New url for Peach Buzz
Bookmark this new url for Peach Buzz.. We have moved to Wordpress!
Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August > 15 > Entry
CNN anchor taken off breast cancer fund-raiser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Could CNN have a few internalized body image issues? We hear that certain CNN types were more than a little displeased by our piece in Wednesday’s column detailing the upcoming “Keep a Breast” Susan G. Komen for the Cure fund-raiser Oct. 18 at LUXE-Atlanta boutique downtown.
You’ll recall that local media women, including CNN’s Nicole Lapin, WXIA-TV news anchor Karyn Greer, WGCL-TV’s Corinna Allen, Star 94’s Cindy Simmons, DAVE FM’s Holly Firfer and Mara Davis, Q100’s Jessica Dauler and Grammy’s Atlanta chapter president Michelle Caplinger lent their names to support the event with many even lending their chests and torsos to be casted for charity. The casts are slated to be painted, displayed and auctioned off for the breast cancer non-profit.
When CNN folks saw Lapin’s name attached to the event in this space Wednesday, somebody’s push-up bra pushed back.
For starters, the fund-raiser’s publicist Kitsy Rose got a lecture.
“I feel like I should still be sitting in a corner with a dunce cap on,” Rose told Buzz. “Apparently, this was not run by certain people at CNN, and I was informed that this was not something CNN anchors would ever participate in.”
For the record, Lapin was not one of the women who lent their chests to the charitable endeavor. All references to Lapin have been deleted from press materials pertaining to the fund-raiser.
CNN public relations director Jennifer Martin told us the news network has a policy in place regarding its anchors’ participation in outside endeavors.
“Things like this have to be approved,” Martin said. “This wasn’t. There was a miscommunication. Nicole was aware of the event, but it was not on her calendar. Susan G. Komen is a great foundation. But if our talent is involved or if their name is being used in connection to an outside event, we need to know about it.”
Rose says the castings will be “artful and tasteful” and anonymous.
Explains Rose: “It’s not like we were going to post a sign reading ‘Nicole Lapin’s Rack’ with an arrow. People need to realize, though, that even women in their 20s are getting breast cancer. We’re all affected by this disease. This is a unique way to get that message out there.”
For more info: www.luxeatlanta.com.
Sick bay update
Meanwhile, there was good news for WSB anchor JaQuitta Williams as she underwent breast cancer surgery Wednesday. Wsbtv.com updated anxious viewers, telling them that “doctors report there was no sign of cancer in JaQuitta’s lymph nodes.”
On Williams’ decision to go public with her diagnosis, WSB-TV news director Marian Pittman told Buzz: “There are opportunities in television to send a message, and this is a way to use television in a very powerful way.”
Case in point: The Augusta native is only 36 and has no family history of the disease.
WSB-TV reporter Jeff Dore, himself a stage-four leukemia survivor, was selected to cover Williams’ story.
The anchor also will blog about her treatment journey at www.wsbtv.com.
If Williams needs any assistance at work, WSB-TV health reporter Diana Davis and veteran anchor Monica Pearson, both breast cancer survivors, can lend support.
“It is amazing how many of my contemporaries are facing breast cancer, [‘Good Morning America’” co-anchor] Robin Roberts and now JaQuitta,” Pearson wrote to us in an e-mail.
“And while it is scary, it is important to remember, early detection means a better chance of a cure. Both women have excellent attitudes and that goes a long way. It is just one more opportunity for those of us who have been through it to remind everyone else — do those breast self- exams each month and get a mammogram yearly. If it can happen to us, it can happen to you.”
If the pages and pages of emotional messages posted online at wsbtv.com are any indication, Williams can also count on plenty of support from WSB viewers.
Moore on Mayer
Oh, fine. I suppose this means we won’t catch former Buckhead boy John Mayer canoodling at Bluepointe any time soon with Mandy Moore. The actress and pop star tells “Extra” that the “Wonderland”-like body language the two were displaying recently during a lunch together in New York was purely platonic.
Out pimping the premiere of her new film “Dedication” this week, Moore was asked about the coziness. “Oh my goodness,” she told “Extra.” “John and I have been friends for years, no romance.”
High Five
Television
Top downloaded TV shows on iTunes this week
1. “Greek,” “Friday Night Frights” episode, ABC Family
2. “Greek,” “Liquid Courage” episode, ABC Family
3. “Kyle XY,” “House of Cards” episode, ABC Family
4. “Greek,” “Picking Teams” episode, ABC Family
5. “Harry Potter: The J.K. Rowling Interview,” NBC News Special
—Source: iTunes
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Fess Parker is 83. Sportscaster Frank Gifford is 77. Singer Eydie Gorme is 76. Actress Julie Newmar is 74. TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 54. Director James Cameron (“Titanic,”) is 53. Actress Angela Bassett is 49. Singer Madonna is 49. Actress Laura Innes (“ER”) is 48. Actor Steve Carell is 44. Country singer Emily Robison of The Dixie Chicks is 35.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Permalink | |
