Is Star Jones A Victim Or Villainess?

Last week, there was a huge media blitz over legendary broadcast journalist and media mogul Barbara Walters’ memoir, “AUDITION.” A moving autobiography of a life fraught with emotional and career highs and lows, Barbara Walters candidly exposed details her private and public persona.

In “AUDITION,” Barbara Walters also exposed the truth about Star Jones. Barbara Walters wrote:

“Star, whose weight was becoming more and more of an issue, decided to take drastic measures. After consulting her doctors she decided to have gastric bypass surgery that would shrink her stomach and make overeating uncomfortable if not dangerous. We expected her, when she felt well, to talk about her procedure on the air…Star had even told me that she would discuss the whole operation and its aftermath with me on 20/20.”

But America remembers something totally opposite. Star never spoke about her drastic weight loss and her frightening shrinking appearance. And when she did, if you faithful “View” watchers recall, Star attributed her amazing weight loss to exercise and diet. Not to gastric bypass surgery. However, the public was not as stupid as Star would liked to have believed. Having watched the fab transformation of Al Roker and “American Idol” Randy Jackson from gastric bypass, the public knew the truth. Star Jones hadn’t miraculously lost weight by traditional Richard Simmons methods. Star had the surgery.

Did America care that Star had gastric bypass surgery? No. What infuriated the American public was the way Star Jones openly denied and lied about how her weight loss occurred. Later, she even wrote a book entitled “SHINE” where Star attributed positive thinking and affirmation to her weight loss success. We, the public knew otherwise.

Yet, “The View” co-hosts and Barbara Walters knew the truth. Even when Star reneged on her promise to discuss her weight loss on 20/20, Barbara Walters and the other co-hosts honored Star’s request, reluctantly so, not to discuss the surgery.

“Star said she didn’t want to become what she called ‘a poster child’ for the procedure and have to answer a lot of questions. I understood that, but it put us all in a terrible position. 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 primarilyto portion control and pilates.”

In an un-necessary response to Barbara Walters’ recollection in her memoir, Star Jones released a statement to the press:

“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…and speaking negatively against me for the sake of selling a book.”

Nowhere in this ridiculous press release did Star Jones refute the validity of Barbara Walters’ memory. Or claim. And guess what? She won’t. Star Jones made an ill-advised move when she decided to make a counter statement regarding Barbara Walters’ book. Being the “icon” that Star readily admits she is, Barbara Walters is more than able to make sure that Star never works in television again. How about that? Besides, there was no need addressing the public over a matter that everyone already viewed as fact. No one needed Barbara Walters to verify what we already knew: Star Jones felt insecure about her decision to have bariatric surgery. She worried that her decision would make her look like a failure.

This is the bulk of the situation right there.

So, instead of Star Jones taking pot shots at a woman that gave her career a major boost, what she needs to do is figure out how to regain the public’s trust and confidence. That is why her talk show didn’t succeed. No one was watching. No one cared.

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