The National Enquirer has a new article explaining the circumstances behing the much talked-about incident in which a freelance reporter checked Brooke Shields’ mom out of a nursing home.

Brooke was outraged that her mom Teri, who suffers from dementia, was allowed to leave her assisted living facility with the reporter, and issued a statement about it to People Magazine. When she learned that her mother was out with a reporter that day she called the cops, who found Teri having lunch with the man at a nearby restaurant. The National Enquirer explained at the time that Teri had been friends with the reporter for over 10 years and that the visit was a planned one that was approved by the facility. They said that Teri and the guy ran some errands and had something to eat and that she was never in any danger.

The Enquirer now has a personal statement from the freelance reporter, Bob Hartlein, who was with Teri that day. He explains that he is good friends with Teri Shields and used to hang out and watch TV with her at her house in New Jersey. He had no idea that Teri had dementia and says he first heard about it from Brooke and her lawyer. He admits that he did run stories on Brooke Shields using things Teri told him, but says that he was genuinely fond of her and knows her well. They even include a picture with the story that was taken in May, 2008 and shows Hartlein kissing Teri Shields affectionately on the head as she smiles. She is dressed up well in the photo and looks coherent and aware.

When Brooke Shields and her lawyer first revealed the details of her mother’s “dementia,” I was shocked and upset at that tragic news. In the 10 years I’ve known Teri Shields, I’ve found her to be more in control of her faculties – and certainly more outspoken – than most young people I know.

When I first interviewed Teri in 1999, I didn’t expect to become her friend. She was 65 at the time, and she’d agreed to talk to me about her ongoing battle with alcoholism.

“I knew I needed help last year (1998) after I passed out in a New York City department store,” Teri confessed to me. “I was so sick, I couldn’t remember.”

Her brutal honesty and heartfelt attitude endeared me to this lovely woman. She was not the tough divorcee often described in press reports.

After our first meetings, I spent many afternoons with Teri in her comfortable Haworth, NJ, home, which is near my own. We watched TV (“Dr. Phil” was a favorite) and chatted endlessly about her love of movies.

It was an unconventional relationship over the years between the mother of a world-famous movie star and a freelance tabloid reporter, but I always treated Teri with the same warmth, kindness and respect that I do my own mother, who is 82.

Most of our wonderful afternoons together never resulted in a story, but one thing remained consistent. Teri was always clear to me about how much she loved Brooke…

Maybe not everyone was pleased with my relationship with Teri over the years, but I wish only the best health for my friend. She is truly a special woman.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, June 22, 2009, by Bob Hartlein]

Brooke and the National Enquirer settled their disagreement over the incident. The Enquirer issued an apology and made an undisclosed, said to be “generous” donation to The American Academy of Neurology Foundation. Their statement reads, in part, “It was never the intention of the reporter, the photographer or anyone at the National Enquirer to cause harm to anyone,” and they also state that the “police investigation revealed no wrongdoing by the National Enquirer” but add that they “apologize for alarming Brooke Shields.”

This story is not as cut and dried as it originally seemed. Brooke and Teri have had a contentious relationship over the years, with Teri admitting that she’s an alcoholic while trash talking Brooke and her current husband to the Enquirer. You can see how she would befriend a reporter and confide in him if she has another agenda. She also probably genuinely appreciated the company. Brooke is doing her best for her mom under their difficult circumstances and it’s understandable that she would get outraged that Teri was allowed to leave her nursing home with a reporter. She may not believe her mom is capable of making her own decisions now, while her mom doesn’t seem willing to give up her independence. Hopefully they will be able to bury old grudges for the sake of their family and put this whole thing behind them.

Here is Brooke out with her mother, Teri, and daughter Grier, three, in NY on 5/10/09.Credit: Daniel/INFphoto.com