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Joy Behar Page
Interview With Star Jones
Aired April 04, 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, this is good. Star Jones is on my show tonight. No, I haven`t spoken to her in almost five years. Goodness knows how the whole thing`s going to go.
Well, I`ll tell you. I`m ready. I`ve got my research,. I`ve got my notes here. You know, I`m ready. Say what you want. I`m ready for her. OK? What?
ANNOUNCER: Coming up on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW. Joy sits down her with former "View" cop-host, Star Jones. From the drama on "Celebrity Apprentice" to her dramatic weight loss and life-saving heart surgery, Star talks about it all.
Plus, Charlie Sheen booed off the stage in Detroit. So, is the tour doomed or is he already back to his winning ways? That and more starting right now.
(MUSIC)
BEHAR: When Star Jones was a co-host on "The View," she was always in the middle of a controversy. It`s nice that so many years later on "The Celebrity Apprentice" nothing has changed.
Joining me is TV personality and author of "Satan`s Sisters," Star Jones.
STAR JONES, TV PERSONALITY: Ta-da!
BEHAR: OK. Now, I have to tell you, Star. First of all, let me see this ring. Hello!
JONES: Oh, please.
BEHAR: Is it real?
JONES: Of course, it`s me, what do you want?
BEHAR: Oh, my God.
JONES: But it`s cute. That`s just a little bauble.
BEHAR: Just a little thing you threw together.
JONES: Oh, please, be quiet.
BEHAR: All right. Now, the book is -- I didn`t read the book, on purpose.
JONES: Why didn`t you read the book?
BEHAR: Because I didn`t read it because I heard it was about a group of women on a talk show who co-host a TV show and fight all the time. At first I figured it`s "The Talk," right?
JONES: Exactly. It`s a combination of all my experiences with television talk shows. But why didn`t you read the book? Tell the truth.
BEHAR: Because I hear that it`s a roman a clef, as they say, that it was possibly based on us on "The View" --
JONES: You didn`t want to read it?
BEHAR: No, I`ll read it after the interview. I didn`t want to say this and that about the book relating to "The View."
JONES: I can guarantee you there`s been no co-host that has been thrown under the bus in this book. It`s so much fun. It`s dishy, it`s trashy, it`s sexy, it`s fun.
BEHAR: I heard about the sex.
JONES: Can you imagine?
BEHAR: I mean, there`s a lot of sex in the book.
JONES: There`s a lot of sex. But you wish that was about "The View," don`t you?
BEHAR: That would be nice.
JONES: As I put in this book.
BEHAR: I know you for several years. When did you learn about all that sex?
JONES: Well, listen, I haven`t had anything to do for the last six years.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK. I mean, where do they come up with all that? Just your mind --
JONES: Well, you know what? I was recuperating from open heart surgery and I had to do limited activity. And the limited activity meant I needed to write about it rather than do it, if you know what I mean.
BEHAR: I gotcha.
JONES: So, I decided to shrug it all out.
BEHAR: You shrug it out, baby. Always shrug it out.
Now, tell me about, what is your best memory of "The View" and does it include me?
JONES: Yes, absolutely. One, you came up of all things in my head the night before last when I came back -- no, last night when I came back from Los Angeles. All of a sudden, I got a little perspiration here and a little perspiration here. And it scared m --
BEHAR: Why?
JONES: -- because I knew what it meant. I had my own private summer just then. I got a little flash.
BEHAR: Oh, menopause is hitting.
JONES: Something is --
BEHAR: How old are you now?
JONES: Forty-nine, which is when you start (INAUDIBLE), right?
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: And the first thing I thought of was you. Do you remember what you said when I first asked you how did you know it was a hot flash? And you said, it`s like somebody opened a taco stand on your chest. It`s my favorite thing you have ever said in the history of our time together.
BEHAR: It is. Like a lot of people are just sitting on your chest, it`s like someone opens a pizza oven and puts your head it in.
JONES: And that`s how it felt. And I thought of you of all things.
BEHAR: OK. So, you`re, you know -- anyway. Do you miss us at "The View"?
JONES: I miss the discussion. That`s what it is. You know, I miss sort of the hot topic arguing back and forth. Social media has really taken over and I`ve enjoyed some of that. And then, you know, sort of running around the country, that it is allowing me to get my fix, if you will.
BEHAR: Well, would you come back on as a guest if you were invited?
JONES: Right now in the middle of "Satan`s Sisters"? Somebody should read the book so you know what to talk about. Of course I come. You invite me, I`ll be there.
BEHAR: Well, I`m not in charge of the booking.
JONES: Look at you, look at you.
BEHAR: Don`t look at me.
JONES: Plausible deniability.
BEHAR: That`s right, baby. It`s not my thing.
JONES: Chicken.
BEHAR: You did leave a little bit like angry-ish at the end?
JONES: Well, I left dramatically.
BEHAR: Oh, dramatically. OK, that`s some way to call it.
JONES: I left dramatically, yes.
BEHAR: I mean, you know, there is -- there is that whole incident that went down there where you said that you were fired. Remember this whole thing?
JONES: I was fired.
BEHAR: But the network was going to (INAUDIBLE), everyone was going to let you go and not make it inn a big thing and you changed it. Why did you do that?
JONES: Because for the week, two weeks, three weeks prior, the network was leaking out little stuff to the media and paparazzi was at my house, and ringing my doorbell and contacting my neighbors. And it was really probably the most emotionally destroying time of my life.
I honestly was not sure that I could take it. Do you know I actually lost an additional 20 pounds? It was scary. I started looking like skeleton. People started calling me bobble head because my body was very tiny. It was really, really scary (ph).
BEHAR: That`s attractive on some people, bobble heads.
JONES: Me? Come on.
BEHAR: Like, Susan Lucci, she`s got small body and nice big head with beautiful hair.
JONES: It didn`t look cute.
BEHAR: It works.
JONES: It didn`t look good on me, it looked scary. Especially for somebody who used to weigh 300 pounds.
BEHAR: Yes, I know. But we`ll get to that.
JONES: Right.
BEHAR: We`ll get to that.
JONES: Why?
BEHAR: I love all this stuff. This is the first time we`re together to talk about all this stuff.
JONES: Since the day I walked out of the show. You didn`t call, you didn`t write. They cracked my chest. You didn`t send a flower.
BEHAR: I didn`t know that until today. I don`t know where, I don`t know why, I did not -- I swear to you. You believe me? I don`t lie. You know, I don`t lie.
JONES: No, you don`t.
BEHAR: So, I mean, why -- I didn`t know they did that. You had the open heart surgery like Barbara had. Three weeks prior to Barbara.
JONES: Yes, Barbara said it on the television. She said, we wish her well.
BEHAR: I didn`t know she was talking about -- I don`t know, I must have blanked it out.
JONES: I mean, they cracked my chest, took my heart out, stopped it for 22 minutes, girlfriend.
BEHAR: That`s what she said they did to her too. They put you under in a coma like as if you`re dead almost, right?
JONES: Yes, but you don`t see the white light because they have this machine that spins blood all around you the whole time and it keeps you alive. They`re brilliant with what they can do.
BEHAR: The white light, that`s a bunch of baloney. People say you see the white -- maybe they`re just in Jersey going through the Holland Tunnel.
JONES: I hope not. I hope it`s a little bit more than that. But when I was -- I really had a great recovery. I came out of it. Six days later, I walked out of that hospital. And this is one year later, I`m celebrating one-year anniversary.
BEHAR: Good for you. Well, congratulations on that. I have a tendency to block out illnesses when people tell me.
JONES: I don`t remember that.
BEHAR: I can`t deal with that. I`m very immature that way. So -- that`s the way I am. But I`m happy for you.
JONES: I`m happy, too.
BEHAR: And so, let`s go back to "The View" for a minute. What were the happy moments that you can share with us on "The View"?
JONES: Well, pretty much the first eight years were all happy.
BEHAR: How long were you there, 10?
JONES: Nine.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Nine, not 10?
JONES: No, nine.
BEHAR: But the last year was not so great.
JONES: The first eight years was really a lot of fun. You remember. You act like you weren`t there, you were sitting to the left of me.
BEHAR: I was there and I`m asking you.
JONES: It was a lot of fun. The first three years, if you remember, we sort of were finding our way and finding our feet. And we spent a lot of time together. And matter of fact you live in a house I found for you.
BEHAR: That`s right.
JONES: OK?
BEHAR: That`s true. Remember when I saved you in my pool?
JONES: Yes, because I can`t swim.
BEHAR: Neither can I.
JONES: That`s the funny part. No, but you saved me in five feet of water.
BEHAR: I know.
JONES: I mean, let`s not, you know, get excited here.
BEHAR: But you thought you were going to drown.
JONES: I thought you were going to drown me. I knew it was foreshadowing. You were trying to kill me back in the day. It`s in the book! You`re scared.
BEHAR: Am I in the book?
JONES: Elements.
BEHAR: Elements?
JONES: Elements.
BEHAR: What does that mean?
JONES: Elements. There`s a -- there`s a very funny person in the book. But she bears a lot of my burdens. She struggles with weight. She bears another friend`s burden. She has depression.
You know that I went through a tremendous amount of depression which led to my weight loss, led to me having that surgery. And she is a combination of several of us. And actually every single character in "Satan`s Sisters" has some element of me in it. So, I think it was sort of therapeutic and fun at the same time.
BEHAR: Are there any elements of other people on "The View"?
JONES: There`s elements of pretty much everybody I`ve ever worked with, worked for, interviewed, was interviewed by, or prosecuted. Pretty much everybody shows up in some way. There`s a personality trait in "Satan`s Sisters."
BEHAR: So, you put the burden of heaviness on the comedienne.
JONES: Yes. You remember, you once told me, I remember this very clearly, that, you know, a fat girl has to be funny. Don`t you remember saying that?
BEHAR: It helps.
JONES: You know?
BEHAR: It helps.
JONES: And that she has some sort of little quip to come out --
BEHAR: I don`t remember saying that, did I say that?
JONES: You did.
BEHAR: I don`t remember that.
JONES: You did. A fat girl has to be funny so she has a comeback when they start calling her fat.
BEHAR: But, you know what? Let`s talk about when you were fat because when you were fat, you liked yourself fat.
JONES: That`s bull. I lied. I`m looking you right in the face. I lied.
BEHAR: You lied.
JONES: Nobody likes not being able to walk, Joy.
BEHAR: No, I`m not talking about when you got really heavy.
JONES: There`s a huge difference between, you know, being full- figured and being morbidly obese.
BEHAR: Yes. When you were full-figured -- you still --
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: I liked myself. But --
BEHAR: You want to hear what you said to me one time?
JONES: What did I say?
BEHAR: So, OK. So, after you got skinny, I said to you, you know, there are --
JONES: Can you not say skinny? Because I`m not.
BEHAR: Well, fat -- when you lost the weight.
JONES: Good.
BEHAR: You know me, skinny bitch, fat bitch, whatever.
JONES: Exactly.
BEHAR: But after you lost the weight, I said to you, you`re going to have trouble looking at yourself when you were fat. And you said to me, I looked better fat than 98 percent of the population looks thin. Now, I take that to mean that you thought you were fine with it.
JONES: I think that was me just giving it to you the same way I always did.
BEHAR: Denial?
JONES: Yes. Honestly, Joy, it was the most trying time for me. I gained -- I`m not sure if you all realize. I gained 75 pounds in front of your face in a year, between my 40th birthday and my 41st birthday.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: And it was the most successful year for my career. However, it was the most depressing in my life. And I realize that I would go home and I would go to some fabulous event, wear some fabulous outfit, and paint myself red. When you`re too big, you`re just covered in red.
BEHAR: Right.
JONES: And come home and get a double whopper with cheese, no pickles, extra ketchup, extra mayonnaise.
BEHAR: You were a compulsive eater?
JONES: I was a sad eater. You know, when you`re sad, you eat. And instead of trying to figure out why I was sad, that`s what I did. And so I gained 75 pounds.
BEHAR: OK. I want to talk more about that when we come back.
We`ll have much more with Star Jones, so don`t go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: We have some issues here, the printer is offline. We have some serious issues and we need to make a decision.
I wanted to have my eyes on those printed materials. I think it`s important. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. So being methodical is my nature.
I`d like to get a power cord as soon as possible, please. I`ve asked for a power strip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dude, shut the hell up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Well, that was Star Jones on "Celebrity Apprentice" and she`s back with me now.
So, it`s not exactly your thing, I don`t think, this kind of show.
JONES: No, not at all.
BEHAR: But why`d you do it?
JONES: Because they opened my chest up. And when the Trump Organization came to me with his producers to say, you know, would you do it again this year? They had asked before. I actually had a reason this time because I knew that they would sort of pimp the promos, which is what they`re doing. I knew it would give me a platform to talk about the thing that I cared about the most.
BEHAR: I see.
JONES: So I figured why not.
BEHAR: That was a good reason.
JONES: Yes. I decided I could use this platform to elevate heart disease to the national conversation. And I have.
BEHAR: And last night you guys made a lot of money.
JONES: Oh my god. Marlee was stellar. Absolutely stellar. She`s fantastic. As a fund-raising team we had a great time.
I mean, she knew -- I know a lot of people are still trying to figure out how do the girls come from behind? Well, it came down to using the rules to our advantage. You know, my thing is to look at the rules and see what they say we can do. And we had 20 pieces of art to sell.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: But we can only sell them once. So, instead of taking the fast money, the $1,000, $5,000, I waited for Marlee`s big money to kick in.
BEHAR: Right.
JONES: Ninety-nine thousand, $99,000, $75,000.
BEHAR: And then you got all that money from Michael Jackson, that Michael Jackson t-shirt --
JONES: Actually --
BEHAR: That Latoya had.
JONES: -- in all honesty, that was all Marlee`s people.
BEHAR: Yes, but Latoya did donate the shirt --
JONES: Yes. Oh, absolutely. You know what, what we did was is I assigned prices to each one. We really just had 20 pieces of paper saying we`re going to give you this amount of money.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: It was just to be assigned to each art piece.
BEHAR: Right.
JONES: So, it was a strategy to maximize our donations. You did very well. I mean, the show is magnificent.
BEHAR: The money went to the Starkey Hearing Foundation. So it just showed you with Marlee and with John that this was really the focus of why you do the show. The first episode, I got to be project manager and make a lot of money for the Heart Association, nothing in comparison to $1 million. But significant enough that I felt very positive about doing the show.
BEHAR: I think it`s also helpful for people to see you doing that kind of thing, too. Why not?
JONES: Yes, and you know what --
BEHAR: Doesn`t hurt you.
JONES: I don`t think it hurts me in the least bit. It`s showing me to be methodical and professional --
BEHAR: OK. Let to that. Nene (ph) says -- no, Latoya told me here that you`re very controlling.
JONES: I am, 100 percent. I am bossy as can be. You think I`m bossy on this show? Ask my girlfriends when we go on vacation together. They get an itinerary.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: They know which hotel they`re staying in, what the name of the concierge -- you know that. Why are you acting like?
BEHAR: I can vouch for that, you`re very bossy.
JONES: I`m very bossy.
BEHAR: You are bossy, and it`s the way you want to do it, and that`s it.
JONES: And, excuse me, didn`t you like when weed had to go somewhere for lunch or go somewhere for dinner, what would you look, Star, what time is the car coming? What`s the car service name --
BEHAR: It`s good in that way.
JONES: Yes, because you don`t have to think about it.
BEHAR: But, you know, well --
JONES: It`s annoying.
BEHAR: It doesn`t work particularly in an interpersonal relationship. But it`s good when you need somebody to organize.
JONES: Wait a minute. This is a competition, Joy.
BEHAR: I know.
JONES: They`re not my family. I don`t know these people. I mean, honestly. Everybody wants to make this into this friendship and love. You know my girlfriends. Are any of these people my friends?
BEHAR: But you get along with Marlee.
JONES: Marlee is one of my friends.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: And I like her.
BEHAR: Which one was the most annoying do you think? Who annoyed you the most? All of them you were about to say.
JONES: I was. Obviously you know me. I was about to say --
BEHAR: So, on a scale of one to "The View," how annoying was it?
JONES: Honestly, "The View" was not nearly as annoying. Not at all, because I actually -- I hate when people equate the "Celebrity Apprentice" to "The View." And I`ll tell you why. "The View" was my family for nine years. And no matter what happened between us, somebody ever said anything mean about you publicly, I would want to run them over with a truck.
And I saw part of your interview with Nene and I saw with her, you know, mocking me and everything. And I could see in your face, and I sent you a note, that said, "Hmm." I can call her a skinny bitch, but don`t you say that.
BEHAR: Well, she also was saying things that were true. She was saying that -- imitating you -- I live on the Upper East Side. I said, well, she does live there.
And, "I`m a lawyer." Well, I said she is a lawyer.
JONES: I think it was a little annoying.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: You know, I mean, Tracy Morgan does it much better than that.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: We`ll take a break, we`ll more with Star in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with Star Jones. Her new book is the novel, "Satan`s Sisters." And it has nothing to do with me or Barbara or any of us over there.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: Can you even say it? I want to put the horns on the back of your head right now like you used to do me.
BEHAR: Well -- I mean, you know, whatever. Anyway, I`ll read the book. I`m going to read the book. Then I`ll tell you who`s in the book.
JONES: Yes.
BEHAR: Because I know what went on there and I know where your head is at.
JONES: Yes, you do know my head.
BEHAR: So, I mean, you have your lead character there who`s a black woman, so you threw us off.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: Remember, I am smarter than the average bear.
BEHAR: You are, you are smarter.
OK. Now there was a moment between you and Marlee last night, Marlee Matlin, that was very funny. Watch it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish I wasn`t put in this spot or this position --
DONALD TRUMP, TRUMP ORGANIZATION CEO: It`s a tough spot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m deaf, Star, I can`t hear you.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m pissed of --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry. You`ve got to sign to it, Jack. He`ll sign or by (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: It`s like giving the finger to Stevie Wonder, you know what I mean?
JONES: I have to tell you, Marlee really makes you forget that she is deaf.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: Because she`s so thorough, wonderful. I think it`s a great testament to how we should not put people in a box and say that they`re, quote, "disabled, because there`s nothing disabled about her. She`s smart and thorough and kind. And she`s a hearing person because she feels emotionally for other people.
BEHAR: Yes. I`ve interviewed her, she`s a lovely person.
JONES: And I`ve got to tell you, it was so typical of the two of us.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: And I learned a bit of sign language to communicate because I enjoyed working with her so much.
BEHAR: Well, that could help in your next marriage.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: Speaking of which.
BEHAR: I also want to ask you about Donald Trump. This business of having everyone, no matter whether they`re 150 years old, Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump. Doesn`t that get on your nerves?
JONES: Well, you know, what was funny about this, you know how long I`ve known Donald, right?
BEHAR: Yes. Didn`t you go to his wedding?
JONES: He came to mine. (INAUDIBLE)
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: But I thought this was a job interview. I thought it was supposed to be professional. So, I approached it that way.
I never lost sight of Mr. Trump. I didn`t care one way or the other. And I was fine with that. And I think it helped balance out the "I know you, you know me." And I wanted him to treat me like a potential employee and he did.
BEHAR: I see. So, it was OK.
JONES: It was OK with me.
BEHAR: But Dionne Warwick, she had to call him Mr. Trump which is embarrassing.
JONES: I thought it was kind of funny. You know, Dionne has gotten such a bad rap because she was just really, really, you know, cranky and crotchety. But just imagine, Dionne`s my mom`s age. She`s 70.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: Do you really think we need to put Shirley on television to put up with those girls? Think about that.
BEHAR: No, I know. I felt for her.
JONES: I mean, when you`re 70 years old, you`ve seen everything.
BEHAR: She didn`t want to be there.
JONES: You`ve seen everything. Dionne`s a legend. It`s like me sitting with Aretha and Diana Ross and Miss Carroll and Patti LaBelle. I`m not going to disrespect her.
BEHAR: Carol, Diahann Carroll?
JONES: Miss Carroll.
BEHAR: Why don`t you say Miss Franklin and Miss --
JONES: I`m saying Rere (ph) or the queen when I talk about her. You know, Patti is Patti. I mean, and Miss Dionne, that`s what we called her.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: I mean, that`s what the smart ones of us called her.
BEHAR: Did they call her that when she was a psychic, Miss Dionne?
JONES: I don`t know. And I got news for you, you bring that up, you might get the cuss-out.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK. We`ll be back with more with Star Jones in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with Star Jones. Now, Star, I was there when you lost all this weight.
JONES: Yes, you were there when I gained all that weight too.
BEHAR: I watched you gain it and I watched you lose it. And I have to say, there was one point on "The View" where you said something that actually I didn`t understand how to respond to.
You said, nobody came -- nobody said to you, Star, you need an intervention because you were very, very heavy.
JONES: Right.
BEHAR: But I always felt like if I said anything to you, because I could see the breathing was labored. You were having trouble walking.
JONES: Correct.
BEHAR: I felt that you would not have been able to take -- you would have turned on me.
JONES: And I agree with you. As a matter of fact, there`s only probably one person and that was the one person who actually stepped up. My best friend, Janet --
BEHAR: Right.
JONES: -- walked in and she said, what are we going to do about your weight? And she knew she was taking our friendship in her hands because there was a time, Joy, that my entire team, my professional team, Team Star, sat with me and they said, you need to deal with this publicly.
And I said to them, if you ever bring it up again you`re all fired. I was so emotionally closed down and I wasn`t ashamed of having had the surgery. I realize now through therapy I was actually ashamed of having gained the weight.
BEHAR: Right.
JONES: Somebody who in theory is so smart, so strong, so organized, so strategic, looks ahead, could not see the damage that I was doing to myself. And the first thing, I had to do was forgive myself and once I did, I felt like I didn`t need to hide anything anymore.
BEHAR: So the fact that you didn`t admit that it was gastric bypass was because you were ashamed that you had gotten so heavy?
JONES: I was completely paralyzed with fear that people would really figure out that all of that time of saying, I`m happy with myself, and girlfriend it doesn`t matter how big you are, was a bunch of bull.
Because I really couldn`t breathe ad I really couldn`t walk. And I really was ashamed that I would walk down the aisle of a plane and I would see people turn because the last thing they`d want is the fat girl sitting next to them. Those kinds of emotions were real --
BEHAR: And awhile with that kind of --
JONES: My entire adult life, from age 20 to 40, was classically obese. The last four years, between 36 and 40, or 37 and 41, was morbidly obese.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: And I`m talking at my height, I weighed 307 pounds on the day that I had weight loss surgery and I lost total 160 pounds. And it`s now been seven years because if you remember, it`s almost six years that you and I haven`t worked together.
BEHAR: No, it`s not that long.
JONES: Yes, it is.
BEHAR: It`s four years.
JONES: No.
BEHAR: You left, then Rosie came on, she stayed for a year, and Whoopi`s been there three years, that`s four years.
JONES: I`ve been gone longer than that.
BEHAR: Four and half, that`s it.
JONES: No, add it up. I`ve been gone longer than that.
BEHAR: All right, whatever, it doesn`t matter.
JONES: It`s been a while. OK, I`ve kept all the weight off.
BEHAR: You have, which is great, because a lot of people do gain it back, a lot of it.
JONES: But I damaged my heart, which really did contribute.
BEHAR: You think so?
JONES: I know so. Yes, weight gain, obesity, is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular disease.
BEHAR: Right. But it was the weight gain that caused the heart attack, disease, whatever.
JONES: The heart disease.
BEHAR: The surgery and the losing didn`t cause it.
JONES: No, of course not, actually that saved my life. My cardiologist said, if I had not lost the weight, then I would not have been able to probably survive the aortic valve repair.
BEHAR: I see.
JONES: So in hindsight, doing it the way I did, getting physically fit and emotionally fit --
BEHAR: You might have been dead.
JONES: I probably would.
BEHAR: You probably would have died.
JONES: Yes.
BEHAR: You had to do it.
JONES: Then what would you have done?
BEHAR: Without you?
JONES: Yes.
BEHAR: We would have hired Rosie O`Donnell.
JONES: Or Jerry Jefford or Whoopi Goldberg or one of them other broads you hired.
BEHAR: But you know, at that point, you put us in a difficult position.
JONES: Girl, you put me in difficult positions. All of you, would you please get over that? I kept all your secrets and I still do, but I`m going to write a sequel so don`t start with me. I`ve kept all your secrets.
BEHAR: What secrets did you keep of mine? My age? It`s all over the internet.
JONES: I know, Lassie 10.
BEHAR: What else can you tell about me? You know how boring I am.
JONES: But I felt very strongly that as a team, we let people work out their stuff in their time and I should have the right to work it out in my time.
BEHAR: Yes.
JONES: And to this day, I`ve not disclosed anything about you Spanx- wearing broads. So I`m going to stick with that, OK? And I`m going to say that it`s all been sweetness and light, but I am writing a sequel.
BEHAR: One of my confessions is I wear sassy nips. I`m just saying - well, because one boob is bigger than the other. Also they`re like Picasso -- so one`s a little lower. It doesn`t look right.
JONES: You used to say that they aim toward Costa Rica.
BEHAR: That`s right. They`re supposed to aim towards Canada but no.
JONES: You can get that fixed now a days you know.
BEHAR: But all right. So I see your point. The only thing is that we had a -- when you would say things like -- we`d say, how did you lose the weight? You said portion control. We knew that was a lie.
JONES: But you didn`t say how did you lose the weight? As a matter of fact you never asked the question.
BEHAR: She has a photographic memory that`s the problem.
JONES: No, you know what it was, what bothered me probably more than anything was there was this assumption that I quote took the easy way out. I think that annoyed me more than anything.
BEHAR: Well, I don`t know if we thought you took the easy way because that`s a hard way to go.
JONES: It`s a tough, tough way to have weight loss. I don`t want any woman out there to feel like I felt, like I was being pressured to do something before I was ready.
And I felt like I should have the right to say when I`m comfortable. I lost the weight here. I needed to lose the weight here and I should have had the right to tell you guys -- well, I told you, you knew already.
BEHAR: But we`ve looked back on it. I realize you were not emotionally ready to go there. You just weren`t.
JONES: No.
BEHAR: But you know what? What, have you had a lot of therapy you`re telling me?
JONES: A lot -- a lot of therapy. I really should have had it throughout the weight loss, but you know, hindsight is 20/20. The first day I had to get approved for weight loss surgery. The doctor said, you`re going to be fine in terms of losing the weight and keeping it off because once you make a determination, that`s it.
She said, but the big problem is going to be dealing with other people`s perceptions and how are you going to handle that. I don`t think I listened to her.
BEHAR: Well, you seem to have come quite a long way, actually.
JONES: Well, you know what, this is a blessing.
BEHAR: Good for you.
JONES: I used I think "Satan`s Sisters" as a bit of therapy for myself. It was fun. My life had become such a soap opera.
BEHAR: Well, let`s talk about your life now. First of all, let`s go back to the wedding for a second, which was a very public wedding that you had.
JONES: It was fun, I had a ball.
BEHAR: It was a lot of fun. Hillary Clinton showed up. You and I wrestled. Do they know the story?
JONES: Yes, because you brought a camera into the wedding.
BEHAR: You have, again, miss control freak --
JONES: It was my wedding!
BEHAR: No cameras and no pants. You know I was not wearing dresses.
JONES: It was a white tie wedding.
BEHAR: Well, I wore a beautiful black outfit. It had pants. I stashed the camera in my bag and so --
JONES: Which you were not supposed to do.
BEHAR: I know. OK, you like to control and I like to break rules.
JONES: And you certainly do.
BEHAR: OK, so then there was a moment that people don`t really know about where I took a picture and you caught me.
JONES: Because I have eyes in the back of my head.
BEHAR: You caught me and there you were like in your big bridezilla outfit coming towards me, wrestled me to the ground and got the thing out of my hands.
JONES: You exaggerate.
BEHAR: You wrestled me to the ground.
JONES: In my white gown?
BEHAR: You looked good that day. You looked pretty that day.
JONES: I got to tell you, the wedding was fun. I wish -- and I really wish that I had spent as much time working on the marriage as I did on the wedding. But you know what? You got divorced. You get over it.
BEHAR: That`s right.
JONES: You move on.
BEHAR: You dating? I know you`re going out with somebody I already met one time.
JONES: And I`m happy and there it is. Because it`s important to be, I`ve elected to keep it private.
BEHAR: Good girl. You learned.
JONES: Heck yes.
BEHAR: You learned your lessons.
JONES: Heck yes. It will never happen again, no, baby. No, keep it over there.
BEHAR: Remember, you got mad -- you got mad at Sam Jackson one time when he said to you, Star, don`t make it public and you got mad. You`ve changed so much.
JONES: And I love taking advice from brilliant people now.
BEHAR: Well, he was right. He was a good friend.
JONES: And he is my friend and I think it`s really important when you grow, when you know better, you do better.
BEHAR: Now, you know, Nemi, your nemesis on "The Celebrity," she`s hanging out with Al Reynolds, your ex.
JONES: God, I wish it were true they had become involved with each other, then they could pimp each other instead of me.
BEHAR: OK! I must say this has been interesting to see --
JONES: It was so good to see you again -
BEHAR: You can catch Star Jones on "The Celebrity Apprentice" Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on NBC. Pick up her book, which is not about me. "Satan`s Sisters." We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Charlie Sheen`s second tour stop in Chicago over the weekend reportedly went a lot better than his first in Detroit where the actor was booed off the stage. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIE SHEEN: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Not a lot of love there. Here now to talk about this and much, much more, Christian Finnegan, comedian, Rob Chuter, AOL`s top feeder columnist and K Foxx, co-host of morning show "Hot 97."
OK, guys, his first show was a disaster, but the second show he did much better in Chicago. Did any of you go to any of these?
K. FOXX, CO-HOST, HOT 97: Well, I`m actually going this Friday at Radio City. So I`m going to be there April 8th.
BEHAR: Why are you going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you pay for a ticket?
FOXX: Well, actually my producer on the show paid. He was all into it because I wasn`t going to spend my money. It`s entertaining. I want to see what`s going to happen. I want to be there. I want to be in the action. If they`re going to boo, I want to be next to the person that`s booing.
BEHAR: The audience who booed, they knew what they were getting.
CHRISTIAN FINNEGAN, COMEDIAN: Any who wants a refund should have to make a public speech explaining their rationale for buying a ticket in the first place.
And then that person should have to go door to door to their neighbors and say, you are living in the neighborhood of somebody who bought a Charlie Sheen ticket.
ROB SHUTER, AOL`S "POPEATER" COLUMNIST: It`s a good point. When they say he did better in Chicago, the starting point here was very low. S o he did change the entire act for the second sitting where it turned into more of a live interview where he came out with a friend and answered questions.
BEHAR: Well, he took out the video clips, the rapper, the opening act and he added someone to interview him.
SHUTER: Just a friend of his came out and they sat there one on one and asked questions. He took questions from the audience. I`m being told he`s going to change the act again by the time he gets to New York. This is a work in progress.
BEHAR: It`s called working out your material. You`re a comic. This guy all of a sudden out of nowhere, he`s going to do an 80-minute show? Please.
FINNEGAN: Isn`t it infuriating when you see these dilettantes and they`re like, if worst comes to worst, I`ll do standup comedy.
Because they`re Twitter celebrities and they have no idea. You`re not a cultural phenomenon, you are content. You are nothing. All Charlie Sheen is, is an extra hour of sleep for Rob for two weeks because when did happens your jobs are so easy.
FOXX: It`s so easy. I`m so glad that he did get booed in Detroit. It makes him seem more human because everything that he did was winning. Now it`s like --
BEHAR: Losing, now losing.
FOXX: So now it`s like, let`s redeem yourself. You`re not made with tiger blood.
BEHAR: He was not very gracious. Because he said, I already got your money, dude, to those who wanted their money back. That`s not the way to endear yourself to an audience.
SHUTER: It`s not a good idea.
FINNEGAN: I don`t know that you`re going to win either way because you`re also not going to win by being, guys, please will you sit down? Not once you`ve been out there saying I`m the man.
BEHAR: How about telling the truth? I came out here and I wasn`t prepared. Now let`s just talk truthfully now. That`s what he should have done.
SHUTER: There`s a clause on the tickets too that if he cancels these concerts, these shows, he has a year to reschedule them before you can get your money back.
BEHAR: Boy. Well, that sucks.
FINNEGAN: You should honestly, when you hit "send" on your computer to buy the ticket, it should electrically shock you. If you purchase the tickets -- I`m sorry, but you didn`t pay for it. If you bought a ticket we don`t need you.
SHUTER: He`s looking for a hotel here in New York and he can`t find one yet that wants him to stay. So Charlie doesn`t have digs yet here in New York.
BEHAR: He can buy New York.
SHUTER: Yes, he`ll be fine.
FINNEGAN: You have a sofa, right?
BEHAR: Right. Just what I need. By the way, did you see Meatloaf last week, speaking of rageaholics. He went ballistic on "Celebrity Apprentice" last night. Do you think he`s bipolar? Then he was kissing and hugging Gary Busey in this weird way.
SHUTER: I think it`s edited really well, that show. Several people who have done the show have told me they are sleep deprived, that Donald really works them, sort of provokes them to be as naughty as possible.
FINNEGAN: You`re saying Donald Trump is maybe not a nice person? Is that what you`re trying to say?
FOXX: What about Nene?
SHUTER: This is great. Nene quits. Not only "The Apprentice," she quits her charity and Donald does fire her.
BEHAR: Does he fire her before she quits?
SHUTER: Nobody is allowed to leave that show and not hear the words "you`ve been fired" apart from the winner. So even though she quits she still gets fired.
FOXX: She`s letting down her charity.
FINNEGAN: She`s on "The Celebrity Apprentice"? I just want to be clear about that.
BEHAR: She`s a housewife from Atlanta.
FINNEGAN: I know a few housewives from Atlanta. They`re not on "Celebrity Apprentice."
BEHAR: I mean, she actually quits the show, wow.
SHUTER: The sad thing is that all for charity. The -- part about this is she does walk out on her charity.
BEHAR: They`ll pick up the slack. Marlee Matlin`s still there raising money, she`s good.
SHUTER: They all have individual charities. So her personal charity, which is Domestic Violence, isn`t going to earn a penny from her being on the show.
BEHAR: Wow. Donald still said "you`re fired." I love it.
FINNEGAN: He chased her down the street yelling "you`re fired."
BEHAR: Now what about Snooki? Snooki did a speaking gig at Rutgers University. They paid her $32,000, which comes to $10,000 per complete sentence.
FINNEGAN: It`s a 3.2 sentences.
BEHAR: Is this is a sign of the apocalypse? First Libya, now Snooki speaking at Rutgers.
FINNEGAN: I think you should be able to spell college before you`re invited to speak at one.
BEHAR: I agree with that.
FOXX: Do college students really need to learn how to party or, you know, drink? That`s what basically she was telling them to do. Study hard and party harder. How many kids don`t need to learn that?
BEHAR: She said when you`re 10 you`ll feel better about yourself. Why exactly is she worth that much money?
SHUTER: Because the kids turn up.
BEHAR: She`s a draw.
SHUTER: They want to see Snooki and I think that`s why they paid her another big bucks. She fills up that lecture hall in a way that maybe Donald Rumsfeld or other people wouldn`t.
BEHAR: Donald Rumsfeld is such a draw. What about the fact that Tony Morrison, the great Nobel prize-winning author, was making less money than she was in that particular instance? Although she said she cut her fee.
FINNEGAN: In Rutgers` defense have you seen Tony Morrison`s reality show? Lame, lame. Weak, weak.
BEHAR: Brilliant but lame, is that it?
FINNEGAN: The real authors of Orange County.
BEHAR: When she was asked about the controversy Tony Morrison said, "I don`t know her and I don`t care." I love Tony Morrison for that.
SHUTER: She can make more money by turning up at fee is between $25,000 and $50,000 for two hours in a night club.
BEHAR: Who Tony? Not Tony, Snooki.
SHUTER: Snooki, $50,000 to hang out in a night club for three hours.
BEHAR: She was also on Wrestlemania last night. When we come back, I want to show you a clip of her in Wrestlemania. OK, stay right there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight on "Showbiz Tonight", a tale of two cities. "Showbiz Tonight" is right there with Charles Sheen`s disaster in Detroit turns into cheers in Chicago at 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snooki. Did you see that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hand spring.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m amazed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Wow. I`m back with my panel. Maybe Toni Morrison should have tried a choke hold maybe she withdraw. But you know, I did not realize that the girl can do that flip like that.
FINNEGAN: That is something --
BEHAR: So she actually has a talent.
FINNEGAN: I guess, yes, I mean -- the Olympics maybe.
FOXX: She`s pretty athletic. You know, I think her being on Wrestlemania is a perfect solution for anybody who wanted to beat her up. It`s like living your fantasies through Wrestlemania.
FINNEGAN: That`s a reality show I`d watch, "Beat Up Snooki."
BEHAR: OK, here`s another story. On her radio show, Rosie O`Donnell on Sirius radio show that she has. She says -- I want to show you what she says about Chris Brown and the Robin Roberts interview. Go ahead, watch.
ROSIE: I can name 25 stars who trash dressing rooms, who trash hotel rooms. I just don`t know why this kid seems to be held to a different standard than anyone else. I actually felt bad for Chris Brown during that interview.
And I felt mildly angry at, you know, Robin Roberts. I feel like writing her and going can you take a look at this given and see if maybe you find in any way your responsibility in this at all?
BEHAR: OK, he didn`t just trash a room, he trashed Rihanna`s face. OK, this guy is an abusive guy. I wonder why Rosie left that out here?
FINNEGAN: It seems a little odd. You can`t - you always know somebody a contrite by long they`re contrite. Anybody can feel bad about something for a month or two after they make a mistake. Are they still contrite a year later, two years later? He publicly beat the heck out of a woman. Sorry, dude, you can`t just move on.
BEHAR: So you think Robin Roberts was correct?
FINNEGAN: Yes, I mean -- it`s the most interesting thing to happen on GMA in five years.
FOXX: He obviously has anger management issues that he`s still dealing with. The only reason why she`s voicing her opinion about this because she`s been flying under the radar for a really long time so now she has a new talk show --
BEHAR: Who Rosie?
FOXX: Yes, Rosie. She`s taking over Oprah`s studio. She has to have something to talk about. Give us something to talk about and that`s why she`s doing it.
BEHAR: Well, that`s smart PR maybe.
SHUTER: Rosie`s a really smart lady, love her or hate her, this is a smart lady. To cherry pick your argument like that is surprising to me. She`s too smart for that. Rosie`s too sophisticated and for her to do that, I was surprised.
BEHAR: But Robin Roberts has a job. She just did her job.
FINNEGAN: Of course, you think that Rosie would be smart enough to be like I know what`s going to be coming back at me when I say this.
BEHAR: That`s her point.
SHUTER: You`re in my show and you`ll get tough questions. You don`t know.
BEHAR: OK, thank you guys very much and thank you all for watching. Good night, everybody.
BROOKE ANDERSON, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hi there, I`m Brooke Anderson. This is the "Showbiz Tonight" news break. Here is what`s coming up on "Showbiz Tonight" at the top of the hour.
A tale of two cities. "Showbiz Tonight" is right there as Charlie Sheen`s disaster in Detroit turns into cheers in Chicago.
And Oprah`s startling new confession. Why she decided she doesn`t want children. That`s your "Showbiz Tonight" news break. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts at the top of the hour here on HLN
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