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Joy Behar Page
"Jersey Shore" Goes to Italy; Sex or Celibacy; Interview With Johnny Weir
Aired January 27, 2011 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOY BEHAR, HOST: Snooki, J-Woww and the entire cast of the "Jersey Shore" are headed to Italy. Well, good for you kids because you know, I`m such a nice person and I like you all so much, I`d like to help make your trip a little more sophisticated by pointing out some of the cultural difference you may not be familiar with.
For instance, this is a group of men sitting at a table. And this is a group of dogs sitting at a table. This is the Roman Coliseum. And this is the Coliseum Diner in Redback. And finally, this is Boticelli`s Venus on the half shell. And these are clams on the half shell. Got it? Have fun.
ANNOUNCER: Coming up on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, Italian American groups are upset with MTV after the network announces "Jersey Shore" will head to Italy next season. Opponents say Snooki, J-Woww and "The Situation" will give new meaning to the term "ugly American".
And remember Jesse James infamous Nazi photo? Turns out it wasn`t a one-shot deal. There`s another shocking photo of Sandra Bullock`s ex. Wait until you see it.
Plus fabulous figure skater Johnny Weir is here.
That and more starting right now.
BEHAR: If you think Berlusconi is causing controversy in Italy just wait until this spring. The cast of the "Jersey Shore" is heading over there to tape its fourth season and the news is making some Italian- American furious.
Here with me now are Joe Piscopo, actor and comedian and Italian; Linda Stasi, a television critic for the "New York Post", another Italian; and Andre Dimino, former president of Unico National, the largest Italian- American service organization in the U.S.
I`d like to have Italians here to talk about this whole situation.
JOE PISCOPO, COMEDIAN: Thank you for that.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: As opposed to people who don`t know what they`re talking about.
LINDA STASI, "NEW YORK POST": Right. Exactly.
BEHAR: So Andre, a representative from your group said, "People used to go to the circus to see the freak show. That is what this will be. It will not only hurt Italians but all Americans. Their outrageous, reprehensible behavior will make us look like buffoons and bimbos." Sounds like you`re pretty happy about them going to Italy.
ANDRE DIMINO, UNICO NATIONAL: Well, that`s actually what I said yesterday. And that was my first comment.
BEHAR: That was you who said it.
DIMINO: Absolutely. And it`s just reprehensible. I mean to bring -- to export this now from what we`ve seen here and now in Italy, I couldn`t think of anything worse.
BEHAR: Ok. Why is it any worse though than what they`re doing here?
DIMINO: Well, I mean here -- first of all, we already have the comment about the ugly American. I mean this is not going to hurt Italian Americans, it`s going to hurt even Americans because of the fact that it`s just so reprehensible.
You`ve watched the show and you see the outrageous things they do for ratings and for the money they`re getting, I can imagine what they`re going to do in Italy.
BEHAR: Ok. Joe, are you offended by this?
PISCOPO: I am offended. But you know, when I was young and we`ve known each other so many years, when I was on SNL, I did things that I regret, you know, doing Italian-American characters that I regret --
BEHAR: You did the Frank Sinatra thing.
PISCOPO: But that`s a tribute. That`s a tribute with love that I still do --
BEHAR: Didn`t you make him look like a gangster?
PISCOPO: Never. And I never did. And I protected him on SNL. I protected all the Italian-Americans in that regard.
DIMINO: Absolutely.
BEHAR: You did.
PISCOPO: But I don`t fault the children as much as I do -- like you`re trying to say, you fault the producers of the show.
But you do this about any other ethnic group there would be legislation to stop it. I promise you there will be rising in the street.
STASI: Joe, they would have had the other end of the stick. They don`t have the nerve, are you kidding me?
DIMINO: We`re the last ethnicity that it`s ok to bash. I challenge you, Joy, to find a positive Italian-American portrayal on any TV show. You just can`t find it.
BEHAR: What about me? What do I look like, chopped liver?
PISCOPO: Change your name.
BEHAR: I can`t help it if I was married for a long time.
You know, Linda, you say, I looked at your column today.
STASI: Thank you.
BEHAR: "Jersey Shore" portrays Italian-Americans as brain-damaged house pets. But they`re not all Italian. Do people realize that?
DIMINO: Right. Right.
STASI: No, I mean first of all the gnome with the hair. The gnome is Chilean, hello. The last time I look -- why doesn`t she go back to Chile? Why don`t the Kardashians go back to Iran or wherever they`re from?
BEHAR: Lebanon.
STASI: No, no the Carpathians, that`s where they`re from -- Armenia.
You know, anybody go back -- every one of these reality shows, they have to go back to Italy. And to Italians, they`re just like crazy Americans. The Italian television calls me up and that say, that American show, you know, with the people in Jersey, they don`t ever think of them as Italians.
PISCOPO: But On a lighter side, ladies and gentlemen. You know what; it will be funny to see Snooki with Berlusconi. That`s what I want to see.
BEHAR: I don`t know. They`re too old for him.
Andre, Are you contacting Italian officials to say something about -- what do you want them to do?
DIMINO: Well, as a matter of fact, yes. I was on the phone just today with the consul of Italy in Newark, New Jersey. I discussed the situation with him and he asked me to send my thoughts and I did. He`s going to be discussing them with the embassy as well as somebody in parliament in Italy that knows about the show.
BEHAR: Really?
DIMINO: Absolutely.
BEHAR: Don`t you think that`s a little overkill?
DIMINO: No, I don`t think so because I think we need the balance. I really do. I really do believe that Italian-Americans have to have the balance. We cannot have this as representatives, not only as Italian- Americans but of Americans. I don`t want that to happen.
BEHAR: Maybe you should think of it as a way to get rid of them. They won`t let them back in.
STASI: One of the real problems is, the more we talk about it, the more people watch the show. The more outrageous they get.
DIMINO: You`re right. That`s the double-edged sword.
STASI: Last week it was like 8 million people that was watching the show.
DIMINO: That`s right.
STASI: It`s insane.
PISCOPO: It is. And we could joke about it and we do, but the fact of the matter is, my father was an attorney who represented non-English speaking blue collar laborers like his father. My uncle`s a chemical engineer who worked with Enrico Fermi. We were the foundation of this country. We lived to see it.
BEHAR: I`m related to Leonardo da Vinci.
PISCOPO: Look at that, so maybe -- if they could take --
STASI: So am I. Isn`t that something?
BEHAR: He was gay, ok.
STASI: I was just going to say, I don`t know how because I don`t think he ever slept with a woman. But I know that I`m related.
BEHAR: I don`t think so. Your point being that you come from a very, very erudite, intelligent family. So what happened to you?
PISCOPO: I ruined the whole line and went into show business. I give you that for sure. It`s so true. Just the derogatory toward Italian Americans -- when the people are a great people --
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: You know what? When I was a kid, the kids would make fun of the Italian-Americans. I used to say -- I was like 11 years old -- I`m going to take out my renaissance files, even then I knew the incredible history. Yes. I knew that.
STASI: And did you hit someone?
BEHAR: Then I`d bring out a picture of Leonardo da Vinci and say, this is my daddy.
STASI: You know what? You know, we all have these incredible histories, our families came here, they worked like crazy. My daughter was like 40 -- was one of the 40 under 40 (INAUDIBLE) this year. She is a cum laude graduate at Wellesley. And who represents Italians --
BEHAR: I know. It`s annoying. It`s annoying.
STASI: And what I said in my column is that -- it`s like a minstrel show except for these Americans in orange faces instead of white people in black face.
BEHAR: Ok. Now, this is what Italy can look forward to. Watch this.
DIMINO: Oh, boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEENA, "JERSEY SHORE": Dancing is my best thing. I don`t care if people look at me (EXPLETIVE DELETED) funny. I just love to dance and get on the stage.
Did Deena just really fall of the -- yes, I fell off the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) stage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: She`s a regular Twyla Thorpe.
STASI: They look like they`re from the Supremes. Who wears their hair like that?
BEHAR: They`re in a time warp. They`re in a time warp.
PISCOPO: Could you call the producers of the "Jersey Shore" and at least take "The Situation" to meet the Pope.
DIMINO: That`s something I`d like to see.
PISCOPO: That`s a reality show in itself.
BEHAR: Yes. What about the Pope.
DIMINO: The funny thing is the producer is Sally Ann Salsano. She`s an Italian American. And our organization the Italian-American with One Voice gave her an award. We gave her the Pasta-Tute award because she`s degrading her own ethnicity.
BEHAR: The Pasta-Tute.
DIMINO: The Pasta-Tute award.
BEHAR: Now listen to what Pauley D said. One of the cast members.
STASI: Wait, I need to take this down because I`m sure it`s something I need to remember.
BEHAR: Ok. He goes, "I`m nervous, I`m not going to lie. I don`t know what gyms are like over there. I don`t know what tanning`s like. I don`t know the food and the language. I don`t even speak Italian." You don`t even speak English, Pauley.
DIMINO: That`s right.
BEHAR: He says, "Maybe I should get a Rosetta Stone or something." Oh, my God.
STASI: He means the original one.
PISCOPO: They could really take these guys to the Efici (ph), you know. They should take them all to see all the greatness in science and art and cuisine to the Italian-Americans. I mean, that could be a twist, could you press those guys on that?
DIMINO: It will not affect them, Joe. Believe me.
STASI: They`ll just go through the Efici and look for the bar.
(CROSSTALK)
PISCOPO: -- the kids -- because you can see they`re good kids, they mean well.
DIMINO: They are?
PISCOPO: They don`t know.
STASI: They share vibrators, ok. They`re not good kids.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: They do.
But you know quickly, before we go, why is this any different from the "Godfather" and the "Sopranos"? I have an answer to that but what`s yours?
DIMINO: Well, no, but I mean it`s very obvious that this is reality and this will make a perception that -- those are scripted shows, that`s a different thing.
BEHAR: That`s right. Those are hung art forms.
STASI: Yes. And that`s also written like Shakespeare. That`s like saying you never should say anything bad about a king.
PISCOPO: And whether you like it or not about the "Godfather" and the "Sopranos", it`s directed by Italians, written by Italians, acted by the finest actors in all the world who are Italians.
BEHAR: It`s not written by a Chilean.
STASI: It`s like -- remember that movie "Moonstruck"? That`s so great. No, it wasn`t. It was like wasps looking down on us like house pets. No, it wasn`t.
BEHAR: Martin Scorsese had an issue with that film.
STASI: But when it`s Italians and Italian actors and Italian directors, Italian writers, it`s eye level. It`s a whole other ball game.
BEHAR: Right. Ok. Thank you very much everybody.
STASI: Thank you.
DIMINO: Thank you for giving us the opportunity.
BEHAR: Oh, yes.
PISCOPO: Come on now.
BEHAR: We`ll be back in a minute.
PISCOPO: We all get along.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up a little later on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, Dennis Kucinich sues the congressional cafeteria after finding an olive pit in his sandwich wrap.
And the always controversial figure skater Johnny Weir drops by to talk about what it`s been like to officially come out.
Now back to Joy.
BEHAR: The Catholic Church does not allow the priests to have sex or get married. I say if they don`t want them to have sex they should insist they get married.
Joining me to debate the celibacy problem or issue in the Catholic Church is Father Edward Beck, a Roman Catholic priest of the Passionist Order and the executive producer and host of the Sunday Mass which airs on ABC`s Family channel and he`s a lot of fun; and Father Albert Cutie, author of "Dilemma: A priest`s struggle with faith and love" which revealed why he left the Catholic Church for the woman that he loves.
Father Cutie, you were with a woman while still a Catholic priest. She`s now your wife and you`re now an Episcopalian. Why leave the church? Was it the celibacy issue?
FATHER ALBERT CUTIE, AUTHOR, "DILEMMA": It`s interesting Joy because I never really felt like I left the church. I -- I joined another branch of Christ`s Catholic Church which is the Anglican Communion. We profess the Catholic faith, we`re also reformed; and in the Roman Catholic Church unfortunately, only those that are born into it and those that are celibate or you know, called to be celibate can exercise the ministry.
In the Anglican Communion we have the option to marry like it was in the Roman Church during the first 1,200 years.
BEHAR: How do you respond to that?
FATHER EDWARD BECK, ABC NEWS RELIGION CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think when Alberto says that he makes it sound like they`re exactly the same thing. I mean, there`s some big differences. And I think when Alberto was --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: The Pope, for example.
BECK: The Pope for example.
BEHAR: Yes.
BECK: The primacy of the Pope, there are different views of sexuality and moral teaching. There`s even a different understanding of the Eucharist which is kind of the primary because we believe something slightly different about the Eucharist.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Ok, so it`s different, it`s not totally the same. But let`s not get off on that --
BECK: Right.
BEHAR: -- because I want to talk about celibacy.
Now, you`re a Catholic priest, you are celibate.
BECK: Yes.
BEHAR: Does a celibate priesthood still work in the 21st century?
BECK: Well, you have to make a distinction. Like you may not know, I`m a Passionate, that`s a religious order. So you`re -- you`re a parish priests, like diocesan priests.
BEHAR: Yes.
BECK: They don`t take any vows. They take a promise of celibacy to the bishop. And that`s a marriage.
BEHAR: Oh a promise?
BECK: Right. Not to marry.
BEHAR: It`s not the same.
BEHAR: Not quite the same. We take vows, live in community. Take a vow of poverty. So we could never not have celibacy as religious I don`t think. Because how would you support a family? How would you live in community?
Father Cutie was a diocesan priest. And I think that there is room for optional celibacy for diocesan priests that our church needs to look at.
BEHAR: Oh but then, the Pope doesn`t want that?
BECK: He does -- this Pope does not want it.
BEHAR: No.
BECK: But I think it`s coming down the road. I think eventually you`ll see a Catholic church with optional priesthood for diocesan parish priest.
BEHAR: Do you think that will happen? Father Cutie?
CUTIE: I do, and I agree 100 percent with Father Beck. I think religious like himself and like monks and the religious sisters, it makes all kinds of sense. I never criticized celibacy in their lives.
I think that as a secular priest though, we know the history, the history is that Jesus chose apostles, and they were all married men. And 40 Popes were married for 1,200 years.
BEHAR: Yes.
CUTIE: Priests have the option to marry.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Yes what happened there?
CUTIE: It`s more traditional -- it`s more traditional to live the way I live. Actually priests used to be able to be married.
BEHAR: Well, I think that people who are not Catholic don`t realized that there was a time in history when popes got married and priests got married, they got married.
BECK: For a thousand years.
BEHAR: Yes, so why -- why did that change? Was it a financial issue?
BECK: Originally it was --
BEHAR: Yes.
BECK: -- it was because they were passing on property to their children, church property. So they want to put a stop to that. But it eventually became spiritualized.
I really don`t think in my life that I could tend to parishioners and do what I do with my schedule and be married and have kids and do the same ministry.
Know I know Father Cutie now and this church does it, Rabbis do it.
BEHAR: Yes.
BECK: But it`s a different kind, Catholics have an ethos of expecting a lot from their priest. They want you there 24 hours a day.
If you read Father Cutie`s book, which I thought was quite good actually, he talks about being pulled in eight directions as a Catholic priest. I don`t know if you would have been able to be married, have a family and do what he did as a Catholic priest.
BEHAR: But what about -- what about you, let`s talk about you. Isn`t it kind of like lonely for you to not have a wife and kids and a family of your own?
BECK: You know, it`s really --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: I mean, isn`t it a natural thing that everybody wants?
BECK: Is it that natural? Not everyone gets married. First of all, you`re not married?
BEHAR: Yes, but I have a guy, I had a daughter. I`ve already had all that. I`m living in sin according to the church.
BECK: I know. We`ll talk about that after the show.
BEHAR: All right.
BECK: But I do think that the celibacy thing is blown out of proportion when you say, well, married people -- you knew people who get married, after a while you`re bored with each other, you`re not having sex. So what`s the difference?
BEHAR: How do you know? How do you know?
BECK: Because I sit in a confessional. And I do know.
BEHAR: But what is that -- but that`s the point about sex only, it`s about having a family to go home to, it was about having children.
BECK: But married people --
BEHAR: It was about Christmas, it`s about everything that`s involving family.
BECK: -- yes but married people are called to be celibate too, to one person. So what about when get bored with your spouse after 25 years and you suddenly get attracted to somebody else, do you just leave that commitment?
BEHAR: No but you had those first 25 years.
BECK: True, true, I won`t argue. But I mean, Alberto, I don`t know how you feel about this. But when I was reading your story, I felt as though you left a tradition that you loved because you really wanted to be married. And I understand that.
But I don`t understand how easily it seems that you made the leap from one to the other. And the other thing I wasn`t sure of was how you gave up that Catholic ethos. You were raised in this tradition and suddenly you were able to say yes to something else.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Well, he pushed -- go ahead.
CUTIE: And I think there`s a big -- I think there`s a big misconception. The Catholic ethos is part of being an Anglican, just like it`s part of being an orthodox priest. I don`t think that there are that many differences doctrinally. As a matter of fact, even the Vatican has had agreements on the Eucharist, on marry and all of these issues with the Anglican communion.
I think that there are many different ways of being an Anglican, different ways of being Roman Catholic, there are many Roman Catholics that don`t believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: But -- can I -- can I ask you -- let me ask you something.
CUTIE: And don`t even believe half the stuff the church teaches them.
BEHAR: Father -- but Father Cutie, why did you wait until you got caught on the beach before coming clean? Would you still be a Catholic priest today if you didn`t get caught?
CUTIE: Well, that`s what the book is about.
No, no, I think that I was already in a process that was going on internally for a long time. I talked about it in the book, I talked to many priest friends for a long time, who had been Roman priests and are now Episcopalians like myself.
BEHAR: They are losing priests in the church.
(CROSS TALK)
BECK: And I think in the process --
BEHAR: There is an issue with that.
CUTIE: They are. They are.
BECK: Well, they are -- they are losing priests but there`s also Episcopalians that are becoming Roman Catholic and they allow them to come with their wives.
BEHAR: Yes what about that?
CUTIE: And with their children.
BEHAR: How come they allow them after the fact that -- all right, that`s another story all together.
BECK: Well, Alberto, I want to say one thing though, when you were a Roman Catholic priest, and I knew you very briefly --
CUTIE: Yes.
BECK: But I talked to people who did know you and I`ve seen some of your quest, you were pretty hard line. I mean, you were always in a Roman collar, you went on a show criticizing me because the cover of my book, I didn`t wear a Roman collar, I was trying to be more accessible. And you said, why isn`t he wearing a Roman collar. I mean, you were hard line.
BEHAR: He was -- so you were strict in those days and --
CUTIE: Well, I don`t think that I was hard -- I don`t think that I was ever hard line, I think what ends up happening is that, at that moment in time when I -- when I made that comment about you in the book, it was hard to tell that you were a priest.
Because it says Edward Beck and it was a totally secular look. And that`s fine for you to do if you choose to do that.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: It says, "Spiritual memoirs of a Catholic priest" on the bottom of the book. The cover of the book says "Spiritual memoirs of a Catholic priest."
CUTIE: I think that that`s great.
BEHAR: Ok. Listen boys, we have to take a break.
We`ll continue this in just a minute.
CUTIE: If you choose to do that, that`s great.
BEHAR: We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up a little later on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, champion figure skater Johnny Weir. Now back to joy.
BEHAR: I`m back debating celibacy in the Catholic Church with two of my favorite priests of the cloth -- men of the cloth: Father Edward Beck and Father Albert Cutie.
So, you know, you`re for celibacy for your own personal thing.
BECK: For religious, I think there`s a place for celibacy still in the church.
BEHAR: Right.
Ok. Now, a lot of people say that the recent sex scandals in the church which is worldwide and really a horror, that a factor could be celibacy. That if the priests could get married and if they could live out in the open of what they are really, they would not have had these sex scandals. What do you think?
BECK: I do not believe that. Most sexual abuse occurs within families, with family members. The statistics are no higher in the priesthood than the general population. Most of the instances of priesthood, as Father Cutie says in his book, were not even really pedophilia, it was with teenagers, teenage boys. Mostly homosexual priests were doing that with teenage boys.
BEHAR: Right.
BECK: It wasn`t a pedophilia issue. So celibacy to someone who gets married and has a wife, why does he cheat? Why do 52 percent of married people cheat if they`re married?
BEHAR: It`s just that -- but Father Beck, the idea is that I grew up Catholic, you felt like you could trust the priests.
BECK: Right.
BEHAR: And it`s wolves in sheep clothing there. It`s not the same as other places doing it.
BECK: I totally agree with you that you have every reason to expect more of the priest and they let people down, the bishops particularly let people down.
BEHAR: Yes. They did. Yes, by let it keep going to the next parish and the next parish.
BECK: And covering it up.
BEHAR: One of the best movies about this in place is "Doubt", which is a great film.
Father Cutie, do you think that celibacy is a problem with the sex scandal? Do you think it`s a factor or not?
CUTIE: I don`t think so. I agree with Father Beck on everything he said. I think that unfortunately there are sick people who accept the celibate lifestyle, and there are sick people that are married out there and do these things.
Celibacy doesn`t have anything to do with child abuse. What`s unhealthy is to ask every priest to accept mandatory celibacy as a condition for priesthood. I think in the religious life it`s very different, as Father Beck is, and for monks and nuns and all that.
But I think that for us, secular priests, for diocesan priests that live pretty lonely lives for the most part, and there are less and less of us, so priests are now living far away from each other. There may be one priest running an entire parish that really does affect a person. And we can`t deny that.
BEHAR: Yes. And the number of men entering the priesthood has dropped by 60 percent over the past 40 years. The common --
CUTIE: 100,000 priests have married; 100,000 priests have left to marry since the Second Vatican Council.
BEHAR: The average age of active priests now is 60 years old. So the young guys are not going into the priesthood. Something`s got to be done.
BECK: Right. But I don`t think it`s because celibacy. We had celibacy when priesthood was bursting at the seams in the `60s.
BEHAR: So what do you think is the reason then?
BECK: I think it`s cultural. I think it`s not fostered in families. I think the scandal did not help. I think people are much more focused on monetary issues right now. And they don`t want to give -- you know what the average priest -- salary of a diocesan priest is? $30,000 a year.
First of all, how is he going to have a wife and a child and support that when you have a priest on $30,000 a year.
BEHAR: That`s a good question Father Cutie. What do you answer to that?
CUTIE: Well, I think that it depends on what the structure of the parish is. There are Roman Catholic parishes that have a lot more money than Episcopal parishes. An Episcopal parishes pretty much all have married priests and families. It has to do with priorities of the church.
BEHAR: And the church has spent so much money on these sex scandals, and defending these priests and these bishops, they could give that money to the good priests.
CUTIE: You have no argument from me.
BECK: Billions of dollars.
BEHAR: I know. I know.
Ok. Thank you very much both of you. It might turn me back to going to church again.
BECK: Please. Come to confession first.
BEHAR: I don`t need to.
We`ll be back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Charlie Sheen was taken out of his Los Angeles home on a stretcher this morning and rushed to Cedars Sinai hospital with what`s being reported as abdominal pain. Joining me now with the latest on his condition is Dax Holt, producer for TMZ. Dax, what`s the latest?
DAX HOLT, TMZ: How are you?
BEHAR: Hi.
HOLT: Well, here`s the thing, so Charlie was rushed out about 7:00 a.m. this morning from his home as he was taken out on a stretcher. It seemed like he had a towel over his face. But right after he left, two women exited his home. We`re hearing from neighbors that there was some big party going on at his house last night into the wee hours of the morning. That they were rocking Red Hot Chili Peppers songs. So the neighbors don`t know exactly what was going on inside, but when the call was made, like you said, it was severe abdominal pain. So they took him down to Cedars Sinai hospital here in California, and doctors are running tests on him right now. They`re waiting for the results.
We did reach out to Charlie`s representative, who is saying that he`s resting in the ER. He`s sleeping right now, and they`re just waiting on the results of these tests.
BEHAR: So I was thinking maybe it`s an appendicitis. It`s not anything like that?
HOLT: You know, we`re not quite sure at the moment. We`re waiting for these test results to come back. Obviously, there`s a lot of speculation with all of his current drug use, whether it could be something related to that. But we don`t know. Maybe this is something like appendicitis, where it just -- it came on strong. People happened to be there for the party and called 911. So obviously, everyone wants to know at this point.
As for work, "Two and a Half Men," there`s been a lot of issues going on there, but they`re on hiatus this week. So he`s in the clear for not having to show up to work.
BEHAR: Yes, well, that`s not good for him. Because I think that showing up for work is exactly what keeps him dry, so to speak. But I understand his parents are at the hospital. So could this be the intervention that people have been waiting for?
HOLT: You know, I really hope so, because the guy has serious issues, you know. You can`t party every single weekend and expect to show up at work and pull through every single time.
Martin Sheen, like you said, is there at the hospital, along with his mother. But I`m hoping that he`s going to at one point eventually say, OK, this lifestyle is not working for me. I`m a very successful actor. I have the No. 1 rated show on television, I should probably get my act in gear.
BEHAR: Yes, that`s true. Thanks for the update, Dax.
Moving on to our pop panel. Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich is suing a congressional cafeteria for dental damage after biting into a sandwich wrap that he says contained dangerous substances, namely an olive pit.
With me now to talk about this and other stories in the news are John Henson, actor and co-host of "Winter Wipeout." Tabatha Coffey, host, "Tabatha`s Salon Takeover" and author -- and -- what are you the author of? "It`s Not Really About the Hair." I love that. And Joe Levy, editor in chief -- we know him -- of "Maxim" magazine. Welcome to the show, guys.
JOE LEVY, EDITOR IN CHIEF, MAXIM MAGAZINE: Thank you.
TABATHA COFFEY, HOST, "TABATHA`S SALON TAKEOVER": Thank you.
JOHN HENSON, ACTOR: Thank you very much.
BEHAR: Nice to see you, John.
HENSON: Nice to see you.
BEHAR: So, Kucinich says he suffered serious and permanent dental injuries, and he`s seeking $150,000. Is that a fair number for this?
HENSON: I love that he pointed out -- one of the reasons he`s suing is loss of enjoyment.
BEHAR: Yeah, what`s that about?
HENSON: Well, that--
(LAUGHTER)
HENSON: By the same thought process, I should be able to sue the makers of "According to Jim."
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Exactly. OK. All right. It`s true.
HENSON: Right?
BEHAR: Yeah. I mean, he lost enjoyment of eating? I mean, what did he lose enjoyment of?
LEVY: Well, his wife is 31 years younger, that`s all I`m going to say. That`s all I`ve got on this. She`s 31 years younger. There`s oral damage, loss of enjoyment.
BEHAR: That`s it.
LEVY: Yes.
BEHAR: Oh, yeah.
COFFEY: I`m calling it pit gate.
BEHAR: Pit gate.
COFFEY: Pit gate. Anyone who`s having a wrap and eating the olives in it anyway, you know what, you deserve what you get.
BEHAR: Kucinich, he bills himself as America`s most courageous congressman. He lost a fight with an olive pit. How courageous is he? Why does he say that?
COFFEY: He`s courageous because he`s stupid enough to want to sue for however much, because he cracked a tooth on an olive pit. That`s why he`s courageous.
BEHAR: Maybe he`s talking about how he`s the only lefty in Congress, really to the left. Because Bernie Sanders is the only one in the Senate, right?
LEVY: No, he`s a genuine liberal. I mean, he`s not just a hero to us because his wife is 31 years younger. Go, Dennis. No, he`s a genuine liberal. He was the only one who was running in the 2008 election who actually voted against the invasion of Iraq.
BEHAR: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: For the public option.
BEHAR: He`s suing an olive pit. He`s suing a pit.
HENSON: They refer to it as the sandwich containing dangerous substances, quote, "namely an olive pit." Because normally an olive pit is pretty far down on the list of dangerous substances.
(LAUGHTER)
HENSON: It doesn`t crack like the top thousand for me.
BEHAR: You don`t expect a sandwich to have an olive pit, so you could choke on it, I`ll give him that. But the thing about it is, he bought the sandwich in 2008.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BEHAR: How slowly does he eat?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: He`s just suing them now.
COFFEY: This could bump up the retirement fund, I think. That extra money`s going to help pay the mortgage.
BEHAR: Well, we like him, though. I like Kucinich, he`s my hero.
(CROSSTALK)
HENSON: I was going to say, I liked him right up until this.
BEHAR: I know, but he`s a good liberal, let`s give it to him. So you know, maybe he needs the money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a cafeteria, man.
(CROSSTALK)
LEVY: This is what`s going to bankrupt -- finally bankrupt America.
BEHAR: That`s true.
LEVY: He`s suing the cafeteria in Congress. This is what`s going to take us down.
(CROSSTALK)
COFFEY: Congress should pass a law that you can`t sue Congress, instead of all the other stupid laws they pass. Let`s pass a law, you can`t sue Congress.
BEHAR: Well, I don`t know if I would--
(CROSSTALK)
HENSON: Why don`t we put a whole panel of people on the payroll and just prechew his food?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK, all right, moving on.
COFFEY: That would be great.
BEHAR: Remember last year when this picture of Jesse James doing the zieg heil salute made the rounds? Well, more photos linking Jesse to Nazi culture have surfaced. OK, one photo might be a fluke, I`m thinking, Tabatha--
COFFEY: Absolutely.
BEHAR: But you know, this is a lot of -- this is more than one now.
HENSON: Yeah. Two`s a pattern, three`s a Nazi.
BEHAR: Yes, and four is a bundt (ph) meeting.
(CROSSTALK)
COFFEY: Here`s the thing that I don`t get. There was a quote, one of his friends said, "he`s into history." You know, which is such a stupid thing to say, because if he was really into history, he would know that, you know, putting a swastika all over him and doing all of these things that he`s doing for the Nazis and supporting the genocide of all of these people, it`s not like a kitsch little symbol.
(CROSSTALK)
LEVY: Even if you`re not into history, you tend to know that Nazis were the bad guys, right? I mean, even if you were -- yes, they were the bad guys.
(CROSSTALK)
COFFEY: He`s treating it like it`s a kitsch little symbol, like a smiley face on the end of an e-mail or a text message instead of something serious.
BEHAR: But there is an upsurge in interest in Nazis that goes on all around the world. Because I was reading today that Hitler`s bodyguard is 93 years old, he`s the last remaining guy who was there, OK, in the bunker probably at the end.
HENSON: Didn`t do that good of a job.
BEHAR: No, he didn`t. But you can`t stop him from killing himself. Anyway, suicide bomber -- you know -- but anyway, he gets so much mail, this guy, that he cannot answer all of it. That is how interested people are in the Nazi culture. And he sends them out an 8x10 glossy of him in his SS uniform.
HENSON: By the way, about 60 percent of that mail is from Jesse James.
COFFEY: Probably.
BEHAR: Yes, OK. Now, Bombshell McGee, who used to be his girlfriend, she has a Nazi fetish of her own. She went on "Wendy Williams" to talk about Jesse`s sexual prowess. Oh, this is deep. Let`s watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WENDY WILLIAMS, TALK SHOW HOST: You made out and you had sex.
BOMBSHELL MCGEE: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Was it good?
MCGEE: We smashed.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: Was it good?
MCGEE: It was average.
WILLIAMS: Oh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Apparently the only thing that stood up was his arm. OK, so, you know, they call him Vanilla Gorilla, what do you think?
LEVY: Wow. I guess that he uses a banana well? I`m not really sure what to say. They call him Vanilla Gorilla?
(CROSSTALK)
HENSON: The people actually said that were sort of defending him, friends of his, said look, it`s not a Nazi thing, it`s just sort of a biker thing.
BEHAR: Right.
HENSON: Yes, because I have got a KKK hood, but it doesn`t have anything to do with racism. I just like to wear pointy hats. That`s all.
LEVY: And dress up as a ghost.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: -- Bed, Bath and Beyond.
HENSON: Right.
BEHAR: OK. Now, one more story, do we have time? Maybe. No, we don`t have any more time. Oh. All right, next time we`ll talk about --
(CROSSTALK)
HENSON: There will be more Nazis.
BEHAR: There`s always another Nazi story coming up. I mean, it`s very scary.
(CROSSTALK)
HENSON: I cannot learn enough about Ted Haggard`s masturbation--
(CROSSTALK)
HENSON: I can`t--
BEHAR: OK.
COFFEY: It`s fascinating.
BEHAR: Catch John Henson on "Winter Wipeout" Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. on ABC. We`re back in a minute with Johnny Weir.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Johnny Weir is not the shy type. He`s known for his flashy skating and even flashier costumes, usually involving feathers, fur and sequence. Now he`s telling all in his new memoir, "Welcome to My World."
Here with me now to talk about his new book and whatever else I want to throw at him, is champion figure skater Johnny Weir. Hey, welcome back to the show, Johnny.
JOHNNY WEIR, FIGURE SKATER: Thanks for having me again.
BEHAR: When was it, last year sometime we had--?
(CROSSTALK)
WEIR: Yes, last spring. You could not get enough of me. Twice in one week.
BEHAR: I know.
WEIR: We had a love affair last spring.
BEHAR: We definitely did. But you were a little bit more circumspect last year than -- now -- since this book has come out, you`re out.
WEIR: When was I in?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I wouldn`t say that you were in exactly last time, or out. You were sort of neither.
WEIR: Yes, and I mean --
BEHAR: You weren`t sharing it.
WEIR: That`s my whole thing about the gayness, I mean, you can`t write a memoir and not talk about what you believe about love and sex and happily ever after. You can`t do it.
BEHAR: Right, right.
WEIR: But in my life, I don`t ever play the gay card. I never rest on the fact that I was born gay, white and male. I always want to make something of myself. So I never made an issue about being gay, because to me it wasn`t important. What was important is what I made of myself.
BEHAR: Right.
WEIR: So I was never ashamed and I was never in, but I never wanted people to focus just on that.
BEHAR: OK. But there was a change this year in your coming out --
WEIR: Yes, as well -- it`s out there now.
BEHAR: It`s out there. But did anyone push you out?
WEIR: Absolutely not.
BEHAR: No.
WEIR: Absolutely not. I mean, I wanted to write a memoir and tell everyone what my story is, and write everything on my own terms, with my own words, and never give a reporter an opportunity to write it for me. I wanted to write my story.
BEHAR: Right. So there was no pressure from the gay community, from anybody, right?
WEIR: Absolutely not. I mean, the pressure from the gay community has been years old. They have been trying to get me to come out and be an activist, and do all of these things, which I still respect and which are so important to the gay community, but it`s not me. I`m not -- I wasn`t a born activist. I`m an athlete, I`m an entertainer, that`s what I do.
BEHAR: But didn`t somebody at one of the events that you did ask you after you won the championship, say, are you gay? Didn`t somebody do that to you in one of these skating events?
WEIR: My very first Olympics.
BEHAR: At the Olympics.
WEIR: And I had -- I didn`t even win.
BEHAR: Kind of rude.
WEIR: I had one of the worst experiences of my life on the ice, and I was a train wreck. And as soon as I came away from getting my scores, he was like, so, Johnny are you gay? And it was just -- it was not the time.
BEHAR: What did you say to him?
WEIR: I said it`s not important.
BEHAR: You should have said, why, are you?
WEIR: Exactly.
BEHAR: That`s, you know--
WEIR: I mean, in my way I`m trying to send a message, just that gay people don`t have to do things differently just because they`re gay. My brother never came out as a straight man, why do I have this -- have to as a gay man?
BEHAR: That`s a good -- that`s exactly the right answer. You know, heterosexuals are never asked these questions, are you straight?
WEIR: Yes. Why does it make you special? Show us something, make yourself special, don`t just rest on something.
BEHAR: Well, you know, that`s a little bit tricky, because a lot of times when there are hate crimes, some people will say, they`re not special, why is it called a hate crime? So in a way it is, because a lot of gays are targeted or abused--
WEIR: Absolutely.
BEHAR: -- and violence--
WEIR: Because they`re different.
BEHAR: That`s true, so--
WEIR: But there`s a difference between -- to me, different and special. Special is when you have -- when you cultivate a talent or you`re very clever, you`re great at school. That`s what makes you special. Different is the color of our skin. It`s our sexual orientation that we are born with. Everyone is born that way. I don`t -- if I had the chance to choose to live a life as a straight man or a gay man when I was old enough to decide what it was and I had that choice--
BEHAR: What would you have chosen?
WEIR: I would have chosen straight. It`s easier.
BEHAR: Right. It is much easier.
WEIR: It is much easier.
BEHAR: Why would someone choose to be attacked and vilified and, you know?
WEIR: And you know, what 13-year-old kid wants to be called the F word--
BEHAR: Nobody.
WEIR: Or you know, wants to be called Johnny Queer. Nobody wants that.
BEHAR: It`s hard.
WEIR: But at the same time, it did give me really thick skin. It let me march forward and be totally strong being me.
BEHAR: But there are reasons why a lot of gay folk are scared to come out. Let me show you a comment made by pastor Joel Osteen on the "Piers Morgan" show. He -- when Piers asked him if Elton John is a sinner, this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, CNN: Elton John watching this at home, who with his partner, his civil partner, David Furnish, have just had a surrogate child, which was born on Christmas Day. They`re going to be pretty angry with what they hear. Don`t you think -- who are you to call them a sinner? Why are they sinners in your eyes?
JOEL OSTEEN, TELEVANGELIST: Well, it`s strictly back to what the scripture says. I mean, I can`t grab one part and say God wants you to live a blessed and live an abundant life, and not grab the other part that says, you know what, you know, live that kind of life. So I just, you know, comes back to the scripture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: This business of the scripture is really like I think a false argument, because there are lots of things in the Bible, like don`t eat shellfish, that`s a sin too. So it`s a picking and choosing. How does it make you feel when you hear a pastor -- do you come from a religious background?
WEIR: I was baptized Catholic when I was little. And my--
BEHAR: OK. The Catholics don`t like it either.
WEIR: My extended family is very -- is very Catholic, but I`ve grown up and learned that religion is kind of not what you make it, but what you believe in. So I wear a hamsa (ph), I wear a Star of David, I wear a Russian Orthodox ring. I do everything that I think teaches the good sides of things. And that -- it`s so depressing. If God or whoever`s up there wanted to make all of his people perfect and in his image and what he wanted, why did he make me gay so that I`m made to fail from birth?
BEHAR: Well, according to Osteen and people like that, they call it a mistake. It`s like it`s a mistake. God made errors. I mean, first you say he`s all knowing, God, and omniscient, and then he makes mistakes? Decide.
WEIR: Exactly, decide, one way or the other. It`s just -- it`s so depressing that still, after all the things that the world has gone through, and it`s not just African-Americans or just the gays or just whoever has ever been discriminated against. The world has come so far and still has so far to go. And I mean, people that are religious will believe this man and will hold his opinion high.
BEHAR: Right. He does have a megachurch, where he has thousands of people following him. So he has a responsibility. I`ve met him, he doesn`t mean to be evil in any way.
WEIR: He just believes what he believes.
BEHAR: He just -- he just follows the scriptures, and it`s kind of depressing to listen to that.
WEIR: It`s depressing, but at the same time, everyone deserves that freedom to believe whatever they want.
BEHAR: That`s true.
WEIR: If I believed that there were flying, rainbow-colored unicorns buzzing around your head right now, I mean, you would call me crazy, but it would still be something I believed in.
BEHAR: No, I would think you were on drugs.
(LAUGHTER)
WEIR: Well, I mean, there`s that too.
BEHAR: OK. We`ll have more with the fabulous Johnny Weir when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with figure skater Johnny Weir. We`re talking about his new memoir, "Welcome to my World," this lovely book. And you know, you talk in the book about a point in your life when you were acting like a diva.
WEIR: Yes.
BEHAR: Do you remember that? Tell me about that.
WEIR: Well, I was very much the terrible child. And everyone has that period in their life when they are a bit difficult to deal with. And I was 18, and I just decided that I was an adult. And what`s the first thing a kid does when they want to be an adult? They act more like a child. So I wasn`t listening to anyone, I wasn`t working. I was out with my friends all the time and I wasn`t focused on skating. So it ended up being a horrible, horrible time in my career, because I wasn`t competing. I withdrew from every competition I entered.
BEHAR: So did people turn on you?
WEIR: Absolutely.
BEHAR: They did.
WEIR: And I mean, I did bring it on myself.
BEHAR: And (inaudible), right?
WEIR: I did bring it on myself in a way.
BEHAR: OK, so you learned. You were young, you know better now.
WEIR: Young and stupid.
BEHAR: Good call. All right. We all have that. Now, but the thing is, you say also about eating so little when you were in training. How do you get up on those skates when you`re eating -- what did you eat, a tomato for dinner? How do you do that?
WEIR: On my first date, I ate a tomato at dinner, because I didn`t want to look like I was eating.
BEHAR: That`s so girly.
WEIR: I know.
BEHAR: It really is a girl thing, because--
WEIR: I have a whole theory --
BEHAR: -- girls never eat on a date.
WEIR: I have a whole theory about how -- that theory that everyone has nipples for a reason, we all start out as girls. Have you have heard that?
BEHAR: I haven`t.
WEIR: We`ll talk about it another time. But, no, I feel like everyone has a different way to success, and mine was making sure that, you know -- I`m tall. So I was tall and I had to be thin, and I knew what weight I had to be at to be great and how to be the most comfortable on the ice.
BEHAR: But how did you keep the energy up?
WEIR: I was --
BEHAR: You just did.
WEIR: It`s just what I did. I mean, you work up to that point. It wasn`t an eating disorder like in a reckless way.
BEHAR: It wasn`t.
WEIR: It was like, this is my profession, this is what I have to do. And I worked out, I skated, I trained very hard. I ate just enough. I just -- I ate -- even if it was like one and a half chicken breasts a day, I knew exactly what I needed. I understood my body.
BEHAR: A day, like the whole day, though?
WEIR: I could feel my -- yes.
BEHAR: One and a half chicken breasts a day?
WEIR: And salad and coffee.
BEHAR: Of course salad. Big deal, salad.
WEIR: So we got some milk in there.
(CROSSTALK)
WEIR: But you know, when you are an athlete, everything counts.
BEHAR: I guess you`re so focused and there`s a lot of adrenaline.
WEIR: And you are so toned and you have to -- it`s -- only professionals get to be professional athletes and go to the Olympics by understanding their body. And while my way was different than others, I got where I needed to be.
BEHAR: You wouldn`t recommend that to the average person.
WEIR: Absolutely not.
BEHAR: No, no, no.
WEIR: It`s like when you see these stuntmen on TV and they say please don`t try this at home. Please don`t do my diet at home. But for me, it wasn`t -- it wasn`t an issue. It`s what I needed to do for my profession.
BEHAR: OK. Let me ask you a couple of Facebook questions, Twitter questions. Are you seeing anyone now?
WEIR: I am not.
BEHAR: I think someone wants to hook up with you, maybe.
WEIR: Why not. I`m kind of open to anything, because --
BEHAR: Look in the camera. I like pina coladas. Tell them what you like.
WEIR: I enjoy long walks on the beach, Mario Lopez, Justin Timberlake and Moscow, Russia.
(LAUGHTER)
WEIR: Hello, boys. And you will never come first. I`m married to my work. See, that`s a big turnoff.
BEHAR: Very good. Put it upfront.
WEIR: I mean, that`s what it is. I like to fly business.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK. How about -- what is this with "Skating with the Stars?" Were you on that show?
WEIR: I was a judge on the show.
BEHAR: And so did you like that, being a judge?
WEIR: I loved being a judge. It was very difficult because we had to -- well, it`s a big network, it`s ABC and Disney owns them. And like, they hired me to be Johnny Weir. And then when I was sitting there, I was like, OK, I can`t be really Johnny Weir, I mean, kids are watching. So I always just -- I felt constantly a little bit careful, and I didn`t give America what I wanted to, but I was so excited to be part of the project.
BEHAR: If you`re not a judge on "Skating with the Scars," I don`t know who is. "Skating with the Scars?" Did you hear that?
WEIR: I did, but I wasn`t going to correct you, because you are a professional.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Well, you know, there`s another show, "The Night of a Hundred Scars." That really is true, because everyone comes in with plastic surgery.
WEIR: Look at that, look at that bump. See that?
BEHAR: I have one too. A bump is a great thing to have on your nose. It`s very Italian.
WEIR: Doesn`t it make us more clever?
BEHAR: It does. It makes us brilliant.
Thanks, Johnny, so much.
WEIR: Thank you.
BEHAR: The new book is called "Welcome to my World." Good night, everybody.
END
