I never thought I would be someone to feel a little sorry for Jenny McCarthy.
It seems that barely a few weeks go by and we are reporting something about Jenny McCarthy. She makes such good press. You soon realize that she must have a good publicist. Publicity aside, she has a lot of supporters and detractors.
I don’t want to argue the pros and cons in this article, but I believe in vaccination and I think that Ms McCarthy has done a lot to discourage people from vaccinating their children. That said, one would be hard press to argue that she has been a major force in creating greater autism awareness. She continues to do a lot of charity work for autism and is the president of Generation Rescue which is a national US organization that provides hope, information and immediate treatment assistance to families affected by autism spectrum disorders. OK, it also believes autism can be cured by unscientific, non-medical methods but let’s not go thre.
On Monday Autism Daily Newscast reported that Jenny McCarthy is planning to take legal action after a report claimed that she had changed her opinions regarding anti-vaccination. She has stated:
“The implication that I have changed my position, that my child was not initially diagnosed with autism (and instead may suffer from Landau-Kleffner Syndrome), is both irresponsible and inaccurate.”
I for one, agree with her. The news media can be very irresponsible and inaccurate at times. I know. I am an editor and publisher. It isn’t always easy to get the facts straight and on top of that we try to create enticing headings to get people to read our articles. Sometimes it is sensationalism at best and yellow journalism at worst. So while we will look forward to seeing what Ms McCarthy is up to this year, I for one and going to give her the benefit of the doubt and give her a pass… for now.
Gilbert Gottfried Fired on Monday Night
Gilbert Gottfried didn’t make it past episode 3 on Donald Trump’s seventh installment of the reality game show, Celebrity Apprentice. Who cares you may wonder? Well his chosen charity was Autism Speaks – another controversial subject matter. Personally, I think there are better choices out there for autism funding but certainly Autism Speaks is the best known and it would have been a great opportunity to increase awareness.
That said, I am not sure Gottfried is the kind of person one would want as a “spokesperson”. His form of humour is considered to be in bad taste by many and certainly not “family friendly.” So for me, it is a draw.
Editor’s Note: This is the first in what I hope will be a regular Wednesday column that we jokingly call “Celebrity Gossip” If you think you can do a better job writing this than I do, then please, and I do mean please, get in touch with us.