Video has f-bombs and is NSFW

Roseanne Barr has released a short video on her website making fun of Cher and her transgender son, Chaz, using actors dressed up like the two and affecting their mannerisms. It’s set to look like a sitcom complete with an awful laugh track and is called “Cher and Chaz,” episode 1. The jokes are lame and the bit gets old after about a minute. I might find some of this video offensive if I could muster up the interest to care.

Intro song:
Ones in sequins, the others in jeans
One hangs with dykes, the other with queens
One munches beava, the others a diva,
Here comes Cher and Chaz

If you want to watch the video, be forewarned that it’s 3 and a half minutes of jokes that try to be obnoxious and controversial and mostly fall flat - which is pretty much an apt description of Roseanne’s career lately.

In case this video doesn’t bring her enough attention, Roseanne is continuing her verbal smack down of Jon Voight, which brought her some minor headlines last year. She writes on her blog that Voight is “attacking the leader of our country, our first elected President in eight years! I am a Jew, and I do not support Jon Voight, the whitest man on earth when he blabs on about Israel. You honky peckerwood, shut your stupid bill kristol directed mouth!” There’s more, but you can read it yourself if you’re interested. Voight voiced his support of Israel last summer so that’s not new. He was a guest on Sean Hannity’s conservative talk show on August 9, and some of his statements against the health care plan must have predictably pissed her off. Voight is staunchly conservative and Roseanne has called him out in personal attacks in the past.

Last year, Roseanne wrote “those who inhabit the media world of glamour and entertainment and fashion and gossip are horrid people who have no talent of any kind.” It takes one to know one I guess, and it’s hard to see what kind of talent is involved in mocking Cher and Chaz. The part about Cher’s gothic interior design sense is mildly funny, I guess.

We were last treated to news about Roseanne when she posed as Hitler with “burnt Jew cookies” for a photoshoot.

Chaz Bono, the once daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono, is transitioning from female to male and has chosen to go public with his decision. Gay and transgender rights advocates say that Chaz is about to become the most famous famous of the transgender community in the US. Chaz is engaged to his longterm girlfriend, Jennifer Elia, and the two are said to be planning for a baby. Chaz and Jennifer are looking for a sperm donor to help them start a family, and grandmother-in-training Cher, 63, is reportedly trying to get them to chose someone they know instead of using an anonymous donor. She’s even compiled a file of prospects. (I am trying so hard not to make a David Crosby joke, but I just couldn’t let this pass without at least mentioning him.)

Cher is looking for a baby daddy for her daughter-turned-son Chaz! That’s the latest twist in the unconventional world of the 63 year-old music legend and Chaz, formerly named Chastity. Chaz is having a sex change from female to male, and hopes to marry his female live-in lover and start a family.

The couple needs a sperm donor - and Cher is being supportive by helping them find the right man, says a family friend.

“After Chaz told his mother about getting married and planning for a baby, Cher offered to help,” a longtime family friend told The Enquirer.

Chaz intends to marry fiancee Jennifer Elia by the end of the year.

As the Enquirer has reported, 40-year-old Chaz is having stomach stapling surgery to knock off 75 pounds before the gender reassignment is completed.

Meanwhile, Cher has thrown herself into the donor screening process.

“Cher doesn’t care if the baby is a boy or a girl,” the source said. “But she’s insisting on a donor with intelligence, creativity and good looks.

“At first Chaz and Jennifer wanted an anonymous donor. They both thought it would be better not to know who the father was. But now they are open to someone they know.

“So Cher is putting together a file of prospects, and as you can imagine, they’re all handsome and brilliant. Chaz and Jen are sticking to strict criteria, but ultimately, all three of them want a healthy baby.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, August 24, 2009]

The article doesn’t outright state it, but it’s assumed that Jennifer will carry the baby. Congratulations to Chaz and Jennifer if this is true, and it sounds kind of sweet that Cher is taking over to find the right guy to be the biological father. I bet she’s hoping to plan their wedding too!

Chaz and Jennifer look so happy in photos and as JayBird once wrote, I also get the vibe that Chaz is a good person who is just trying to live authentically. By just being himself, he’s educating so many of us on what it means to be a transgender person.

Chaz is shown with Jennifer Elia at Outfest on 7/9/09. Credit: WENN.com

Cher’s daughter Chaz Bono, formerly Chastity, is transitioning from a woman to a man with the support of his longterm female partner. Cher issued a statement two weeks ago saying that while she might not understand Chaz’s decision, she will support him fully. She worded it better than I can recap, saying in part, “although I may not understand, I will strive to be understanding. The one thing that will never change is my abiding love for my child.” Cher never referred to Chaz by a gender-related pronoun in her statement, which seemed like the right way to address the situation when, as a mom, she was still trying to make sense of it.

Producers have approached Chaz about creating a reality show documenting his sex change, and he’s seriously considering it, according to the National Enquirer. Cher is trying to talk him out of it doing a reality show centered on his gender reassignment, as she values her family’s privacy. Chaz has experience with reality television and appeared on Celebrity Fit Club 3 in 2006, losing 23 pounds. He has gained the weight back, and The Enquirer also claims that he’s going to have lap band surgery to lose weight ahead of his planned wedding.

Cher is adamant about not wanting to get dragged into the crazy world of reality TV.

Now known as “Chaz,” the 40-year-old daughter of Cher and music legend Sonny Bono recently announced she [sic] was undergoing the gender reassignment. She wants to do it before marrying longtime partner Jennifer Elia.

“Talk about must-see TV!” declared the friend. “Chaz has been fielding offers from reality show producers who want to show her [sic] sex change on camera.

“After appearing on ‘Celebrity Fit Club’ a few years ago, Chaz learned the ropes of reality TV.

“But Cher was shocked that Chaz even considered documenting her life - let alone her sex change on camer. Cher treasures her privacy…

“As a gay activist, Chaz is adamant about recording her sexual identity struggles and her transition from female to male,” said her friend. “Her concern is that it be done tastefully. If she does it at all, she wants a documentary style format, and for it to be educational.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, July 13, 2009]

Cher is right - Chaz should stay far away from reality TV if the goal is to make it educational. Reality shows take on a life of their own and create drama and a story arc when it’s not necessarily there. People’s lives then start to resemble the roles they’re shoe-horned into and it’s hard to separate reality from fiction. Chaz is getting married soon - they don’t need the added stress on their relationship of a reality show.

Chaz could possibly work with documentary filmmakers who are aware and sensitive about transgender issues and create a special to air on cable. An average reality show producer will not do his story justice. HBO might be the place to air Chaz’s story. A few years ago I saw a very moving documentary on HBO about a dying transgender man called Southern Comfort. There’s also another documentary that aired in 2005 on HBO called Middlesexes that was relatively well received.

Corey Scholibo, the entertainment editor of The Advocate, told Good Morning America that Chaz’s high profile status makes him a de facto representative for his community. “I think that he is going to be the most public face of the transgender community…

For America, and for the world it will shed light on a community I don’t think they are all that familiar with and don’t really know that much about.”

Maybe a reality show could help too, but it would have to be done by people who thoroughly understand transgender issues and don’t just try and exploit the situation for ratings.

Here’s a link to a segment on Good Morning America on Chaz’s gender reassignment process. He is not interviewed but it’s a good look into why people are fascinated with this story.

Chaz is shown supposedly test driving a new Mustang on 7/1, but then he hugged the guy he was with, suggesting it was a friend, not a salesman. Credit: Coqueran/Fame Pictures

Cher has given her public support to her daughter Chastity, as Chastity makes the transition from female to male, from Chastity to Chaz. Cher gave her statement to US Weekly, saying that supports Chaz’s courage, and she also says “although I may not understand, I will strive to be understanding.” Which I think means that Cher was maybe caught off-guard with Chaz’s announcement? Or was it something Chaz had told his mother beforehand? Cher also says, “The one thing that will never change is my abiding love for my child.” Which is awesome. I hope this is the signal for a new era in understanding the transgendered, and I hope that Cher will give more public statements about how she’s dealing with this as a mother:

Cher is speaking out for the first time about daughter Chastity transitioning from female to male as Chaz Bono.

“Chaz is embarking on a difficult journey, but one that I will support,” Cher tells Usmagazine.com in a statement. “I respect the courage it takes to go through this transition in the glare of public scrutiny, and although I may not understand, I will strive to be understanding. The one thing that will never change is my abiding love for my child.”

Last week, Us reported that Bono began undergoing a sex change after turning 40 on March 4. A rep would not offer details on the procedure (gender reassignment typically involves surgery and hormone therapy).

“Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity,” the Bono spokesperson said.

“He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones,” the rep continued. “It is Chaz’s hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his ‘coming out’ did nearly 20 years ago.”

[From US Weekly]

Though some disagree, I really think that in the long run, we’ll find that we are born gay, straight, transgendered, and everything in between. It’s how we were made - and if someone feels like a man caught in a woman’s body, or vice versa, so be it. It’s like hating someone for their eye color.

In other Chaz Bono news, Radar reported a few days ago that Chaz and longtime girlfriend Jennifer Elia are engaged. According to Radar’s jewelry store source, Chaz once bought Jennifer an engagement ring - but it was a few years ago, so it may just be a nice ring, not an engagement ring. Apparently, Jennifer adores the simple solitaire diamond, and wears it all the time. They also report that Jennifer is “the light of Chaz’s life” and that Cher adores Jennifer. I know there are probably rough spots with having Cher as a mother, but in general, Cher seems like she’s a great mom to have around.

This past weekend Cher donned a see-through body suit that was nearly identical to the iconic one she wore for her “Turn Back Time” music video in 1992. And to say she looks the exact same now as she did then is almost an understatement. Of course, she’s had the help of many a surgeon’s scalpel over the years, but still… it’s sort of mind-boggling to look at the pictures. Surgery is obviously helpful in maintaining one’s youth, but Cher looks better than you’d expect anyone to, no matter how much help they’d gotten along the way.

Cher stunned audiences when she first donned her daring black cut-out body suit 17 years ago. And the singer looked equally as amazing as she took to the stage in an outfit almost identical to the lace and gem-encrusted outfit at the David Foster and Friends concert at Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas.

The 62-year-old was all smiles as she showed off her figure in the daring number, which includes thigh-high leather boots and suspenders. She first wore a version of the costume at the age of 46 in Berlin and fans at her weekend show were delighted as she showed that it really is possible to Turn Back Time. This time around, the hair’s bigger and the leather jacket is shorter - but the question on everyone’s lips is whether it’s actually the original outfit she wore all those years

Cher has previously admitted that she has had a little help maintaining her youthful looks. She confessed to having a facelift, as well as procedures to improve her teeth and breasts, and has even described herself as a ‘plastic surgery poster girl’.

…She has said: ‘Everyone says I am terrified of getting old, but the truth is that in my job becoming old and becoming extinct are one and the same thing… And becoming obsolete and useless is completely unattractive to me.’

[From the Daily Mail]

Part of me feels like I shouldn’t be so wowed by Cher’s appearance, given her near-obsession with cosmetic surgery. But she has kept her body in great shape too – look at her legs! Again, I’m not claiming she hasn’t had help there, but obviously she must work out. She looks like she’s put on – at most – 10 pounds since her first body suit appearance. Her hips and thighs are a little bit bigger but still look good.

The Daily Mail wondered if body suit was the original - and it’s definitely not. The cut outs are different on the sides of her torso – there were two in the original, and there’s only one now. So there’s a teeny bit more coverage. No matter what, Cher looks amazing. Maybe getting to 62 and looking this good will feel like an accomplishment, and she will finally compromise a bit and allow herself to age. Or just go to the surgeon’s office half as much.

In Touch has comparison photos in this week’s issue that show just how close Britney’s Circus tour costumes are to some of the flashy outfits Cher wore on stage during her 2004 ‘farewell’ tour. The photos I’ve found here are close, not as close as In Touch’s photos are, but they’re a good approximation

Britney performed in Germany in a top hat, black leotard and boots that looked remarkably similar to one of Madonna’s outfits on her Stick and Sweet tour. Given how similar her outfits are to Cher’s tour, including an Indian-inspired number and of course a big top look, her costume designers must be getting more than just some inspiration from other artists. It’s not a blatant rip off though and there are some differences in the outfits.

Britney is doing well and hanging in there on tour. This week’s Star reports that Britney and Kevin are rekindling their romance as he joins her on tour, but that’s not likely. She’s thought to be having a secret romance with her agent, Jason Trawick, with whom she’s been linked in the past.

Normally I would dismiss this rumor as just another creative casting idea by a tabloid, but British paper The Telegraph is reporting that the actress wanted to play catwoman in the next Batman installment is Cher! The 62 year-old singer would continue the trend of darker, scarier villians and would be a menacing catwoman instead of the sexpot catwoman we’re used to:

[Cher] will join a cast that includes Johnny Depp as The Riddler as she plays the whip-carrying burglar. The character has also been played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry.

A studio executive said: “Cher is Nolan’s first choice to play Catwoman. He wants to her to portray her like a vamp in her twilight years.

“The new Catwoman will be the absolute opposite of Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry’s purring creations.”

Filming of the new Batman instalment, provisionally entitled The Caped Crusader, is due to begin in Vancouver early next year.

The Dark Knight, this summer’s blockbuster, has become the most successful of the Batman movies. Warner Bros expects the film to make about $530m.

[From Telegraph.co.uk]
Cher is a decent actress and she could pull this off well. She won a Best Actress Oscar for her 1987 film Moonstruck, and she’s shined in films like Mask and Mermaids. She’s probably not getting as many roles lately because she’s older and the parts dry up for older women. It’s a great idea to cast her as catwoman and I can see her being a very convincing villianess.

The last we heard of Cher she was romancing a guy 24 years her junior, a 38 year-old biker who climbed Everest on his second attempt. She’s said to be planning to marry him in a Vegas ceremony around the end of the year.

Cher is shown performing in her Living Proof tour on 6/26/02. Credit: Tom Walck / PR Photos

Cher in March, 2006. Credit: PRPHotos. The pictures of her with her new boyfriend are in this week’s Enquirer
The National Enquirer has a new cover story this week which reads “Cher’s Secret Wedding!” It’s technically accurate according to the information they claim to have, but is misleading because Cher is just said to be planning a wedding with this biker dude who happens to be 24 years younger than her, and hasn’t actually married him yet. So a more accurate title would be “Cher Plans Secret Wedding!” But that’s ok, because the details are juicy enough to make up for the inaccurate title.

Cher met 38 year-old Tim Medvetz through her friend Richard Stark, the designer of Chrome Hearts Jewelery. Medvetz is a 6′5″ tough biker dude with long black hair and one of those half goatee mustache combos. He customizes high end motorcycles and was injured so badly in a motorcycle accident in 2001 that he had to have his back fused together and metal plates put in his skull. The guy was in a wheelchair for 6 months, but he decided to set a goal for himself to climb Mount Everest, and he made it on his second try in 2007. He’s said to drink a lot of whiskey and love fried chicken, but he lifts weight to work it off. Cher’s boyfriend’s story is pretty interesting, and he’s a determined guy but that doesn’t make him marriage material.

Medvetz and Cher have been spotted out together and have traveled together. The Enquirer’s information that they’re planning to get married seems sketchy, though, and could be based on a quote Cher gave that “I could see myself getting married again.” Cher has been married twice and has two children.

The May-December couple spent a night nuzzling at the Foxtail lounge in L.A. on June 13, accompanied by Cher’s close pal, actor Dean Winters, along with Richard Stark and wife Laurie, according to the source.

“Tim was so protective of Cher that everyone assumed he was her bodyguard.”

Their love burst spectacularly in the open when they recently traveled with the Starks to Nashville to see country music legend Merle Haggard.

Cher rented a private jet for the flight and took Tim and her posse to The Bluebird Cafe on June 24.

Next, it was on to Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, a famous watering hole.

The couple spent the night together in a beautiful suite at The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, according to a local insider.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, July 21, 2008]

As for Cher and Medvetz’s plans to marry, the Enquirer says they plan to marry “in a quickie Las Vegas ceremony by the end of the year,” and that Cher is asking him to sign a prenup first to protect her assets. There’s not much detail about either statement and the article focuses more on Medvetz’s background and their courtship.

Cher dated a 22 year-old guy who worked at a bagel shop, Rob Camilletti, for several years in the 80s starting when she was 40. I thought she was married to that guy, but after consulting Wikipedia I see they were just living together. At least the guys are getting older with her. I don’t see her marrying this one, but we’ll have to see.

Some celebrities cash in with wedding or baby photos while those in need of fame try to revive or launch struggling careers with reality shows. Television legend and 70s pinup Farrah Fawcett has figured out a way to turn the most harrowing heath crisis of her life into a documentary that will earn her at least $2 million. If there’s any celebrity story or event that is worth that much money, Farrah’s battle with cancer is definitely it:

She worked a financial deal with “Entertainment Tonight” earlier this year where the show followed her around to treatments and showed Fawcett’s friends videotaping her ordeal. Now, the footage shot by Fawcett’s pals is being sold to NBC for “over $2 million,” said a source. Craig Nevius, the documentary’s producer, said, “We are negotiating with one of the big three networks, but no deal has been signed yet.” Presumably, footage would air on both “Today” and “Dateline.”

[From The NY Post via Huffington Post]

That’s wonderful for Farrah and should help her have a comfortable retirement. Farrah underwent experimental treatments for cancer, including targeted chemotherapy in Germany that is not yet available in the US.

Farrah was first diagnosed with anal cancer in October, 2006. She announced that she was cancer free in February of last year, but the cancer sadly returned and she went to Germany on the advice of her friend, the singer Cher. In February of this year Cher told Access Hollywood that Farrah had beat the cancer again and was cancer free following her treatments:

Stunning news from the legendary diva about Farrah’s condition and, in fact, it was Cher who encouraged her friend to seek treatment in Germany.

“It is a completely different kind of treatment,” Cher explained. “She had the cancer and then it went to her liver and so what they do there is, instead of giving you chemo all over, they do a thing called (chemo)embolization where they take whatever chemo that they were going to give you and they put it directly into the tumors into your liver and then when they shrink down smaller enough they do a thing called Cyberknife and they go in and they just take it out.”

[From Access Hollywood]

Now we’re about to have a glimpse of what Farrah went through to fight cancer. That footage is priceless. Good job Farrah, and congratulations on beating cancer.

Farrah Fawcett is shown at the airport on 5/29/08, thanks to Splash.

Cher and her daughter, Chastity Bono, are pitching a new reality show in which they help gay people come out to their families. Chastity is out and proud, but Cher wasn’t so accepting of her daughter’s homosexuality when she was first confronted with the news. Cher kicked Chastity out of her NY apartment when her daughter came out to her, and it took her a while to come to terms with it. Chastity’s father, the late singer and Congressman Sonny Bono, was said to be immediately accepting and to have already realized that his daughter was gay. Cher and Chastity also denied reports in 1990 that claimed Chastity was a lesbian. She came out to the press in 1995.

Chastity is a heavier person who lost 23 pounds on Celebrity Fit Club 3 on VH1 last year but has since gained it back, according to reports. Unfortunately the Daily Mail article about their new reality show typically focuses on Chastity’s weight rather than the news that she may star in a positive show with her mom.

Chastity told The Advocate last year that she wasn’t too fond of reality TV shows, but that she understands how they work and is willing to play the game:

Bono says it’s strange to find herself a reality TV participant, since she hates most of what she’s seen on such shows. But she’s media-savvy enough to know how to convey the impression of “realness” without being entirely real. “There are certainly things that are, if not scripted, at least set up,” she divulges. “And there are often times when they have to do a take 2 of something.” Like maybe they didn’t catch her initial reaction to being told she’d have to run a race inside a giant inflatable hamster wheel. “So,” she says, “you have to repeat the shot of ‘Oh-my-gosh-it’s-a-giant-inflatable-hamster-wheel!’”

[From The Advocate and found at FindArticles.com]

Chastity has been sober for nearly two years, after having beaten an addiction to the painkiller Oxycontin, to which she became hooked while dealing with the grief from her longterm partner’s death.

61 year-old Cher has been having intestinal trouble, and has reportedly gone to the same clinic in Germany where Farrah Fawcett is having cancer treatment. Her reps deny that she has serious medical problems.

There is speculation that Cher is financially strapped after she auctioned off her expensive tchotchkes and is rumored to be considering yet another farewell stint in Vegas. It seems like that rumor is true given the fact that she’s trying to get a reality show. The Daily Mail reports that the title will be “Coming Out With Cher and Chas.”

Chastity Bono is shown at the Outfest Film Festival on 7/16/05, thanks to WENN. Cher is shown in April, 2006 in NY, thanks to Splash News.