The outpouring of affection and complimentary tributes to Jade Goody after her death of cervical cancer struck some people as odd. One of those people was Michael Parkinson, who is a retired journalist/talk show host in Britain. For those unfamiliar (I had to look him up too), I’m pretty sure that Parkinson’s old show was something like a combination of David Letterman and Charlie Rose here in America. Lots of interviews with celebrities as well as political and pop culture discussions. Parkinson seems very respected within Britain, but he will probably have to deal with some criticism after his remarks about Jade Goody.
Parkinson acknowledges that yes, Jade Goody’s death was a tragedy, “as sad as the death of any young person, but it’s not the passing of a martyr or a saint, or, God help us, Princess Di.” Parkinson says that Jade “was brought up on a sink estate, as a child came to know both drugs and crime, was barely educated, ignorant and puerile.” The Daily Mail has more:
Sir Michael Parkinson has launched an extraordinary attack on Jade Goody, calling her ‘ignorant and puerile’.
Just days after the reality show star’s funeral, for which thousands of well-wishers lined the streets, Parky, 74, has spoken out to say she represented ‘all that is paltry and wretched about Britain today’.
Writing in the Radio Times, he said Goody, 27, who died of cancer, should not have a ‘martyr’ status and was instead a poor role model who was exploited by the media.
‘Jade Goody has her own place in the history of television and, while it’s significant, it’s nothing to be proud of,’ the veteran TV host said. ‘Her death is as sad as the death of any young person, but it’s not the passing of a martyr or a saint, or, God help us, Princess Di. When we clear the media smokescreen, what we’re left with is a woman who came to represent all that’s paltry and wretched about Britain today. She was brought up on a sink estate, as a child came to know both drugs and crime, was barely educated, ignorant and puerile.’
His words are bound to come under fire from Goody’s legions of fans, who dubbed her the ‘Essex princess’.
Goody died last month after losing her very public battle with cervical cancer. Her funeral at the weekend saw thousands take to the streets to pay their respects. The 27-year-old had first come into the public eye in 2002 on Big Brother and went on to make millions before she was struck down by the disease.
She made the decision to live out her final days in the full glare of the media to raise as much money for her two young sons and possible. Although her very public death was derided by some, it was also credited with prompting a huge rise in the number of women going for cervical smears.
Max Clifford, Goody’s publicist, said today that he was ‘surprised and disappointed’ by Sir Michael’s comments.
‘What Michael forgets to mention is that Jade already has saved, and will save in the future, countless lives of young women through her public battle with cervical cancer,’ he said.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Goody’s husband, Jack Tweed, has expressed his wish to be buried next to her when he dies. Goody’s family bought a double plot so he can one day join her. Tweed, who is currently on bail awaiting sentencing for assault, married Jade in February to fulfill one of his girlfriend’s dying wishes.
From The Daily Mail
Even if I happen to agree with some of Parkinson’s statements about the media, perhaps he could have said it in a different way. Right now it just seems like he’s attacking a dead woman rather than participating in a totally legitimate media criticism. Parkinson should be focused on pointing out the insanity of the coverage of Jade’s death and how various newspapers and news programs covered her life and death, rather than just engaging in a litany of insults to Jade.
In any case, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about Jade and how she lived and died. There will be books coming out, and perhaps even a movie. The British tabloids are still doing breathless coverage of her widower husband and Jade’s children, which also makes me uncomfortable. Just let the kids grieve and live in private, for God’s sake.
Photo of Michael Parkinson is from 3/18/09. Photos are of floral tributes outside Jade’s funeral and fans gathered to sign her book of condolences after the funeral on 4/4/09. (We try not to publish photos of grieving family members or funerals and have not included pictures of her family.) Photo credit: WENN.com
Parkinson is better than this, surprised he felt the need to have his say. BUT, the fact that someone like Parkinson is actually speaking out about this speaks volumes about the absolute disgust joe public feels about the opportunistic media greed and insanity that surrounded Jade’s life/death – That’s where the rage needs to be directed. And it’s not just the tabs either, the broadsheets were just as bad and twice as cynical.
Jade herself was the first to acknolwedged that she was poorly educated. She was always saying “Don’t be ignorant like me, get an education.” Even though she was terminally ill, Jade continued giving interviews in order to build a large trust fund for her children’s education.
It sounds like Sir Michael considers Jade inferior because she was uneducated and poor. What a snob! I was inspired by her honesty and courage in the face of a terminal disease. Jade went from rags to riches, but was always true to herself and never put on airs. I have almost nothing in common with her, but I liked her. She touched me.
Geronimo – Yeah, that’s what it seems like. All of the “she was the second coming of Princess Di” was bothering me too, but that’s a media criticism.
Parkinson could have said it differently and made a completely legit point.
PJ, uneducated and poor doesn’t matter, it’s being ignorant, loud-mouthed and rude. She showed plenty of that when she was on Big Brother. Really, you should check this out on Youtube, might change your opinion about her.
It’s not cool to speak ill of the dead – tut tut Parky, we expect more of you than that.
@Len-yes, she was awful in her younger years-racist, offensive, rude, and ignorant. However, I know many people who weren’t so wonderful 7 years ago-everyone has times in their life they would like to forget. She matured a lot during her fight with cancer-and did have enough foresight to hire a manager with the media savvy to realize what and how to direct his client.
Puerile …I thought it meant Pig it means child.
No clue who this Jade person is. People have short attetion spans when it comes to pop celebriites . she be forgotton a year from now
Question: What is a sink estate?
Bodhi – basically, an urban council housing estate with high levels of economic & social deprivation and high crime & drug rates.
I followed her story through the mailonsunday.com site and cried nearly every time. It is always sad when a person has such young children and is taken away from them by something that wasn’t of their own doing. And to think that several times she had been to the doctor because of pain and the dr’s basically told her it was nothing. When all was said and done, in the end, she was a woman fighting for her life, for her two boys.
For anyone not from Britain, Michael Parkinson up until recently had a chat show in which the usual crowd of over-exposed and pandered-to celebrities had their egos massaged even further with a series of questions no doubt handed to the man by the interviewees PR guy. To call him a “journalist” in his later years would be an insult to journalism, and whilst I agree that the coverage of Jade in the last few months of her life was completely OTT, and she’s not a woman I’d would like my children to view as a role model, being criticised for living her life in the media by Parky is a bit like Mini Me calling you “short”.
Oh, and despite being ignorant, she was smart enough to know that the biggest gift she could give her children was a secure home life with civil parents and a good education – something many other “celebrities” haven’t seemed to manage.
I don’t think he could have said it any different, you call a spade a spade and he did. Death does not magically make who and what we were in life fade away. I’m very sorry a young mother was cut down so dramatically, that goes without saying. But to suddenly have all those who moments ago vilified Jade for her brash bullying and racist comments should not now appear in full-throated mourning and compare her to Princess Diana. Why is it that the usually stoic English seem to gather in a massive wave of hysteria whenever a public figure passes??
Is Parkinson’s comments an attack on Jade, or an attack on our society, that brings up Jades – awful persons that only tragedy can mature, as JB said ?
Parky is right, she was un-educated, silly, childish and immature.
2 minutes before her diagnosis the rest of Britain was slagging her off, then they made her into some ridiculous saint. I watched this farce of selling all to the newspapers and it made me sick. He spoke the truth and is being shredded for it.
I feel very sad about what happened to Jade, but happen to think that the media intensity and the comparison to Princess Di is completely over the top and diturbing.
I think Parky was right in what he meant, but he may have been too blunt. My concern is that Jade becomes something she was not post death.
Jade was who she was, a reality tv star. A human and very honest. A terrible tradgedy and I beleive she has done wonders for smear testing in young people. That is a legacy, but it needs to remain realistic to who she was.
Sorry for the awful spelling!
^^^^^Looks like I need to find a new name. I’ve been swagger jacked.
This is one thing I’ve noticed about the British press, and not just tabloids – they are very quick to turn on a celebrity. One minute they’re wonderful, the next they’re as evil as a sociopath. Or they can be Hitler one day and the next, Mother Theresa. You’d think it was whimsical but it’s very cold and calculated – the business of selling papers almost always is. But if there’s one thing the saga of Jade Goody has taught us, it’s that she was the real people’s princess, not Diana.
People’s princess? Are you joking? She was a freaking reality show contestant, nothing more. She was also raked over the coals for being a racist ignoramus.
Then, she hires a publicist and is stricken with a disease. Suddenly she’s a saint? Yes, as Parky pointed out, it is tragic that she died so young. However, she is no one special at all.
This Jade Goody nonsense is like something Chris Morris would concoct. Honestly, I can’t believe the British press sometimes.
Why is it necessary for Parkinson to make such ridiculous comments? We all know there was only one Diana and the fact remains that a working class 27 year old had a funeral comparable to a Princess. Diana manipulated the media. Jade was clever she used the media as much as they used her but with a difference, to make sure her children get a decent education. Parkinson has made millions out of interviewing boring celebrities. We suggest that Parkinson spends £2 million in supporting the Underclass Children in our society as action walks. Jade Goody has helped to save the lives of many young women both at home and abroad. Who has Parkinson helped?
*in a really bad Yorkshire accent*
Nay lass – he were always a direct bugger. You can take t’man out of t’Dales, but you’ll never take t’Yorkshire out of t’man 😉
i always wait until people die from a devastating, debilitating, terminal illness before issuing statements expressing my disgust toward them… classy!
Michael Parkinson… You’ve said what i’ve been thinking since it happened… yeah its a sad ordeal, i don’t think anybody is happy when somebody dies ? … Thats just horrible and not needed…. But sorry, how did Jade Goody become famous…
. Went on big brother- made a prat out of herself by stripping naked and giving some guy a blow job..
. Later goes on celebrity big brother and is racist and starts off a massive row
. Broadcasts herself getting told she has cancer on ANOTHER big brother .. this time in INDIA!
^ yes, thats a role model!!!! wowey!!!! sarcastic 😐
Look, go round every house in Britain.. ask every mother if they would like their daughter to turn out like Jade Goody… Due to how she’s made herself look on television… not one mother would say yes!
Yes its sad she died young.. and I do feel for her sons, and personally, I don’t know what I’d do without my mum. But the fact she’s turned into some goddess, with talks of movies being made about her life, its just stupid. Absolute stupidity.
I bet one of my ancestors has died of cancer… where is their recognition ?
Perhaps, but she’s still a human being who deserves to treated with some measure of respect and dignity.
Just because someone is dead or dying doesn’t mean you need to ignore the truth. You can probably ignore them or even sugar coat it a bit but the facts are the facts.
The cult of celebrity and fame is a sad indictment that made Ms Goody an even sadder indictment on the people who became obsessed with her. Empty lives and empty brains drive these issues.
My advice is to get a life of your own and these sad characters who have not added one bit of value to the community will be ignored.
Tim
He’s spot on.
Gone is the true celebrity of yesterday, someone to really look up to. The foul mouthed dungeon rats that we celebrate today, like; Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty… Who can blame him? The more repugnant you are, the more popular you seem to be. It’s a sign of the times. He must look at the youth and feel quite sad. Onya Parky!
Mairead, you’re channeling Fred Eliott!
When I said “People’s Princess”, I wasn’t being serious. A little cynical, especially if you read Liz Jones’s article in the Daily Mail about all the ordinary working class women who attended the funeral and had nothing but good things to say about JG. They seemed to have really taken her to their hearts as their local girl gotten to the top. Instead of cutting her down from tall poppies syndrome, they were pleased for what she had achieved. She was the princess the people would have chosen from amongst themselves, because they could relate to her. That’s all.
Hear, hear, Sir Michael. The world has elevated the repugnant and mundane to ridiculous heights. Bring on the tall poppies, I say; they are the people who make it possible for all the rest of us to compute, text, telephone, televise, travel, build, eat, dress, drive, learn, heal, and so forth. Time to celebrate the excellent and ignore the inept. It’s not elitism, it’s smart. Let’s return to substance over appearances.
I agree with Michael Parkinson, If Jade is to be idolized by young people then what hope do they have. Its horrible what happened to her, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s an idiot. Thats how I put it, Parkinson put it in a much more intelligent way, and it had to be said,…good man “Parky”
Paddy, Ireland
Parky is nothing but an attention seeker himself..when he retired he was upset that he wasn’t wanted on TV anymore and did a silly book and TV commercials..he just won’t go away and retire..he is a boring presenter, I could never see what the attraction..also she was never a rascist..she was just jealous of Shilpa who was no angel..
I feel like going and give Parkinson a huge kiss, after the ridiculous attention Jade received in the UK, the prefect role model for our childs (leave school, blow some chava guy on the tele) and one day your daughter will be famouse that’s every mother’s dream no?
For any “normal” person who lives in the UK she did represent, the worse of the worse class of people you can possibly find. But hey I guess anyone who take offense on anything said about her has to be just as ignorant as her, in the first place to even like her. I actually got to think that she somehow manage to arrenge to die on mother’s day just to have even more publicity to her circus. Anyways we can only hope this ends soon…
I think it is a disgrace what Michael Parkinson has said. I disagree and think that what she has overcome in her life is amazing. Her dad a drug addict and mother as well but she came through all that, and the awareness that she has raised for Cervical Cancer is tremendous. Let her rest in peace now.
Well done Sir Michael Parkinson. He has interviewed all manner of celebrities, and truely knows the difference between a real star and a person at the center of a media circus.
Jade Goody was, in truth a vile person. She was slaughtered in the media after going on Celebrity Big Brither and racially bullying an Indian film star. When the British press realised how many papers they could sell by explioting Jade’s illness they went to town on the whole thing.
Jade left all her dignity back in the council estate she crawlled out of, and would have crawled over her dying grand mother to get infront of a T.V camera.
Jade came into our lives and our homes and entertained us all just a parky used to do.im sure when he passes there will be some outpouring of greif by the public. If the puplic feel that they want to show thier greif for jade then that just shows how popular she was. she was a great caracter and a great entertainer. she was a lovely mother and her lovely boys will miss so much without her.
He could have put it across in a nicer way but maybe it would have minimised his points. As it is, I agree with him.
It’s sad that a young mother died leaving her two children behind but she wasn’t a saint or even particularly aspirational. In fact, if it wasn’t inflated to ridiculous proportions it would have been nice to respect the humanity of her death but it’s weird the way it’s been bloated out of all proportion by the press.
Some sentiment of backlash was inevitable.
Jade’s epitaph is best rendered as no bigger and no greater than it actually was.
That, and the fact that Russell Brand being her BFF leaves me cold.
I always wonder what the outpouring says for the public consciousness: is it genuine or guilt-fueled retro-aggrandizement. I’m leaning towards the latter seeing as this is the same public that pilloried the same woman over Shilpa-gate.
Parky has a point.
i totally agree with Michael. Jade Goody was no saint. Infact she only raised awareness 4 cancer coz she was in tht situation.She had no other choice. People like princess di who had all these choices but chose to help the less fortunate. The true jade Goody looked down on those she thought were less fortunate that her(cele BB). Yes her death was tragic but so is every other death. that doesnt make u a saint
I think Michael Parkinson was very brave in saying what many of us were thinking. And he wasn’t attacking her personally, he was deriding the sort of culture that can celebrate and hype-up all that she stood for. Just as I am in this clip – http://tinyurl.com/c7fsvc
Opinions are like buttocks, everyone has them but not always a good idea to air them in public as it can cause offence. Parkinson made his living by interviewing those who the public made rich and famous and in doing so became rich and famous himself, precisely what origional thought or deed has he done and contributed to society or the arts?
Well done, Parky, for having the guts to say what many of us were thinking as we found ourselves constantly exposed to the recent media circus surrounding Jade Goody. Jade was neither a celebrity nor a princess – just a common loudmouth from the dregs of South London who grabbed the opportunity to become rich and famous overnight. The morons in the UK who watch the likes of Big Brother have a lot to answer for!
I think Michael Parkinson is a highly intelligent understanding non judgemental on steriotipical man who has been vilified for comments made about jade goody. I sympathise as he simply expressed whar most people were feeling.
Anyone who thinks Parkinsons was attacking Jade is ignorant to a very high order.
He was trying to shine a light on the issues in Britain at the moment.
All these quotes are taken heavily out of context, he’s not saying that she was an EXAMPLE of what was wrong in society today, he’s saying she’s a representation of what’s wrong.
He’s effectively holding a mirror up to the culture and media who created and manipulated Jade and telling THEM that THEY are what’s wrong.
It’s a shame that the people that can’t accept this are trying to twist it back on the great Sir Michael Parkinson.
One thing everyone seems to misunderstand is that after she went on her racist rant in the Big Brother house, she left with the majority of britain hating her (after voting to evict her!). 1 year later and some good media twisting and everyone forgets there own opinions. Please have your own thoughts and dont just go along with what heat magazine or whatever bitchy gossip magazines are out there! Also i would like to point out a disgusting news print (from a paper i will not trash); where there was a huge picture of Jade on the front cover with a tiny picture of liam neeson’s wife, ‘Natasha Richardson’ in the corner. Natasha who did charity work and actually helped people deserves better than this. Rant over.
Michael Parkinson is nothing to write home about and he should remember his own roots which were not aristocratic. He got two 0 levels and lied his way in. He has made millions out of the Celebrity Culture and he is jealous if anyone else makes a few bob. If Jade was all that is wrong with British society then I suggest Michael gets his finger out and becomes a Mentor in Bermondsey and supports the Youth Leaders. Its selfish money grabbing people like this jumped up Yorkshireman that is what is wrong with British Society. Furthermore Jade did not regard herself as a Saint. Diana did good work but was not saintly. She used the media to hit back at the Royals. Good on Jade for making money and leaving a great legacy. Michael Parkinson is in no way great, just a mouthpiece of the British system that does nothing for the youth of this country but sits smugly on his high-horse so happy that he is a part of the establishment that takes all and gives nothing in return.
Michael Parkinson has used no discretion whatsoever. You don’t speak ill of the dead like that. He’s always been talentless, shame on everyone who stuck up for him.
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