK, so it looks like the jury`s still out on this one. But let us tell you: there is a certain security that comes with someone who`s carrying a few extra pounds.
O`KEEFE: There`s a certain security and a - and a certain level of caring that - that comes with this person that is average, and that has a little bit of a midsection. It`s that that person isn`t spending enough time - is spending too - isn`t spending too much time in the gym, isn`t spending too much time worrying about themselves.
HAMMER: Yes, just take it from this guy. He just finished a hot dog when we caught up with him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to have a little extra meat. You got to have something to hold onto, you know what I mean? You can`t be all skin and bones. I think that stuff - yes, that`s old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don`t want him to have a flatter stomach than us.
O`KEEFE: I truly believe that this is the century of the average American, and that Hollywood is just starting to catch up. I mean, you could say it`s shaping up to be the true century of the average man. Literally shaping as far as the midsection in Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: And of course, if it`s a trend, Hollywood eventually catches on.
I sent down with author Kevin O`Keefe to chat more about our growing obsession with flabby celebrities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Let`s talk about a guy like Vince Vaughn. He`s 36 years old, which apparently is the average age of American men.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: I wasn`t aware of that.
O`KEEFE: .all Americans.
HAMMER: Of all Americans. OK. He`s from the Midwest. He`s got, shall we say, a little extra meat on the bones.
O`KEEFE: Mm-hmm.
HAMMER: Is the fact that he is kind of obtainable at least in appearance, is that - is that what the appeal is here?
O`KEEFE: That`s a great word, obtainable. But it`s also the balance that he has in his life.
There`s this projection among people that are a few extra pounds right here that there`s a balance in their life, that they`re not spending half the day in the gym. Women are attracted to guys who have balance. That means they have time for family and friends and community. That`s attractive.
And also, America is ready for realness. You know, we`ve gone from a sitcomland where friends - the "Friends" episodes, where these apartments where these young professionals - they certainly can`t afford these apartments. But yet, we go to "Everybody Loves Raymond" - OK, a sports writer can afford that type of a house, and he probably has that type of a wife and kids.
But now we want more realness. And to have realness, you need to look like an average American. You need to have a few extra pounds.
HAMMER: And is that basically the deal? Because, you know, you look around America, America by and large, as we`re seeing, is flabulous. You know, Main Street America, they`re more flabulous than not.
Why has it taken Hollywood so long to catch on?
O`KEEFEE: Hollywood is always - you know, a bit back there in catching up. It`s because they`re - the decisionmakers are in the cities.
Now right now, we just passed a major milestone: most Americans now not only live in the suburbs, but work in the suburbs. But the decisonmakers are in places like Beverly Hills and New York City. They - it takes awhile for them to realize what`s going on in the country. And they need to get more of a suburbia mindset on how they make their decisions.
HAMMER: But obviously - and one of the things that kind of kills me about this whole thing is the double standard that just jumps right out.
You know, for women, not so accepted. You know, we see the flabulous men. But the question is, will we ever get to that point where it will be acceptable for our women in Hollywood to be more flabulous than not? I can`t believe I`m using this word over and over, but it - it works.
O`KEEFE: Right. And when you say flab, we`re not talking too much.
HAMMER: No. No. And - and to be clear on that, we`re talking about an unhealthy lifestyle.
O`KEEFE: Not at all.
HAMMER: We`re just - we`re just - we`re talking about people who necessarily, you know, are not eating salads all day and working out at the gym for two hours a day.
O`KEEFE: Right. The average American is actually of - of healthy weight. Has some body fat there, but is actually still in the healthy zone. The average male is 5`9 and a half, 190. So I - yes, I don`t want to give the impression that we`re talking enormous fat here.
But the reason that Americans are so attracted to somebody that has a little bit of the fat - again, it just keeps going back to realness. It`s that simple.
HAMMER: When do you think that we`re going to see it more coming from the women..
O`KEEFE: The women - it`s just, again - it`s there already. Middle America understands what they`re attracted to. But Hollywood`s not giving it to them.
Unfortunately, A.J., I think it`s going to probably take something extreme, like a death. It`s going to take a Karen Carpenter situation, which happened back in 1983. Some young actress is going to have to die of anorexia. And when that happens, we`ll see a change in Hollywood decision- making.
HAMMER: Because it would seem to me, and - and I honestly can`t recall a time when somebody has put this out there. But if some studio or some filmmaker would go out on a limb and cast the more flabulous women in a big feature role, then people would identify with that, and then it would sort of lead the way.
O`KEEFE: Absolutely. They need to get their heads out of the sand.
The polls are all showing the same thing: we want average people, not only in movies and television, but in advertising.
Leo Burnett (ph) Advertising did an - a great poll last year. And most men - over 70 percent - said there needs to be more average-looking guy in ads. I think ads don`t relate to the average American.
Hollywood needs to wake the hell up.
HAMMER: Yes, because they do eventually - you know, if they can get on board with it, realize, Hey, that`s actually what people do want to see.
So -- so my question Kevin now is, can we officially declare a menaissance here? Is metrosexual - metrosexuality out the door, and flabulosity officially in?
O`KEEFE: Yes, we`re now into a retrosexual land, back before there was metrosexuals.
And again, because metro means city, and most Americans are now in the suburbs and working in the suburbs as well. So let`s start having a suburbia mindset in Hollywood, and then things will change. And let`s do that before there`s a death in Hollywood.
HAMMER: That would be very nice to be able to make it all happen before it comes to that.
Kevin O`Keefe, thank you very much. I appreciate you being with us.
O`KEEFE: Thanks, A.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: We`re going to talk Janet Jackson. Now she loses 60 pounds to promote her new album. Coming up, find out how you can learn exactly how Jackson dropped the weight.
This is a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: "Hollywood and Body Image." I`m Brooke Anderson in New York.
Janet Jackson is opening up about her dramatic weight loss. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Adrianna Costa caught up with Jackson in Atlanta, who was promoting her album, titled "20 Years Old." Miss Janet spoke candidly about the weight loss that`s gotten just as much attention as the new album. She says there`s really no secret.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET JACKSON, SINGER: I had help. I had a wonderful nutritionist and a wonderful trainer. Nutritionist David Allen (ph) and my trainer, Tony Martinez (ph). And David, we speak - he pages me everyday. We work very closely. And when I got halfway to my goal, then that`s when Tony came along. And we worked really hard at it.
Usually, a lot of people say, Well, it`s - if I can do it, you can do it. But really, because I`m - I hate working out. I - and I feel that if I can get this off and that was - that`s 60 pounds. That`s a lot. Then other people can, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Jackson says she will soon put out a book and a video to share her workout routine with her fans.
HAMMER: This has been a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on Hollywood and body image. I`m A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: And I am Brooke Anderson. Glenn Beck is next. But first, stay tuned for the latest from CNN Headline News.
END
