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Joy Behar Page
Tough Love for Charlie Sheen and Billy Joel; Interview With Jane Velez-Mitchell
Aired February 02, 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: Ok. Here`s one of my favorite stories this week. P. Diddy bought his son a $400,000 Maybach, a limo, as a reward for making the honor roll. Diddy says he hopes his son uses it to impress girls. But why does he need a car that big on a date? Who was he dating, the octomom?
What`s the best way to deal with a celebrity who needs help? Charlie Sheen`s parents are so worried about the actor they reportedly want legal control over him. Meanwhile, Elton John public tells Billy Joel to get serious about rehab. So will this tough love thing work or is it futile?
Here now are Ken Seeley, founder of Intervention911.com; Danny Bonaduce, actor and radio talk show host on 94.1 WSP in Philadelphia; and Vikki Ziegler, family law attorney.
Welcome to the show, you guys.
Ok. Vikki let me start with you. You`re a lawyer. Can Charlie Sheen`s parents actually get legal control over him? The guy is 45 years old.
VIKKI ZIEGLER, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Right.
BEHAR: It`s not like he`s Britney, who was very young.
ZIEGLER: Yes. They can and they can make an application to a court. A judge has to determine and make the determination that actually he is incapacitated which means he cannot make any decisions for himself or his estate.
So it`s going to be a little difficult to actually get that done at age 45. When we hear he can go to work, Charlie Sheen can read his lines, he`s making all this money and then he kind of relapses or falls off. So it`s going to be a very difficult proposition.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Ken for his parent to get control, they have to prove he that Charlie is incapacitated. Can they do that?
KEN SEELEY, FOUNDER, INTERVENTION911.COM: Yes, absolutely. I mean just watch in the media, everybody`s watching it happen right in front of our eyes that he is out of control and he needs that help. And if he was in his right mind, he would welcome that help from his parents and ask them for that help until he could get back into recovery.
So I think it`s a win-win all around.
BEHAR: Well, it`s possible. I mean look at this picture from TMZ of Sheen partying last week, Danny. Look at that. Do you think Sheen needs to be under somebody else`s guardianship here? Hello.
DANNY BONADUCE, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, here`s the point. The fact is, is a judge going to think so? No. A judge is not going to think so.
A judge is going to see a perfectly lucid Charlie Sheen in court like we see every week night in his hugely successful TV show where he shows up on time and does his job. They`re never going to say a 45-year-old middle age dude who`s kind of chubby, by the way and most crackheads I know are really thin, they`re not going to say take this guys money.
ZIEGLER: Well, they can -- Joy, they can do it on a limited basis also. They can say listen, you have children. You have five children. You`re paying child support for at least four. We have to preserve your financial estate and make sure that the child support`s getting paid and that`s taken into consideration.
BEHAR: The court, you mean.
ZIEGLER: The court can do it on a limited basis. And obviously, there`s a train wreck here that could have a very bad ending, so I think his parents, you know what, should try to do it and you`ll have to see what a judge decides.
BEHAR: Right.
It has worked for Britney Spears. Apparently she`s under control now. She needed those reins.
The other thing Ken, is Charlie could be going back to work in a few weeks, and he`s doing in-home rehab, which is kind of strange. Can that really work?
(CROSSTALK)
SEELEY: I did work for people that are doing home rehab. Absolutely that could work. But he has to hit rock-bottom.
As so many people are saying, he has to want it. And what that means is he has to hit the rock bottom and surrender. And I don`t think that`s happened yet. He`s still in control by wanting to do rehab at home, but it can work as long as he does it long-term. He needs at least six to nine months or a year.
BEHAR: Danny, I want to ask you a question. Do you think it`s much harder for a celebrity to hit rock bottom than the average person? My "View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg today, very interesting, she opened up this morning about her past drug addiction. We haven`t really heard this yet. She`s talking about hitting rock bottom. Let`s watch that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, ABC CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": I was a functioning drug addict. I went to work because I knew if I didn`t show up, a lot of people would be out of work and I wouldn`t get a check and wouldn`t have had the lifestyle that I needed to buy my drugs.
I wet the bed. I pooped the bed. I did all kinds of stuff. And my roommate came back and said, what is going on? I said, there`s something under the bed.
I was so scared and that`s when I knew. But you know, you have to get to that place. Not only did I hit bottom, but it was like, is that me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Danny, what do you say about that?
BONADUCE: Well, I`ve spoken to Whoopi about this actually. She hit her rock bottom, which was a rather degrading moment for her. And she was very brave to say that on the show.
BEHAR: Yes, she was.
BONADUCE: She was. But the fact of the matter is, I`m sorry. I`m not being a loon, I`m being dead serious. If your rock bottom is a huge mansion with 15 porn stars in it, where do I sign up for Charlie Sheen`s rock bottom?
BEHAR: You know, you make a very good point, Danny.
BONADUCE: Thank you. I do that all the time Joy.
BEHAR: I know. Ken, can you respond to that last remark? Being an interventionist, what do you think Charlie`s rock bottom will be?
SEELEY: As long as a person is alive and breathing, you could create their rock bottom. And that`s what it`s all about. It`s getting the family as they`re doing, creating that rock bottom. Getting his employers involved, the people around him, his lawyers, his agents, everybody that loves and cares about him. Getting them involved and working as a unified front and creating that rock bottom. That`s what needs to happen. I think that`s what the family is doing right now.
BONADUCE: But what if they`re wrong? But what if they`re wrong? Has anybody checked this? A doctor, a friend of mine, Paul Nassif, gave him a ride home from the hospital. Am I the only guy here that knows crack heads and what they look like and how they act?
You get in a small, I`m guessing, sports car with a trained professional MD and you don`t start ripping at your clothes, saying get these bugs off me, you are probably not a crack head with millions of dollars. You are probably a drunk who likes hot chicks.
ZIEGLER: And the problem really is I think that Charlie has to want to end this game. He has been doing this and he`s been ingesting apparently alcohol and drugs for many, many years, maybe 20 plus. His rock-bottom, I don`t think we`ve seen.
And I think until he says, listen, you know what, although I`m a functioning alcoholic or drug addict, I need to make sure that I`m here in the future for my children because he doesn`t want to do it for himself.
As you saw that picture at TMZ, I mean it`s frightening. I think it`s said it`s before his bender started. So Joy, I mean that`s scary stuff.
BEHAR: Right. Right.
Ok. Let me ask you about another situation that`s going on with famous people and rehab and everything else. Singer Elton John is using tougher love with his long time touring buddy, Billy Joel. Elton John told "Rolling Stone" the following:
Quote, "He`s going to hate me for this but every time he goes to rehab, they`ve been light. When I went to rehab," Elton saying, "I had to clean the floors. He goes to rehab where they have TVs," and et cetera I guess. "I love you Billy, and this is tough love. Billy, you have your demons and you`re not going to get rid of them at rehab light. You`ve got to be serious."
Now Elton John -- Danny, Elton John has been sober for 20 year himself, so he has a little credibility here.
BONADUCE: He does. But I question the idea of making tough love in the newspaper. Have you seen Billy Joel? His nose is smashed into his face from about 10 years in a boxing ring. Tough love with Billy Joel comes long distance.
I wouldn`t tell Billy Joel to do anything Billy Joel didn`t want to do right now. I don`t know anything -- I know that every time he has hit an inanimate object, like his neighbor`s home, he has passed a sobriety test. I`m not sure what the evidence is that Elton John is saying. The guy has been sober when he hits houses. He`s just a terrible driver.
BEHAR: Well, Elton knows him -- Elton knows Billy Joel very well because they work together all the time. And Elton says he keeps missing showing, I guess, and that`s why he wants -- but meanwhile, this is what Billy Joel responded:
"I`ve worked with Elton for such a long time and I`ve enjoyed our relationship too much to let something as random as these comments change my affection for him. Elton is just being Elton."
Ken, he`s calling the comments random. Do you think Billy Joel is listening? What do you make of that response?
SEELEY: See, that`s another reason I would think without even knowing the case, I would think that he is an addict because it`s deflecting. It`s taking away from what`s really happening.
And you know, why is Elton even saying anything? The only reason why Elton would be even saying anything is because he loves and cares about him. He`s not out there to slander him. He`s out there because he loves him and he wants to see him in recovery and wants to see him healthy. So I think he`s doing the right thing. I think it`s great that he`s speaking out and showing how much he cares.
BEHAR: Ok. You know what Danny, since you seem to know a lot about this topic, what do you suggest that they do with Charlie Sheen at this point?
BONADUCE: At this point, I really want to see what the evidence is. He is not showing -- there`s something wrong. There`s something seriously going wrong with Charlie Sheen. But everybody`s got such -- my wife who`s a schoolteacher said I just heard they delivered a briefcase of cocaine to Charlie Sheen`s house. I said, no they didn`t, honey. They haven`t delivered suitcases full of cocaine since Pablo Escobar.
This is -- everybody`s going so far out on a limb. I`d really like to know what Charlie Sheen is obviously up to. He likes his porn star, his booze. But you not get past Cedar Sinai, you would not get him past the reception desk and the nurse that takes your blood pressure until you were taken to ICU if you`re out of your cocaine overdose because you would be grabbing your chest and whiff, against your will, you`d get a 51-50. And that would be it, you wouldn`t be going anywhere for three days, I`m telling you with cocaine.
BEHAR: All right. And you have the last word on that, so I hope that Charlie`s listening.
Thanks everybody. We`ll be back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up a little later on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, the Kennedy`s mini-series starring Katie Holmes finally gets picked up by something called Reelz Channel. So will anyone see it?
Then HLN`s Jane Velez-Mitchell opens up about her battle with addiction in her new book, "Addict Nation".
Now back to Joy.
BEHAR: "Waiting to Exhale" author Terry McMillan caused a stir recently after posting some tweets about the children of Will and Jada Smith, both of whom are actors and singers.
Here`s what she said -- "If feels like the Smith children are being pimped and exploited. Or, they`re already hungry for fame. What about 4th grade?"
Now, she`s since apologized -- apologized and deleted the tweet, but did she have a point? Here now to discuss this are actress Tatyana Ali who grew up in front of us on "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" playing Will Smith`s young cousin, and actress Candace Cameron Bure, who spent her adolescence playing DJ Tanner on "Full House".
Welcome to the show, ladies.
CANDACE CAMERON BURE, ACTRESS: Thank you.
TATYANA ALI, ACTRESS: Thank you.
BEHAR: You`re in like a little sorority of young actresses. And you all know each other?
ALI: Yes.
BURE: Yes, kind of.
ALI: A group of us, yes.
BEHAR: Well, you have in common that you were on TV when you were kids.
BURE: Yes.
BEHAR: So you`re qualified to discuss this topic.
ALI: We have PhD`s.
BEHAR: You know, I mean, what do you think of what Miss McMillan said, that the kids are really now having fun as children and they are being pushed into the spotlight.
ALI: Well, me first, I mean, I -- I have trouble when somebody`s talking about kids anyway especially on Twitter -- well, just talking about people`s kids. I actually know Willow and Jayden and the Smith family and I would say the exact opposite about them.
They are -- first of all they`re incredibly talented but they`re also, beautiful, intelligent and intuitive children. And you know, if you have - - it really does depends on your parents and -- and parenting. And if you have people that are protecting you and guiding you along the way, then it can be a really positive experience. That`s what it was for me.
BEHAR: But that -- she`s saying that in a way -- they`re missing out on the fun of being a kid because they are always working.
BURE: Their -- their -- the Smiths, their -- their mom and dad are -- Will and Jada you know, Smith, they are -- they are the industry. So they`re going to have a different kind of childhood regardless of whether they`re actors or singers or performers.
I don`t think it`s any different than young children just growing up in a very affluent, wealthy family that has those kinds of privileges.
BEHAR: But what about you guys? You didn`t come from families like Will and Jada Smith.
BURE: We didn`t.
ALI: Yes.
BURE: I think we`re in a different category. I think comparing us as child actors to Jaden and Willow is like comparing apples to oranges. I think for us, it was going -- and you know, you can have a different opinion, but I feel --
(CROSS TALK)
ALI: You know --
BURE: -- like we -- we went to work every day. It was more of a job. But it -- but we didn`t have parents that were in the positions that Will and Jada are.
BEHAR: Were you pushed into showbiz?
BURE: Not pushed into it, well, my parents asked me if I wanted to and we said great and we learned about the industry together. My parents weren`t from an entertainment background.
ALI: Yes.
BEHAR: How about you?
ALI: My parents were in -- my mom is a nurse. My father is a -- a detective here in New York for the Transit Police Department. And I was a ham and they didn`t know what to do with me. So -- and I actually loved it.
What my parents did stress for me with education, it was the same as my younger sisters. I was treated the same, their gymnastics, they`re dancing. I had to do well in school, I had to get good grades, and then my reward was doing what I really love to do. And I mean, I chose as a grown- up to do it. I -- I -- I enjoyed it.
BEHAR: But it`s a little hard I think for kids in the sense that there`s a lot of rejection in show business. There`s criticism, people say you`re fat. Even for children -- your hair is not right. You`re not cute enough. All the nasty things they say about grown-ups, they also say about kids.
ALI: Yes.
BURE: But I think that depends on -- on the parents and how they protect them and how involved they are to make that a good experience or to let them go.
BEHAR: But how did you say to the kid you didn`t get the part. You didn`t get it?
ALI: You -- you say you didn`t get it.
BURE: My parents would just tell me, but they would also say -- but it`s not because you`re necessarily -- or bad. They might have wanted a girl with brown hair or that was taller you just didn`t fit this one but we`re going to go on other ones.
ALI: I think you have to at this -- it`s -- it is competitive, it`s competition, but there are kids who excel in competitive sports.
BURE: Right.
ALI: And you know, you -- you have to -- losing --
BURE: Yes.
ALI: -- is a part of life just like winning is a part of life.
BURE: Exactly.
ALI: And as a parent --
BEHAR: Yes.
ALI: -- it really does depend on how you raise your kids.
BEHAR: Right.
BURE: Exactly.
ALI: I mean, the kids that don`t go the right way, it`s because they are not protected.
BEHAR: Well, the -- the kids, Willow Smith, the child said, I wanted to be big and famous like my mommy and daddy and help people. It`s great that she wants to help people, but big and famous? Is that a legitimate goal for a child? It`s really not a legitimate goal for grownups.
BURE: Yes, the -- the famous part, I -- I -- you know, I hope you don`t strive to just be famous, but I also think that there are a lots of kids, like go, I want to be an Olympic athlete. I want to be a doctor. And I -- I`m guessing that that`s just --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Yes.
BURE: -- how she`s feeling, because I want to be an actress like my mom or my dad.
ALI: Yes and she`s also a baby. And -- and one of the amazing things -- yes, I mean one of the amazing things, she is incredibly talented. Her song is about inspiration. "Whip Your Hair." I mean, that was my anthem, you know just --
BEHAR: Yes.
ALI: -- but we`re going to watch her grow up and I think, you know, a lot of the negativity that we see directed at children come from the public. We`re going to watch her grow up and evolve. I mean, her answers are going to change. They`re going to be different.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: What about little -- what about little Suri Cruise. I constantly see this kid in high heels in all the papers, in all of the magazines. She`s -- she`s like this big and she`s always wearing little high heels. And every -- every time Tom Cruise goes out of the house with Katie, they take a picture of the kid, also.
Isn`t that --
(CROSS TALK)
BURE: I have three kids. My kids were running around in little plastic high heels, too.
BEHAR: Yes. All the time? Isn`t it bad for your feet?
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: All right, I mean --
ALI: I wasn`t allowed to wear heels.
BEHAR: And -- and the Pitt-Jolie kids, that brood that she`s adopting constantly.
BURE: Yes.
BEHAR: I mean, they`re all over the newspapers. They`re all over the magazines. I don`t know if that`s such a great thing. You start to get addicted to seeing yourself in a magazine. When you are little kid, I don`t know if that`s a great thing. Do you?
BURE: I don`t -- I don`t know if it`s the greatest thing ever, but I think if you`re in the public eye, there`s not much of a choice.
ALI: Yes, I mean, hopefully -- you`d hope with -- with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt`s children, they`re also exposed to saving children and -- and hunger around the world so you hope --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Yes.
ALI: -- that they`re -- they`re also learning a sense of empathy. They have a world view that nobody else will come close to.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Listen, they will have that -- that`s true.
But you know, I was looking at David Letterman, has a kid, and -- in Barbara`s special about her heart. And David`s walking down the street, they took a picture of him and this kid, he makes sure the kid is blocked out. There are people -- celebrities who do not want you to see their children because they`re --
(CROSS TALK)
ALI: Right.
BEHAR: -- they`re afraid that the kid will become addicted to fame. I mean, ok. That was a good talk-talk.
Would you let your kid be an actress or an actor?
BURE: Yes, my daughter is an actress.
BEHAR: An actress. Ok, how about you? Yes or no I`ve got to go.
ALI: Yes, I would. I wouldn`t block, as long as I`m there to make sure and know what`s the difference.
BURE: Exactly. That`s the difference.
BEHAR: You know, when I was a kid, I was a ham. I wish someone have encouraged me. Ladies, thank you. Catch Tatyana Ali in "Love that Girl" on Monday nights at 9:00 on TV One.
We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know the rule is you have to love your little sister, but even if you were some strange little kid who lived in my room, I`d love you anyways. You`re my best friend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really? I`m your best friend?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That was a look at a very young and very cute Candace Cameron when she was starring in ""Full House"". She is back with me now to talk about her new book, "Reshaping it All".
Welcome back to the show. What do you think when you see those clips? What are you thinking?
CANDACE CAMERON BURE, AUTHOR, "RESHAPING IT ALL": That was adorable. I haven`t seen that in forever. I`m like, "I was cute."
BEHAR: You were cute.
BURE: Thanks.
BEHAR: You were very young. How old were you there?
BURE: Ten.
BEHAR: Ten years old.
BURE: Yes. That was the first season of "Full House". That was fun.
BEHAR: You know, in your book, you reveal for the first time that after "Full House" was done, you were bulimic. You said that.
BURE: Yes.
BEHAR: You didn`t have issues during the show?
BURE: I didn`t. I didn`t really have any body issues growing up. And I didn`t feel pressured by Hollywood to lose weight. But when I was around 20, I met my husband at 18, married at 20, living a new city, young married woman, just having none of the same life I had before.
I just was kind of finding myself and my husband would be on the road playing hockey and I found myself sitting in front of the television with some ice cream a whole lot and was just using food for comfort in my adjustment phase and loneliness kind of. So, I did become bulimic at that time but it was because of emotional issues and not because I was trying to lose weight.
BEHAR: I see. Usually girls become bulimic during the time they`re on television. You waited until the show was off.
BURE: Lucky me.
BEHAR: Ok. So, how long did you struggle with bulimia?
BURE: For a few years --
BEHAR: A few years.
BURE: -- until it was exposed and then started a wonderful journey for me and path to healthiness and fitness.
BEHAR: What made you change?
BURE: Being caught.
BEHAR: Who caught you?
BURE: My dad.
BEHAR: He caught you in the bathroom.
BURE: Yes.
BEHAR: And what happened. What did he say? That`s unusual for a father to catch; it`s usually the mother.
BURE: Yes, it was. And it was heartbreaking. I love my parents and I`m very close to them. So to see my dad so upset and hurt; I would never want do anything to hurt them and make them cry.
So it was kind of this in my face for the first time. This isn`t just about me. I`m not just hurting myself. This is affecting other people. But then it was really my relationship with God that transformed it and became a place with inside my heart. It wasn`t really a moral transformation at that point. It was just not wanting to not displease my parents or my husband so I had to go a little deeper than that at a point in my life.
BEHAR: I see. So your faith really took you to the next level. You believed? I prayed to reduce my thighs many times. Nothing -- nothing worked?
BURE: Hasn`t worked? Come on, you look great.
BEHAR: Now, you also talk about the "I Covenant". Explain how that helps you avoid snacks and your husband avoid lust. That is a good one in the book.
BURE: Well, the whole book is about moving your faith into the forefront of your relationship with food. So the whole book is based on biblical principles. You don`t have to be a Christian to enjoy the book. And by being based on biblical principles, it`s just like in the book of Job, he talks over an "I Covenant" and it`s about lusting over women. When you`re looking a little too long, your mind will go somewhere where it shouldn`t. And so he made an "I Covenant" to protect himself.
So in the same way I`m saying, let`s have an eye covenant with our relationship with food. If you know that doughnuts aren`t on the diet plan, let`s not go to the bakery and start lusting all over the -- because you`re going to just blow it.
BEHAR: I see.
BURE: Your mind`s going to start wanting it.
BEHAR: You know what; I think I`m going to wear a blindfold next time I`m in the food emporium. That`s the solution.
BURE: Sounds good.
BEHAR: Thank you. You`re very cute.
The book is called "Reshaping It All". We`ll be right back. Stay away from those doughnuts.
BROOKE ANDERSON, HLN CO-HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT", Whoopi Goldberg`s stunning drug confessions and her warning to Charlie Sheen. 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: The controversial mini series about the Kennedy family that was supposed to air on the History Channel has finally been bought by the Reelz Channel. Apparently, the show upset the Kennedy clan, all 12,000 of them.
Here to discuss this and other stories in the news are Tatyana Ali, star of "Love That Girl" on TV1. We`ll find out more about that later. "Maxim" editor in chief, Joe Levy. And comedian Corey Kahaney.
OK, guys, what power the Kennedys still have. Not one of them is in actual power anymore. Nobody`s in office.
JOE LEVY, EDITOR IN CHIEF, MAXIM: Almost not one of them is alive.
(CROSSTALK)
LEVY: There are a few alive still.
BEHAR: There`s tons alive, but the fact that they could still, you know, even from the grave, tell you no, you do not attack the Kennedys.
LEVY: They`ve always guarded their legacies. The Kennedys are famous for this. Remember, before any of them were in political office, they were filming like color home movies, you know, of the guys playing football on the lawn. They always wanted to be famous. They want to guard the legacy, and they`re very protective of it. They don`t want to show -- we don`t really know what`s in the show.
BEHAR: No. I`m dying to see it, though.
COREY KAHANEY, COMEDIAN: What could possibly come out, that they had slaves?
(LAUGHTER)
KAHANEY: We know everything. We know he was a bootlegger, we know he gave her a million dollars to stay married.
BEHAR: Maybe Joseph P. Kennedy was dating J. Edgar Hoover. You never know.
LEVY: There are a lot of salacious details about J.F.K.`s sex life while he was in the White House.
BEHAR: We know all about it.
LEVY: Yes, but we haven`t seen them in a mini series. The last mini series we saw was the one in `83 with Martin Sheen and the Kennedys, like, they approved it. If you buy it on DVD, it comes with a Kennedy, like, home movies and stuff.
BEHAR: Now, Tatyana, what`s her name, Caroline Kennedy--
ALI: Yes.
BEHAR: She pretty much ignored Katie Holmes, who wanted to study the part, but she wouldn`t talk to her. Why do you think that is?
ALI: I mean--
BEHAR: She could have maybe helped her.
ALI: Yes. As an actor, that would be devastating, to play somebody who`s really lived, and their daughter, their child, the person who`s sort of keeping the flame of their legacy alive doesn`t even want to speak to you and give you information.
BEHAR: Because she`s afraid.
ALI: Yes. That would be devastating. I mean, that would -- because you want that blessing. You know?
BEHAR: Yes, you do.
ALI: That it`s OK.
BEHAR: Well, I heard or I read -- all right, it`s in "The Enquirer."
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I happen to have a subscription. And I read that allegedly Tom Cruise is furious about this whole thing of really dissing Katie and that he wants to do a project showing that Joseph P. Kennedy, the father who had his own issues, trust me I know all about it, he was a bootlegger. And he wants to do something on that, to expose the bootlegging. Do you think it`s true, Joe?
LEVY: What, that Joseph Kennedy was a bootlegger? Yes, I think that`s true.
BEHAR: No, that Tom Cruise wants to do the movie.
LEVY: I would love to see Tom Cruise do this, because what we need is Cruise tied up in -- first, he took on the whole Nazi thing and he got to the bottom of that.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVY: He exposed them for the scoundrels that they were. And now he`s going to take on the Kennedys.
KAHANEY: You know something, maybe it`s bad. Maybe the show is just bad. I mean, nobody would buy it -- Showtime will buy anything. They`re worried about accuracy, they`re saying, it`s not accurate.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: You have Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes in it. Greg Kinnear doesn`t take on bad projects. He`s smart.
KAHANEY: But you know, after the cutting -- maybe -- Showtime turned it down because of accuracy. That`s what they said. I mean, they have "The L Word." How accurate is that?
BEHAR: I think they`re all scared of the Kennedys. I think they`re all scared of the Kennedys.
ALI: I think, though, I think their power is much more than what you see, you know, in front. It`s much more than office--
BEHAR: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: By the way, that movie with Tom Cruise, the Nazis--
BEHAR: Yes, "Valkyrie," yes.
BEHAR: "Valkyrie," where he was the one who was trying to kill--
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: I mentioned to what`s his name? Stelvin Hobbin (ph)? Whatever his name is. I called him a Nazi on "The View," and we got letters saying he was not a Nazi. Maybe the salute must have thrown me off, because I thought he was a Nazi.
Even in death, actor Corey Haim continues to be ignored by the critics. At the SAG Awards this past weekend, Haim was left off the in memoriam montage, which outraged the other Corey, Corey Feldman. OK, Corey Kahaney, as a Corey--
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Were you offended that Corey didn`t make the cut?
KAHANEY: Well, as a Corey, it`s incomprehensible that they would cut -- they would cut -- I think it`s also he picked the wrong time to die. There were a lot of hot people dying.
(LAUGHTER)
KAHANEY: You know, I mean, Anna Nicole Smith, she hit it just right. That`s why we had so many -- but then Farrah Fawcett, I mean, it was unfortunate--
BEHAR: They dissed Farrah Fawcett on the Oscars. They dissed Bea Arthur, who was in a lot of movies, and those were terrific actors. They did not include those, and yet they included on that Oscar special Brittany Murphy. What movies did Brittany Murphy make?
LEVY: "Clueless."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Clueless."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Clueless."
LEVY: Let`s talk about "Clueless."
ALI: The Eminem movie--
LEVY: But let`s just talk about "Clueless," which is basically the greatest American film of -- are you going to -- are you going to challenge me on "Clueless?"
ALI: What about "The Goonies?"
LEVY: Do you want me to start -- what about "The Goonies?"
ALI: That`s a pretty important movie too.
LEVY: All right, OK.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVY: You`re right. You put "The Goonies" up against "Clueless."
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: It`s a little strange that Corey Haim did not make the cut, because Danny Aiello III, who was a great guy, I know his father very well, and he had a very tragic end, this kid. He died of cancer, I think. He was a stuntman. He wasn`t even an actor. They put him in there.
LEVY: Yes, but Joy, don`t you think that`s about--
BEHAR: Gary Coleman made the cut. He had a bad agent.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Go ahead.
LEVY: Don`t you think it`s about Danny Aiello`s father being here, being a member of SAG, being able to reach out and say this would mean a lot to me? And who`s speaking up for Corey Haim? Corey Feldman.
BEHAR: I don`t know.
LEVY: You think SAG is really upset about getting on Corey Feldman`s bad side?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I think all the Coreys in the world should boycott the SAG awards.
KAHANEY: Absolutely. I think professor Irwin Corey (ph) should--
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Do you think they should have a separate rule for careers who -- people who have dead careers? That would be an interesting in memoriam, wouldn`t it?
LEVY: Sure.
BEHAR: Like, everyone who`s like as has-been --
LEVY: Why don`t we have just a separate awards show just for that? Just for that. That would be a very slow, empty red carpet, but let`s just do that.
BEHAR: OK. What do you think of this story? Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is in hot water for allegedly leaving a $40 tip on a $982 nightclub bill. That`s right, a 4 percent tip. Apparently, the word Van Damme is Flemish for cheap. I didn`t even know that. OK, what do you think of this now? A lot of people are saying, listen, he`s European, he didn`t know. But he`s been here for 30 years.
LEVY: Thirty years? Has it been that long?
BEHAR: A long time. He`s been here --
LEVY: Well, we know that he doesn`t give a Van Damme about tipping. I We know that much.
BEHAR: That`s true.
LEVY: I mean, listen, this I`m European, I didn`t know in America you`re expected to tip, I thought the service was included. This is an excuse. And you know, if you ask people in the restaurant industry in New York, you know, they`ll tell you, look, I speak French. I can hear the French guy saying, "let`s not tip." I speak Chinese, I can hear the Chinese guys saying, "let`s not tip, we don`t have to tip. We don`t tip at home. Let`s not tip here." I mean, everybody is on to this. It`s just an excuse.
BEHAR: It`s an excuse.
ALI: I think he spent so much money that night, $940, that he was like, you know what, no.
(LAUGHTER)
ALI: I`m done. I`m not going higher than $1,000, because if you look at the bill, it`s like 989 something.
KAHANEY: Cliches are cliches for a reason. You know, what`s the difference between a Belgian and a canoe? Sometimes a canoe tips. I mean, these are just--
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Is that a cliche? I`m not aware of that cliche. It`s fascinating.
Now, there are websites dedicated to bad tippers. Did you know that? Yes, listen to this. Jeremy Piven -- this is an allegation -- and 11 of his friends at Noboo (ph) in Aspen and for a tip, Piven left a signed DVD of "Entourage." Come on.
LEVY: That could be worth a lot on eBay. That could do well.
BEHAR: How much is that worse? And does it take--
LEVY: I mean, the DVD itself is worth $13.50, and there`s the autograph. So $13.50.
KAHANEY: What season, though?
(LAUGHTER)
KAHANEY: Last season sucked.
BEHAR: Depends on which season.
ALI: Oh, my goodness. I would be so upset (inaudible).
BEHAR: You wouldn`t do that, right? You were -- because you`re a big star now. You have a new show. What`s your show about, again?
ALI: Oh, my show is--
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
ALI: -- Indiana Jones (ph) and her "Sex in the City" lifestyle.
BEHAR: What channel is it on?
ALI: It`s on TV1.
BEHAR: Oh, I must catch that.
ALI: 9:00 Monday nights.
BEHAR: OK.
ALI: Yes.
BEHAR: Not up against me, good girl. OK--
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: -- Levi Johnston in her brother. Mercede Johnston -- not Mercedes, they leave off the S for sexy -- Levi`s little sister is reportedly posing for "Playboy." And unlike Levi, she is apparently showing everything. The question everyone is asking is, who knew Levi Johnston had a sister? And is everyone in Alaska posing nude these days? What`s going on up there?
LEVY: I hope everyone in Alaska -- I want to see those bears take it all off. I want to see everything in Alaska naked. Absolutely everything.
KAHANEY: I say if you`ve got it, flaunt it. You know, now, I look back and I know there`s a limited window of opportunity to be a slut, and if you miss that window--
BEHAR: There is, you`re right.
KAHANEY: You look back, you have regret.
BEHAR: Tatyana, are you listening?
ALI: I am. I am. But I`m also like kind of wondering what`s going on over at "Playboy." Like, I don`t know what--
BEHAR: You shouldn`t know, you`re too young. Close your ears and your eyes. Isn`t there a difference between women posing, though, and men? It`s a little different, isn`t it?
LEVY: Well, there is when I look at it, yes. What difference do you mean? I`m not quite sure what you`re saying.
ALI: I have to say like when men posing like "Playgirl" or even male strippers, the whole -- I don`t, as a woman, I don`t -- I`m not like, oh, God, he`s so hot. Like, that turns me on. It`s more like, heh-heh-heh--
KAHANEY: It`s like a double standard.
(CROSSTALK)
KAHANEY: They always show the breast, they show the buttocks, but when the man is posing, the private part is implied.
(CROSSTALK)
KAHANEY: We know it`s there, but you don`t want to -- they don`t want to show it.
BEHAR: Why not?
KAHANEY: We don`t get the whole Johnston.
BEHAR: You don`t, huh?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Well, we didn`t get the whole Johnston when he posed for "Playgirl."
LEVY: He had strategically positioned hockey stick, though a puck might have worked, I don`t know.
(boos)
BEHAR: They`re such teases up there in Alaska?
LEVY: That made you upset? That made you upset? Really?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: All right. Anyway, would you pose naked?
LEVY: Would I pose naked?
BEHAR: Yeah, would you?
LEVY: For charity. I do a charity -- a nude charity calendar every year.
BEHAR: You do?
LEVY: I do it every year.
BEHAR: What magazine -- what calendar is this?
LEVY: It`s all to benefit the Jewish Comedian Retiree Home.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVY: It`s all--
(CROSSTALK)
LEVY: We`ve got to do something.
BEHAR: All right. Thank you, guys, very much. We`ll be back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Troubling details are emerging in the story of Jean (sic) Schenecker, the Tampa mother charged with shooting and killing her two teenaged children because they were being, quote/unquote, "mouthy."
Here with the latest on that is HLN`s own Jane Velez-Mitchell, host of "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell" and the author of the new book, "Addict Nation: An Intervention for America."
OK, let`s talk about this case, Jane. First of all, now I find out, I read that she was keeping some kind of notes, which are -- that reveal that she was going to kill the children. What do you know about this?
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST, "ISSUES": It`s so sick. It is one of the sickest things. This is not somebody who snapped. This is a woman who meticulously planned to kill her two teenaged kids and wrote notes detailing exactly how she was going to do it. And then after she killed them, executed them at point-blank range, she then wrote notes about how she did it. And according to police, she confessed to cops exactly how she did it, and the notes were devoid of emotion, which is the most disgusting part.
BEHAR: So she`s not crazy?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t think she`s crazy. I mean, my personal theory about this case -- and this is speculation, but it`s based on some fact -- is that this was a woman who was hooked on some kind of prescription meds, and those mood-altering meds did something to her. Because when they went through the house, they found prescription meds of some sort, undisclosed medications in the bedroom and in the bathroom. Also, a couple of months earlier, she had had a car accident where she appeared out of it. She was slurring her words, her eyes were dilated.
BEHAR: Yes, but why would that lead you to kill your children? And I mean, and then it said she delayed the murders while she waited for a gun permit to clear.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, that`s what`s really scary, because she had an opportunity to change her mind. She had three days of waiting to think about, do I really want to kill my precious 13-year-old son and my precious 16-year-old daughter? And she decided, three days after (inaudible), yes, I will go ahead and do this.
BEHAR: Well, they found her by the pool. Right?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
BEHAR: She was sitting by the pool in some kind of --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: In a robe.
BEHAR: The children were covered in blankets somewhere. Where were they?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. The kids, she`s driving her son to soccer practice. Cops say takes out a gun.
BEHAR: Two shots to the head.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right. While she`s driving her son to soccer practice. Then she doubles back, kind of like a sicko soccer mom, and goes back into the house, goes upstairs, and her daughter is on the computer doing her homework, and she executes the daughter in the back of the head while her 16-year-old girl is doing her homework.
BEHAR: And what was she -- then -- did you see some of the pictures afterwards? She was shaking. And one of the doctors or somebody, detective or somebody, said they thought that was a reaction to -- she was in shock. Maybe it was drugs.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s what I think. I think because when they found her, she was quote/unquote, asleep, Joy, by the pool. You just kill your two kids, you`re going to take a nap by the pool? I don`t think so. I think she was a little zonked out from whatever medication she was taking. And then the shaking could be withdrawal. She was behind bars for a couple of days before she was let out when we saw her shaking like that. Could be withdrawal.
BEHAR: Oh, that makes sense. That makes sense.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Totally.
BEHAR: Now, what do you know about her personal life? I had a therapist on the other night, who said that, you know, a lot of times these women who go off their children like this, basically have a lover, they want the kid out of the way. Could that be possible?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I don`t know about the lover, but I do know that her husband was off serving our armed forces in the Middle East--
BEHAR: Right, right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- and that he was the mediator. When she was having problems with her daughter, they would call him halfway across the world, and he would try to mediate these arguments. So I think that was a stressor for her, because she doesn`t have her husband there to help. And I really believe she was depressed, according to her mother. So she might have had very deep psychological problems, and again, I do believe that prescription drugs can force people to do crazy things that they wouldn`t do when they are sober.
BEHAR: All right. Before we go, I`ll have you back in the next segment, the father is warning the public about fake memorial websites seeking donations for the family. So I`m just saying, putting it out there.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: People are sick, they really are.
BEHAR: OK. More with Jane when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with HLN`s own Jane Velez-Mitchell, talking about America`s addictions in her new book, "Addict Nation: An Intervention for America."
You know, America has a lot of addictions, according to your book. Consumption, sex, porn, Internet, procreation, food, cleanliness, violence, celebrity pharmaceuticals and crime.
Wait, let me check my Blackberry for a second.
(LAUGHTER)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait, are you surfing porn on there, Joy?
BEHAR: No. Is that an addiction?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, it is.
BEHAR: I resent that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, there`s help. You could go to Blackberry anonymous. I`m going to a meeting later tonight. You want to go? (inaudible) afterwards.
BEHAR: I am a little addicted. So what if I`m addicted to my Blackberry? Who does it hurt? It hurts nobody. I have carpal tunnel, maybe, but that`s it.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Already you`ve given me a symptom. Addiction always results in a comprehensible demoralization. Do you use that Blackberry at intimate moments with your significant other?
BEHAR: Yes, I do.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There you go.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: I consider that a hobby more than an addiction.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It crosses the line. Yes, that`s what they say about porn, it`s just a hobby.
BEHAR: OK, let`s talk about porn. How serious an addiction is porn addiction?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s an epidemic across the United States. Millions and millions of women have no idea that their boyfriends and their husbands are saying, yes, good night, honey, you go to sleep, I`m just going to stay up for a couple of seconds, check my e-mails, and they`re going deep into very serious, very awful porn.
BEHAR: And do you think that maybe the wives want it that way? They want to get a little sleep?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it`s a joke, but I`ve got to tell you that there`s some --
BEHAR: It`s possible.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- that there`s a serious component there, because what happens is, once you get into porn, and it`s really, really graphic stuff often involving the denigration of women, women doing things they would never do in real life with their boyfriends, right? And we don`t know what -- need to name all those things, but very graphic things--
BEHAR: Bestiality, wearing shoes in bed. God knows what else (ph).
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There you go, and not sneakers, right?
BEHAR: Every man has a fetish.
(singing): For every man there`s a fetish.
No, go ahead. This is serious.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s serious.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Stop acting like that. OK, I`m sorry.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But suddenly, a flesh-and-blood partner who doesn`t do all that stuff that you`ve been talking about seems very dull by comparison. So what happens is that a porn addiction ruins sex with a real person. And sometimes porn addicts will want to have television on with porn playing while they have sex with their flesh-and-blood partner because they really can`t get aroused just with another human being anymore, because the stuff that is on the Internet is really --
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: I can understand imagining something -- you have to have the TV on, what an insult to the woman.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s what I`m saying. Porn -- we women have to stand up against porn. And it is an addiction in this country.
BEHAR: I`ll stand up right now against porn! I`m standing up right now. OK.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, me too. Me too.
BEHAR: What about food now? Why is that the hardest one to break? We all know people have food addictions. A lot of people are morbidly obese in this country.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I just want to say, my book, "Addict Nation," is a hopeful book. It`s not like everything`s going to hell in a handbasket. What it is hey, here`s a blueprint for getting out of all these addictions. I know because I`m an addict and I grapple with all of them. So I`m not coming from up here.
Food, of course, is an addiction because we have to eat every day, and it`s very tough. It`s not like alcohol. I can say I`ll never touch it again. We have to negotiate with it every day.
But there`s a way to level the playing field and narrow it so you`re not doing the really bad stuff. And one easy way is to say no to fast food. Say, one day at a time, just like you would alcohol if you were an alcoholic. I will not eat at a fast food restaurant.
BEHAR: So it`s just fast food that people are addicted to?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s put it this way. I don`t think you have to torture a bunch of rats to show that fast food is addiction, but they did. OK? And the rats who were given the healthy diet, ate normally, and the rats who were given the fast food diet went through horrible shocks, all sorts of pain, endured anything to get to that fast food, and then they ate it until they practically exploded.
BEHAR: I feel bad for these rats. But you know what?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I do, too.
BEHAR: You know--
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All you have to do is look around, you can come to the same conclusion. It`s totally addictive because it`s packed with sugar, salt and fat, three components that human beings biologically crave to get us through times of famine, but there is no famine anymore.
BEHAR: You know what, I hate rats, but a fat rat really gets on my nerves.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: What about this business of cleanliness addiction? That`s really OCD. That`s not an addiction. That`s like Howie Mandel.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and I use Howie Mandel as an example.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, he`s courageous for talking about it. But here`s the addiction. Americans are using all these cleaning products that are totally unnecessary so that people can eat off their floor. You know how many women say, you could eat off my floor. Honey, I don`t want to eat off your floor. All right? That`s not what it`s designed for.
Now, most germs are killed with soap and water. You don`t need these antibacterials that were designed for surgical use in your home. In fact, it`s killing off the good germs, so a lot of kids are growing up with asthma and other problems because they`re not developing a resistance.
BEHAR: You know, my mother used to say my house is so clean you could eat off my floor all the time, and we often did. She could never decide on a dining room set.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: You know what I mean? But that is OCD, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s an addiction. Seriously. And it`s -- here`s the message of my book, Joy.
BEHAR: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s that we can free ourselves --
BEHAR: Who gets rich from America`s addictions?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. In the last 30 years, the average American salary, flat. But .01 percent of the richest rich, their income has shot up 1,000 percent. We -- our addictions are making a handful of people fabulously wealthy. They`re already super rich, they`re getting richer. That is enslavement. We can free ourselves, and we can take that power back as consumers and say no, I`m not going to buy this stuff that`s bad for me.
BEHAR: OK. I hope the fat cats are getting fat.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes--
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Thank you. Thank you very much. Before we go -- you know what? Here`s the book. OK, now.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: "Addict Nation."
BEHAR: "Addict Nation." Before we go, a quick hello to Anderson Cooper. Anderson, I know you`re probably too busy in Cairo to watch our show, but I hope someone lets you know we`re asking about you and thinking about you. I heard you and your crew got into a little scuffle out there, so let us know you`re doing well, OK?
Good night, everybody.
END
