When I first saw these photos I was pretty shocked that Edie would put a kid on a motorcycle in front of her like that, and the girl is only wearing a bicycle helmet! Edie’s daughter Mercy, 5, is actually riding with her mom on an electric scooter that only goes 20 mph. So this is a much different scenario. Edie and her daughter were seen out in Tribeca, New York, on a Flyky electric bike. (The bike’s styling makes it look like a motorcycle, but it’s not.) I did a little research and found these scooters can be pedaled like bicycles, although most riders opt to use the electricity. So this may be similar to riding with a child on a bicycle, but a representative from the Motorcycle Safety says it’s a gray area. Here’s more, thanks to Radar:
The mom-of-two was snapped out and about in the Big Apple on the bike earlier this week with five-year-old Macy strapped to her body, and RadarOnline.com has the hair raising photos.
Even though Edie looks like she’s wearing a proper motorcycle helmet herself, her daughter just has plastic bicycle headgear on.
From the pictures it also appears Macy is tied to her mother with a brown karate strap – not an actual seatbelt.
According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, technically Edie isn’t breaking any laws since it’s not actually a motorcycle, but the pictures would still concern most parents, the organization said.
“Since the bike has an engine under 750 watts it’s an e-bike, and so she is not breaking any laws that we can see,” a spokesperson tells RadarOnline.com exclusively. “It’s a bit of a grey area.
“But I’m sure if you showed a poll of parents these pictures the majority would be concerned. We are not passing judgment but this does not appear to be the best way to transport a child.
“Whenever anyone gets on a powered two wheel vehicle they have to take responsibility for themselves and for their passenger and make sure the appropriate gear is worn.”
Edie, 49, was riding a FlyKly electric bike, which can hit speeds of up to 20mph.
The Nurse Jackie star and her daughter were whizzing round the Tribeca area of NY and Edie seemed calm and confident as they navigated the busy city roads.
After reading about this I want to get an electric bike or maybe a scooter! They look really cute and safe. I don’t see an issue with the way that Edie is riding with Mercy, especially since she’s strapped her daughter in with a karate tie and they’re both wearing helmets. It looks like a fun way to travel to me.
Also, here’s Edie at the Emmys in her Stella McCartney dress. As Bedhead mentioned, Edie said it was a really comfortable gown. I thought it was a miss in that the sheer panels at the side made it look like she was wearing a much smaller dress up top, but that’s Stella McCartney for you.
We’ve seen Kate Gosselin spanking her children. In Touch ran a cover in 2009 (above) featuring Kate smacking one of her sextuplets, Leah, when the girl was five. In response to those photographs, Kate said “Whether the paparazzi are there or not, I am a mother first. I love my children and when they misbehave, I discipline them as I deem appropriate for the situation.” Just prior to those photos coming out, a former staffer of Kate’s told The National Enquirer that she regularly used a plastic spoon to hit the children, very hard, for minor offenses. According to the source, Kate would make sure she smacked the kids off camera so that it wouldn’t be shown on “Kate Plus 8.” I guess Kate is conscious of how she looks with the cameras around even though she tried to play like she doesn’t pay attention to them.
A new book is coming out on Kate Gosselin, and it may paint her in an even worse light than we’ve seen on her show. The author supposedly had access to the diaries Kate used as source material for her books. In unpublished entries, Kate admits using a wooden spoon on her children she nicknamed “the spanker,” and being afraid that she would do real harm to them. If this is true it’s too late now:
“She was beating 2-year-old babies in diapers,” reporter Robert Hoffman, who claims he found secret journals that Kate used to help her write her books, Multiple Bles8ings and EightLittle Faces, told Star magazine.
According to Hoffman, the former Kate Plus 8 star kept detailed notes on her computer about using a wooden spoon to hit her children, yanking them around by their hair, and punishing them for transgressions as minor as trying to climb out of a crib or not adjusting to potty training quickly enough.
“I don’t judge somebody for spanking, but what Kate wrote in her journal is just absolute violence,” Hoffman tells Star exclusively.
He adds that Kate’s lawyers attempted to block his forthcoming book, Kate Gosselin: How She Fooled the World.
Kate’s own words may indict her, claims Hoffman. One example: When three of her children helped themselves to M&Ms without permission, she allegedly wrote, “I really, really lost it! I pulled Collin up by the hair, and I spanked them so hard!”
Kate, 37, also utilizes a wooden spoon, which she calls The Spanker, claims Hoffman.
“She uses that Spanker on a daily basis for anything and everything. The spanking entries are endless,” he alleges.
Kate herself often worried about her excessive physicality, allegedly writing in the diary that she told her ex-husband, Jon Gosselin, that she “felt like I may hurt his children,” and that she preferred it when the kids were “out of her sight” whenever she flew off the handle, because then she knew “that they are safe.”
In another frightening entry, claims Hoffman, Kate wrote that she was so incensed after Collin threw a tantrum, “I sent him to his crib and whipped him into it very hard…I never felt that I may really seriously injure a child, but today was that day.”
It must be really hard to deal with six two year-olds and two six year-olds, and maybe Kate’s many nannies were not in her bitchy employ at that point. Still, there is no excuse for using a spoon to spank a two year-old child. I’ve discussed my thoughts on corporal punishment in these olderstorieson Kate smacking her kids. You can read more there, but I’ll just say now that I don’t think it works longterm, that it’s more for the adult letting off steam than for the child, and that it teaches children that violence is an acceptable response to conflict. That said, I would not get all up in arms about a light smack on the butt. When is it ever acceptable to smack a toddler hard with a spoon like that though?
Also, how did this author get access to Kate’s personal diaries on her computer? If this is all true, and I’m guessing it is, I bet that Jon Gosselin was pretty helpful in providing source material.
We’ve seen Jaden Smith, now 14, make his film debut in The Pursuit of Happyness with dad Will in 2006, and in The Karate Kid in 2010. Now Jaden is following in his dad Will’s footsteps by becoming a rapper. He has his first video out, a kind of monotonous song called “The Coolest” in which he barely varies his tone while he sings about how great he is. I don’t think Jaden has his dad’s talent for making music, but maybe he’ll surprise us. His sister Willow is a little popstar in her own right, and she had her first song out before she turned 10. Here’s a little about Jaden’s single:
[Jaden] gives it plenty of attitude as he raps about how girls are attracted to his wealth in The Coolest.
Jaden’s flash tune comes amid the crippling economic crisis enveloping much of the world’s population.
With a laidback vocal style, he proffers a list of reasons that make him the coolest kid on the block.
He teams his bravado lyrics with cocky smiles and a couple of glittery diamond ear studs…
Despite boasting about his riches in The Coolest, Jaden recently revealed he’s brought up in a strict household.
So much so, he claimed Will and Jada refuse to let him watch TV.
He said: “I stopped watching TV when I turned, like, ten because my parents were like, ‘TV’s really bad for you,’
“I’ll watch movies I like to see, Steve Jobs interviews, something that’s going to make me smart and then go to sleep.
“I always have to go to sleep with the TV on though.”
I don’t have a problem with the lyrics. A lot of rap music involves bragging about being rich and getting women. I do have a problem with a 14 year-old kid putting out a rap song, but this kid had been famous for years, and his sister became a singer when she was much younger. There were kiddie rappers in the 80s when I was a kid. It just seems like the Smiths want their kids to be in the family business and they don’t see or try and mitigate the pitfalls of show business for children. They treat them like adults. On the plus side, Willow and Jaden are confident kids and they seem fearless. Still, they’re kids, especially Willow. It makes me uncomfortable that Will and Jada didn’t use their wealth and experience to help their children have a more normal childhood. Instead, they taught them how to be famous and rich too. Hence this song featuring Jaden rapping about it.
These photos are from the Toronto Film Festival at the premiere of “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners.” Credit: FameFlynet and WENN.com
I have a little boy, and it follows that my mom friends mostly have other boys. I’m not as aware of the issues that mothers of little girls have. At this point, (my son is almost 8), it seems like they have it easier than we do. Little girls are calmer, they play quieter and stay still for longer periods of time, and they even seem to bug their parents less. (Not that I’m complaining, my son is awesome and amazing.) The grass is always greener, and I know I’ll be grateful that I have a boy once he hits his teen years. This story reminds me of some other advantages of having a boy.
Apparently Elizabeth Hurley has created some bikinis for little girls (an extension of her bikini brand for adult women) that are drawing criticism for being too sexy, basically. I don’t see the big deal, but again I have no clue and am out of my element even discussing this. The same might be said of Elizabeth Hurley, since she has a little boy and no girls. Some child protection watchgroups are up in arms:
Actress Elizabeth Hurley calls her line of swimwear for girls “fun” on her website. But parents along with a child protection charity in the U.K. have had a different reaction — they’re accusing Hurley and her brand of sexualizing young girls.
“It is very disturbing to see some inappropriate items in this swimwear range,” Claude Knight, the director of the charity Kidscape told the Daily Mail.
Knight points out pieces like the “Mini Cha Cha Bikini,” an animal-print two-piece for girls under 8 and the “Collete Bikini,” a suit that is held together by a gold ring and is meant specifically “for girls [ages 8-13] who want to look grown up.” According to the company’s website, “This bikini looks fab with our cheetah ruffled skirt.”
Siobhan Freegard, founder of the community Netmums told the Daily Mail that she knows “a number of mothers who are concerned about the sexualization of their children and would be horrified by their daughters dressing like mini-strippers.”
And, their concerns are validated by science. A recent study found that girls as young as 6 think of themselves as sex objects and want to be considered sexy. In an earlier study, Psychologists named clothing as a factor that encourages these youngsters to objectify themselves. This research was particularly disturbing given that “almost a third of girls’ clothing for sale at 15 major retailers [had] sexualizing characteristics.”
Knight told Sky News that Hurley shouldn’t take all of the blame now. Rather, the fashion industry should stop making clothes for kids that are so adult-like.
Jen M.L., a mother of two who blogs at “People I Want To Punch In The Throat” agrees on that front. In a HuffPost blog, Jen says she is “horrified” by clothing selections when she takes her 4-year-old daughter shopping. She recounts a specific Easter shopping trip when “there were several dresses that looked like they should come with a complimentary pole and hooker heels!” But, Jen doesn’t blame the industry entirely. She also writes that consumers — parents specifically — should stop buying and supporting the production of such items. “If we’d just stop buying this misogynistic whore-wear maybe companies would stop trying to sell it to us.”
With regard to Hurley’s line, a spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the collection has sold “extremely well.” He added, “Most of our customers are repeat customers who report that their kids adore the designs.”
A search on “bikinis for little girls” shows that suits like the ones in Hurley’s line are all too common. The difference I’ve found is that other bikini lines for girls don’t show the little girls modeling them, they just show the suits on mannequins or laying on a flat surface. So in that respect I can see why they’re being criticized. Plus, they’re using animal prints straight out of Jersey Shore. I don’t think this issue is unique to Hurley’s line at all, as the article mentions, it’s just how the clothing industry is headed and it’s a disturbing trend. Whatever happened to one-piece bathing suits and superhero costumes? I had a Wonderwoman bathing suit when I was a little girl. I thought I was badass.
I asked one of my friends who has a nine year-old daughter to comment on this story. She wrote “It’s not bad at all. Don’t ban the suits. Ban the perv that looks at em funny.”
As an aside, I tried to go to Elizabeth Hurley’s bikini site to get some more photos for this story, and it was down with a server error.
Elizabeth Hurley is shown with her Ken doll fiance, Shane Warne, on 5-23-12. Credit: WENN.com
Last week, a story in The National Enquirer claimed that Britney Spears had not seen her two boys: Sean, now 7, and Jayden, now 6, in about two months. A source claimed that Britney had last seen the boys in mid July, back when she went on a vacation to Hawaii with them prior to filming The X-Factor. In the interim, Britney allegedly hadn’t seen Sean or Jayden and had been turning down scheduled visits. Britney’s people denied the story to Gossip Cop, calling it “completely not true.” No one provided a date that Britney had seen the boys since July, other than the story that she told Ryan Seacrest on air that they were excited for school. (Which could have meant she was simply in touch with them, it’s hard to tell.)
It was a controversial story with a lot of polarized opinions, I’ll say that. I felt that if it was true, that we should give Britney a break. She’s had a rough time and it must have been extremely hard for her go back to work in a high pressure job like X-Factor. (She brought out her inner bitch though, I’ll give her that.) The boys are well cared for with their dad and grandparents, so it’s not like they’re being neglected.
Here’s some good news: Britney threw a party for Jayden’s sixth birthday, which was officially September 12th, and for Sean, who turned seven on September 14th. I forgot how closely to the day she had those boys a year apart. They went to an indoor playplace and it sounds like everyone had an awesome time. There aren’t photos that I can find, and neither Britney nor Jason tweeted anything, but E! has the details:
It was a special weekend for Sean Preston and Jayden James.
Britney Spears threw a huge party on Saturday to celebrate the birthdays of her adorable boys at an arcade and trampoline park called Sky High in Calabasas, Calif., a source confirms to E! News.
Sean turned 7 Friday while Jayden reached the big 6 last Wednesday.
Aside from Brit, her fiancé Jason Trawick and her father, Jamie Spears, around 20 kids—including Sophia Grace and Rosie from Ellen—enjoyed games and cake, but not the war excitement of opening presents. (That was done in the privacy of their own home.)
Either way, our source tells us the party was a huge success!
“Britney was smiling ear-to-ear during the whole party and enjoyed watching her kids play with their friends. It was a really lovely occasion, everyone was in a good mood and in the spirit of the birthday. She looked overjoyed and at one point was singing happy birthday to them.”
They add, “Jason and Britney were beaming and couldn’t have been more proud of Jayden James and Sean Preston.”
That sounds awesome. I’m throwing a birthday party for my son this weekend at one of those kids’ play areas, and I’m hoping it will be less stressful since all the activities and food are taken care of. This story just reminds me of how much I still need to do to prepare though. I’m really excited to see him having a good time, there’s nothing like a kid’s birthday party. It may sound silly, but I love going to them! (As long as someone else is running things.) It’s pure joy watching kids have a blast, although it can be exhausting.
Well I’m glad for Britney and her boys. It sounds like things are going really well for her and hopefully that earlier story was exaggerated or not true.
In other Brit-Brit news, X-Factor has a video of all her “It’s Britney, Bitch” (Their title!) moments in the second episode that aired last week. I’ve still only seen the first one, so this was fun for me. Here it is:
photo credit: Fallen Star, PacificCoastNews.com and Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com
To start I should admit that I haven’t yet seen the second episode of X-Factor. It’s sitting on my DVR waiting for me when I get around to it. (I get that Fox wants another Idol, and that Idol expects viewers to commit significant time to the show, but three hours in the first week is too much. That’s a good movie right there.) A quick google search shows that Britney didn’t have any issues, but that producers are trying to push her. They let a Britney superfan guy audition who wasn’t all there mentally, according to Hollywood.com. The guy came out with roses for Britney, did an awful laughable “performance,” and then begged her to acknowledge him. She didn’t. Britney is a tough bitch, I’m telling you.
The Enquirer has some news this week that suggests that Britney might be focusing so much on the X-Factor that she’s not spending time with her little boys. They say she hasn’t seen Sean, 7, or Jayden, 6, since July. I’m just hoping this isn’t true.
The 30 year-old pop princess had a whirlwind summer jetting around the country to film auditions for her first season on “The X Factor,” which premiered Sept. 12.
But instead of seeing her kids during her downtime, Britney has been enjoying romantic dinners and weekend getaways with her fiance, Jason Trawick, a close source revealed.
“It’s as if she’s tired of being a mom because she’s so caught up in her newfound TV stardom,” the source explained. “She’s losing touch with those kids.”
The star’s ex-husband, Kevin Federline, has full custody, while Britney is entitled to visitation several times a week.
“But Britney has been turning down her scheduled visits,” the source continued. “She says she’s too tired or too stressed. It’s shameful!”
According to the source, The last time Britney saw Sean and Jayden was in mid July.
“The boys had hoped to see her before they started school, but that didn’t happen,” said the source. “Instead, Jason arranged for Britney’s mom, Lynne, to take them to the beach for the day.
“These days, Britney’s kids are more comfortable being around their Grandma Lynne than they are with Britney, Lynne has taken on the role of mommy for the boys.
“Britney likes her new life with Jason,” the source added. “She seems to be forgetting what’s really important.”
[From The National Enquirer, print edition, September 24, 2012]
Well, again I hope this isn’t true or that someone at the Enquirer is jumping to conclusions based on Britney’s lack of photos and Twitpics with the boys. If this is true – I don’t want to shame her for focusing on her career, but it seems like she could at least see her boys once in a while. Two months is a long time! They must miss her.
Remember when she was driving with baby Sean on her lap and when she nearly dropped him while walking in heels and holding the baby on one arm and a highball glass in the other? That’s just a minor example of how far she’s come, but it also goes to show that she’s not the most maternal person. I’m trying to tread lightly here. The most important thing is that the boys are well cared for and loved. It sounds like they have a lot of stability at home with K-Fed and his girlfriend (and their new baby) along with their grandparents. They’re not being neglected. Not everyone wants to be a mother, even after they are one. As a mom it’s hard for me to relate to, but I’m not saying it’s shameful or anything like the Enquirer’s source, you know?
Update: Gossip Cop has a denial of this story from Britney’s people along with the news that Britney told Ryan Seacrest that the boys had a good first week at school. They don’t give a date that she’s seen them other than the fact that they were in Hawaii in July. The last Twitpic I’ve seen of Britney with her boys is from July 5th.
I often think about how lucky I am that my only kid is a boy. I see little 12 year-old girls in booty shorts and makeup, and I feel a sense of gratitude that I’m not the one trying to hold that child down, wipe off the makeup and put her in some long pants. Maybe I would not have the authority as a mom to get my daughter to actually listen to me, and that scares me as much as the prospect of having a child who would try to leave the house like that.
So I have some sympathy for mothers of daughters, since I know I was a pain in the ass and I have no idea what that was like to deal with. For instance, I pierced my own nose when I was 18. My parents just kind of shrugged and figured I was old enough. What would I do if my 11 year old pierced her nose, her bellybutton or her tongue, like Willow Smith appears to have done? As a mom, I get the same urge to take this out of that girl’s mouth and tell she’s grounded if she even thinks about wearing metal in her mouth that isn’t from the orthodontist. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe kids need to do dumb stuff like this in order to learn. Maybe you need to pick your battles with kids. To me, this seems like one worth fighting.
My questions are: Did Willow really pierce her tongue or is she just clutching a necklace in her mouth or something? And, do her parents know about it and did they approve it before she did it? Willow dresses creatively, and we know she has the ok from her parents for that. We also know they regularly treat her like an adult. The Smiths claim they’re not Scientologists, but they sure act like they are. (And Scientologists believe kids are just little grown ups and should make their own decisions.) So do they think it’s fine that Willow pierced her tongue? If she really did this, she would presumably have to get their permission since she’s under 18. She’s a little pop star, I guess she gets free reign to do what she wants. She seems to want more of a childhood though, judging by some of the things she said lately about fame. I can see letting your kid shave their hair or dye it a bright color, but a piercing goes too far for me.
Update: as many of you have pointed out, there are fake magnetic tongue rings available. Hopefully this is what Willow is wearing and this isn’t permanent.
Another update: I just spent way too long digging through Willow and her buddy here, Bobbie DeBarge’s twitter and instagram accounts. I guess Willow originally posted this on her instagram. I found more photos on Bobbie’s instagram of them showing off their “piercings,” and some of them included the hash tags #fake #justhavingfun. So these are just two kids goofing off with magnetic piercings. Here’s another pic:
Update: Due to the sheer amount of Octomom news, I’m just going to update our earlier story with this latest news. Octomom Nadya Suleman did an interview with GMA this morning. (Video above.) She explained away those photos of her trashed home, at least she explained some of them. She said that she was potty training the kids outside, and that no children were ever locked in a room – the chair against the door was to keep them out of that room. (Since she doesn’t have enough door gates, apparently.) She never explained why there’s graffiti all over her home or why her children sleep on the floor.
Also, GMA reported that Suleman told them she receives 4-5 thousand a month in public assistance. This is much more than the 2k a month in food stamps she previously claimed. If it’s being used toward caring for her children then that’s good, but I doubt it’s all going to that.
When Suleman was asked about the $540 check for haircuts, she claimed that it was for her hair and for her 14 other kids as well. So even if the kids were charged a steep $20 each and she was charged $50, that’s still about $200 short. At that point she got a real look of defiance on her face and said “I am making money though. I have jobs and I can afford it.” When she was questioned about the fact that she’s on public assistance, she claimed “It’s almost over. This is our last month on food stamps..” Remember when she said she got about $2k/month food stamps? Now she’s getting $4-5k a month, so which is it?
Here’s a photo of her face at that point.
And here’s her face later when she gets pissed that she is called out for the fact that she said she would never go on assistance again. She snipes “We’re human beings and we’re all entitled to change our mind.”
Oh and she claims she’s been “set up” with those photos of her home, but GMA has footage that shows that the house is totally trashed with broken windows, graffiti and water damage.
That house is going on the market soon. The owner recently revealed that the bank is auctioning off the home on Monday. Where are this lady and her kids going to go at that point? Is she going to move back in with her parents, where she was living with her then 6 kids before the octuplets came?
Here’s our earlier story.
Yesterday we heard that news that Octomom Nadya Suleman’s hairdresser had turned her in to the police, and subsequently Child Protective Services, for potential child neglect. The stylist had photos of the home and described the conditions that Suleman’s 14 children were living in. It sounded and looked very shocking to some of us. The walls were tagged with graffiti from actual spray paint, as if her older children had a can and went wild. We heard that her eight three year-olds were walking around without clothes and going to the bathroom in potties in the back yard, that some of the children were sleeping on the floor, and that a chair was propped against a door to keep children from leaving a room. Some of you defended Suleman, saying that she was doing the best she could and we shouldn’t judge her. I may have had that opinion if I read this story before knowing much about this woman. I’ve covered her for years and have read and watched countless interviews with her. She’s a scammingcon artist who has been using the system for years. I write that in all certainty given the many details I’ve learned about her, most recently that she spent over $500 on hair treatments while on food stamps to afford to feed her children. She hasn’t paid rent on her home in over a year.
Of course everything is fine in Suleman’s world, and she has excuses for all of it. CPS investigated her after the complaint we heard about, and the public relations person from social services told E! that this is far from the worst case they’ve seen. The police department also announced that a preliminary investigation found no neglect and that there will be no follow up, basically.
But on Tuesday, according to the La Habra Police Department, Octomom was the subject of an investigation by both the city’s finest and the Orange County Social Services after a woman told police she had concerns about the well-being of Suleman’s children.
However, La Habra PD today announced that no signs of neglect or maltreatment were noted during the investigation and no further actions were being taken. And despite unsanitary reports to the contrary, La Habra police tell E! News the Suleman’s home plumbing was indeed functional at the time of the visit.
As for the investigation itself, while Orange County Social Services does not comment specifically on individual investigations, Terry Lynn Fisher, the public information officer of the department, explained how the Suleman run-through likely played out.
“You have to look at the whole picture, not just one thing,” she told E! News. “There are days when the plumbing goes out and you have to call a plumber. It’s not against the law for people to leave unfolded laundry on the floor. It’s not against the law to allow kids to draw on the walls and create masterpieces.”
Which isn’t to say that’s the condition investigators were met with. Though as for another reported aspect of the Suleman home—namely that there were outdoor training toilets on the property—Fisher noted that had that been the case, it wouldn’t necessarily merit a violation.
“Look, she’s toilet-training eight 3-year-olds,” Fisher said. “While the situation may not meet your or my idea, it’s not against the law.”
Besides, Fisher said that she saw photos of the octo-house and said it was far from the worst of what she’s experienced.
“While her home isn’t in pristine condition, it’s not against the law. It’s nothing like the homes we have seen. I’ve seen a home where the walls looked like they were moving, cockroaches crawling up and down the wall, even falling out of the ceiling.
“Our goal is not to remove kids from the families. It’s to strengthen the families. We make every attempt to let families stay together. We don’t yank kids from the home unnecessarily. If we get a call that a child is being neglected, they would look at the conditions, see if any immediate risk that would place the children in danger.”
In yesterday’s thread, there were some horror stories of abuse and neglect you’d witnessed where children were never removed from the homes. It was sad, but it put this in perspective to me. As a mom, I find it abhorrent that anyone would have this many kids on purpose, not take care of them properly and refuse help and supplies (but not money!) so that they’re all comfortable and well cared for. I guess there’s no law against being a sh*tty parent or making your kids live in squalor as long as you do the bare minimum.
After those photos leaked yesterday, Suleman hired a team of maids at Dr. Drew’s expense, since Drew had offered her free maid service for a year. She’ll probably never hire a painter, since she needs the money for mani-pedis, and Botox. We know where her priorities are. Octo no longer has to pay to get her hair straightened, though. The Brazilian Blowout company, which manufactures the chemicals used for the hair straightening process she paid over $500 for, has just offered her free treatments along with free childcare while she gets her hair done at their LA salon.
This story just makes me feel very sad. In the past I’ve pointed out the very obvious ways that Octomom Nadya Suleman is a manipulative person and a baldfaced liar. If you’d like more background, you can visit this earlier post where I recapped some of her doozies. As many of you have mentioned to me, it doesn’t matter how much of a trainwreck she is, we need to focus on her kids. This woman’s primary role is as a single mother to 14 children who need to be loved and cared for. Nadya was delusional enough to get herself into this situation, and she remains delusional enough to stay there and to insist that everything is fine while her kids are really suffering. Her kids have one toilet, they don’t have enough clothes to wear out in the cold, and they’re sleeping on the floor. It’s disturbing. We learned these new details from Nadya’s hairdresser, who told TMZ that she went to the police with her concerns because the children are being neglected. If you’re able to, just watch the interview with the hairdresser below. You can tell she’s fed up with the situation and wants to help the kids. She’s not out to get Nadya or to shame her, she really cares. She said she even offered Nadya some bunkbeds for the children who are sleeping on the floor, but Nadya said everything was fine. Here’s the story thanks to TMZ:
TMZ has obtained pictures of Octomom Nadya Suleman’s home that have triggered a police and child services investigation into allegations that her 14 kids are living in horrendous conditions and are being grossly neglected.
TMZ broke the story, Octo’s hairstylist, Stephanie, went to La Habra cops Tuesday afternoon and filed a formal complaint. A La Habra cop and 3 reps from the Orange County Department of Children and Family Services went to Octo’s house Tuesday night to investigate.
One picture shows two children pooping in a portable training toilet in the backyard. We’re told the plumbing in the house is shot, and only one toilet is operational.
Another photo shows Octo just after she got her hair done. What’s shocking is that she locked her kids in the bedroom by propping a chair against the door so they couldn’t get out.
Yet another pic shows the children’s bedroom, with 2 cribs and a mattress. Stephanie told cops some of the kids are forced to sleep on the floor.
And there’s more … a pic shows some of the kids in the backyard, barefoot, dirty and wearing no pants.
In terms of the criticism of her parenting, Nadya has previously said that people are jealous of her, that she’s the best mother her kids could have, and that she’s buddy-buddy with the CPS workers, who just laugh off the tips they get about her. As far as her trashed home and lack of toilets or beds for her kids, Nadya showed TMZ her home herself a few months ago as evidence that she shouldn’t have to pay the landlord. Her logic at the time was that her kids had trashed the place so she didn’t have to pay her rent. There’s nothing that can faze her, or else she never would have got into this situation, and it never would have escalated this far in the first place.
One more thing, TMZ also has a story and an image of check for $520 that Octo paid the hairstylist for a Brazilian straightening treatment – at the same time she was collecting $2,000 in food stamps a month (she still is) and claiming she was unable to afford $150 to fix the plumbing in her house. I’m trying to be measured and stick to the facts here, but that really makes my blood boil. Why should I be surprised, though? I mean, we already knew this. Is CPS going to do anything about it, and is the alternative better for these poor kids?! I just feel so bad for them.
Here’s the interview with the hairstylist. TMZ has the photos of Octo’s trashed home as she proudly poses with her new blowout. How did spray paint graffiti get inside the house? It looks like Jesse’s place on “Breaking Bad,” like addicts were partying there.
Suleman is shown at LAX on 4-6-12. Credit: BJJ/FameFlynet Pictures.
This is kind of sad to me. I’m not making fun of this little girl, who is just a product of her circumstances. I’m pointing a finger at her mom and dad, who have pimped her out at the expense of her childhood. Eden Wood, 7, is the breakout “star” of that Toddlers & Tiaras show which may have intended to expose kiddie pageants at some point but just manages to encourage them. As we heard earlier this week, Eden has retired from child beauty pageants and is now starring in her own show on The Logo channel called “Eden’s World.” It’s centered around Eden and her mom coaching other little girls who want to succeed in pageantry. As we also heard earlier this week, little Eden had a bit of an attitude on The Wendy Williams show. I found her behavior very rude. I’m a mom to a seven year old, and I encourage my son to have manners and be thankful. I also try to make sure he spends time with his friends. Eden’s parents, not so much.
In a new interview in In Touch, this little girl couldn’t even name two girlfriends. This also makes me realize the obvious fact that Eden is being home “schooled” and isn’t socializing with other little kids. (Not that most homeschoolers lack socialization or friends in any way, just that it seems to make this already bad situation worse, given what we know about it.) Here’s some of her interview, thanks to Jezebel:
On her career
“I thought it was time to move on. I want to mix it up, keep doin’ different things. I want to have my own brand of clothes. I want to be a singer, a movie star, and a pop star.”
On her new show mentoring kid beauty contestants
“I help kids a lot. I’m tough on them sometimes.”
On if she’s met any famous stars
“I think I saw Justin Bieber in New York, but I don’t like him. Because he’s gross.”
On if she has friends her age and what they like to do
“Play in the mud! I have girlfriends. One is named Abby, and I can’t remember the other one’s name.”
[In Touch, print edition, April 30, 2012 via Jezebel]
Kaiser and I were talking about this, and she has reservations about us giving these people any publicity, which I totally get. It’s just a despicable situation all around. But I believe people should point it out. This is a child who doesn’t have a childhood. Sure she has people fawning all over her and she has her own show and ambitions, but where will that get her eventually, when she’s old enough to understand what happened? Shouldn’t there be stronger laws against this? I mean, we were all concerned for the Gosselin kids and their lives under the TV microscope were so much more “normal” than this.
Here’s a link to Jezebel’s scan of this article, featuring Eden made up to look like career Barbie. She looks like a sweet little kid there without all the makeup and hair.
Eden is shown on 4-5 and 4-13-12. Credit: FameFlynet, Inc.
