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Nancy Grace
Mom Force-Feeds Boy Vodka and Painkillers; 13-Year-Old Student Sues Reality TV Dance Instructor for Assault
Aired October 14, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Police race to a $2,000-a-night hotel suite to find an executive mom, Gigi Jordan, sitting on the floor
surrounded by thousands of pills just a few feet away from her 8-year-old little boy, the boy frothing at the mouth, dead.
Bombshell tonight. Did Mommy lie about the whole thing? Did Mommy actually grind down powerful painkiller vicodin to mix with vodka and
orange juice and force-feed her little 8-year-old son dead?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The multi-millionaire mother charged with killing her 8-year-old son desperately wants to tell her story. Killing the boy, the
defense says, was her way of protecting him. She says she simply, quote, "protected him from the animals" she couldn`t keep from the door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a reality TV star gets a taste of actual reality after the star is dragged into court on serious assault charges -- 60-hour work
weeks, cruel insults, body shaming, chair throwing. Inside the hell of a reality TV child star.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Abby Lee Miller (ph), star of TV`s "Dance Moms," is seen being tough on her students, maybe a bit too tough. Thirteen-year-old
Page Highland (ph) is suing the dance instructor. The young student claims she feared she was going to be physically harmed by her dance instructor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Police race to a $2,000-a-night hotel suite. There they find an executive mom, Gigi Jordan, sitting on the floor. She`s
surrounded by 5,000 pills, and she`s just a few feet away from her 8-year- old little boy, a beautiful little boy, frothing at the mouth, dead. Did Mommy actually grind down powerful painkiller vicodin to mix with vodka and
orange juice, then force-feed her little 8-year-old son dead?
The little boy by all accounts, according to his teachers, a mute. He couldn`t scream out or complain. There you see a picture of Gigi Jordan.
She is a very powerful executive in the pharmaceutical industry. She pays cash for a $2,000-a-night hotel suite, stays holed up in there for about
two days, ordering room service, leaving the "Do not disturb" sign on the door.
When police finally kick the door in, they find Mommy, who originally was a nurse -- she knew full well what she was doing, according to police. They
find her with her beautiful boy dead.
Straight out to Irene Cornell, WCBS. Irene, what happened?
IRENE CORNELL, WCBS NEWSRADIO (via telephone): Well, Gigi Jordan admitted on the witness stand that she intentionally killed her child. It was quite
obvious, and she admits it. Her claim is that she was trying to protect him from her ex-husband, who was going to kill her. And she was afraid,
then, that if he killed her, the little boy would be left in the hands of his biological father, her Bulgarian yoga instructor.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Irene -- Irene...
CORNELL: Sounds crazy.
GRACE: Let me get this straight, OK, because you`re a very well-respected journalist. So you`re telling me Mommy says, I killed my little 8-year-old
boy, my only child, because she was afraid he would be -- I thought the story was she was afraid he would be molested.
She claims that this 8-year-old boy, who is mute, all right, told her he had been sexually molested by every adult in his life other than her. I`m
talking about -- what does she have, three husbands, the yoga instructor, the alleged mobster, some other husband, the baby-sitters, the stepmothers.
I mean, it couldn`t possibly be true, Irene.
CORNELL: Well, the little boy, first of all, was autistic. His teacher had testified that he could say one word. When he said "Hi" to her, it was
the best day in her life. He had maybe two or three words.
The mother, Gigi Jordan, claims that in this -- suddenly, this miracle, the child who couldn`t read and couldn`t speak began typing messages to her on
a BlackBerry and on a computer, describing in great, graphic detail years of sexual abuse by all these people in his life.
So it`s clearly -- maybe she believes this, but nobody knows really what her defense is. The judge doesn`t know. He asked the lawyer one day, Is
this extreme emotional disturbance? What is it?
GRACE: Well, another thing I don`t understand -- Michelle Southern joining me, assistant news director, LRN. Michelle, she admits that she created a
cocktail of vodka, vicodin and orange juice. It was found in a syringe, and there were bruises on the little boy`s nose, mouth and chest. Cops say
she force-fed him vodka and painkillers until he was dead, Michelle.
MICHELLE SOUTHERN, LOUISIANA RADIO NETWORK (via telephone): That`s right, and the drugs ranged from ambien, xanax, prozac, celebrex, trexone,
hydrocodone. There were thousands found inside the hotel room, all over the floor, along with the child`s lifeless body. He was foaming at the
mouth. And you know, the first thing she says is that she wants to see a lawyer.
GRACE: Yes, you know, that really struck me. Back to Irene Cornell, WCBS. Irene, so police get there. She`s sitting there with her son, who is dead,
her 8-year-old little boy. And the first thing she says when cops come in the door is, I want a lawyer. That`s a little hard to swallow.
CORNELL: Well, originally, this was -- according to GIGI, this was going to be a murder-suicide, that she was going to kill herself. And she
certainly had enough pills around and knew how to kill herself. But somehow, she didn`t do that. She just let the little boy die. And then...
GRACE: Yes, you`re right, Irene, 5,000 pills. But they were all on the floor and in the little boy`s body. And the fact that he had bruises on
his nose, mouth and chest -- prosecutors say she force-fed her 8-year-old little mute boy orange juice, vicodin and vodka until he ODs and dies.
And then right in the middle of it all -- Irene, please tell me I`m wrong - - is it true she transferred $125,000 out of his trust fund? She transfers it out while he`s lying there, dying?
CORNELL: Yes, she did that. She also wrote some checks to charities and had them mailed. And on the way to the hotel, intending to kill her child,
she had stopped and transferred $8 million from her savings account to her checking account, so...
GRACE: And there is the little boy. He`s sitting on a bench, everybody, that we`re showing you right now. This is from the New York county
district attorney`s office. There he is, sitting on a bench while Mommy`s transferring millions of dollars so she could get at it after she kills her
son. And the little boy is right there with her while she`s making the transfer.
And after, according to cops, she force-feeds him vodka and painkillers until he`s dead, pushing a syringe down his throat, while he`s dying, she
transfers $125,000 by computer out of his trust fund. There goes Mommy. You`re seeing inside the room where the little boy, Jude, breathes his
last. It`s a $2,000 hotel room. She paid in cash. There`s a shot of Jude.
With me right now, Pat Hays. Pat has raised two sons with autism. She is an attorney. She specializes in education law. She`s at Autismvoices.com.
Pat, thank you so much for being with us. Pat, why is it that children with disabilities -- this little boy said one word, "Hi." He had maybe
three or four words he could say. So as Mommy is force-feeding him vodka and painkillers, according to police, he can`t even call out for help, Pat
Hays. He can`t even scream out for somebody out in the hall to hear him.
PAT HAYS, ATTORNEY, SPECIAL EDUCATION LAW (via telephone): No, that`s right. He was totally non-verbal except just a word or two. There would
have been no way that he could communicate at all to anyone -- I mean, only his mother. And the whole way they communicated is very suspicious to me.
She says she used facilitated communication with him, which is that...
GRACE: What is that?
HAYS: She`s the facilitator, and she`s trying to -- she helps him type.
GRACE: I mean, let`s take a look at some of the messages. The little boy, who`s just turned 8, cannot speak. He is mute. Look at what she says he
wrote her. "We need to leave in a way we want to go, not their way. Get the pills and try to do it. That`s the tip of the iceberg. So let`s just
get out while we can. We`re going to die anyway. Let`s do it ourselves instead of them."
She`s saying her 8-year-old mute child is saying this. "I wish you would do it soon, Mommy. I`m scared you`re too chicken. Jesus knows you`re
sorry. He forgave you a long time ago. It`s not murder. I think if you`re doing it to save me from them, it`s OK."
What 8-year-old would say, "It`s not murder. I need to be dead. I need a lot of drugs to die peacefully."
You know what? Those texts right there alone would qualify her for the death penalty, in my book. The fact that she would not only do this, OK,
do this to her child, according to the police -- force-feed him orange juice, vodka and vicodin, force-feed him dead, sit there with him,
transferring money out of his account, and then blame him, blame the child, claim the child, who couldn`t speak, wrote her -- took her BlackBerry and
wrote her these messages?
Unleash the lawyers. Joining me, Alex Sanchez and Jeff Gold. All right, Jeff Gold, what`s your defense for Mommy?
JEFF GOLD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, Nancy, you know, the way you`re describing it, it sounds like a first degree crime, except it`s not.
It`s only a second degree. And these very seasoned prosecutors...
GRACE: OK, stop right there.
GOLD: ... know something about this case...
GRACE: No. Stop right there!
GOLD: ... that we don`t.
GRACE: Anyone familiar with the law in that jurisdiction knows first degree murder is for the shooting of cops, judges, political entities.
That is what they reserve first degree murder for. All other murder is second degree, unless you`re one of those designated individuals that
basically are a symbol of our government.
So the requirements under the law for first degree and second degree are exactly the same, Jeff Gold, except that this little boy wasn`t a judge or
an elected official. So if you`re suggesting that somehow his life is worth less to me, you are sorely mistaken. All right, so that aside, now
give me your defense.
GOLD: Right. I`m not saying his life is worth any less. Obviously, this woman has got a mental problem, but it`s not an insanity defense. At the
same time, she`s...
GRACE: Why do you say obviously?
GOLD: Because she hasn`t filed...
GRACE: Put him up!
GOLD: She hasn`t file an insanity defense.
GRACE: You`re saying she has a mental problem. She is a nurse. She`s the head of a pharmaceutical company. She`s loaded. She`s not crazy. She`s
not mentally unstable.
GOLD: She`s saying she`s killing her child in order to -- for the greater good, which is also pretty crazy, so -- but she hasn`t filed an insanity
defense. Look...
GRACE: Because she is not insane?
GOLD: If you`re going to kill your kid, I think you`re crazy. That`s -- that`s...
GRACE: OK, Alex, I`m going to have to take you two to school right now. I don`t think Alex is going to go along with that. I can see his mind
ticking right now. Just because you kill somebody, even your son, even your child, does not mean that you`re crazy under the law, does it,
Sanchez?
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Nancy, you know, the judge is not the only one that`s confused by the defense in this case. You know,
the first rule of the defense is when you go into a trial, you have to have some type of theory that you`re going to present to the jury about how you
think this case should have been resolved and what happened. That doesn`t seem to be going on here.
GRACE: You`re right.
SANCHEZ: They should be promoting an insanity defense. By promoting...
GRACE: Yes, they should. Well, Alex...
SANCHEZ: By promoting an insanity defense...
GRACE: I`ll tell you the problem.
SANCHEZ: ... you can bring in all kinds of mental health-related issues...
GRACE: You`re right!
SANCHEZ: ... and then argue for manslaughter in this case.
GRACE: You`re right, and what Gold...
SANCHEZ: But this is kind of...
GRACE: ... is saying would fit in with that.
SANCHEZ: ... strange, the way it`s going.
GRACE: But she would not submit to the state`s doctor`s exam.
SANCHEZ: You know what`s happened here?
GRACE: That`s why the two of you are over the barrel on this...
SANCHEZ: Yes, this -- I know what happened here.
GRACE: ... because Mommy refuses -- Mommy refuses to have a psychiatric exam because she knows they`ll go, You`re not crazy, you`re crazy like a
fox.
SANCHEZ: This is an uncooperative...
GRACE: And so she won`t do it.
SANCHEZ: This is an uncooperative defendant. It`s a prosecution that believes they have an overwhelming case. And it`s a case that cannot be
resolved unless you go to trial. That`s what`s happening here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The millionaire socialite who killed her autistic son charged with killing her 8-year-old son.
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: As a mother who loved her child, she engaged in what is called altruistic suicide, filocide (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That was Alan Dershowitz, the defense lawyer, speaking. You will remember him, I`m sure, for getting O.J. Simpson off, charged with double
murder. He also represented Claus Von Bulow in the murder claims against (ph) his wife, Sonny Von Bulow, who was in a coma for years before her
death, and of course, Patty Hearst.
He was on that case, as well, now representing Gigi Jordan, the executive mom charged with force-feeding her 8-year-old little boy a deadly mixture
of orange juice, vodka and vicodin until the boy is dead, frothing at the mouth. She calmly sits by as her son is dying and transfers $125,000 out
of his trust fund for her use. This is just after she stops by the bank and transfers $8 million into her checking account.
Out to Dr. William Morrone, medical examiner and forensic pathologist. Dr. Morrone, the boy, the little boy pictured right there walking in the bank -
- if I could see that again -- died frothing at the mouth. What happened?
DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Frothing at the mouth is a very specific sign of an overdose death, an overdose usually
by opiates or painkillers. They suppress the breathing center in the brain, and there`s a lack of exchange in the lungs at the right pressure,
and the lungs create froth. And it`s what we call pathopneumonic (ph) for drug overdose death. It`s very indicative.
GRACE: So Dr. Morrone, the fact that the little boy had bruises to his nose, mouth and throat -- a big syringe was found and apparently had in it
-- there`s Jude right there -- vodka, painkillers, vicodin and others and orange juice -- how would the force-feeding have occurred?
MORRONE: Well, the force-feeding would occur because the child has to be in the right position. And a syringe is usually large enough that the
child has to have a mouth forced open. Syringes are made for intravenous injections. You have to put it in the mouth because you don`t want it
getting out. It has to be deep in the mouth, and then the syringe plunger has to be pushed and it has to be held in place. That would very, very
absolutely fit the format of bruising and force-feeding.
GRACE: Now, why do you say that?
MORRONE: Because those tissues are very soft, and this is a hard plastic syringe. And it doesn`t take an awful lot of pressure. For a child to
feed, just feeding itself, you hand it. Being force-fed is when you`re putting something in the mouth, and the child`s resisting. There had to be
resistance, and there was force.
And I would even check for the back of the head for bruising, which -- you know, and X-rays. There could be fractures on the neck and the head and
then the skull showing this is a very forceful feeding.
GRACE: You know, Dr. Morrone, when I think about this little boy -- he was mute. He couldn`t speak. And he could utter maybe two or three words max.
It was a huge triumph the day that he said "Hi" to a teacher. And I can only imagine the confusion that he felt as his own mother, according to
police, force-feeds him with a syringe vodka, alcohol and vicodin.
And there`s a little boy, Jude, just before his death. He`s with his mom. You see him walking across in the background. She`s at the bank,
transferring money into her checking account to use after his death. Now, she claims she was going to kill herself, too, but of course, that never
happened.
To Dr. William Morrone. You think the bruises to the mouth, the nose and the chest corroborate police`s claim -- the police claim that she force-fed
the child?
MORRONE: Because you have to have a pivot to administer a syringe, and you`re pressing on the chest to pivot to do the syringe. And the mouth and
the nose have to be held and the syringe is forced in the mouth. It makes perfect sense that she either held him down by pressing on the chest, or
the arm pushing on the syringe was on the chest and the rest was being held.
Bruises show up after autopsy better after embalming, so they should have some really good photographs. But these can be seen before embalming, and
then they show up even in greater detail after embalming. But it`s perfect (ph) pivoting, force-feeding.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This woman knew exactly what she was doing.
DERSHOWITZ: She inevitably had to choose between horrible evils, that is a lifetime of abuse of her son or a painless death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Back to Irene Cornell, WCBS. Irene, the defense lawyer claims that this is altruistic filocide (ph). I think that means that you kill -- you
murder your child for a good reason, for the good of all. How is murdering your child altruistic?
CORNELL: Well, no one who`s watching this trial can understand that one. First of all, nothing that happened during his life was altruistic. She
had hauled him around to doctors all over the country, giving him chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, convinced that sexual abuse had
caused his autism. He had plasmapheresis, transferring of all of his blood to replace it. The treatments he had were unbelievable. He was on 17...
GRACE: Why, Irene? Why did she do that to her son?
CORNELL: Well, at one point, she went to an expert in sexual abuse in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a former FBI agent who specialized in this kind of
thing. He told her that he would have people meet her at the airport and take her to a safe house because she feared her husband and her ex-husband.
GRACE: OK, wa-wait, wa-wait.
CORNELL: OK.
GRACE: This is crazy. This is crazy! You know what I think? I think that part of it was because, Pat Hays, instead of loving her son and
helping him with his handicap, his autism, she dragged the boy from place to place to place to place, doing bone marrow, plasma transplants all to
get a different answer, that it wasn`t autism. But it is autism!
PAT HAYS, ATTORNEY, SPECIAL EDUCATION LAW (via phone): I know there a lot of times parents don`t like that diagnosis, but the best thing you can do
is accept it, as far as being altruistic, I mean that means unselfish, and she doesn`t really would not was unselfish in what she did and ending his
life.
GRACE: Joining me right now a special guest, forensic pathologist who testified for the defense, Doctor Werner Spitz, a Renowned Forensic
Pathologist. Doctor Spitz, thank you for being with us.
What is the defense for your client, Gigi Jordan? What was your testimony?
DOCTOR WERNER SPITZ M.D., FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via phone): The testimony was that the mark on the chest of the child`s being attributed to an elbow
pressing on the chest to subdue -- subdued the child while it was being given an overdose was from an elbow. And that is wrong, that is
exaggerated, that is malicious, that is not what happened because an elbow does not make that kind of a mark.
This mark on the chest is from a heel of a hand. If you pass your fingers very lightly over the heal of your hand, the heal of the hand is between
the palm and the risk. You pass your hand there you would have feel that there is a elongated area there which is pronounced in one place.
GRACE: Right. I`m holding it up right now. I know what the heel of your hand is --
SPITZ: That the heal -- of the hand
GRACE: But isn`t that somewhat of a here it victory, Dr. Spitz? Because are you saying that she had the heel of her hand on his chest, not her
knee?
SPITZ: He had the heel of her hand as she was performing mouth-to-mouth breathing, causing a and CPR, pressing on the chest, breathing into his
mouth, closing, pinching his nose, leaving abrasions on one and the other side of the nose so that the air that she`s breathing in will not come out
from the nose as she`s doing it.
GRACE: OK. Can I ask you then?
SPITZ: The abrasions on the chin, pulling the head back so that the CPR would be effective. That`s what happened.
GRACE: Dr. Spitz, the child died.
SPITZ: Yes.
GRACE: The over dose that she prepared. So is it the defense`s theory that the little 8-year-old autistic boy voluntarily drank orange juice,
vodka and painkillers?
SPITZ: No, I`m saying that the child died as a result of an overdose, by performing CPR, trying to rescue the child, as it was found to be in his
last stages of life was as a remorse, as a sorrow on the part of the mother, as an attempt to reverse what she had done. Is the result of that
is what, that`s what happened. This is an abused kind --
GRACE: Well, this is the defense say, Dr. Spitz -- does the defense say, Dr. Spitz, that she force-fed the child the concoction or that he took it
voluntarily?
SPITZ: No, I don`t say that it was the child took it voluntarily. I don`t think that mentally this child was able to formulate and attempt to commit
suicide. And I don`t think it was a suicide for a multitude of reasons.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A reality TV star gets a dose of actual reality when the star is drag into court of serious assault charges. Sixty hour workweeks for
children? Cruel insults, body shaming, chair throwing?
Inside the hell of reality TV child stars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Abby Lee Miller pushes young dancers to win on the hit show "Dance Moms." But one of her students says she pushes a bit too hard
and is suing the outspoken teacher.
Thirteen year old Paige Hyland claims Miller screams at the young students in front of other dancers, moms and production crew, causing them to cry
and then derives them for being emotionally weak.
They law suits also claims Paige saw Abby Lee Miller physically batter her mother, pitches students until she bled and grab another student by the
hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Kim Serafin, the Senior Editor for "In Touch Weekly."
All right, take a look at this clip, Kim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY HYLAND, MOTHER OF STUDENT, DANCE MOM: Did you just is sit here and say my daughter looks miserable, so maybe we should put Kalani in her
place?
ABBY LEE MILLER, DANCE MOM INSTRUCTOR: No, I never said that.
HYLAND: Yes you most certainly did.
MILLER: No, I didn`t. Take that listen. I said Brooke is your mother said you`re (inaudible)
(CROSSTALK)
HYLAND: Get your finger out of my face!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girls, out of the room. Out of the room, now! Out of the room!
(CROSSTALK)
HYLAND: Get away from me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girls, out of the room, right now.
HYLAND: Who do you think you are?
MILLER: You are not -- you`re not --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out of the room! Maddy, you too, all of you out of the room.
MILLER: You`re crazy --
HYLAND: No, I`m not crazy. You`re eating my face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is from lifetime`s "Dance Moms." OK. Whoa, whoa, wait. There`s so much more but first I`ve got to understand who is who?
Joining me is Kim Gravel, Reality Star host of "Lifetime`s Kim of Queens." What? Who is who? Who is punching who in the picture and grabbing hair?
KIM GRAVEL, REALITY STAR HOST, LIFETIME`S KIM OF QUEENS: Well, the mom is Kelly. That`s who`s grabbing the hair, and Abby is --
GRACE: There`s the mom right there.
GRAVEL: There`s a mom --
GRACE: Not -- not her?
GRAVEL: No, not that one. That one.
GRACE: That one.
GRAVEL: That one. There`s she is. And then Abby is, of course, the star of the show. She is the dance instructor.
GRACE: I`m starting to feel a lot better about myself as a mom right now.
GRAVEL: Yes. Yes.
GRACE: OK. Well, who is the other one? That one.
GRAVEL: That`s Abby.
GRACE: Is that the dance instructor?
GRAVEL: That is Abby. That is the star of the show.
GRACE: All right. You got to watch "Dance Moms" to understand what`s going on here.
All right, queue that up for me, Liz.
Kim Serafin, Senior Editor "In Touch Weekly."
What now? At some punching people and grabbing hair and biting and twisting and turning is not enough. Now what it is Kim?
KIM SERAFIN, SENIOR EDITOR, IN TOUCH WEEKLY: Yes, I do mention, obviously people has to -- would -- if you have seen the show you know what goes on
this show. And now, this lawsuit by Paige, the 13-year-old dancer is claiming that, that Abby Lee Miller engaged in this kind a of behavior that
may her fear she was going to be physically harmed. That she saw her throw a chair, that she saw her pinch a student until she bled. That she
saw that altercation with her mother where Abby Lee Miller pushed her mother face that she degraded some of these girls and insulted them. It
also blames the producers for encouraging some of this behavior for the show`s ratings.
GRACE: Everybody, you`re seeing "Lifetime`s Dance Moms" right now.
Here`s a question, I know this may sound crazy. But why not just go to another dance studio? If the children don`t like it, and there are getting
pinch and yelled at and assaulted, why not the moms just all leave and go somewhere else, Kim?
SERAFIN: That`s a good question. Of course, they are on TV. This is a big reality show. So that could potentially a lead to some of it.
You know, I should say, Abby Lee Miller has also -- she tweeted, she said there are two sides to every story. And also, they`ve of course, they do
these completions and Abby Lee Miller does continues to says that she has success with some of these kids. That it`s tough love. Of course you
might see it in a different way after watching that clip.
GRACE: Everybody you`re seeing "Lifetime`s Dance Moms" tonight claims of 60 hour workweeks on children, physical assaults, chair throwing, name-
calling, the works. These are little children that are making these claims.
Kenneth Gravel is with us a reality star herself with "Lifetime`s Kim of Queens."
Kim what`s the truth?
GRAVEL: The truth is this is reality coming to the screen, OK. This is what`s going on behind the scenes.
GRACE: I feel like that`s got a catch to it.
GRAVEL: Yes. I mean, I`m just telling you this is all this is going on behind the scenes. This is ego, ego, ego, ego.
This is people who`ve got have too much money and too much time and too much fame and don`t really need it, Nancy. These women are not being good
examples, not only for kids, but for dance studios, for reality TV, but you all know this stuff sells, this stuff sells.
This is what you get the writing setup. But this is not what the show`s about. This is a behind the scene it come to an end and still popped on
it. It is -- it is all like Donkey Kong, Nancy.
GRACE: Well -- That`s a good one. I`m going to have to use that on when I`m on the twins. My Donkey Kong.
GRAVEL: Yes. It is my Donkey Kong.
GRACE: Everybody, you`re saying a "Lifetime`s Dance Mom", let`s play it in full. And tonight, more claims of 60 hour workweeks on children, physical
abuse, chair throwing, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HYLAND: Did you just is sit here and say my daughter looks miserable, so maybe we should put Kalani in her place?
MILLER: No, I never said that.
HYLAND: Yes you most certainly did.
MILLER: No, I didn`t. Take that listen. I said Brooke is your mother said you`re (inaudible)
(CROSSTALK)
HYLAND: Get your finger out of my face!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girls, out of the room. Out of the room, now! Out of the room!
(CROSSTALK)
HYLAND: Get away from me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girls, out of the room, right now.
HYLAND: Who do you think you are?
MILLER: You are not -- you`re not --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out of the room! Maddy, you too, all of you out of the room.
MILLER: You`re crazy --
HYLAND: No, I`m not crazy. You`re eating my face.
MILLER: Calm down. Take it out --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Claims of 60-hour workweeks on children? Throwing chairs, body shaming? Even physical assault? Take a look at this. We`re talking about
"Lifetime`s" reality hit show "Dance Moms."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HYLAND: Did you just is sit here and say my daughter looks miserable, so maybe we should put Kalani in her place?
MILLER: No, I never said that.
HYLAND: Yes you most certainly did.
MILLER: No, I didn`t. Take that listen. I said Brooke is your mother said you`re (inaudible)
(CROSSTALK)
HYLAND: Get your finger out of my face!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girls, out of the room. Out of the room, now! Out of the room!
(CROSSTALK)
HYLAND: Get away from me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girls, out of the room, right now.
HYLAND: Who do you think you are?
MILLER: You are not -- you`re not --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out of the room! Maddy, you too, all of you out of the room.
MILLER: You`re crazy --
HYLAND: No, I`m not crazy. You`re eating my face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is from "Lifetime`s Dance Moms", and now more legal action.
With me, Kim Gravel, reality star on "Lifetime."
What -- Why? What is having here? What about this new 60-hour workweek allegations, throwing chairs, body shaming?
GRAVEL: Nancy, this is has been long time coming. You have to understand this show has been on the air for four seasons, four or going into their
fifth season. And this has been so much behind the scenes. Abby is now a mega megastar.
GRACE: Who`s Abby?
GRAVEL: Abby is the dance instructor --
GRACE: The dance instructor.
GRAVEL: She`s the star of the show "Dance Moms." And now -- now this particular mom and Kelly are no longer on the show, and they`re ticked.
They want to be back on the show. This is the way to get -- they don`t want to be back on the show. They want their money from the show, because
it was a big old honking paycheck, honey.
And so this is -- this is their way to get back at Abby, at the production company. But I`m going to tell you something, is not the production
company or "Lifetime`s" fault. It is these moms and these people who are they eat at Abby and their egos have got over inflated.
And I want to tell you something, just like my Daddy always saying like this, people like jelly donuts. When you squeeze them, you find out what`s
on the inside and here`s the squeeze and we`re finding out what`s on the inside.
GRACE: Well put.
Everybody, you`re seeing a "Lifetime`s Dance Moms."
With me, Doctor Leslie Austin, Psychotherapist.
Doctor Leslie, let me tell you a quick little story about my little girl Lucy. I took her to this chi-chi salon, supposed to be the best dance
studio in the city.
We went in there and they told us in front of the children, the mommies could not be in the same room. Lucy burst into tears and wanted to leave.
That was on her first day. We left. We left right then. And we never went back. We went to some other little fun little ballet class where you
could sing and dance and John-David and I stand in the corner and do all the moves with her. I mean, what is -- what`s going on here?
DOCTOR LESLIE AUSTIN PH.D., PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Nancy, I couldn`t support you and what you did for Lucy more. You have the right set of values for
your daughter. Dancing should be a joy. It should be fun. It shouldn`t be a bad thing under contract to a reality show, screaming, excessive
competition. This is so abusive to these little girls. I get so impatient with this shows. It`s so abusive to them. They shouldn`t be doing.
GRACE: I mean it`s not like they`re going to jewel yard. They`re what?
AUSTIN: No, of course not.
GRACE: Second grade for Pete`s sake. You know? They`re not entering a dance troupe on Broadway.
AUSTIN: Of course not. And like they said, it is all about money. It is all about greed and money.
GRACE: Did anybody ever see "Black Swan"? I mean, really.
OK. Kim, do they -- do the producers suggest this to happen or are the participants so full of ego and -- I mean, there`s something -- their own
children.
GRAVEL: Yes, this is an ego.
GRACE: But their scarifying their own children for this.
GRAVEL: This is the thing. These women and Abby, the star of the show, they`re stars. I mean you know? I have my show comes on right after Abby
on "Lifetime." But listen, if you don`t enter reality TV from a grounded place, OK, like for me, reality and being on TV, it is not about the fame
and money.
For fame (ph), I don`t like much about baseball we don`t make the kind of money they make. But It`s me it`s about teaching the girls and teaching my
girls. And for Abby, I think she started all that way. I think Abby had a heart to teach kids and pour to it, but now she`s a star in Hollywood! She
is in Hollywood.
GRACE: Everybody, you are seeing "Lifetime`s Dance Moms."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Reality TV "Dance Mom" scandal lands in court.
So Justin Frieman, we`ve got so many lawsuits going. Everybody, you`re seeing " Lifetime`s Dance Moms" right here. Just explain to me what this
one is?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via phone): This one is actually been filed by Paige Hayland, the 13-year-old girl that was on the show, the
daughter of the girl, the woman involved in the brawl we`re looking at and she wants a jury to hear the accusations.
GRACE: OK. So this one is the one about 60-hour workweeks for little children and throwing chairs and actually assaulting other children? Is
that this one or is that the other one?
FREIMAN: That is this one. And she says those things resulted in panic attacks and anxiety.
GRACE: Everybody, there`s a shot of Paige Hyland. She says physical assault, pinching, name calling, unleash the lawyers.
Alex Sanchez, Jeff Gold. Also with me, Kim Gravel and Kim Seraphim from "In Touch Weekly."
All right, Alex Sanchez, this is boils down to an actual physical assault. And I guess they`re dragging in child labor laws. But the moms are right
there, Alex. So how does that wash?
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: First of all, Nancy, I think this thing is completely orchestrated for the purposes of ratings. I mean, what better
way to get the ratings up than a bunch of hysterical women biting and scratching each other?
GRACE: You know what?
SANCHEZ: Like a bunch of animals.
GRACE: You can go ahead and cut his mic right there. Because when you put hysterical and women in the same sentence --
SANCHEZ: I mean --
GRACE: You are rubbing me the wrong way.
SANCHEZ: It`s a matter of fact, you know -- do you know after that fight on TV --
GRACE: Put the New York not hear? Cut his mic because I can still hear him.
All right Gold, got anything else for me?
JEFF GOLD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Look, this is ridiculous, Nancy. This is a ridiculous suit. It is not about these girls being assaulted. It is about
them watching somebody else being pinched. It is really -- look. Your cake and eat it too. That`s what makes the rating --
GRACE: I agree with that.
GOLD: They made the money, one way or another be in the show --
GRACE: I actually agree with you, Jeff Gold.
OK. Let - turn his mic back on. I`m going to take him out of the corner.
Alex Sanchez, as you too were saying, I think all three of us are actually in the same boat on this one. The mothers are right there. So how can
they complain about this dance instructor when they`re in the room letting it happen and getting a paycheck for it? They`re in charge of their own
children.
SANCHEZ: You know something? I don`t think they can complain. If you`re right there as you said before, they have a responsibility to intervene,
speak to the producers, say I`m not going to participate in this anymore.
GRACE: I tell you one thing. It would take a dance instructor one time of pinching my child and they`ll be putting me in jail. No, no, no. Those
moms standing by and endorsing those checks. No, no, I don`t think they have a leg to stand on. This time gentlemen, I agree with you this time.
Let`s stop and remember American hero army sergeant Ian Sanchez, Staten Island, Army Achievement Medal, Army Service Ribbon, dreamed of having more
children, widow Jennifer, two children. Ian Sanchez, American hero.
Everybody, second edition of our book selling now at Nancygrace.com. Five winners get hand signed sets, all three hardcover books. Money going to
help abused children. Go to Nancygrace.com and enter that contest.
Everybody, Drew up next.
I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp eastern.
Until then, good night, friend.
END
