Star Jones!
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Then I said, ''If you take that time, it will come to you what you really want to make the next phase of your career.'' And I kept coming back to the thing that I love the most, which is the law. And I remember having conversations with people and them laughing at me because we would talk about my career in television we would talk about the interviews that I had done, the people I've met and then something would come up that had to do with criminal law, and you would see animation immediately. You would immediately see me say, ''Well, let me tell you what happens when you are picking the jury?'' It would just be passion. And I discovered, if that's your passion, why not work in that area?
And around December, I got a phone call from some executives at Court TV. Once we started to talk about the kind of moves I wanted to make in my career and where they were going for their network, it was about as clear as a bell.
Will the show cover all of the high-profile celebrity legal battles making headlines, from Britney and Lindsay to Paris and Nicole, etc.?
Anything you wanna do, sure. But in a way that applies to other people's lives. I think what we have to do is to figure out a way to make these interesting, intriguing, fascinating personalities interesting, intriguing, and fascinating to you in your life at home.
Let's take Britney Spears if there's any issue that makes me berserk is to hear people talk about ''She should lose her kids!'' It makes me crazy because none of these same talking head people on television, be they the TV lawyers, TV commentators, or what have you, are out there advocating for the crackhead prostitute who burned her baby last night and put her out for the garbage to lose their kids. They don't even know they exist but are worried about Britney Spears and her two little rich kids who are not going to miss a meal, not going to not to go the doctor, their nanny is not going to not pick them up, they're going to be in their stroller like they're supposed to every single day. I mean, talk about having priorities skewed! This girl is a twentysomething trying to find her way, just like every other 26-year-old mother. She may have had the kids earlier than she wanted. She may have had them before she was mature enough to handle them. But every other twentysomething finding themselves in that position is thrown right into it and they have to sink or swim also. So back off the little girl and give her a minute! Let her find her way. She's acting out and being silly. And trust and believe she's going to get herself together. She is.
But how would I do that story? It's an entertainment and pop culture story. It has to do with the law. So it's the perfect subject for our show, right? What I would do on that is talk about the other twentysomething women and how do they manage a new marriage or no marriage, being a single mother or being with somebody who quite frankly they can't depend on constantly. How do you manage when your man has children by another woman?
Backtracking a bit: When everything happened with you leaving The View, it was like you were everywhere, kind of like J. Lo mania back in the day.
You know what? Please! Cracks up laughing J. Lo mania!
Well, you were everywhere for a moment. Did you ever feel like, ''I need to go away because I am overexposed, overextended, and overly vulnerable.
One hundred percent. But you know what I ended up doing? I realized and you have to take responsibility for your own behavior that the first thing I should do is apologize for putting myself in a position that I could be everywhere. Sometimes you have to cut to grow laughs, and I needed to cut out those things that I guess I got enamored with. You know, when you invite people into your house, don't be surprised if they sit down, take their shoes off, and put their feet up on your chair. And that's pretty much what the media did. They came in the house, sat down, put their feet up on the chair, went in the refrigerator, got a glass of orange juice you know what I mean? They made themselves at home! And the only way for me to say you're not welcome in this private part of my life is to stop exposing my private part. That really came more from just some regular sisters, and I'm talking white women, black women, Latin women, just regular women that I would see at TJ Maxx or at the Target or at the Rite Aid, getting my glasses fixed at the Lens Crafters. These women who would say, ''Girl, don't let these people sweat you! That's your life. That's your business.'' But what they were really telegraphing is, ''Shut up, okay?! If you don't want us in your business, don't tell your business.''
In the immediate aftermath of your departure from The View, did a lot of people come to your side, or did you feel abandoned by people you expected to stick by you? I did something that I was not familiar with doing but clearly it was the best thing I could do. I spoke to some major mentors in the entertainment business, in the business community, and African-American leaders that I respect.
Star Jones Who are your mentors
I don't want to violate their privacy because they were 100 percent candid with me, but every name is one that you would recognize. Let me first tell you the things that my mentors gave me as advice: ''Step away.'' And that was pretty much universal. ''This is a great time for you to figure out your next move without the glare of the spotlight on you constantly.'' That was probably the No. 1 most universal piece of advice. And I wanted to, so it was not hard to follow.The second thing was: ''Get back to your roots. Why did you get in television from the beginning?'' And that is a very honest look at yourself in the mirror when it's just you. Did you really get into TV because you wanted to speak to issues for the community? Or did you really get into it because you like the lights and camera? And I honestly can say I really wanted to speak to issues.
Besides my mentors, some of my girlfriends really and truly stepped up to the plate. I may give you one person who I just really want to acknowledge publicly. If there's anybody if there's a war and you gotta have somebody next to you in the tank, bring Vivica Fox, straight up! On the real! Just bring Vivica Fox.
Star Jones Really
Because from everything from losing weight to changing my style to getting fired from The View to who should replace me, she has stood side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder ''I got your back.'' I mean, who can forget her basically cussing Jimmy Kimmel out on national television laughs on my behalf? You know, walking down the red carpet at the BET Awards and when someone asked her about me, she said, 'I'm her girl.' 'That is a true, dear friend. And you rarely get to thank somebody publicly like that.Star Jones Did you hear from Oprah at all during that time
All the time! She was very consistent. But that's the best part I don't have to bother Oprah unless I need to bother Oprah, but she gave me probably one of the biggest pieces of advice: She said, ''Stand in the space that God has created for you. You said you want this embrace it.'' And I thought to myself, she's exactly right.Speaking of Oprah she's someone whose personal life and relationship has been heavily scrutinized in the media, as has yours. So when you say that you made a conscious decision to step away from the spotlight and tone things down, did you and husband Al Reynolds make a conscious decision to do that as a couple lower your profile as well?
Well, there was never any reason for Al to tone anything down. Al was a businessman and still is. He has his own life and career. He was swallowed up in that which was mine. And that's one of the reasons why we have completely separated it out. You know, the show is called Star Jones, not Star Jones Reynolds. Star Jones Reynolds is Sister Reynolds, who goes to the Christian Cultural Center.
Star Jones In Brooklyn
Yes, absolutely, with the great reverend pastor A.R. Bernard. She goes to the grocery store and makes dinner for her husband and spent time yesterday getting the guest room ready because my mother-in-law's coming to town that's Mrs. Reynolds. Star Jones is the brand, the personality, the professional that my audience has come to know.Let's talk about the article you wrote for the new issue of Glamour. Why did you choose to open up about your gastric bypass surgery in Glamour rather than in your book or even on your new show?
You know what? I will tell you. If I could've emotionally been stable enough to do it for the book, it would've obviously been the most brilliant part. Brad Zeifman, who has been my publicist for a long time, encouraged it. My husband encouraged it. My lawyers encouraged. Everybody who is a professional that worked for me did, so they should have nothing to feel guilty about because they did their jobs. It wasn't like it was a bunch of yes people. But I was emotionally crippled and not able to hear what people were saying.
But in the long run, my health was more important to me. And it's not just my physical health, it's my mental health. And so I really and truly wasn't ready. I found it very difficult to accept why I needed this surgery. I found it very difficult to forgive myself for not being in control. I am a control freak. I need to know every aspect of what's going on and it took me years of therapy to really and truly let it go and realize that letting it go gives you control. Just let it go. But I couldn't do that at the time.
That was clearly if I have one regret, and I've said this I don't think I've said it publicly yet, but I've said it to friends is that I wrote the book before...I wrote that section of the book before I was ready to fully deal with it. Every other aspect of the book, I love. I just love it with all my heart and soul. And I appreciated the fact that my fans still made it a best-seller.
Were you surprised by the vitriol directed your way when you didn't initially open up about your weight loss surgery? A lot of people attacked you about that including Rosie O'Donnell on The View.
I was shocked in the beginning that people attacked me. But I was very public about other things and I think that the audience rightly said, ''But wait, you've told us all of this, why are you gonna leave this out?!'' So I got that. But I truly resent anybody who perpetrates this lie that I walked around telling people that I lost weight by exercise and pilates. I never said that. So I wasn't angry that Rosie wanted to know, I was annoyed that she perpetuated something that was inaccurate. But it was really less about that as it related to Rosie, it was much more an attack on my family that was vicious and inappropriate. And I'm very protective of my family. You don't go after my family. So that doesn't work.
By the time the show airs, do you think people will be ready to focus on seeing you back on TV? Well, I hope so! Needless to say, I'm not going to be the gastric bypass girl the rest of my career. That's not something I'm gonna do. I have no intention of being identified through a weight loss surgery, ever. If the media wants to do that, that's on them. But I have so many more things to talk about and a whole bunch more to do, and I'm being as honest as I can now.
Starlet Marie "Star" Jones Reynolds (born March 24, 1962) is an American lawyer and television personality, best known for her stint as a co-host of the ABC weekday morning talk show The View.
Starting August 20, 2007, Jones will host her self-titled talk show based on the law and pop culture as part of Court TV's daytime programming.
Star Jones Early life, education and legal career
Jones graduated from Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. She earned a B.A. degree in The Administration of Justice at American University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Houston Law Center.Jones worked as an assistant district attorney in New York for six years and became Senior Assistant District Attorney at the age of 29. Her felony conviction rate of 31 out of 33 cases earned her top honors and acknowledgement in the law enforcement community.
Star Jones Reynolds is also a prominent member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Star Jones Television career
Jones was recruited by Court TV in 1991 as a commentator for the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, and spent several years as a legal correspondent for NBC's The Today Show and NBC Nightly News.She left NBC in 1994 to host her own court show Jones & Jury. Although the show was canceled after one year, Jones quickly was signed up as chief legal analyst on Inside Edition, where she was assigned to lead the coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial and was the only reporter to interview Simpson during his civil trial.
Star Jones The View
In 1997 she joined The View as a co-host, a role that increased her public exposure significantly.From September 2004 to September 2005, Jones Reynolds was a red-carpet host for the E! television network, conducting interviews at awards shows. Jones and E! declined to renew her contract after one year.
On June 27, 2006, Jones Reynolds officially reported that she would be leaving The View after nine seasons as co-host. She told People Magazine that the decision to leave was not her own. "What you don't know is that my contract was not renewed for the 10th season... I feel like I was fired." She found out her contract would not be renewed just days before Rosie O'Donnell's addition to the show was announced.
The following day, Barbara Walters, claiming she had been "blindsided" announced that effective immediately Jones Reynolds no longer would appear on The View, except for segments that had already been pre-taped (which proved to be minimal. When the series went into summer reruns, only programs in which she had been absent from the panel were rebroadcast). Jones Reynolds was removed from the opening credits, leaving only Walters, Joy Behar, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. In addition to being removed from the credits, Jones Reynolds was immediately removed from the ABC.com website. After June 27, her only appearances on The View were on the Friday June 30, 2006 episode, which was taped prior to her departure, and then replayed on Tuesday July 4, 2006.
Shortly after, Jones joined Larry King on his talk show to defend her position and respond to questions about why ABC had refused to renew her contract. The network claimed that not only did Jones's excessive reports about her wedding plans alienate viewers, but her acceptance of clothing and merchandise for the event, in exchange for mentions on The View, was in violation of network policy. When questioned about these issues by King, Jones adamantly stated that every mention of her wedding and those connected to it on The View was specifically approved and negotiated by the network themselves, clearly not in violation of any policy. She also reminded viewers that the ratings during that time were the highest ratings The View had in the nine years she was a co-host.
Star Jones The Star Jones Show on Court TV
Media reports on March 7, 2007 stated that Star Jones will return to Court TV as the new Executive Editor of their Daytime Programming and will host her self titled daily daytime live talk show, The Star Jones Show, based on the law and pop culture.Star Jones Recent
In July of 2006, Jones Reynolds hosted a week of the HGTV program, House Hunters, in New York City. Her appearance on the program "scored the largest household ratings in the cable channel's history."In December of 2006, for three days, Jones Reynolds sat in for Michael Eric Dyson to guest host his radio show in his absence. Also, that month, she produced for the Cathy Hughes owned, TV-One cable station,"The Star Jones-Reynolds Report", which reported on the events of the previous year that tremendously affected the African American community.
On April 2, 2007 she sat in as host of Larry King Live, interviewing Beyoncé Knowles while Larry was on vacation.
She appeared in "Screwed", the 8th season finale of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. While her character was also named 'Star Jones', she was not playing herself; her L&O character was a prosecuting attorney from Brooklyn.
Star Jones Authorship
Jones has written two books. The first, You Have to Stand for Something, or You'll Fall for Anything, is a collection of autobiographical essays published in 1998. In January of 2006, Jones published her second book, Shine: A Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Journey to Finding Love, detailing changes she made to re-shape her life, including her marriage and dramatic weight loss.Star Jones Personal life and public image
Jones Reynolds in her first interview since leaving The View speaks on CNN's Larry King Live.Star Jones married Al Reynolds on November 13, 2004. The wedding was held at Saint Bartholomew's Church in New York City in front of 500 guests, and featured three matrons of honor, 12 bridesmaids, two junior bridesmaids, three best men, 12 groomsmen, three junior groomsmen, six footmen, four ring bearers and four flower girls. More than 30 corporate "sponsors" donated wedding attire and merchandise for the event, in exchange for mentions in the media and on Jones Reynolds' website. WE: Women's Entertainment named Jones Reynolds the top bridezilla of 2004.In a September 2007 Glamour magazine interview, she reveals she had gastric-bypass surgery in August 2003, resulting in a loss of 160 pounds over three years.
