WSOCTV.comEntertainment
Entertainment E-Lerts
Get entertainment news and daily headlines.
Browse all e-mail newsletters
Related To Story
AP Image
Star Jones, Barbara Walters
CELEBRITY SLIDESHOWS

Star Jones Rips Barbara Walters Over Memoir

Former 'View' Co-Host Says Walters Speaks Negatively Of Her In Book

POSTED: 11:59 am EDT May 8, 2008
UPDATED: 5:36 pm EDT May 8, 2008

Nearly two years after Star Jones left "The View" on rocky terms, the 46-year-old TV personality has criticized former boss Barbara Walters for writing about her.

In Walters' new memoir, "Audition," she discusses how Jones wouldn't acknowledge her gastric bypass surgery on the air. She also writes about Jones' lavish wedding, which wound up alienating viewers as Jones accepted gifts in return for promotion.

"It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book. It speaks to her true character," Jones told Us Weekly magazine.

Jones' publicist, Brad Zeifman, said Jones wouldn't comment further.

Walters reveals in the book that she had a past affair with married U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke that lasted several years in the 1970s.

The details about Jones are less juicy, but shed light on what happened behind the scenes on "The View" when Jones refused to publicly acknowledge the gastric bypass surgery she had in 2003.

Walters said Jones, who'd dropped 160 pounds in three years, changed her mind after telling Walters she'd talk about the procedure on the program. Walters says she didn't want to be the "poster child" for the procedure.

"I understood that, but it put us all in a terrible position," Walters writes. "It meant we virtually had to lie for Star, especially when she said again and again on the air that her weight loss was due primarily to portion control and Pilates. ... Joy (Behar), in particular, resented having to go along with the lie that implied that all one needed to do was sit-ups and ingest one cookie instead of two."

Jones confirmed her surgery last year in a first-person essay in Glamour magazine. She said she "was scared of what people might think," and "ashamed at not being able to get (herself) under control without this procedure."

In March, Jones quietly filed for divorce from banker Al Reynolds. The couple married in November 2004.



Market Place

Sponsor Links

Links We Like

You can never be too prepared for a disaster. Make sure you have everything you need to survive until help arrives. More Details

Face it, your resume is out of date. Catch up to the times and refresh that retro resume. More Details

Suffering from spring allergies? Our spring allergy guide has relief tips and information on foods to avoid. More Details

Thinking of buying a foreclosed home? Find tips, trends and more before you buy, at the Foreclosure Resource Center. More Details


Like online video? Then you'll love Now See This.

Links We Like includes a selection of information, tools and resources from our partners and sponsors.

E-Mail News

E - News Registration
 Breaking News Alerts
12 p.m. Headlines
Daily Forecast

Consumer Info


Sponsored Content Provided by ARA
Back To Top