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Joy Behar Page
Tiger Woods Returns to Golf; Rielle`s Racy Photos
Aired March 16, 2010 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOY BEHAR, HOST: Tonight on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, Corey Haim`s sudden death reminded us that fame can be fatal for young Hollywood stars. Todd Bridges, a former child star himself, joins me in the studio to talk about the friend that he lost.
Then, Rielle Hunter says she cried for two hours when she saw racy photos of herself in "GQ" magazine. Hey, I feel her pain. I cried for a week when I saw racy photos of myself in "Popular Mechanics".
And, Tiger Woods has announced he`s going to pick up his golf clubs again. Why is this news? If Elin had said she`s going to pick up her clubs that would be a story.
That and more right now.
Tiger Woods, our old pal, announced today he`s returning to golf and will play in the Masters tournament. I like the sound of that. Do you? Do they need a dominatrix? I could make myself available.
Here with me to discuss it is Stephen A. Smith, nationally syndicated radio talk show host; and Marvet Britto, president and CEO of the Britto Agency; and psychotherapist, Gilda Carle.
Stephen, hi, how are you? I want to jump into --
STEPHEN A. SMITH, NATIONALLY SYNDICATED RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Hello, Joy.
BEHAR: Let`s start right now. He`s getting into the Masters which is a big deal and it`s the top of the line and it`s the Oscars of it all. How`s -- you think it`s a good idea?
SMITH: I think it`s a very smart idea on this part simply because the Masters is as controlled an environment as it gets. The fact is they`re not going tolerate any nonsense. Anybody that`s yelling expletives or acting out of turn or per se, they`re going to be immediately removed from the tournament. They`re not going to get -- they`re not going to be allowed to come back, things of that nature. Any time you have a controlled environment like that it`s definitely beneficial for somebody like Tiger who clearly looks to hide more than anybody I`ve ever seen.
BEHAR: Uh-huh. So the Masters is a good title for it actually, now that you describe it.
Let`s take a look at Tiger`s statement. He said, "I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy and I am continuing my treatment. Although I`m returning to competition I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life. Dr. Gilda, is he ready? Will he be able to handle this kind of stress, do you think, after all this?
GILDA CARLE, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: We don`t really know at this point. However, it`s a good thing that he`s doing what he loves to do, following his passion. It`s a fabulous thing. After all, he can`t make a career of going to rehab.
BEHAR: No, I guess he can`t. But I mean he has been under a lot of stress. Who knows, he could blow it.
But Stephen, doesn`t he need to warm up first, I mean, play a few smaller tournaments before he jumps into this in?
SMITH: Well, you`re assuming he`s coming back to the win. Certainly Tiger`s a winner. He`s the greatest winner in the game. He`s the number one ranked player in the world.
But it`s not about him winning a tournament right now. It`s really him getting back in the groove, becoming re-ingratiated with the sport of golf, with his contemporaries, with the sport itself and having that support base around him.
I think right now, it`s clear, what`s more important to him is being in an environment that`s incredibly supportive of him and the travails that he experienced or he`ll have the support base firmly in place as opposed to just coming back and winning, but being, you know, subjected to a paparazzi-style atmosphere.
Clearly the objective is the environment that he`s walking into as opposed to him winning. Although I would never say he`s not coming to win because he is the best in the world. Please don`t doubt that.
BEHAR: He is coming to win. I think he`s coming to win.
Marvet, the head of CBS sports said that this is the biggest media event, spectacle, in recent memory with the exception of Obama`s inauguration. So the brands are going to come back to him, aren`t they? IBM and all the ones that -- I don`t know if he lost IBM -- but that`s one of them.
MARVET BRITTO, CEO, BRITTO AGENCY: Well, what you have is the most celebrated golfer returning for the most celebrated golfing event.
BEHAR: Yes.
BRITTO: So if Tiger brings his level of play back and shows that he is still the most bankable, marketable golfer we`ll see all those endorsements come back quickly. But it`s all going to be based on how well he plays. If he brings his A-game back then we`ll see those endorsements come back.
And like Stephen said, we don`t know that Tiger is going to win. But this is an incubator environment. The Masters has a sophisticated golfing, you know, audience.
BEHAR: Yes.
BRITTO: So it`s the perfect place for him to reemerge and for him to test the waters and see if he can recapture his position as the world`s greatest golfer.
SMITH: Joy, Joy --
CARLE: But psychologically, I`m not so sure he believes that he`s a winner right now. A lot of it depends upon his home life. And what kind of support he`s going to get there.
SMITH: No, no.
CARLE: Oh, yes, Stephen. Stephen, you don`t even believe that this is a redeemable possibility for him. The last time I was on this show with you, you said that sex addiction, who would want to cure themselves of that?
SMITH: I didn`t -- those were not my words.
CARLE: It`s a paraphrase.
SMITH: Please, if you`re going to be -- allow me to finish, doctor. If you`re going to quote me, quote me accurately. That is not what I said.
CARLE: You made a face when you talked about sex addiction.
SMITH: I made a face. Which one is it? Did I speak or did I make a face? I`m just trying to answer your question.
CARLE: You said the implication was who would want to have a cure for sex addiction?
SMITH: Excuse me, ma`am, what I didn`t say -- the word want is the objective word that you`re throwing in there. What I said if you want me to be accurate I said I do not believe in sexual addiction. If it`s sexual addiction all of us have it.
CARLE: We`re all saying the same thing. In essence here is a man who has been a winner and whether or not he continues to be a winner has to do with the support system that he`s going to get at home.
SMITH: Wait -- what I`m saying to you, doctor, is this. Tiger Woods is the greatest most of us have ever seen.
CARLE: Without a doubt.
SMITH: He is so great that despite the adversity that he may have experienced, the fact is you can`t attach one or the other and say his home life and his mental stability because of his own life is going to determine how successful he`s going to be on the golf course. He could have a wreck of a home life but still come on the golf course and get it done. Some would argue he`s already done that.
CARLE: I don`t agree with that. You cannot send men, one part of your life, and ignore another. It doesn`t work that way.
SMITH: What I`m saying to you is 14 major titles has already proven that you are misinformed.
BEHAR: Ok, everyone, stay right there. We`ll be back in 60 seconds with more on the return of Tiger Woods.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: So Tiger`s returning to the Masters next month. Of course, there`s no word yet on when he`s returning to the mistresses. I`m back with my panel.
SMITH: Joy?
BEHAR: Yes, Stephen.
SMITH: I would like to -- I want to just make sure Dr. Gilda, I meant that with nothing but lovely respect. I hope you know that. I don`t want you to think that I was speaking out of turn. I just want to make sure.
CARLE: Oh, honey. I share the love with you too, darling.
SMITH: I respect the ladies. Go ahead.
BEHAR: She is wearing leather pants. I`m just warning you.
SMITH: Oh, Lord.
CARLE: Come on over, Stephen A.
BEHAR: Oh, look at this, it`s turning into like a dating service. This is not a dating service.
SMITH: Well, Marvet -- I mean, Marvet is gorgeous. She is fine. I just want to put that out there. Go ahead.
BEHAR: All right. Now, listen.
Let me ask you this question, Marvet. The Augusta National that he`s working at, Tiger`s going to play in, has no women, not that they`re not allowed but there just aren`t any women there. And I`m not (INAUDIBLE) exactly. And they never had a black member until 1990. What do you think about that? Do you think that that is a good image for Tiger to be starting there?
BRITTO: Well, you know, we`re talking about a man that hasn`t really fully accepted the fact that he is black. I`m sure that those -- the lack of women and the lack of minorities or blacks that were allowed to play have never factored into Tiger`s psyche.
Stephen could probably answer that better but you know, this is man who hasn`t really been embraced or has embraced the African-American community throughout his whole career.
BEHAR: Right. You never saw -- I never saw a black golfer before Tiger actually.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: Joy, here`s the thing that`s so egregious about Tiger Woods. What Marvet just alluded to.
The fact is you`re talking about a sport that didn`t make a concerted effort to ingratiate itself in any shape, way, form or fashion with the African-American community. At least many people would make that argument. And then to have somebody of his magnitude, of his greatness, of his success come into the sport, to have the pigmentation he has and to have an outright and flagrant refusal to identify himself with an African- American community.
It was something that the African-American community for quite a long time found very, very offensive. The irony in all of this is that because of his transgressions and ultimately the fallout that came from it, I find black folks more supportive of him today than at any other time in his illustrious career --
BEHAR: What do you make of that?
SMITH: -- which I find almost -- well, what it is, is that at the end of the day what it comes down to is whether he wants to accept it or not, black folks look at him as a black man. And when we see what he`s going through there`s a level of compassion that the African-American community automatically has for him. Because what they`re saying is regardless of your unwillingness to embrace this, the reality is that we still don`t like the fact that you`re going through something.
We believe that by and large folks in the white community would not have to go through to this same extent if they were found to be guilty of the same transgressions.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Really, do you really think that`s true?
(CROSSTALK)
BRITTO: No.
SMITH: I don`t think it`s true. But that`s how they feel.
BRITTO: Well, aside from the irony that a black man would come back and master -- the very Masters event that sought to, you know, exclude him in the first place.
So what Stephen said is correct. We do incubate our own, you know, in time of troubles. And, you know, whether or not he wants to communicate and accept the fact that he`s African-American we still embrace him, love him and support him nonetheless.
BEHAR: I noticed that with the O.J Simpson trial. It seemed as though the black community did support O.J. Simpson.
BRITTO: Yes, we did.
SMITH: But that was a mistake. That was a mistake. He should have been -- he should have been under the jail. He should have been under the jail from day one. He shouldn`t have had an opportunity to commit another crime. He should have been thrown under the jail from day one.
BEHAR: Can I just say that the white community, not that I`m speaking for the white community, but I don`t see support for John Edwards at all from the white community, at all.
SMITH: Well, they did --
BEHAR: And I think that everybody vilifies this type of guy whether they`re black or white.
CARLE: That`s true, that`s true.
SMITH: Well, you don`t have to get into -- I`m sorry. Go ahead. I apologize, go ahead.
BEHAR: Go ahead, Gilda.
CARLE: You know, transgressions are transgressions, and I think a lot of people feel a great deal of compassion for Tiger and his family and all that he`s going through. He`s not the first person on this earth who has cheated on his wife and this is something that a lot of people are looking at and examining in terms of their own behaviors and in terms of --
BEHAR: Yes.
CARLE: -- other athletes out there.
SMITH: Dr. Gilda --
BEHAR: We`re looking at this because as --
CARLE: Yes, Stephen A.
BEHAR: -- as Stephen`s points out he is the greatest in what he does.
SMITH: I need to take this away -- I need to take this away from the clinical perspective and let`s just get raw with it, Dr. Gilda, ok?
CARLE: Ok, let`s get raw.
SMITH: The fact -- the fact, is nobody has -- even though you might have a problem with it, nobody`s judging Tiger for your affairs behind your wife`s back. A lot of people by and large believe that`s his personal business.
Where you have a problem with Tiger is this concerted effort that he took to basically disguise everything. Is that -- you know, the press conference and, you know, you don`t answer any questions, you come out and you know, you hide and you give this cockamamie story when you crashed into your fire hydrant and your tree. You`re making up a whole bunch of stuff - -
BEHAR: Ok.
SMITH: -- to protect your image when you`ve already made a billion. When people lie like that or they`re that duplicitous, and what people are saying is -- do you -- are you worrying about paying your bills? No.
BEHAR: Thank you so much, Stephen. I love having all of three of you on my show.
Next up, more fallout from Rielle Hunter`s racy "GQ" spread. Check out that photo. I think the last woman to lie down with a puppet was Laura Bush.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up a little later on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW an outraged Erin Andrews says her stalker`s jail sentence is too lenient.
And "Different Strokes" star Todd Bridges opens up about his efforts to get Corey Haim off drugs.
Now, back to Joy.
BEHAR: Rielle Hunter said she cried for two hours after she saw her photos in "GQ". You want tears? Wait until she sees John Edwards` photos in the post office. The former presidential candidate may be facing indictment for misappropriating campaign funds.
Joining me to discuss this debacle are actress and political activist Fran Drescher, who starring in the hit off-Broadway show, "Love, Loss, and What I Wore." and Roy Sekoff, the founding editor of "Huffington Post".
Now, Hunter calls the photos repulsive, she says and she cried for two hours. Are you sympathetic?
FRAN DRESCHER, ACTRESS/COMEDIAN: Well, you know, I think that -- I mean, when you`re not a professional in show business it`s easy -- it is easy to get carried away at a photo shoot. She had a good photographer. And then when you see the pictures, at the time that you`re doing the shoot and the photographer is cajoling you into different shots you don`t really realize that -- that it`s going to hit the newsstands and many people are going to see it.
I could see where being a nonprofessional in that capacity --
BEHAR: Yes.
DRESCHER: -- she might live to regret having done it.
ROY SEKOFF, FOUNDING EDITOR, HUFFINGTONPOST.COM: But she was a filmmaker. So she knows a little bit about the camera. I think that it was the phoniest outrage since Eric Massa got upset when Larry King asked him if he was gay.
BEHAR: Yes.
SEKOFF: You know.
BEHAR: Yes.
SEKOFF: We didn`t quite buy it.
BEHAR: Yes, I see.
SEKOFF: Yes.
BEHAR: Well, Moms Online, the moms are all weighing in on this. And they`re calling the come-and-get-it pose offensive. The one with her daughter, sleeping on her the most --
DRESCHER: Well, that`s another --
BEHAR: -- offensive.
DRESCHER: -- that`s another question, though. You know, I mean, yes, I don`t know what the point is in showing yourself off in that light. But what we`re talking about here? You know, this woman I don`t think is the arbiter of sophistication or making classy moves or, I mean, she was the mistress to a married man. So right away that kind of denigrates her position in terms of having any kind of logical --
BEHAR: So no credibility here?
SEKOFF: I don`t think it was a good idea to have -- I mean, I wouldn`t put the baby in the magazine in the first place, but I will say as a father I think motherhood is sexy and she had kind of a glow about her. So --
BEHAR: What about the thing with the puppets? That was a little --
SEKOFF: Oh "Dora the Explorer."
BEHAR: Dora, yes.
SEKOFF: Yes, I thought that the monkey was going to run in and yell, you know, we did it, we did it and the backpack was going to join in and be a three way.
DRESCHER: The thing is under the circumstances, the fact that she`s been accused of being the woman that broke up the marriage and everything like that. I think that under the circumstances it would have behooved her to take the high road, to show herself in a more sophisticated light.
BEHAR: Oh she all -- she didn`t.
DRESCHER: But the thing is it was "Gentleman`s Quarterly". It wasn`t like "Time" magazine or "Vanity Fair." No, I`m saying it was a man`s magazine.
BEHAR: Yes, but that`s the point, Fran. She knew it was a man`s magazine.
SEKOFF: Yes.
DRESCHER: Well, that`s what I`m saying exactly.
BEHAR: She knows that they go for the -- for the cheesecake. Ok.
SEKOFF: I mean it`s like renting a porno movie and then being surprised, "There`s naked people on my TV."
BEHAR: Yes, that`s my point.
SEKOFF: But I will say this.
BEHAR: That`s right.
SEKOFF: If I can say one thing about Rielle since we`ve trashed her a little bit.
BEHAR: Yes.
SEKOFF: I will say she`s the only person who hasn`t really cashed in on this. Now, maybe she`s waiting for the big cash-in of being the next, you know, Mrs. John Edwards. But we`ve seen other people with books. We`ve seen that -- she could have sold her story to "The Enquirer". And there were times in this when he said that the baby couldn`t have been his, when he --
BEHAR: Yes.
SEKOFF: -- re-exchanged vows with Elizabeth right after.
BEHAR: Well, he`s a sleaze.
SEKOFF: I mean, she could turned on them but she didn`t.
BEHAR: But I think, we all agree that he`s a sleaze in this whole thing, right?
DRESCHER: Yes, I don`t think he comes across well at all. And I`m not surprised.
BEHAR: But she doesn`t either because she sounds -- he lied to his wife. He lied to the country.
SEKOFF: Yes.
BEHAR: He basically lied to everybody and she says, "He never lied to me.
SEKOFF: Yes.
BEHAR: "He does not lie to me." Stockholm syndrome here?
SEKOFF: Well, I think she`s lying about 50 percent of that interview that she gives in "GQ". She`s starting from the very beginning. She tells the story of how they met. And she called the hotel and then she hung up and then he pressed Star-69, the instant callback.
One of our bloggers actually called the hotel. They don`t have that kind of system. They don`t have a system where you can do star-69. And when you call the hotel you get the switchboard. It doesn`t go right to the room.
So she`s lying from Jump Street. So how do you believe the rest of it?
BEHAR: Star-69? I never heard that.
SEKOFF: That`s how you get the automatic callback.
BEHAR: Really?
SEKOFF: Yes.
BEHAR: An interesting choice of number.
SEKOFF: Very convenient.
BEHAR: Ok, guys. When we come back, ESPN reporter -- we have more with you -- and "Dancing with the Stars" cast member, Erin Andrews is upset about her stalker`s sentence. I want your reaction to that.
Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with Roy Sekoff and Fran Drescher.
Roy, do you think John Edwards will be indicted for misusing campaign funds?
SEKOFF: Joy, if you`re really going to come down to the real knot of it -- the real question is whether he gave money from his presidential campaign to his PAC in order to pay her off. There`s one payment that came a year after she had stopped working; $14,000 when they paid her and there was no money in the PAC. So the same day his presidential campaign transferred $14,000 to the PAC and they chalked it up to a furniture purchase.
BEHAR: See again, stupid behavior because he had enough money. If he wants to support his mistress take it out of your personal account. You know, just dumb, dumb stupid idea.
DRESCHER: Maybe it was the intention of the presidential, you know, campaign to use the footage she had shot behind the scenes, the documentary stuff. I mean, she did actually produce something that --
BEHAR: You`re very easy on her.
DRESCHER: I don`t want to be easy. I just --
BEHAR: You are. You`re trying to take the other side. She`s a Libra -- balance.
Now let`s talk about ESPN reporter Erin Andrews. Her stalker was sentenced to 30 months behind bars. Ok. Now, Erin does not think that was enough. Do you?
DRESCHER: No. I mean, from Erin`s point of view, I totally think that he`s probably going to get parole. I don`t know if the judge said that there`s no parole. There probably is. He might be out even who knows, in 20, 24 months. And she`s going to be very worried at that point because he obviously was stalking her.
But I think that it behooves her knowing he is going to get out that she really try and make sure that he gets as much rehabilitation while he`s there.
BEHAR: Let`s hope so.
DRESCHER: Incarcerated --
I was a victim of a violent crime and my rapist was on parole. So, you know, they very often let people out that are not really ready to be outside. And he doesn`t even have -- he didn`t even get the full sentence that he could have gotten.
BEHAR: He could have gotten five years the maximum.
DRESCHER: So, he`s definitely going to get out and he definitely has a screw loose and he really needs to get at the root of this compulsive behavior.
BEHAR: Let me she you something because some people have partly blamed Erin. Listen to this, for using her sex appeal and playing to the frat crowd. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN ANDREWS, ESPN REPORTER: I did nothing wrong and I think what is the hardest thing is that I still have to say that to people. I still had to say that yesterday on the court steps. You know, how can you do this? Or how did you feel it was ok to go on with your life? You turned the tables on them and say, "Because what did I do? What did I do wrong?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEKOFF: She obviously did nothing. Completely, this guy`s a sleaze bag. You know, I think the reason people do that is we live in this weird culture now where you make a sex tape and you get your own TV show. Or you sleep with tiger woods and you become a correspondent on "Extra". So people are always kind of looking at the cynical point of view which I think is terrible because this woman obviously did nothing.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: But they only blame women -- and back in the day, and I think it still continues, if a girl walks down the street or walks through the park with a short skirt and she gets attacked, they say she was asking for it. She wasn`t dressing properly. As if it`s her fault.
SEKOFF: Yes, ludicrous.
BEHAR: That`s what they`re doing to her. It`s outrageous.
DRESCHER: And I don`t know who "they" is. I think it`s really the press that`s looking for an angle. I think that most Americans are very compassionate with her. And I think that, you know, when a person in the press stoops so low as to say something like that she should just say, "I`m not going to dignify that with an answer."
SEKOFF: Comparatively if you look at it I think the guy should have gotten the book thrown at him. But if you look at what happened, she`s a sportscaster. There was a football player named Donte Stallworth. He got drunk, killed the guy in his car, he got 30 days.
BEHAR: Roy, Fran, thank you very much.
Up next, he said he reached out to help Corey Haim before his death. Former troubled child star Todd Bridges --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Okay. Here we go. Former teen star Corey Haim was laid to rest today in his native city of Toronto. Haim who spent years struggling with drug addiction is just one of the many child stars to meet a tragic end. Here to update the Corey Haim story is Jim Moret, chief correspondent for "Inside Edition" and author of "The Last Day Of My Life." sitting with me, joining me is former child star and author of "Killing Willis," Todd Bridges. Jim let me start with you. What do you know about the funeral that took place today?
JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": Well, it was about a 45-minute funeral, 200 mourners were there. At his mom`s request, Corey Feldman, who was a friend of Corey Haim did not come. Corey Feldman wrote specifically on his own blog he did so out of respect for Corey Haim`s mom. He didn`t want to make this a media circus. According to people who were at the service it was very sad, but filled with laughter.
And coincidentally today also the 911 call made by Corey`s mom the day that she found him collapsed was also released today. A heart wrenching 911 call where a mother is trying to resuscitate her son who literally is lying dead before her. It`s really sad. The city of Toronto at first was thought to be paying for the funeral services. They have denied that and a memorabilia company put up $20,000 which more than covered the cost for the funeral today.
BEHAR: So what`s the latest, then, on the cause of death? You`ve updated us already on the cost of the funeral. I heard that. And Corey Feldman wasn`t there because of the -- he didn`t want it to be a media circus. Okay. So now what --
MORET: So now he`s planning something in L.A. to commemorate the life of his friend. As far as the criminal probe, and there will be a criminal probe leading into illegal drug use because Corey Haim`s name was found on some illegal prescription pads which the attorney general says is part of the California ring. But we don`t know what killed him yet. That`s because, Joy, toxicology reports are not yet complete by the L.A. county coroner. It`s becoming a familiar, a familiar story that a celebrity dies, takes 30 or 40 days to get the tox reports. And that will ultimately tell us what killed actor Corey Haim.
BEHAR: It`s becoming a familiar story that prescription drugs are involved. Thanks, Jim, very much.
MORET: Sure.
BEHAR: For joining me. Now I want to turn to former child star Todd bridges, the role of Willis in the sitcom "Different Strokes" made him a star. And now he`s the author of "Killing Willis: From Different Strokes to the Life I Always Wanted." Welcome to the show Todd.
TODD BRIDGES, AUTHOR: Thank you.
BEHAR: I want to talk to you about Corey Haim. He was a friend of yours.
BRIDGES: Yes he was. And it is unfortunate part about it was I stopped talking to him two months ago because he changed his number. And I was in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I was trying to get him to realize he had to make a change in his life. But you know the problem with most addicts are, if they`re not ready, they`re not ready.
BEHAR: They`re not ready. Well you know little bit something about that.
BRIDGES: Oh, yes.
BEHAR: tell me about your own drug use.
BRIDGES: Me, I was -- it took five rehabs before I was ready. The last time I was ready I decided something had to be different. I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I got tired of you know the humiliation, the shamefulness I was feeling inside. But I didn`t know how to deal with what was going on inside me. And what I wrote in "Killing Willis," I described, I depicted my life of what it was like growing up as a child star, not only as a child star but growing up in a household that is full of violence and pain.
BEHAR: Yes I want to get into that. I just want to ask something, Corey Haim and Brittany Murphy both seem to have suffered from prescription medication. Is that the new Hollywood addiction?
BRIDGES: Well it`s not the new Hollywood addiction. It`s the new addiction, period, in America.
BEHAR: Yes.
BRIDGES: I think that`s what we are not looking at. We just want to pinpoint and say Hollywood, but really it`s in America. I mean you have housewives addicted to prescription medication. You know you have mothers who, you know, single mothers addicted to prescription medication. It`s the number-one thing that`s killing people. Because what they`re doing is mixing it with a punch of different stuff.
See if you take a prescription as the doctor prescribes to you it`s going to be okay. But the problem is, no addict can do that. He takes a little bit of this one and a little bit of that one, he takes a little bit more of this one and little bit more of this one and when you combine it together it creates an illegal cocktail.
BEHAR: It used to be that you had to go into tough areas, the drug- infested neighborhoods to get drugs.
BRIDGES: Yes. But -
BEHAR: Now you call your pharmacist, call your doctor.
BRIDGES: That`s it. Yes.
BEHAR: Get some friend to call a doctor and get another prescription under their name.
BRIDGES: Oh yes, exactly. It`s becoming really dangerous in America. I think we have to realize that America is plagued by prescription drug medication that`s killing people. And it`s not just Hollywood. It`s everybody.
BEHAR: It`s everybody. Now you`ve had experience with losing a friend to addiction also.
BRIDGES: Yes. BEHAR: You worked with Dana Plato back in the day on "Different Strokes." and she died in 1999 of prescription -
BRIDGES: Of prescription medication, yes.
BEHAR: And apparently you -- I remember reading that you tried to get her help just before her death.
BRIDGES: Three days before she died I talked to her. And she said, well you know Todd, I don`t have a problem like you do. I knew she was in such denial. And also when she went on the Harry --
BEHAR: She said she didn`t have a problem --
BRIDGES: Like I did.
BEHAR: What was the difference between her addiction and hers?
BRIDGES: None. They`ll deny it and say yours is worse than mine or you have a problem and I don`t.
BEHAR: Were you saying that to her, too, at that time?
BRIDGES: No, no.
BEHAR: You were not?
BRIDGES: I knew all addictions were the same but I wasn`t practicing. I was a recovering alcoholic. She was not practicing. She was practicing at the time and not recovering. And then she goes on Howard Stern and then they asked her, did she ever do cocaine? She says no. And I`m thinking, wow, I did a lot of cocaine with her. Why is she not telling the truth? My thing is, don`t, you know, don`t lie. Be honest.
BEHAR: Well, most drug addicts will lie, I think.
BRIDGES: If they`re practicing, yes.
BEHAR: They`re covering up the fact they`re using, right.
BRIDGES: You have to because you don`t want people to think you are as bad as people think you are.
BEHAR: Now you know, let`s talk a little bit about being a child star and drugs. It seems as though we seem to see a lot of child stars turning up, you know, dead or addicted. Is this something about being a child star that contributes to this dilemma?
BRIDGES: For me, no. For me, I accept full responsibility. Had nothing to do with being a child star. But it had everything to do with having something happen to me as a child at 12 years old. As I depict in "Killing Willis." it has everything to do with having a physically-abusive father.
BEHAR: He hit you.
BRIDGES: He hit me a lot. Hit my mom a lot. I mean my earliest recollection of a child is watching my dad punch my mother and knock her under a table. You know especially --
BEHAR: How old were you?
BRIDGES: 6 years old. And back then moms didn`t leave.
BEHAR: They still don`t sometimes.
BRIDGES: Yes my mom was afraid to leave I guess at that time. And you know if that`s an earliest recollection of a child. It`s terrible. You know and my father never knew how - because I spent my entire life as I depicted in "Killing Willis" searching for a father. Just somebody, some guy to say he loved me. You know not in a bad way but in a great way.
BEHAR: Right.
BRIDGES: To be a father for me. Mr. Drummond was more my dad than my own dad was.
BEHAR: Who`s Mr. Drummond?
BRIDGES: Conrad Bain, he played my father in the show.
BEHAR: Oh that`s right. I hear that he`s still doing pretty well.
BRIDGES: He`s doing great. I talk to him every other day.
BEHAR: Yes so you believe it`s not really the atmosphere of Hollywood, or the child star all of the things we tend to think it is. It`s more about how you grow up.
BRIDGES: Yes.
BEHAR: Uh huh.
BRIDGES: Because I can tell you for every child star you name that`s gone wrong I can name you five that haven`t.
BEHAR: Right.
BRIDGES: So the percentage is not as big as the media is making it out to be. It`s a really small percentage of child stars gone bad.
BEHAR: But what about the pressure on children? I mean, even I as a grown-up I realize there`s rejection, there`s pressure to perform.
BRIDGES: Yes but most of us there -
BEHAR: There`s criticism you take all the time. It`s rough on a kid.
BRIDGES: Yes but most of us, but we already know this when you are in the business. You`re used to rejection. You`re used to things happening like that. So it`s not that difficult --
BEHAR: You are as a child you are use to that? You are.
BRIDGES: Of course you are. You see your parents telling you no. Your mom telling you, no, you can`t have that. You already get used to rejection. For me the --
BEHAR: I don`t know if it`s the same level though.
BRIDGES: But for me it was. It was the same level. And --
BEHAR: So instead of being used to it you were pained by it?
BRIDGES: No I was pained by it because the rejection that I was receiving was from my father.
BEHAR: Yes.
BRIDGES: And then after I was sexually molested which is written in my book "Killing Willis," my father took the side of the molester. And that killed me.
BEHAR: How old were you then?
BRIDGES: I was 12 years old. I was on a top-rated sitcom at the time. I was experiencing that from my publicist. I was experiencing abuse from my father. And him taking his side and I was experiencing racism from the LAPD. I would ride my bike to the store, I lived in Kenola Park, I would ride my bike to the store with my other friends. And they were all white and they would pull me over and pull us all over, take my bike and make my mom go down and get it.
BEHAR: Nasty.
BRIDGES: And then my bike was stolen.
BEHAR: Nasty, nasty.
BRIDGES: Yes and you know a child with that happening, that`s just - - I didn`t understand because I was from San Francisco. I didn`t know racism. I had no idea. My whole thought -- I thought they treated you right no matter who you were or what you were.
BEHAR: You didn`t experience racism in San Francisco?
BRIDGES: No. None at all. My best friends were white.
BEHAR: It`s an open minded city.
BRIDGES: Yes, it`s an open minded city, yes very open minded. And we got along. Everybody did.
BEHAR: Tell me about this molester.
BRIDGES: Yes, he was my publicist.
BEHAR: He was your publicist.
BRIDGES: And what happen was -
BEHAR: Where is he now?
BRIDGES: He`s probably somewhere in L.A. I`m sure.
BEHAR: He`s not in jail? No one turned him in?
BRIDGES: No, he should be but my mom tried to. My dad wouldn`t let her. My dad told her I was lying and his molester knew I was going to do this. Because after the third time it happened I guess he could tell something started changed in me. And I knew something wasn`t right. And I just exploded on him one day and attacked him. And my mother knew right away when I attacked him. She knew what went wrong --
BEHAR: Did you ever try to tell your mother?
BRIDGES: Well I told both my mother and father at the same time.
BEHAR: So your mother believed you?
BRIDGES: Oh yes my mother went and grabbed a butcher knife and was going to stop him. And my father stopped her taught his line, you know, and that`s what happen.
BEHAR: Right -- that`s very disappointing for a child to not be backed up by your own parents.
BRIDGES: Yes of course and then he tried to come back to the house and goes, James says I can come over any time. My mother said, you come over here I`m going to stab you so you better not ever show up at this house again.
BEHAR: It`s interesting your mother had - she showed some courage against this guy but not against your father.
BRIDGES: Yes.
BEHAR: Your father must have been very rough.
BRIDGES: Yes he was.
BEHAR: Big tough guy. Okay, Todd, sit there. We`ll be back with Todd bridges in a minute with some more talk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arnold that`s the whole idea in the first place. Willis needs a job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the picture? I`m unemployed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then why don`t you collect unemployment insurance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arnold, to collect unemployment you got to not be working now before you stop working.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you talking about, Willis?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Kids. That was actor Todd Bridges as Willis in the hit sitcom "Different Strokes." he`s back with me now talking about his life and his new book "killing Willis." I just have to comment on Gary Coleman. So cute. And he seems to be troubled adult.
BRIDGES: You know his story is completely different, too. It has a whole different twist to it. His parents made him work when he was deathly ill. This is why he hates the thought of "Different Strokes." he was throwing up rejecting a kidney and his parents would make him work.
BEHAR: Again going back to the feeling about -
BRIDGES: Again, yes.
BEHAR: And what was Dana`s problem with her family?
BRIDGES: Dana`s problem was her mother was never around. She was always -
BEHAR: Neglected.
BRIDGES: I would go to Dana`s house and go, where`s your mamma. She`d go, she`s gone.
BEHAR: So who was watching Dana?
BRIDGES: She was.
BEHAR: Yes.
BRIDGES: You know and that was the problem there. In my household there were things going on also. So we kind of like all came from you know crazy backgrounds of parents. My mother was great. My father on the other hand wasn`t. You know the safest I always felt was on the set. And when me and my mom were on the set we felt safe. That`s when it was safe for us.
BEHAR: I see that`s interesting. Now you have a son who`s an actor, right?
BRIDGES: Yes.
BEHAR: How old is your kid?
BRIDGES: My son is 11 and my daughter is 13. My son`s an actor.
BEHAR: Your son is an actor.
BRIDGES: Yes my daughter isn`t because she lives with her mother. My son lives with me and my wife.
BEHAR: I see so how do you feel about your son being an actor?
BRIDGES: Oh, it has -- my son is a brilliant actor but it also a great kid and also his father loves him and tells him he loves him. His father hugs him, his father takes him fishing, his father takes him bowling, his father plays basketball with him, his father plays video games with him. I do all things that my father didn`t do.
BEHAR: Yes.
BRIDGES: I tell my son when I am wrong. If I get mad at him for some reason and realize I`m wrong, I go back and apologize I should not have done that and I`m sorry.
BEHAR: Right.
BRIDGES: See those are things parents should do, but my dad didn`t do that.
BEHAR: Yes no. But you know I`m just warning you divorce does effect children anyway.
BRIDGES: Yes.
BEHAR: You could be the best father. They still get a little wounded by divorce. You have to take care of that, too.
BRIDGES: Yes, oh, yes.
BEHAR: Okay. While you were struggling with drugs you have had some arrests.
BRIDGES: Yes I did.
BEHAR: You had -- these are the bad times we`re talking about now.
BRIDGES: Oh yes.
BEHAR: Well get to the good times -
BRIDGES: No problem -
BEHAR: Including one that was very public in 1989 because you stood trial for attempted murder. I mean what happened there?
BRIDGES: Yes well in that situation, this was a situation where the police had got a thing from a witness, a statement from the witness that would not have put me at the scene but the district attorney never received that piece of paper. And they tried me. And then when that witness came forward then they were, like, why did you get tried for this case?
BEHAR: Uh huh.
BRIDGES: So I think that it was another situation where, you know, we all know about the LAPD, what they were capable of and had been doing. And I was the first one to start talking about them, about what they were doing. They are trying to get away with anything they could. And when I put them on front street, that`s why I won the case. And I won the case so easy it was ridiculous. But in the process of it, the only thing I was guilty of was using drugs and being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was outside when everything took place.
BEHAR: Well that could hurt you.
BRIDGES: Well, yes.
BEHAR: Facts.
BRIDGES: I was in the wrong place. That was the only thing.
BEHAR: And using.
BRIDGES: Using drugs.
BEHAR: And you spent time in jail waiting for your trial.
BRIDGES: Well I had no bail at first. My bail was $2.5 million.
BEHAR: And how long were you in jail?
BRIDGES: Nine months.
BEHAR: Nine months with the Menendez brothers.
BRIDGES: Yes. And I was also with Richard Ramerez too.
BEHAR: Wow bigger with the Menendez brothers. Did they mention they were orphans?
BRIDGES: Well, here`s -- I tell you what`s interesting about those two. Whenever I was talking to my mom, Eric used to have the worst look on his face. I would go, mom, I love you. Eric would be just head down, you know kind of teary eyed. We`re going home. I`m like, no. We`re going home. They go we`re going to get manslaughter. We`re going home. I`m thinking to myself I`m the only guy in here who`s really innocent. I`m going home. They`re like, oh, no, Bridges, you`re not going home. I went home. I came back a couple months later. That was beside the point.
BEHAR: Right, they - it is interesting on the topic for a second, a lot of people don`t believe they were molested by their father. Do they believe it?
BRIDGES: That well not enough to shoot him. You know what I mean?
BEHAR: Well I don`t know if it can be quantified.
BRIDGES: Well I`ll explain this to you. This is the way I look at it. Even though I don`t like what this guy has done to me, still doesn`t give me a right to shoot him. Doesn`t give me a right to shoot him. It doesn`t. You know, even though he may have destroyed part of my life still doesn`t give me the right to take his life from him. Does it. Now my question is, what did the mother do? Kill the mother.
BEHAR: Yes, I know, they were bad. Let`s talk about good stuff about you.
BRIDGES: Yes good stuff.
BEHAR: You are clean and sober for a while now.
BRIDGES: 17 years.
BEHAR: 17 years. Congratulations. I shake your hand on that. How do you feel about the perception out there that there`s -- about you being a drug addict and you`re always in trouble.
BRIDGES: The sad part about it is perception of me, Todd Bridges, is always still just getting out of jail. But the perception of a few other people that have been through the same thing I have been through is just great.
BEHAR: Yes.
BRIDGES: And it never gets brought up. Like if a child star gets in trouble today, my name is the first that comes up. And actor Todd Bridges in 1985 had problems. And I`m like you know, I`ll tell you I saved a woman`s life one time in Balboa Lake. And I jumped in and saved her life. And I didn`t want any press from that. I was just doing what I fell was necessary at the time. She was a paraplegic. And I saved her life and I resuscitate her got her back to breathing.
The Medics came there looking at me, uh-oh, trying to hide. Great, I don`t want them to see me. So then I`m watching a news show on one of those channels. And they go, actor Todd Bridges was a hero today, but he wasn`t such a hero in 1985.
BEHAR: Oh. You can`t win.
BRIDGES: I`m like, come on.
BEHAR: You can`t win.
BRIDGES: You know what I`m like come on. They act like I just got out of jail, you know?
BEHAR: You know what, I think this book tour you`re doing and your book -- shows people where you`re at now.
BRIDGES: Yes "Killing Willis" and it`s the true story of my life. And I got facts to back it up.
BEHAR: I see that you do. Okay Todd, stay right there.
BRIDGES: I definitely will.
BEHAR: I have twitter, Facebook questions for you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with actor and now author, Todd Bridges. Let`s go for some twitter questions all right.
BRIDGES: Yes.
BEHAR: First of all where did your hair go, someone wants to know?
BRIDGES: Well what happened was it left the scene. One day it was there. And then -- it`s like when -- what happened was I shaved it off. 15 years ago. I said, okay, I`m going to change my image, cut my hair up. I cut my hair up, it never came back, that was it.
BEHAR: You know that happens when you pluck your eyebrows.
BRIDGES: When I salute now I salute like this.
BEHAR: Okay this is a serious question. Have you ever felt confused about your sexuality as a result of being molested?
BRIDGES: Yes, oh yes. When I was 12 years old, I was confused. I didn`t know what I was heterosexual or homosexual. And what happen was Dana Plato did something to me when I was 12 1/2, about to go 13 and made me realize I liked girls.
BEHAR: Oh Dana and you? Did you have sex with Dana?
BRIDGES: Well, yes. What she did was better than that. You know it was you know reciprocating where I don`t have a reciprocate back. Well you reciprocate back, but it`s differently --
BEHAR: One good deed --
BRIDGES: Well, one good deed deserves another. But when you`re a male, that one deed is always better.
BEHAR: I think. Okay.
BRIDGES: If you`re selfish. Which I`m not.
BEHAR: All right. So did you see Gary Coleman`s meltdown on "The Insider?"
BRIDGES: Yes.
BEHAR: Well, what did you think of that?
BRIDGES: Well, I was really upset that that lady went after him, first of all. But he didn`t handle it the right way. She attacked.
BEHAR: Who was it again, I -
BRIDGES: Some lawyer, I forget her name -
BEHAR: Who do you attack -- what was her name? Lisa Bloom.
BRIDGES: Oh yes she attacked and she came -
BEHAR: Yes, yes that`s right.
BRIDGES: At first she goes, okay, Mr. Coleman, did you hit your wife? Well, no. Coleman, did you hit your wife? Come on, now, Gary! Gary`s like, no! You know and I felt so bad for him because the kid is really sick. And if you need to go after a kid who`s that unhealthy and that in such bad shape really something wrong with you.
BEHAR: Well, you mean sick physically or mentally?
BRIDGES: He`s physically sick. So bad.
BEHAR: Kidney issues.
BRIDGES: Not just that, he just had a heart surgery a couple months ago.
BEHAR: Yes, I know. Okay.
BRIDGES: She went after him. Just hook, line - just went after him. I felt so bad for him. But he didn`t handle it the right way. He could have said, you know something, I`m not doing this and could have walked off without getting all upset.
BEHAR: Well that`s why this question is, do you feel bad for Gary Coleman? Yes I guess you do.
BRIDGES: Yes.
BEHAR: Do you think he suffers from a mental disorder someone wants to know?
BRIDGES: I kind of think he does. Because I`ll tell you what`s weird about it is I will not do him like he`s done me in the past. When were having all our problems he just ripped us to shreds.
BEHAR: Really?
BRIDGES: Yes.
BEHAR: Why would he do that?
BRIDGES: Because he was angry, he was mad. He thought that we were putting him on the same category. And I kept telling him what I did to myself, what I did to me has nothing to do with you. But I always refuse to do that to him. I feel bad for him and I hope he gets his life together. I really hope he does.
BEHAR: Yes okay.
BRIDGES: But in "Killing Willis" we actually depicted -
BEHAR: Yes.
BRIDGES: Exactly what his father was all about.
BEHAR: What was his father about? Tell the audience what his father --
BRIDGES: His father was the kind of guy -- he wasn`t very smart. This is what he told me one time. He said, I have important --
BEHAR: He got what?
BRIDGES: Really important furniture coming in.
BEHAR: Important furniture?
BRIDGES: No. Imported. I go, from where? And he goes, San Francisco. I went --
BEHAR: Oh we`re in L.A.
BRIDGES: I was like, wow. I`m thinking France, Italy. San Francisco.
BEHAR: Well that is kind of an exotic state.
BRIDGES: I guess. I guess.
BEHAR: Well you know, you have totally changed everybody`s in about you I think that they have ever.
BRIDGES: Thank you. Believe me, I will not rob you on your way out or anything like that.
BEHAR: Oh come on.
BRIDGES: I promise. What kind of car do you drive? And where you living? I mean did I say that?
BEHAR: I take the z -- the number one train.
BRIDGES: Oh the number one train.
BEHAR: Okay thanks for joining me Todd.
BRIDGES: Thank you, sweetie.
BEHAR: The book is called "Killing Willis." good night, everybody.
END
