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Showbiz Tonight
SHOWBIZ True Confessions
Aired December 28, 2009 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST: Now, on this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions." Marie Osmond, her painful weight battle -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIE OSMOND, ACTRESS AND SINGER: Over the eight years that I was taking care of my parents, I put on probably five pounds a year and found myself 40 pounds overweight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Her "Dancing with the Stars" scare. Even her son`s trip to rehab. Tonight, Marie Osmond opens up about her true confession.
Marlee Matlin`s dramatic confessions. Her battle with drugs. Her revelations about abuse by her superstar ex.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARLEE MATLIN (through an interpreter): I remember thinking, what the hell am I doing? I mean, no one has ever treated me this way. And I didn`t know how to get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Does Marlee really blame herself? And Valerie Bertinelli`s shocking confession. The "One Day at a Time" star on using drugs and the cheating in her marriage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIE BERTINELLI, ACTRESS: When I did see my image, I just - who is that? I`m not going to live this way any longer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
This special edition of TV`s most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions," starts now.
(MUSIC)
Hello. I`m A.J. Hammer, broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
And tonight, a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions." And I am talking about jaw-dropping, "I can`t believe they said that" revelations from some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
I`m talking about women who have thrived on their good-girl images for decades. From Valerie Bertinelli to Marie Osmond to Marlee Matlin, these ladies are confessing their deepest, darkest secrets. So buckle up for an incredible hour of candid, one-on-one interviews with these straight- shooting women, interviews you will see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
And no topic is off limits. From Valerie Bertinelli`s stunning confession of secret drug use to Marlee Matlin`s shocking revelation that she was the victim of domestic violence. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT brings you an emotional, never-before-seen look inside the deepest, darkest confessions of Hollywood`s biggest stars.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Shocking secrets -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
OSMOND: It`s pretty heavy.
HAMMER: Jaw-dropping revelations -
MATLIN: I was a drug addict, and it overtook my life.
HAMMER: Big time true confessions from some of most Hollywood`s most beloved women coming clean in tell-all books.
BERTINELLI: I was a good girl doing bad stuff. Valerie Bertinelli was known for her good-girl image growing up on TV`s "One Day at a Time." But she hid her secret cocaine use from the world.
BERTINELLI: I was able to hide the drug use a lot.
HAMMER: Talk about fessing up. In her book, "Losing it and Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time," Valerie made some shocking confessions about her drug use with her ex-husband Eddie Van Halen and even her "One Day at a Time" co-star, Mackenzie Phillips. She told all to CNN`s Larry King.
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": The drug issue - when was that involved in your life?
BERTINELLI: Early `80s, some of the late `70s. I had done drugs with Mac and then I met Ed and started doing them again.
HAMMER: But Valerie reveals her true favorite drug was food.
BERTINELLI: I was always hungry. Yes. And the food just tasted better than the coke.
HAMMER: Valerie admits she ballooned up to 170 pounds before joining Jenny Craig. And when she unveiled her new trim bikini body - va-va-voom!
LISA BLOOM, ANCHOR, "IN SESSION": She`s a great example for all of us that you can still get on the right path towards healthy living.
HAMMER: Superstar Marie Osmond says she was on the wrong path for a while, and then came a stunning wakeup call. Osmond made the incredible confession that her health struggle got downright dangerous. She came clean to Oprah that her weight gain got so bad her children actually had an intervention.
OSMOND: I did it because my - sorry. My oldest boy came to me and he was 23 at the time. And he said, "All of us got together, mom. And we love you and we want you to be around for our kids and your grandkids. And at the rate you`re going, mom, you`re not going to."
HAMMER: She lost 40 pounds on Nutrisystem and says she`s never felt better.
BLOOM: You look at Marie Osmond - we all grew up with her. She has an adorable, squeaky clean image. She was married and had a big family. And then, surprise, she had problems just like the rest of us.
HAMMER: And Osmond`s weight battle was just the start of her true confessions. In her book "Might as Well Laugh About It Now," Osmond makes gut-wrenching confessions about her battle with depression, divorce and being a single mother of eight kids. But she tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT her problems aren`t any different than anyone else.
OSMOND: You know what? We all deal with it. It`s something that any woman out there right now, maybe not everything, but everybody has things they have to deal with. Everybody has their stuff.
HAMMER: And for Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, her trials and tribulations turned into whopper confessions in her book, "I`ll Scream Later."
BLOOM: It was shocking to learn that Marlee Matlin was abused by William Hurt. And he hasn`t denied the allegations in the book, that he was verbally and physically abusive to her over a long period of time.
HAMMER: Matlin tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT it`s a relief to come clean about the abusive relationship she kept a secret for so many years.
MATLIN: I was told not to tell. I was told to keep it a secret. I was sort of ordered. And I didn`t know how to deal with it. I was 19 and William Hurt was 35. And I was in the middle of drug addiction.
HAMMER: Addicted to cocaine, pot, and alcohol. Now, Matlin says she is finally at a place where she`s ready to talk about her incredible life, and she hopes her confessions will help others.
MATLIN: I saw things that were going on out there, for example, with Rihanna and Chris Brown, knowing that this kind of stuff still occurs. So I wanted to bring it to life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Well, there`s simply no question that these women have conquered some of life`s biggest challenges. Are their confessions really helping everyday women, or is it all just TMI?
Well, joining me tonight in Hollywood is Melanie Bromley, west coast bureau chief of "Us Weekly" magazine. In New York, Suzanne Rozdeba, who is an entertainment journalist. I appreciate you both being here.
And I`ve got to start with Valerie Bertinelli who really came clean with a lot of stuff. First, she confessed about her battle with drugs. She said that she and her former husband, Eddie Van Halen, literally were holding on to vials of cocaine when they exchanged vows. Wow.
Melanie, were you just shocked like I was that Valerie confessed to the world exactly how bad things got?
MELANIE BROMLEY, WEST COAST BUREAU CHIEF, "US WEEKLY": I was shocked. But I mean, she says that this is the soft version of events. And I think that she used - you know, she became a spokesperson last year.
She realized that she had a voice and that she could inspire people. And so she decided to come clean and that was why she did it. And she gave us - made these revelations and it was extraordinary. But it was a story she owned and she wanted to tell.
HAMMER: Yes. And it wasn`t just the drugs. Valerie coming clean about her battle with weight. You know, she very publicly lost nearly 50 pounds as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.
Suzanne, off to you. Do you think her revelations are, in fact, helping women everywhere? Or do they really create unrealistic expectations?
SUZANNE ROZDEBA, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Absolutely. I mean, just her weight loss - she inspired women across the country. She lost 50 pounds in a very healthy way. She says that she`s a health activist, not just a weight-loss spoke spokesperson.
So I think that women have really, really been inspired by her being so open about everything she has struggled with. She struggled with issues we all deal with.
HAMMER: Yes. We see a lot of stars who struggle with weight, and some are more inspiring than others. I think, wow, Valerie Bertinelli is at the top of that list.
Also, making big confessions, Marie Osmond. Now, here`s a woman, you know, as we`re looking in from the outside, seem to have this charmed life. But in her book, she reveals that things were, well, far from perfect from her weight to divorce to depression.
Melanie, do you think that Marie really did every woman in the world a favor by shattering that perfect Osmond image?
BROMLEY: I do. I mean, she`s a role model. And this is her opportunity. We put celebrities on a pedestal. And this is her opportunity to say, "You know what, I`m just like you. I have problems. I`m not perfect. And actually, I can be a better role model with it to you if I have problems and you can see how I got through them." So she absolutely did us a favor by doing that.
HAMMER: I want to move on to another shocking confession. Oscar winner, Marlee Matlin. And I`ve got to tell you, I really fell in love with her when I sat down with her. But she revealed she was in this abusive relationship with actor William Hurt. This caught a lot of people by surprise. And when I sat down with her, she told me why she didn`t speak out until years later. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATLIN: I wasn`t educated that it was OK to ask for help. I didn`t know that you could call 911. I didn`t know that you could talk to your neighbor. I didn`t know any of these things. I was a drug addict and it overtook my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Well, she said she didn`t know she could speak out about it or even how to get help. Suzanne, are you with me? I`m really thinking that Marlee`s public confession will truly help others who may be in the same situation to break their silence, because it can be just so difficult to know what to do.
ROZDEBA: Absolutely. I think a lot of women are going to be really, really inspired by her story. And I think a lot of women today still don`t now how they can reach out and get help. And I think she`s going to be a true inspiration, absolutely.
HAMMER: Yes. I highly recommend everybody to go out and read her book because there`s a lot of lessons to be learned in there in addition to the fact she has such a fascinating, fascinating story.
Obviously, these are all remarkable women that we`ve been talking about. But Melanie, let me ask you this. Do they deserve perhaps even more credit after they, you know, really came out of their shell and showed us the true people behind the curtain? We`ve seen their images for so long, but now, we get a real sense of some of the real troubles they were dealing with.
BROMLEY: I think so. I mean, a lot of celebrities spend a lot of the time spinning, you know, and giving their version that`s not necessarily accurate and hiding behind their fame. And these are three women who have come forward and told the real story and really owned that story and being able to give their side honestly.
And it`s inspiring to all of us that they`re able to do that and able to come forward and talk about their problems in this way.
HAMMER: Yes. I`m totally with you. Suzanne, what do you think? These true confessions really just inspiring for women everywhere?
ROZDEBA: Absolutely. I mean, women have been talking about Valerie nonstop, about how she`s helped them overcome their weight issues. And they think that this will definitely help women, whether it`s weight or drug issues or alcohol. I think it`s an inspiration.
HAMMER: Yes. They`re speaking out about the right things. And I think it also has done them a lot of good in the process. Melanie Bromley, Suzanne Rozdeba, I thank you both.
OK. So here we are just getting warmed up on this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "True Confessions." Marie Osmond also revealing her family struggle with the number one killer out there, heart disease.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSMOND: I was a ticking time bomb. I was showing all the effects of it. And so I said, that`s it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Marie Osmond also opens up about her weight battle, her son`s trip to rehab, even her "Dancing with the Stars," scare. You have never heard Marie`s confessions like this. They are coming up.
Also, Valerie Bertinelli`s true confessions. The former "One Day at a Time" star on drug use. The shocking cheating that went on in her marriage and all those reports of a feud with former Jenny Craig spokesperson, Kirstie Alley.
All right. Is John Mayer really confessing secrets of his relationship with Jennifer Aniston in one of his songs? We will get into that. You are watching a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions" on HLN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEN GOODMAN, JUDGE, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": You`ve got to show the gaiety and the fun of the samba.
(MARIE OSMOND PASSES OUT)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Definitely one of the scariest moments ever on live TV. Marie Osmond passing out right after performing the samba on "Dancing with the Stars." Fortunately, Marie was just fine.
Well, welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, it`s "SHOWBIZ True Confessions." I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
And right now, Marie Osmond`s true confessions. Marie has been an American icon for years. But when she shimmied her way into our living rooms during season five of "Dancing with the Stars," it was certainly a welcome return for her fans.
But behind the scenes, there have been plenty of ups and downs for Marie. She`s dealt with depression, battled with her weight, divorce, even her son`s trip to rehab.
Well, I spoke with Marie about all of that. She`s revealed to me why she`s decided to dive back into the talk show world again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OSMOND: You know, I never had a sister and I just - I don`t know - I was one of the first women that wrote about postpartum. I`ve been doing my dolls for 17 years. I have this Web site that just gets thousands and thousands of comments from women.
When I did "Dancing with the Stars", it was amazing - the response that way. And I don`t know - there`s a chick power. And things that I would love to do and things that we`d love to talk about. It`s going to be a blast.
HAMMER (voice-over): We`ve all reveled in your highs this year and we`ve been right there with you for your lows.
OSMOND: What, when I hit the floor?
HAMMER: Well, the hitting of the floor thing -
OSMOND: Yes.
HAMMER: We are worried about you. "Dancing with the Stars," though, was a great thing to see you on. We all had our collective hands on your shoulders when your father passed away.
OSMOND: I designed a doll in that outfit. It doesn`t come with a stand.
HAMMER: Does it lie down?
OSMOND: It`s to be displayed on the floor. Yes. No.
HAMMER: But in all seriousness, Marie, with all you had to deal with in the past year, you know, including your son going into rehab and everything else, how do you manage? And how difficult is it to deal with these real life issues so publicly but with such grace and dignity as I believe you have?
OSMOND: You`re sweet. You know what? We all deal with it. It`s something that any woman out there right now, maybe not everything, but everybody has things they have to deal with, you know? God is not a respecter of persons. Everybody has their stuff.
I don`t have a bazillion nannies. I am a single mom. I love taking care of my kids, you know? I choose to be alone - I want to be there for my kids. I don`t want that side of my life - I mean it would have been nice to have that kind of relationship. But my son needs me and my kids need me and that`s where I need to be is for them.
I`m so proud of him. You know, this is something that affects every single family now. It`s like 25 percent of the kids end up having these problems nowadays.
And so, you know, the way he`s dealing with it with the things that he`s been through, I`m just proud of him. If you choose to learn from it, then you arise and awake out of it, and that`s the key, you know. You do something about it.
HAMMER: Well, you certainly are doing positive work for the American Heart Association.
OSMOND: Well, I don`t know. I try.
HAMMER: You`re the national spokesperson for their "Go Red" campaign for heart disease awareness. I know this is something that is very personal for you and really strikes close to home.
OSMOND: My oldest boy, Steven(ph) - I was doing some rehearsals backstage and I was kind of panting and out of breath. And he said, "Mom, you know, it would really be nice for you to be here for my kids." And it just kind of wow, hit you right in the face but still - women.
My gosh. I don`t know what it is about us. We don`t want to look at us. We want to help everybody else. And I took a hard look and said, he is right because I lost my grandmother from heart disease. I lost my mother prematurely from heart disease. I lost my dad from it. And I was a ticking time bomb. I was showing all the effects of it.
And so, I said, that`s it. So I - over the eight years I was taking care of my parents, I put on probably five pounds a year and found myself 40 pounds overweight. So I took off the weight and I feel better than I did when I was 30. And, so, that`s amazing since I`m 29.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Marie Osmond also says her new talk show is going to focus on women`s issues.
And now, Jim Carrey`s true confessions about his battle with depression and the antidepressant, Prozac. The comedian who has not been shy about his struggle with depression is now confessing that he agrees in part with Tom Cruise`s controversial statements about prescription drugs.
You remember that`s when Cruise called the "Today" show`s Matt Lauer glib while debating the effects of the attention deficit disorder drug, Ritalin. Well, Carrey told CNN`s Larry King he kind of agrees with Cruise because of his own experience with Prozac. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARREY: At the risk of, like, opening up the whole Tom Cruise-Prozac argument, you know, I don`t disagree in many ways. I think Prozac and things like that are very valuable to people for short periods of time.
But I believe if you`re on them for an extended period of time, you never get to the problem. You never get to see what the problem is because everything`s just kind of OK. And so you don`t deal and people deal when they get desperate.
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": How do you do it?
CARREY: I take supplements.
KING: Vitamins?
CARREY: Yes, there is - well, it is vitamins but it`s also certain elements of the brain like tyrosine and hydroxytryptophan that they`re treating depression with now. This actually creates dopamine and creates serotonin. And it`s a wonderful thing and it`s amazing. I`m going to talk a lot about it in the near future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Now, I`m sure a lot of people are going to be very interested in what he has to say about that. Carrey also says that between making movies and working on other projects, painting helps him cope with his depression.
Well, Marlee Matlin certainly had a very hard time coping with the abuse she suffered at the hands of her superstar ex-boyfriend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATLIN: I remember thinking, what the hell am I doing? I mean, no one has ever treated me this way and I didn`t know how to get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Tonight, Marlee Matlin`s explosive abuse confession. Does she really blame herself for what happened? Marlee also opens up to me about her shocking drug abuse.
Valerie Bertinelli also confessing about using drugs. The "One Day at a Time" star also reveals the destructive cycle of cheating that went on while she was married to Eddie Van Halen. But what about all of those reports of a fight with former Jenny Craig spokesperson, Kirstie Alley?
Does John Mayer really tell all about his relationship with Jennifer Aniston in one of his brand-new songs? You`re watching a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions," on HLN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE TAKEI, ACTOR (as Mr. Sulu): If I read this right, sir, we have pull power.
WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR (as Capt. James T. Kirk): Go, Sulu.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: They - William "Capt. Kirk" Shatner and George "Mr. Sulu" Takei - did get along. Well, at least when they were searching for Mr. Spock in "Star Trek III."
Welcome back to the special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions." I`m A.J. Hammer.
And tonight, William Shatner`s confessions. Now, it is no secret Shatner and his "Star Trek" co-star, George Takei, haven`t always been the best of buds. There have been reports really for decades that they never got along.
Well, I got Shatner to set the record straight. He opened about that and about his no-holds-barred celebrity talk show, "Shatner`s Raw Nerve," on the Biography Channel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER (on camera): In "Raw Nerve," which is Tuesday nights on the Bio Channel, you are the interviewer as opposed to the interviewee. One case in point I want to bring up, Valerie Bertinelli ...
SHATNER: Yes.
HAMMER: ... who was on your very first episode. Now, Valerie, of course, was America`s sweetheart from "One Day at a Time." She has a well- documented downward spiral. She sat right were you`re sitting, talking to me about her problems with cocaine and cheating on her ex-hubby, rocker Eddie Van Halen. I`ve got to tell you, she, at times, did look a little uncomfortable which was very human of her.
SHATNER: But not scared.
HAMMER: But how do you feel about making them uncomfortable? Is that something you want and say, "Yes, I`m in"?
SHATNER: No.
HAMMER: Or does it make you a little uncomfortable?
SHATNER: No. I`m not out to crucify. I`m not out to get sensational. In fact, I don`t care about the tabloid stuff.
I want just - what do you think about sin? And as I gathered, she was Catholic. And that has an even more multileveled meaning. The word has more of a multileveled meaning.
What is sin? And now, she begins to describe sin and what adultery means to her. And suddenly you`re into an illumination - there`s nothing tabloid about it. It`s a reflection by a human being to another.
HAMMER: All right. We`ve got to talk about this one thing because you`re a friend of the show. We`ve had you on before. Your old buddy George Takei is a friend of the show. And there has been this -
SHATNER: Anybody that has George Takei as a friend, I don`t want to be on the show - no.
HAMMER: I appreciate you -
SHATNER: Hold on. He -
HAMMER: No, here`s the deal. We all know, of course, you guys worked together throughout the years on "Star Trek."
SHATNER: Right.
HAMMER: He played Mr. Sulu. And you know, this is going back some 40 years that you`ve known each other. He married his long-time partner, Brad, and there was that whole controversy over him saying he invited you to the wedding. You`re saying you didn`t receive an invitation.
Separate from all of that, Bill, and I heard somebody make this point and I think this holds of truth. Even if you had gotten the invitation, would you have gone to the wedding?
SHATNER: No, I would not have. Why would I spoil his ultimate joy?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: And there you go. You can catch William Shatner`s show, "Shatner`s Raw Nerve," Tuesdays on the Bio Channel. It is terrific.
Now, the SHOWBIZ lineup. Here`s what`s coming up at the bottom of the hour on this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Marlee Matlin`s dramatic confessions about drugs and abuse by her superstar ex.
Valerie Bertinelli like you`ve never heard about before. "The One Day at a Time" star opens up about drug abuse and the shocking cheating that went on in her marriage.
And Wynonna Judd`s confessions, her fight to lose weight and the Oprah connection to that battle. This is a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions" on HLN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Now on this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions." Tonight, Marlee Matlin`s dramatic confession. Her battle with drugs. Her revelations about abuse by her superstar ex. It`s the Oscar winner`s true confessions about her painful past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(on camera): One of the stories you tell is when you`re going and signing the paperwork with the priest and you both have cocaine on you.
BERTINELLI: I know.
HAMMER: That`s a bad sign.
BERTINELLI: Yes. What part of this tells you that you can get married? Right.
HAMMER: That`s not a good sign. Yes. What`s the deal?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Valerie Bertinelli`s stunning revelations about the breakup of her marriage, her lifelong weight battle and how she finally overcame all of her demons.
And John Mayer`s lyrical confessions. John`s album may be a musical trip down memory lane about his relationship with Jennifer Aniston. But should Jen be worried?
This special edition of TV`s most provocative entertainment news show, "True Confessions," continues right now.
(MUSIC)
Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
Tonight, Marlee Matlin`s dramatic confessions. The Oscar-winning actress reveals in her book, "I`ll Scream Later" that she was physically abused by fellow Oscar winner William Hurt.
When I sat down with Marlee, she told me what she thinks of William Hurt`s reaction to her allegations of abuse and why she finally decided to tell her story some 20 years later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATLIN: It really was cathartic. At the same time, I`m a mother of four kids and my eldest is 13. And 13 is where I started everything that was in my life, having to do with drugs. And so watching her grow up brought it - just as any parent would, brought it back to me and I wanted to make sure that they would have a better life than I did.
And naturally, at the same time, I saw things that were going on out there, for example, with Rihanna and Chris Brown, knowing that this kind of stuff still occurs. So I wanted to bring it to light.
HAMMER (on camera): It certainly still occurs, but usually it occurs in a very public way. Now, when you were having a lot of your troubles, this was really when your career was taking off. You were coming off of your Oscar-winning performance in "Children of a Lesser God," and you`re going into rehab. And you had abuse going on and all sorts of things. Yet, you were able to keep it hidden which, by today`s standards, is remarkable. How did you do that?
MATLIN: Well, I mean, I was told not to tell. I was told to keep it a secret. I was sort of ordered - and I didn`t know how to deal with it. I was 19 and William Hurt was 35.
And I was in the middle of a drug addiction and I didn`t talk about it as well because I didn`t want to get in trouble. And it`s just the thing that I wasn`t educated that it was OK to ask for help. I was a drug addict and it overtook my life.
HAMMER: One thing that certainly has gotten a lot of attention since you`ve been out talking about the book is the admission of the abuse by William Hurt in that relationship some 20 years ago. You guys were involved for two years. There was drug abuse involved at that time.
When this was going on, when the abuse was going on, Marlee, did you immediately recognize, hey, something is not right about what`s happening here? Or did it take a little while to click?
MATLIN: No. No, no. Again, I wasn`t aware of it at the time that I should be talking about it. I just wasn`t ready to talk about it. I just wasn`t ready.
HAMMER: But when it was going on, did you recognize that it was a bad thing that was going on? Because we hear from a lot of abused people, they don`t know that.
MATLIN: You know what, that`s a very good question. That`s a good question. I was young. The drugs, again, as I said, were overtaking my life. And I thought - you know what? I knew it wasn`t right.
But naturally, being a person who is in that mind-set, when you`re with somebody who shows you love and then it goes back and forth and back and forth and I`m thinking, wait a minute, there`s a loving relationship here. Obviously, there`s something that`s positive. He`s taking care of me, but at the same - and he`s giving me attention. But it`s all for the wrong reasons, you know.
HAMMER: Did you blame yourself?
MATLIN: Absolutely. I remember thinking, what the hell am I doing? I mean, no one has ever treated me this way. And I didn`t know how to get out. I didn`t know who to talk to. But now, I have a big mouth and I talk. Well, and I`m saying - not like the book title. I`m screaming now.
HAMMER: I loved your acknowledgement to him in the back of the book. You acknowledge all of these people who had a big impact on your life and William Hurt is right there. I`d like to read the acknowledgment that you wrote. You say, quote, "Despite the good times and the tough times, I could not be where I am without having known you" - that to William Hurt. So do you forgive him?
MATLIN: You know, you have to forgive in life. You have to forgive. I do forgive. I hesitantly forgive, but I don`t forget. There are things you can`t dwell on. But people have their own way, their own timing, their way of talking about things.
And it`s funny because online there are so many different reactions. People have opinions about how women should talk about abuse, and how they should express themselves when they`re in an abusive relationship. And they bicker back-and-forth about it. I`m talking about me. I`m not talking about you. And that`s my situation.
HAMMER: At the same time, we do know that it can be so helpful to so many people. I do want to read the reaction that William Hurt has given to what you say in the book. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT did reach out to him.
And here`s what he said, quote, "My own recollection is that we both apologized and both did a great deal to heal our lives. Of course, I did and do apologize for any pain I caused. And I know we have both grown. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good." How do you react?
MATLIN: My only reaction is that I wish he would have spoken for himself. I don`t think he should have put in the "we."
HAMMER: And it shouldn`t have even taken you coming out with this book and talking about it for him to come forward.
MATLIN: Absolutely. Absolutely.
HAMMER: Do you think his statement, then, does serve as this public admission that he did abuse you?
MATLIN: I think it`s sincere. I think it`s sincere. I`m grateful that he did that. But the "we" thing bothers me a little bit more. But then, at the same time, you know what? He stepped up to the plate, so what can you say?
HAMMER: And you`re prepared to move on, I`m certain of that.
MATLIN: Oh, I`ve already moved on. I have moved on. I`ve moved on.
HAMMER: This is just opening up sort of that fresh can of worms. But I mentioned how -
MATLIN: No, listen. There`s no harm intended. I mean, the book is a truth book. It`s not out to get anybody. I`m not looking for trouble. I`m there to express my feelings for people to read, identify, learn and - but I don`t want to be standing there saying sort of like, you know, "I`m the deaf woman for "Children of the Lesser God" who won the Oscar and that`s all I`m about. I`m much more than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: She is truly a remarkable woman, and this is a great book. Marlee`s book called, "I`ll Scream Later," is available right now.
Now, Tom Cruise`s "Top Gun" co-star and her surprising admission that she`s gay. Kelly McGillis played Cruise`s love interest in the mega-hit 1986 film. She was Charlie, the sexy pilot instructor.
Well, since then, the 51-year-old McGillis married and divorced twice. She has two daughters from her second marriage. And for years, she was just dogged by rumors that she was gay. Well, on the Internet show, "Girl Rock," she finally revealed the truth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... you were single and you said "yes" on stage so -
KELLY MCGILLIS, ACTRESS: Yes, I am single.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. That`s exciting and so you`re - well, a man? A man? Or either or -
MCGILLIS: No, definitely a woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good.
MCGILLIS: I`m done with the man thing. I did that. I need to move on in life. Yes. Yes. That`s another part of being true to yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
MCGILLIS: I think that`s been a challenge for me, personally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Well, Kelly says she is at peace with herself now. To a lot of her fans, she`ll always be Charlie the pilot instructor who took Tom Cruise`s breath away in "Top Gun." Wow, what an iconic role that really stands the test of time.
Valerie Bertinelli is rocking a fabulous bikini body these days after shedding some weight. But Valerie is also now confessing food wasn`t her only demon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(on camera): One of the stories you tell is when you`re going and signing the paperwork with the priest and you both have cocaine on you.
BERTINELLI: I know.
HAMMER: That`s a bad sign.
BERTINELLI: Yes. What part of this tells you that you can get married? Right.
HAMMER: That`s not a good sign. Yes. What`s the deal?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Drugs, her marriage to Eddie Van Halen, cheating and weight. It`s Valerie Bertinelli`s shocking secrets, coming up.
Also, Wynonna Judd`s emotional weight battle. The country superstar opens up about her battle to lose weight and reveals the Oprah connection to her weight loss mission.
Plus, is John Mayer telling all about his former girlfriend, Jennifer Aniston, in the lyrics of one of his songs? You have got to hear some of these lyrics. You`re watching a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERTINELLI: If I must be honest, it was freaking torture. I just felt naked. But I think sometimes, you just have to feel naked and do it anyway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: How did Valerie get a slamming bikini body like that? Valerie reveals her diet secrets to Oprah, and that is just the start of her shocking true confessions.
Welcome back to the special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "True Confessions." I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
Valerie Bertinelli was certainly one of America`s sweethearts. She could do no wrong. But even though Valerie might have played the perfect daughter on "One Day at a Time," her real life was far from perfect.
In her explosive memoir called "Losing It," she really opens up about everything, from experimenting with drugs to her bumpy 20-year marriage to rocker Eddie Van Halen and emotional up-and-down weight battle.
I sat down with Valerie for a very candid interview. And I had to ask how she got into drugs at such a young age.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): The image that you had as a result of doing "One Day At A Time" show when you started at 15 years old vastly different, if I may be so bold just to say, from some of the things we learned about you.
BERTINELLI: True.
HAMMER: And I`ll get right to it. I mean you`re very candid about the drug use.
BERTINELLI: Yes.
HAMMER: Fame obviously came very quickly at you when you were 15 years old. What was it, though, that actually led to you beginning to do cocaine as you talk about doing with Mackenzie Phillips and other people?
BERTINELLI: Well, I think I was a product of the age, too. I mean I know not everybody in the late `70s and `80s tried you know, drugs. But I think that has more to do with the era, and experimentation at that age.
Luckily, I didn`t like it that much, so I didn`t - so I stopped doing it. I didn`t do it for too long of a time. And of course, I loved food so much more, so nothing could take the place of that.
HAMMER: And you talk about how you were still dabbling into drugs when you first got together with Eddie Van Halen. You were 20 years old at that time?
BERTINELLI: Well, actually - Yes, I was 20 when I met Ed. I`ve done some drugs with Mac, not that it was her fault. We were just, you know, experimenting. And then I was with a man who didn`t do drugs at all, so I didn`t do any. And then I met Ed and I started doing them again.
HAMMER: And one of the stories you tell is when you`re going and signing the paperwork with the priest and you both have cocaine on you.
BERTINELLI: I know.
HAMMER: That`s a bad sign.
BERTINELLI: Yes. What part of this tells you that you can get married? Right.
HAMMER: That`s not a good sign. Yes. What`s the deal?
BERTINELLI: These are two people that don`t know how to actually enter into a marriage so they shouldn`t be doing it. But we did anyway. And we got a great son out of it, so there you go.
HAMMER: You got a beautiful son in Wolfy(ph), Wolfgang. And you were married for 20 years. Now, another thing you speak candidly about is the infidelity that took place. But you talk about your infidelity. You talk about Eddie`s infidelity. You said that you had this son, nonetheless who turned out to be the great beauty of it all.
BERTINELLI: Oh, yes.
HAMMER: But you were together for 20 years and the infidelity happened pretty early on in the marriage.
BERTINELLI: You know, I was surprised. Actually, I didn`t remember it that way until I went back over my journals, and it was only four years into our marriage and I - looking back now, I can see we started drifting apart so much earlier than I really thought we did. Because we had so much love for each other that that really kept us going through a lot of the really terrible things we were doing to one another. So I guess I didn`t realize that it started so early. But yes, it pretty much did.
HAMMER: So then, what was the deal with you guys staying together for so long after that in hindsight? Because I think a lot of people watching right now may relate in that they don`t make it through even that first infidelity. That`s it, game over.
BERTINELLI: Well, it should be, too. I mean I think I really truly believe in monogamy. Back then, I didn`t know how to deal with the complexities of a relationship and how you treat one another and avoiding pain when I just brought on more pain by putting infidelity into the marriage. So I don`t know. I guess older is wiser.
HAMMER: Makes sense to me.
BERTINELLI: You know, you make that mistake. You really shouldn`t make it again. You don`t want to make it again.
HAMMER: You talk about your love for food. You talk a great deal about your body image issues, the up and down weight struggles. You talk about the rock bottom that you hit and I guess it pertains to your weight when you saw yourself on screen doing the TV movie "Claire" and what you write book is quote, "The sight of myself was too much for even me to tolerate." How bad was it at that moment? How bad did it get?
BERTINELLI: God, I just looked at it and I think I had been able to live in denial for a length of time there, that when I did see my image, I just - who is that? I didn`t recognize her any longer. "Who is that old, ugly fat woman?" is exactly what I remember saying out loud. I was in a room by myself. And that was a very - a good starting for me to say, I can`t. I`m not going to live this way any longer.
HAMMER: But you`re having such great success with Jenny Craig. We loved seeing your progress on the commercials. You`ve lost around 40 pounds. Is that the deal? Is it something, though, that you still live in fear of falling off the wagon? Is it a battle, a struggle every day?
BERTINELLI: It`s a challenge, but I don`t have a fear about it. I really, for the first time in my entire life, feel like I`ve got control to the most degree with this because I have people I can lean on now.
Every time I go on a diet before, it was almost hiding from it, like, "Well, I`m not really dieting. I`m just - you know, no one needs to know this." But when you finally stop hiding and stop the facade and you would just out and out say, "Well, this is what I`m doing. And I need help and I want this from you. Can you help me?" You can`t hide anymore. That`s the whole point is just to be up front and live your life. And be joyful in it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: I`ve got to say, Valerie has never looked better. In fact, she made a huge splash when she did this commercial for Jenny Craig.
Look at this - fabulous at almost 50 years old. Valerie did something she said she`d never do. She slipped into a bikini and showed off her slamming bikini body. On "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Valerie revealed all the secrets on how she got so bathing suit beautiful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERTINELLI: Sit-ups -
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": Lots of sit-ups.
BERTINELLI: I just kept this old-school workout, push-ups, sit-ups, triceps dips and it worked. Anybody can do this at home. I do it at home.
OPRAH: Now, is it - I mean, listen. Living your life in public and losing weight in public, do you feel a certain pressure?
BERTINELLI: The pressure is to keep it up. But I think this is a body that is totally attainable. This is the weight I was when Wolfy was in kindergarten. I mean, look, I`ve got hips. I`ve got a little muffin top on the back. Anybody can have that body if you do enough sit-ups and just make - I made a decision every day. I`m going to work out today. And there are some days that I just don`t feel like doing it and I don`t. But more often than not, I get up and I get on that treadmill that I want to shoot.
WINFREY: Yes, yes.
BERTINELLI: And I just get on and do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Valerie says that she thinks she`s got the whole weight thing under control now, but she does keep a few pieces from her old wardrobe around just in case.
The Oprah effect doesn`t stop with Valerie. Tonight, Wynonna Judd is sounding off about her battle to lose weight. Wynonna says, just like Oprah, her personal life was totally out of balance and that caused her to gain weight.
And now, also, just like Oprah, Wynonna is taking control. The country music superstar is the face of the Alli Weight Loss Program. And now, she`s sharing her personal insight into what she thinks of Oprah`s weight gain confession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDD: Being a career woman, I think there`s not a person out there, and you`re included in this. We are all trying to find balance between who we are and what we do. And honestly, we get really defined by what we do to the point where we - and I told Oprah this. I said, "You know what? I forgot to put myself on the list." And she literally looked at me like, "Wow." That`s a line that, you know, I`ll take, because we are so busy and we are so looked up to.
And you know what? I don`t want people to look up at me. I want to walk beside them, not in front of them, nor behind them. So for me, I think it`s an issue with every American. I don`t think it`s not just me because I`m famous or Oprah. I think it`s really everybody who works, has a family and tries to have a relationship and a dog and kids and just life.
HAMMER (on camera): But that said, as we`ve discussed before, when you`re in the spotlight, that can add a whole new set of difficulties or consequences to what you say or do. And I love your approach. I love that you like to walk side by side with people and your fans are your peers.
So I`m curious, Wynonna, as somebody, particularly who has known Oprah Winfrey for as long as you have. And you`ve had these kinds of discussions with her, I`m sure it was difficult decision. Were you shocked as a lot of people were by the fact that she went so public with her weight gain confession?
JUDD: I think it`s really important to be accountable, and I think it`s really important in this business now more than ever. Because we`re all pretty sharp and we know that we`re going to find out the truth anyway. And I just want to remind people that to thine own self be true.
You know what? She`s being true to herself. And if that`s who she is - I mean, let`s face it. She`s talking about everything else. And you know what? She has the right to be real, because in this day and age, to me, that`s refreshing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: It sure is. Wynonna also told me that after she appeared on "Oprah," she received over 700,000 E-mails - amazing. And that`s when they realized she needed to help people just like her with their weight loss battle.
Well, John Mayer`s dramatic on-again, off-again romance with Jennifer Aniston. It is certainly going to go down in history. But will it also go down in music? All the juicy details about their rocky love affair could be on John`s album. This is a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MAYER, SINGER: Jennifer Aniston is the smartest, most sophisticated person, I think, I`ve ever met. But people are different and people have different chemistry. They have different lives. It`s not about years. It`s about going out with somebody and being truthful on the way in, being truthful in the middle and being truthful on the way out. You`re either a cheater or you break up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: That`s John Mayer going off to a TMZ camera about his breakup with Jennifer Aniston back in 2008. But is he now singing about their breakup?
Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions." I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
Tonight, is John Mayer confessing secrets about his ex, Jennifer Aniston, on one of his albums? Maniston`s on-again, off-again relationship launched a million tabloid cover stories. They first dated back in 2008 and had a very public breakup which included John`s caught-on-tape rant to TMZ.
Well, months later, they got back together just in time to walk the red carpet of the huge Oscar after party thrown by "Vanity Fair." But just as the Oscars dust settled, Jen and John split up.
Now, John may be making some true confessions about their rocky romance. Listen to this audio recording of a recent performance from his album "Battle Studies."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYER: It`s sort of a concept album of the war of love, you know. The art of war of love. And so this is a song called "Heartbreak Warfare." Sometimes instead of saying "I love you," people can`t recognize that. They recognize how much you come to their aid when they`re in pain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Well, Jennifer and John have both been pretty quiet about the split. But people can`t help but wonder if the first song off the album does have something to do with their romance. The song is called "Heartbreak Warfare." Give it a listen. See what you think.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYER (singing): If you want more love, why don`t you say so? If you want more love, why don`t you say so? Drop his name, push it in and twist the knife again. Watch my face as I pretend to feel no pain, pain, pain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: The song could be about Jen, but as we know, John does have a long list of Hollywood starlets who he`s loved and lost.
Well, that`s it for this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "SHOWBIZ True Confessions." I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. You can catch SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on the 11:00s - 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific and on weekday mornings at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on HLN. Thanks for watching.
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