What’s good , good Wordists? It’s been a news-filled week with President Obama postponing a trip overseas to make one last push for health care reform, Tiger Woods announces his return to golf at this year’s Masters on April 8, Michael Jordan makes it official as the new owner of the Charlotte Bobcats and the Red River expected to reach near-record flood levels this weekend. Couple that with John Edwards’ mistress having second thoughts on pictures she took for GQ magazine, Michael Jackson’s estate signing the biggest recording deal in history and Sandra Bullock being caught by surprise by her cheating husband and there was more than enough of something to talk about. Shout out to reggae legend Jimmy Cliff for being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday (March 15) and the sounding boards for never forgetting to bring a co-pilot while being up in the air. So let’s get to it with …the Last Word for the week ending March 19, 2010. 1. Precious Star Gabourey Sidibe Becomes a Target of Concern for Weight Loss Company For someone who didn’t win an Oscar, Gabourey Sidibe is on a lot of people’s mind. Or rather her weight. From Howard Stern (“She is enormous…she’s never going to be in another movie”) to Jamie Foxx (“I hear they’re doing the remake [to ‘Precious’], it’s called The Notorious Precious.Where Gabby does Biggie Smalls with Precious…”), it seems like size does matter when it comes to the Hollywood rookie and the impact her weight will have on her professional future. Now you can Acai Supply to the mix. The weight loss company is taking it upon itself to show some tough love to Sidibe wit a letter it wrote to the actress that urged her to shift her focus from her image to her health.”The only way you can reach your goal of someday winning that Oscar is by being active, fit, and most of all, healthy!,” wrote Acai Supply’s CEO. To further drive its point home, the company is offering a one-year’s supply of their product to Sidibe to help her lose weight. According to an Acai Supply publicist, the diet pill company is already feeling the effects of its act of goodwill. “We have seen a large increase in sales today, but we have not yet heard from Ms. Sidibe. We are really hoping to,” he told Popeater.com. “We want to help her maintain a healthy lifestyle. She has amazing potential, Oprah believes in her, and she could someday be on that stage accepting an Oscar. We can only put it out there for her, we hope she takes us up on our offer.” Although this reeks of a publicity stunt, it does raise an eyebrow. The big question is will Gabourey accept the offer or continue to do her. As talented as she is, I would hate for Gabby to leave us so soon. Obesity has already claimed one gifted star (the late, great Big Pun).Hopefully, Gabourey will make the best decision for her and continue living her life. 2. Todd Bridges Kills Willis with Memories of Sexual Abuse and Diaper Rehab Corey Haim’s death last week is the latest in a tragic string of child stars who achieve fame only to crash and burn. And while Todd Bridges is among those who are still around, he is no exception. As he promotes his the book Killing Willis, Bridges comes clean about bad things really got after the hit show was cancelled. To hear him tell it, things got so bad that he became a drug dealer in Hollywood in an effort to pay off the $280,000 in back taxes he owed after being wiped out by his accountants. “There were four different hotels and I had about five girls that worked in the streets,” the former Diff’rent Strokes star shared with Access Hollywood. As for how he spun out of control, the answer can be found years earlier as Bridges confessed to being molested by his former publicist. “His journey with me was to always try to convince me that girls were not what they lived up to be in that you could get that same feeling with a boy,” the actor said. “At 12-years-old when you’ve never experienced that you have no idea. And eventually, he got what he wanted. It happened three times but I was very confused because I knew how I felt about girls.” The experience with the publicist left a mark on Bridges, whose mother believed her son while his father sided with the publicist. It wasn’t until Bridges had his first sexual experience with his Diff’rent Strokes co-star Dana Plato that he started to feel like a normal teenage boy. Nevertheless, the damage was done as Bridges’ encounters with the law resulted in a stint in rehab after pleading guilty to drug possession in 1993. It was at this point, the actor, who often used the drugs he sold, hit rock bottom. “When I got in there I got really angry and I got really mad at the hospital [staff]. And they strapped me at four points and I was in there for three days,” Bridges explained during an appearance on Fox & Friends as he detailed the moment he decided to make a change. “When you’re in your 20’s and you have a big diaper on and you were on a hit show, there has to be a change in your life.” Although he is clean and sober now, Bridges is quick to say he has no one to blame for his past troubles but himself. “What I try to always explain to people is that we can’t blame Hollywood, it’s not Hollywood,” he says. “I made some stupid personal choices. But I can’t blame Hollywood.” “No one ever goes into addiction thinking that you’re going to get addicted to drugs. You do it to cover the pain up,” Bridges continued. “But then when I got caught up in addiction, Hollywood didn’t throw me away, I threw Hollywood away.” 3. Salma Hayek Creates Her Own Detox with Cooler Cleanse There’s nothing like a good detox. Unlike many of us who are still waiting for Dr. Dre to deliver a musical version of this, Salma Hayek is very up on the aftermath of a worthwhile detox of the body. Which is why the sexy star has aligned with Juice Generation’s Eric Helms to create Cooler Cleanse, a new line of “organic, locally sourced, hydraulically pressed juices.” Media sources report the cleanse is available in five flavors — a green juice, a grapefruit mint, a red juice with beets and apples, young coconut water, and nut milk sweetened with dates. Hayek knows firsthand the effects of the detox as she has been using the product for years. Although none of the Cooler Cleanse programs (the 3-Day Cleanse, the 5-Day Cleanse, the Raw Cooler) target weight loss, the official site for the product states it concentrates more on a total and complete cleanse of the body to allow it to be fully “operational” afterwards. Price for Cooler Cleanse totals $58 a day for the juices and $62 a day for the raw food program. Simply stated, Salma Hayek is now The Sh*t oops Shiznit. 4. Love Divorces Darius McCary and Karrine Steffans; Beats Up Ex CSI Star Gary Dourdan First Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy. Now, Darius McCrary and Karrine Steffans.Love must obviously be on vacation this week because McCrary and the former video vixen known as Superhead are no longer happily married. The National Enquirer reports that McCrary filed for divorce on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles County Court after almost one year of marriage and an on and off relationship full of ups and drama. Despite the split, the former Family Matters and current Young and the Restlessstar still showed loved to his ex-squeeze by reportedly sending Steffans a bouquet of flowers with her divorce papers. “I will always love Karrine and her son, but we are not good together. It was just time for us to go our separate ways,” McCrary told NE reporter Patricia Shipp. The divorce marks the end of McCrary’s third marriage and Steffans’ second marriage. The best-selling author was hitched to veteran rhymesayer Koo G. Rap before her union with McCrary. Despite McCrary’s attempt to gently call it quits, Steffans wasn’t as sentimental as she believes her ex was unfaithful during their time together. “He cheated on me,” Steffans told the Enquirer. “You can’t cover that up with a bouquet of flowers.” Ah, love. There’s nothing like it. It brings you up and, as Gary Dourdan found out, beats you down. The 43-year-old former CSI star became a real life victim of domestic violence at the hands of his 21-year-old girlfriend, Maria Asis del Alamo, who was arrested for allegedly attacking him on Tuesday (March 16) afternoon. The folks at E! spoke to the LAPD, which stated that authorities responded to a domestic disturbance call at Doudan’s Venice, Calif. Home. Del Alamo was later handcuffed and taken in to custody on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge after police questioned her and Dourdan and noticed scratches and bruises on him. Next on the agenda for Del Alamo is a court date set for April 6. She was booked and released on $20,000 bail. At this time, there is no word on when Dourdan will receive his next dose of “tough love.” In Other Words… After giving us an earful of personal and professional triumphs and heartaches through her music, Mary J. Blige is utilizing a different way to touch fans . According to BV Buzz, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul is thinking of brining her life story to the printed page with her first book. “I think its time,” said Blige, who plans to use the page-turner as a vehicle to inspire aspiring female entertainers who dream of making it big. “It’s imperative for me to help all of the younger singers who come up behind me because I don’t want anyone to suffer through what I suffered through. I almost ended up with nothing; meaning dead, broke and whatever you want to call it. I was given this position not just for myself but to be an example to them because they are me!” The late Ray Charles will get the Broadway treatment with an upcoming musical. The Sheldon Epps-helmed play, titled Unchain My Heart, will be a celebration of the music legend’s life and music.Unchain My Heart is slated to open Nov. 7 on Broadway, with preview performances beginning Oct. 8. Things look to be quite lovely for Vivian Green this year. The singer is gearing up for the release of her forthcoming album Beautiful. The offering, which includes the hit title track, is slated to hit stores April 6. In last week’s Word, I mentioned Akon’s plans of invading Bollywood. The theme of domination looks like shows no signs of disappearing from the hitmaker’s priorities as he increases his chances of financial security with a new fragrance. The recently launched Konvict Cosmetics scent, appropriately named Konvict, is currently available online at akonfragrances.com. Ten percent of all proceeds will be donated to the Konfidence Foundation, an organization dedicated to raising public awareness of conditions in Africa as well as providing access to learning, recreational environments and wellness services to underprivileged African youth. How’s this for an ad? Konvict — The felonious fragrance made for the criminal in you!!! (Do not wear this behind bars) It may cause unwanted attention.
