Today's Blind Items - I Can Help You
He had her parents fooled. That is what she remembers most about when the man convinced her parents to be her manager. With her, his big selling point was that she was going to be a star. She always wanted to be a star. From the time she was 5 she remembered practicing in front of a mirror and could imagine everyone in the world wanting to watch her sing. She started off young and was a huge star. Just like she wanted. Foreign born. What she didn't want was what she got when her manager would travel with her on the road. He had a wife and her parents assumed that the couple would watch over their daughter as she traveled the world. She said the first time was when she was 12 or 13 and she had really just started to develop. She would have costume fittings and her manager would be there watching as she tried on different outfits. He would make her change in front of him and his wife said nothing. Usually when they traveled on the road, the couple shared a suite with their protege and she would have a room to herself. Beginning at 13 though, the manager started getting into bed with her. At first they would just talk and he would sleep. He didn't touch her. Then he started making her sleep naked and would hold her. By the time she was 14 they were having sex every night. She never told her parents because he had her convinced her career would end. When she was 15 she got pregnant for the first time. That was quietly taken care of and that is also when she started drinking. She still has issues with her drinking and still has issues with the men in her life. She doesn't really trust any of them. She has always been cheated on and for years assumed it was her fault. Through therapy she has realized it was not her fault. When she finally managed to break free of her manager, her career did slide. From A list down to b or C list, but she has always had A list name recognition.
I was sure it was Celine until I got to the end there.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte Church
ReplyDeleteI was thinking Celine...but this is probably Britney or Christina
ReplyDeleteForeign born
DeleteGood guess there, Ellen.
ReplyDeleteI thought Charlotte as well, stopped to google her to make sure of the spelling, and Ellen beat me too it.
ReplyDeleteCeline Dion.
ReplyDeleteJust reading it made my skin crawl. poor girl with this kind of baggage.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte Church was who I thought of immediately. :(
ReplyDeleteWell it depends upon what is meant by "break free" of her manager. It could be a purposely misleading detail
ReplyDeletetiffany
ReplyDeleteCharlotte church doesn't really have A list name recognition IMHO.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like Celine Dion
ReplyDelete@Don't rain, I agree but I saw a pic of her recently and there was an article about how she wasn't doing well. I think she's A in England.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2293724/Charlotte-Church-opts-ANOTHER-bizarre-ensemble-performs-South-Southwest-festival.html
ReplyDeleteIf it's Charlotte Church, her manager was Jonathan Shalit. According to Wikipedia.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte Church's manager only married recently, and didn't have a serious long term relationship before that, so I don't think she fits.
ReplyDeleteCeline married her manager even though she hooked up with him at a very young age and they are still together; can't be her.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte Church was the first who came to mind. I remember years ago when she was invited to the Oprah show.
ReplyDeleteAll I remember was Opheah losing her shit over Charlotte....well like she does over every guest.
This is far more common than anyone cares to admit. It scars a person for life. There are to many parents who abdicate their responsibilities to predators who in turn, molest young girls and boys. These "mentors", "youth ministers", "scout leaders", "coaches" etc. then make the child feel guilty and/or threatened to keep them quiet. The predators and the parents go on to live "normal lives" while the victims wades through years of mental issues and guilt. It is sick, and I am so glad people are finally talking about it. If we could only make the predators and f**ked up parents pay for their abuse and negligence, we may see an end to this type of story. But of course, by the time the victim is strong enough to speak about it, the statute of limitations has kicked in and nothing can be done or no one believes them. Heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteIdk. I was thinking Leann Rimes
ReplyDeleteHow old was Joss Stone when she started?
ReplyDeleteNever mind, her mom was her manager
Delete@Ashley, I thought that, too, but she isn't foreign-born.
ReplyDeleteAlanis Morissette?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2107
ReplyDeleteI was thinking Brit except for foreign born. Charlotte Church sounds right, she's been in the news a lot. She has the loveliest voice.
ReplyDelete@Jane
ReplyDeleteTrue. If anyone has any doubts about this please read:
Girl Trouble: The True Saga of Superstar Gloria Trevi and the Secret Teenage Sex Cult That Stunned the World
http://tinyurl.com/bsp4t24
Gloria's manager abused her until she got too old for him and then had used her to lure younger girls to his management company.
I used to watch her movies and listen to her music as a little girl. Years later, that is still shocking.
DeletePatty Dule for the win!
ReplyDeleteShania Twain
ReplyDeleteIf the woman was alive my guess would be poor Mindy
ReplyDeleteAvril Lavigne
ReplyDeleteyeah, I'm thinking Avril Lavigne, too.
ReplyDelete@Nemisis - Patty Duke is the first person I thought of also, except for the singing part, obviously. Her story is VERY similar. Didn't help with her mental issues either - wasn't she diagnosed as bipolar?
ReplyDeleteI think Avril Lavigne is a good guess, she met her manager when she was 15 so maybe Enty fudged the age?
ReplyDeleteMinogue? She still has A recognition
ReplyDeleteIn changing my guess to Alanis, it's well known she's had issues with the men in her life. Avril was revealed as a cheater if I remember correctly so doesn't really fit.
ReplyDeleteMindy who?
ReplyDeleteI like the Alanis guess! She was a teen idol in Canada and had an affair with her manager at around 13? 14? The only part that doesn't seem to fit is the drinking.
ReplyDeleteKylie Minogue? I know she was a teen actress but I'm not sure about the music aspect since she was in her 20s with her first huge hit.
ReplyDeleteCan't be Patty Duke unless you consider being born in Brooklyn a foreign country.
ReplyDeleteI get a sarah mclachlan vibe.....
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI know for a fact this isn't Xtina...and also, Xtina isn't foreign born. She was born in Staten Island.
ReplyDeleteI like the Charlotte Church guess. That's around the age where she started becoming a big name.
ReplyDeleteUntil this thread I had never in my life heard of Charlotte Church. I know that's just one person, but I'm a tabloid gossip junky, and so I just find it hard to believe she could possibly be considered A list.
ReplyDeleteNope, I have no idea who she is either!
DeleteNever mind, missed the foreign born part.
ReplyDeleteI think the Alanis guess is the best. It sounds like it was her producer and not her manager though.
ReplyDelete@amy, ditto I have no idea who she is either.
Didn't Alanis write the song "Hands Clean" about a record exec or manager she was having sex was while underage?
ReplyDeleteOkay Nicksauntie, I officially think you're right! Rats! I wanted to be right. But the lyrics and that song are such good evidence.
ReplyDeleteOh, sorry, Nicksauntie - I somehow skipped over your link!
ReplyDeletejust to be different, I will say Shakira.
ReplyDeleteSinead o'Connor? I don't know how old she was when she start out, but she clearly has issues. Alanis is another good guess, because her songs seem to say that she's had a few dark things happen in her past.
ReplyDeleteShakira is probably a B in the US and an A in Columbia. She's still going strong, especially by picking up The Voice. Not her
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI thought Alanis, too. I remember her talking about "Hands Clean," and I got the impression he was older and married. I always thought it was her therapist, though!
ReplyDeleteAlanis, Hands Clean was about a guy she worked with and slept with as a teen.
ReplyDeletewow I remember that whole gloria trevi scandal... i never understood her love for that man but it was clearly an abuse learned helplessness dependency. She spent a long time in jail awaiting trial too.
ReplyDeleteHow awful for the little girl. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteI'm with a lot of the others here...Charlotte Church is not now, nor has she ever been A-list. I wouldn't know her if she were standing next to me, nor would I know any song she sang...and I'm a pop music junkie.
ReplyDeleteAlanis Morissette maybe
ReplyDeleteCould be Alanis, but she never really hit it big until she was already IN her teens. Whoever this was written about it sound like they became famous as a preteen and the "relationship" developed as soon as she hit puberty, which fits Charlotte Church. She is also known as someone who loves to drink and doesn't care where or when.
ReplyDeleteJoss Stone
ReplyDeleteCharlotte church was who I thought of too. This is classic predator behavior. Anyone who has studied abnormal psych can tell u. There is even a name for it: grooming. Its just like any negotiation - just start seemingly innocent and gradually work their way to what they want. This scumbag planned this from the jump
ReplyDeleteOh it def seems nicksauntie got it though
ReplyDeleteDidn't Alanis also have a "relationship" with Dave Coulier while still a teen? HE "claims" nothing sexual happened...and...yeah...I believe him!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if ENTY is playing games with gender- this sounds like Bieber!!
ReplyDeleteDale, it can't be the Biebs - he's against abortion, so he wouldn't have gotten one.
ReplyDeleteI know the ranking is subjective, but I've never heard of Charlotte Church except for seeing her name here a couple of times.
This is the Patty Duke story from her autobiography, "Call Me Anna." Duke isn't foreign born, unless Enty is confusing her with her fictious "twin" cousin Cathy, who had traveled abroad with her father. However, I can see that this abusive and sad scenario has likely played out more than once in the entertainment business. I have no other guess.
ReplyDeleteThis read as Avril. She got famous at 15, but I think she'd been at it for a while. Small town girl; could easily taken from her parents. Shania worked as a teen to support her brothers after her mom and stepdad died (it's a common part of her backstory). Celine was and is under Rene's thumb and has been since she was 13. Avril's career slid off a bit
ReplyDeletealanis-read the lyrics to hands clean...she even said it was about someone she worked with. she will always have a list name recognition b/c of jagged little pill
ReplyDeletelate to the game, but what about Amy Winehouse???
ReplyDeleteI remember reading that Hands Clean was about a 3-year relationship Alanis had with a guy who was the owner/head of a security company that was providing her with bodyguards. She was in her twenties and he was in his fifties and he wouldn't go public with their relationship, which ultimately led her to realize that he wasn't serious about marrying her or committing himself. From what I remember, he provides security for a lot of celebrities in Hollywood so is well-known among that set but no one had any idea the two were in a relationship until the song came out. This would be pre-Ryan Reynolds but post-Jagged Little Pill.
ReplyDelete@rachelee his name is Gavin de Becker. He wrote a book called "The Gift of Fear" about victims of crime often having intuitive thoughts that something wasn't right but didn't follow them. I also remember him talking about the worst thing you can do if you're being stalked is to even acknowledege it. Seems like Taylor swift (ugh I read it) hasn't followed his advice if you read her total butt kissing Vanity Fair profile.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, great book, especially for single gals living in the big city. But the guy sounds like an ass for the way he treated Alanis.