Staying Strong for Giuliana

Last month E! News anchor Giuliana Rancic stund her fans when she announced on The Today Show that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram. Rancic underwent a double lumpectomy in October and returned to work at E! shortly thereafter. All seemed somewhat back to normal as the Italian news beauty resumed her duties as top news anchor at the E! Network, but a significant decision had been made by Giuliana and her husband Bill, which they announced this morning on The Today Show. Instead of getting six weeks of radiation therapy, Giuliana will undergo a double mastectomy to remove her breasts, altogether.

After discovering that all of her cancer had not been successfully removed by her lumpectomy, Giuliana Rancic is electing to undergo a double mastectomy to err on the side of caution, and our prayers and love go out to her and her wonderful husband, Bill Rancic.

Due to Giuliana Rancic’s young age, according to her home network E!, Rancic will have “immediate reconstruction” following her mastectomy. Though her husband Bill Rancic, who has been Giuliana’s rock of support, expressed that he does not care about her physical appearance, but just wants her around for the next 50 years.

Giuliana told the Today Show, “First, I would like to take the stigma away. ‘Mastectomy’ the word seemed so scary to me at first. After doing research and seeing the advancements, the surgery has come a long way from 20 years ago. The results can be incredible. Not only can it save your life, but you can come out feeling healthier and with a positive self-image. Second, I want to encourage everyone to be proactive with their health and get checked out.”

Here is a clip from Giuliana and Bill Rancic’s Today Show appearance, discussing Giuliana’s impending double mastectomy surgery:

Frank Sinatra "Best of the Best"

Frank Sinatra’s only son. Frank Sinatra Jr. recently sat down with Spinner to discuss the holiday release of Frank Sinatra’s latest music compilation, Best of the Best. Sinatra Jr. also shared why he feels his legendary father lived to be 82, while most iconic legends meet their tragic ends prematurely.

Frank Sinatra, Jr. told Spinner, “[Frank] Sinatra always had both feet on the ground. He never believed, or allowed himself to believe, any of the fame that surrounded him. He never took the adulation seriously.”

Frank Sinatra’s son and namesake, Frank Sinatra Jr. went on to explain that it was his father’s down to earth outlook on fame and his close ties to his family that helped him to avoid the kind of early tragic end that had befallen other icons like Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.

Frank Sinatra Jr. explained to Spinner, “They were tragic figures in the sense that they didn’t have their feet on the ground and they died that way. Isn’t that interesting, that all three of those people died alone?”

Praising his legendary father, for whom he composed music and musically directed until Sinatra’s death in 1998, Frank Sinatra Jr. says one thing he wants Frank Sinatra fans to know about his father is that “he never lost the concept of the reality of life. That is something I believe that people should know. And I believe that is the reason why he lived to be 82-and-a-half-years old.”

Not too long ago I had the opportunity to interview Frank Sinatra Jr’s older sister, Nancy Sinatra, for PR.com and Nancy and I discussed Frank Sinatra’s legacy from the point of view of his first born (Nancy).

Here are some clips from the Nancy Sinatra interview on PR.com:

PR.com: Your father was around to see the first inklings of the power of the Internet back in the late 90s, shortly before he passed. What did he think of it?

Nancy Sinatra: He was thrilled. He would read the questions that people would write in, and then he would tell me what to say in response to their questions, and he said, “This is great. Please keep in touch with my supporters.” And I said, “I promise.” I have ever since.

PR.com: For your Sirius XM radio show, Nancy for Frank, how do you go about scripting each show, and how do you determine what Frank Sinatra stories should remain private and what stories about your father you care to share with the public?

Nancy Sinatra: It’s all up to the music. We’re recording a show tomorrow and the album we’re playing is the Strangers In The Night album. I haven’t seen a script yet. I send the songs to my producer and he takes the songs and puts them into a script that includes the composer, lyricist, and if possible, when it was recorded originally. Whatever nerdy kind of technical information we can get, we put it into the script. If there are any stories, they come about as a result of a song.

PR.com: Your sister Tina does a great deal as far as managing, I guess what you would call the Sinatra brand. Is that an equal three-way partnership between you, Tina and Frank, Jr., or does Tina take the lead with business matters pertaining to your father’s work?

Nancy Sinatra: Tina’s a producer, so we rely on her for that sort of thing. We are all absolutely involved, of course. We all meet once a month, or once every two months if we’re traveling. We discuss the projects that are coming up and what we are going to do about them, and who’s going to do promotion. I liken it to a family farm. The products are usually recordings, sometimes films, and you take them to market and market them as best as you can. It’s not easy anymore. The music business is pretty much history. It’s generally via downloading, and mostly the younger people don’t want to pay anything for music. There are also so many expenses involved in putting out CDs, and you have to be very sure that everything you put out is of quality. If there is a mistake at the printers or there is someone along the way who misspells a composer’s name or puts in a wrong date, we get clobbered by the Frank Sinatra fans who know every detail. When that happens it’s embarrassing for us, but we can’t be there every second of every day with this stuff as it goes through. We can license and hope (laughs)… that they do a good job and not let us down.

CLICK TO READ MY ENTIRE NANCY SINATRA INTERVIEW ON PR.COM

This story is brought to you by Allison Dawn PR

the beginning of the end for Kardashians?

Despite an avalanche of negative publicity surrounding Kim Kardashian’s hasty and ostentatious wedding, and even hastier divorce, and an anti-Kardashian petition which boasts an estimated 165,000 disgruntled signatures, last night’s season 2 premiere of Kourtney And Kim Take New York held its own in the Nielson ratings, with just under 3.2 million viewers tuning in.

Whether it was morbid curiousity, the Kardashians’ loyal hardcore fanbase, or a little bit of both, just shy of 3.2 million people felt compelled to watch Kim and Kourtney Kardashian’s New York exploits, but more importantly, to watch the beginning of the implosion of Kim’s doomed marriage to NBA star, Kris Humphries.

According to a news report from the E! Network, this season’s premiere episode of Kourtney And Kim Take New York “exceeded last season’s premiere by +6%.” E! also points out that the show does very well among females ages 18-49, which is kind of stating the obvious. We could all assume the basic demographics of Kardashians fans.

While just under 3.2 million viewers is generally considered a very respectable rating for a basic cable television show, it is actually a slight disappointment to E! if you consider some of the ratings that the Kardashian franchise has pulled in over the past few years. Kim’s Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event scored E! a whopping 10.5 million viewers in total, over the two-part television special’s first run in August of 2011. Kim’s wedding provided E! with their most watch television program in the history of the network. Last season’s installment of the Kardashian flagship series, Keeping Up With the Kardashians was in the lead among cable network shows, taking in an average of 4.3 million viewers during its Sunday night slot.

I would guess that, pre-divorce fiasco, E! was anticipating at least 4 million viewers to tune into Kourtney & Kim Take New York. If Kourtney & Kim Take New York continues to hold firm at over 3 million viewers per episode we would consider the second season a solid hit for E!. However, if the show tops off at just under 3.2 million in the cable network Nielson ratings and takes a downward slide as the series progresses over the next two months, it could spell trouble for the Kardashian television empire.

If you think late night show, Chelsea Lately is hilarious, the behind-the-scenes mock-umentary, After Lately, will make you laugh yourself cross-eyed! I love how far Chelsea and all ofthe Chelsea Lately comedians are willing to go in the name of comedy, ranging from “that’s just wrong” to “I can’t beleive this is even on TV!”

I spoke with one of Chelsea Lately‘s most popular comedy writers and roundtable fixtures, Heather McDonald, for a very candid interview about the absurdity of pop culture celebrity, her friendship with the Kardashians, working for Chelsea Handler, and being a Republican in Hollywood.

Here are two exclusive advance excerpts from my Heather McDonald interview:

on where and how they shoot After Lately:‘
“Oh, yes. Those are our desks and we’re right in the studio. So we’ll finish taping Chelsea Lately, and then it’s like, “Your call time for After Lately is six o’clock and then we’ll shoot scenes at night or on a Saturday. It’s hectic but it’s a lot of fun because I’m so close with everyone. It really is like a family. Definitely people get on our nerves and there might be little snide remarks, but for the most part everyone loves each other and wants each other to succeed and have a good time.”

On sudden reality TV fame::
“I definitely see the absurdity of the instant fame that pop culture and reality shows have done for people. I do really enjoy the Housewives. The Beverly Hills Housewives are so much fun, definitely my favorite. They take these women who probably always wanted to be an actress, and now at 45 they’re on the cover of Us Weekly.”

My interview with Heather McDonald will post on Friday, November 25th!

joining the ranks of Cher & Madonna?

We didn’t believe it at first, but it seems Jennifer Lopez is indeed having a rebound romance with 24 year old back up dancer, Casper Smart. Doesn’t this seem like a bit of deja vous, ala Cris Judd circa 2001? JLo is certainly a flawless 40-something, but an almost two decade age different can stymie even the steamiest of love affairs, and something tells us this relationship between Jennifer and Casper is destined to fizzle sooner rather than later.

I know what you’re thinking, “men date much younger women all the time.” But think about it, doesn’t it seem kinda icky when men date much younger women, as in women young enough to be their offspring? So, no double standard here.

After a much publicized dinner date with Sexiest Man Alive, Bradley Cooper, which obviously went nowhere fast, speculation that JLo was seeing one of her much younger back up dancers started to circulate. From outward appearances it seems Jennifer Lopez and dancer Casper Smart are indeed an item, albeit most likely a casual one.

According to US Weekly, after performing on stage together at the American Music Awards, Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart did little to hide their affection for eachother at a celeb packed after party, even though they knew it would get the celebrity weeklies buzzing. Could that be what JLo wanted? Lopez is certainly savvy enough to know how things in tinseltown work by now so we have to assume her open PDA was intentional.

US Weekly reports, “Once inside the bash, [Lopez] made a beeline for Smart, 24, grabbed his hand, and headed into a private booth near the DJ,” and “by 12:45, after hours of dancing, Lopez and Smart left Greystone Manor, hand in hand, with her entourage.” The article also notes that Casper Smart seemed kind of bashful and intimidated by all of the attention focused on him and his superstar new girlfriend.

What do you think? Can a romance between a 42 year old woman and a 24 year old man work for the long haul, or is this strictly a rebound hookup that will fizzle quickly?

Blasphemy!

It’s hard to believe that anyone would find fault with Sofia Vergara’s gorgeous curves, but alas, when Vergara was an unknown fresh off the boat from Colombia, she was almost pressured into getting (gasp!) a breast reduction!

The Modern Family star and K Mart pitchwoman told Health Magazine, “When I moved to America, I was more voluptuous, and I felt a little different. My publicist [at the time] told me, ‘I think you should just reduce your boobs because nobody’s going to take you seriously here.’”

In fact, one major change that Sofia Vergara did make early in her career, that did not include going under the knife, was a change in hair color. Vergara once stated that she felt in order to make the leap from sexy model to actress she needed to dye her naturally blonde locks brown. Vergara once famously stated that as a blonde, casting directors didn’t know what to do with her because she came off “like a loud mouth Pamela Anderson;” too bodacious to be taken seriously and too outspoken to be deemed a barbie doll type ala Anderson.

We’re just happy Sofia chose brunette over breast reduction surgery, not just because we think she is stunning exactly the way she is, but because a breast reduction is major surgery and these decisions should definitely NOT be made by one’s publicist.

In fact, we love that Sofia Vergara now has a clothing line with K Mart, which is affordable, but also tailor made for a voluptuous woman’s curves.

Sofia goes on to tell Health Magazine, “Not everybody’s confident their whole life. For a long time, I thought that my boobs were too big. I was, like, 14 years old, and I already had these huge boobs. I was very skinny also. And now that I’m almost 40, we always have our insecurities as women. We’re never happy!”

Though in recent years Sofia Vergara has been able to embrace what makes her the Latin lovely that we all think she is. Vergara concluded in the December issue of Health, “I’m a Latin woman. I’m voluptuous, I’m loud, I’m exactly what a Latin woman is.”

Amen! And we also think Vergara’s major success with the hit sitcom Modern Family has had something to do with her newfound healthy self-esteem

By Frank Garrott, President and CEO of Gladney Center for Adoption

Each year thousands of people in the United States recognize and celebrate the creation of “forever families” on National Adoption Day. While adoption has existed for nearly as long as the human race, even today many longstanding myths and misconceptions (no pun intended) about adoption still linger. As we mark National Adoption Day on November 19th, here are some adoption misconceptions that should be put to rest.

One adoption myth that creates a good deal of anxiety in birth mothers who are considering placing their child for adoption is that birth parents are not allowed any contact with their child once an adoption is finalized. On the contrary, in most cases it is actually up to the birth parent (or parents) to choose whether to have an “open” adoption or a “closed” adoption. In open adoptions, birth parents and adoptive families elect to learn about each other’s identities and backgrounds, and may remain in contact with each other throughout the child’s life. The degree to which this occurs varies, but the birth parents play a key role in determining the level of engagement.

Another myth about adoption that creates a great deal of guilt in birth parents is that placing a child for adoption is a sign of weakness. Many birth parents confront the “pressure to parent” from influencers in their lives. Some are even led to believe if they choose adoption that they don’t love their child. The fact is that adoption is one of the most courageous decisions birth parents can make, believing that placing their child for adoption will ultimately lead to a better life for their child. Even when placing a child for adoption is the right choice, it is natural for birth mothers to go through a grieving process. A disturbing adoption myth is that birth mothers who grieve after placing their child for adoption made the wrong decision. The pressure to parent has a counterpart post-adoption. Observers often assume that a birth mother’s sense of grief or loss, post-placement, is indicative that she feels guilty and regrets her decision.

Although most birth mothers do experience sadness after placing a child for adoption, that grief does not typically equate to guilt. The sense of guilt is usually ascribed by outsiders. In fact, grieving is a healthy part of the healing process. Leading adoption agencies, such as the Gladney Center for Adoption, provide information, tools and support to help birth mothers cope with their grief post-placement.

The notion that birth mothers who are familiar with the adoption process are less likely to choose adoption is also an adoption myth. The level of one’s exposure to adoption is a key factor in a person’s decision about whether to place their child for adoption. In fact, the more someone has been exposed to adoption, the more likely they will choose adoption as an alternative to parenting or abortion. This underscores the need for adoption education programs.

One myth that tends to leave older children out in the cold is that older adoptive children are so “broken” that they will never heal post-adoption. It is a common belief that older children may be so traumatized from their past situations that they can never attach to an adoptive parent. It is true that many older children have suffered abuse, neglect or have been shuttled from one foster home to another, and they often display negative behaviors as a result. But no child is “beyond healing,” and most adoptive children will successfully attach to their parents when they are placed with a loving family. Education is profoundly important when adopting an older child, and the adoption agency you choose to work with should be committed to ensuring that adoptive parents are prepared for that unique journey.

A misnomer regarding health preferences and adoption is that special needs adoptive children always have severe mental or physical handicaps, or severe health issues. Just as with non-adoptive special needs children, adoptive special needs children vary in the level of medical or other care they may require. The fact is, there are many healthy infants and children available for adoption, both domestically and internationally.

There has also been a long running debate on the merits of international adoption versus domestic adoption. It is commonly perceived that people choose to adopt internationally because it is cheaper and easier than adopting in the United States. With international adoptions, typically adoptive parents have to spend weeks in the country where they plan to adopt, sometimes for multiple visits. The travel costs and the time away from work often result in a higher overall cost to adopt. The fact is most people who choose to adopt from a foreign country feel a particular affinity for that nation and the children there.

Adoption is also thought to be a prohibitively expensive process and out of reach for most couples. Adoption fees can be expensive for would-be adoptive parents, but the real costs of an adoption often exceed an agency’s fee. This is especially so among non-profit agencies who provide living arrangements, medical care, and or, counseling for the birth mothers. Even with traditional fee-based adoptions, adoption agencies will typically work with parents to establish a sliding-scale fee, and many adoptive parents are currently eligible to receive a $13,000 US federal tax credit. It is also important to note that adoptions can be nearly cost-free, especially if adoptive parents consider adopting an older child from within the foster care system or a special-needs child.

To the frustration of adoptive parents, it has been widely spoken that adoption takes years and years to complete. The adoption process is complex and it is true that there are multiple waiting periods; waiting to be approved as an adoptive parent, waiting for a match and waiting until you take custody of your child. However, depending on the type of adoption someone is choosing, the wait time for adoption can be as little as 12 to 18 months.

While adoptive families face the same challenges as biological families, adoptive families, whether a child has been adopted at birth or at a later stage in life, do experience joys and challenges that may be unique to adoptive families. That is why it is important for adoptive families to seek out support services and continue to take advantage of all available resources. A good adoption agency provides a host of educational and counseling services for all parties involved in an adoption: adoptees, adoptive parents and birth parents, for their lifetimes. As an example, Gladney’s “Pathways” program ensures that families can count on us for support in their adoption journey, forever.

Frank Garrott is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Gladney Center for Adoption. Now celebrating its 125th year of operations, Gladney is a recognized leader in domestic and international adoption, maternity services, family support services and humanitarian aid projects around the world.

In Shaquille O’Neal’s upcoming memoir, Shaq Uncut: My Story, Shaq opens up about the behind-the-scenes fighting and drama between him and Kobe Bryant that ultimatley led Shaq to be traded to the Miami Heat in 2004.

Claiming that Kobe Bryant was being groomed by Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson to be the Lakers’ superstar player, Shaq says that back in 1996 a teenage Kobe Bryant had aspirations of granduer, and relentless ambition that led the two players to often lock horns. In describing Kobe Bryant, Shaq writes in his book:

“He was so young and so immature in some ways, but I can tell you this: everything Kobe is doing now, he told me all the way back thenhe was going to do it. We were sitting on the bus once and he told me, ‘I’m going to be the number one scorer for the Lakers, I’m going to win five or six championships, and I’m going to be the best player in the game.’”

Shaquille O’Neal says that his response to Kobe Bryant at the time was, “Ok, whatever.” Shaq goes on to write that Kobe then “looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘I’m going to be the Will Smith of the NBA.’”

Shaquille O’Neal then went on to discuss perceived favored treatment that Lakers coach Phil Jackson bestowed upon Kobe Bryant, and Kobe’s anymosity towards Shaq for not publically defending him in 2003 when sexual assault allegations surfaced against Bryant stemming from an incident that took place at a Colorado hotel.

Shaquille O’Neal’s book details a fight he and Kobe Bryant had, behind closed doors, where Kobe accused Shaq of turning his back on him in his time of need. Shaq claims that he did reach out to Kobe Bryant after the scandal broke, and it was Kobe who was unresponsive. Shaquille O’Neal goes on to write in his book, “To this day I still don’t know what happened in Colorado. Kobe never came clean… the only details we knew were reported in the papers. Kobe eventually admitted to having a sexual relationship with the girl but said it was consensual.”

Things eventuually settled down between the two former Lakers rivals and Shaq moved on to the Miami Heat, eventually ending his NBA career with the Boston Celtics in 2011.

Shaquille O’Neal states in his book, “We played together on the West team in the 2009 All-Star Game and they voted us co-MVPS. I’m there with my son and we’ve got this one trophy, so i said, ‘Here Kobe, you take it.’ He said, ‘No, give it to your son. I’ll get mine later. Give it to your little guy.’”

I recently interviewed Shaquille O’Neal for PR.com, and Shaq’s PR.com interview with me will post on November 11th.

Shaq Uncut: My Story will be in bookstores on November 15, 2011

sabotage?

An unlikely frontrunner for the GOP 2012 Republican nomination, fellow GOP candidates have watched in shock and dismay as Herman Cain, a fairly unknown business executive, has climbed up the polls like lightening over the past few months. Former frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry were unceremoniously cast aside as Cain’s now famous calling card “9-9-9″ captured public interest and overshadowed other, more mainstream approaches to conservative presidential campaigning.

Herman Cain had seemed unstoppable in the press… until now. With a double sexual harrassment charge on his back, Herman Cain’s less experienced political camp is scrambling to do urgent damage control, but are these sexual harrassment charges against Herman Cain nothing more than trumped up smoke and mirrors uncovered by the folks that specialize in digging up dirt on behalf of political opponents?

Herman Cain is being accussed of sexually harrassing two women in the workplace and there is a point of contention between whether Cain had “settled” with his accusers or if he had “reached an agreement” with them. “Two very different things,” claims Cain. Against conventional thinking, Herman Cain is currently on an interviewing rampage in the media trying to clear his name, but many feel he is talking way too much and that as he talks, his story keeps changing. I disagree. I think he is simply trying to recall of the details from an incident that was filled with gray area to begin with.

Fellow conservatives like Donald Trump and Ann Coulter are rallying around the groundbreaking candidate, claiming sabotage and racism by the news media and by the “left.”

According to the New York Daily News, “Right-wing author bats back sex harass claim: “This isn’t dropping your pants and saying, ‘kiss it.’” Coulter is calling this a “high-tech lynching.” And Donald Trump called the allegations “very unfair” on Fox News.

Rush Limbaugh called out the big elephant in the room, bluntly declaring, “This is about blacks and Hispanics getting uppity.”

How this sexual harrassment charge will effect the remainder of Herman Cain’s presidential campaign for the 2012 GOP nomination remains to be seen.