Sorry I haven’t blogged for a while. I’ve been so busy with my beautiful little bundle of joy! But I’m ready to get back to work!! … Actually, a woman named Katya is going to do most of my job for me tonight. Let me explain …
I was going to do a blog about this whole Nancy Jo business. Nancy Jo is involved in a publicity frenzy for her new book, which a visit to her twitter site will demonstrate. So I logged onto my site and was reading through your comments before I got to blogging. This is when I stumbled upon a link to Katya’s Amazon review of the Bling Ring book. I’ve excerpted it here for your reading pleasure:
“Nancy Jo, this is Katya calling. I’m calling to let you know how disappointed I am in your story. There’s many things that I read in here that were false … I bought this book because I had followed this case in the media as it unfolded, and also watched Pretty Wild when it aired. Hearing Alexis Neiers story recently of how she was heavily addicted to hard drugs during the time of the burglary and her reality show, and how she has since completely turned her life around (she’s now over 2 years sober, married and with a child) really touched me. I went through similar problems during my late teens/early 20′s and was inspired to see a young girl overcome her demons and admit to her mistakes.
While the book was an interesting read, I felt almost disgusted at times by how judgmental and immature Nancy Jo could be – going as far to write in her thank yous “Thanks to my dad, for teaching me to work hard (and not to burgle)” and “Thank you to David, for making me laugh on the phone by saying, “This is upper-middle-class crack head behavior”. I miss his wisdom”. I felt like this was really inappropriate and unprofessional. My favorite quote (from The Great Gatsby) is “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” and I think that Nancy Jo needs to remember this – as stated in her book, Alexis was sexually abused by a family member as a very young child, physically abused by her father and given prescription drugs extremely early in her life – all of these things would mess up anyone psychologically. It influenced her behavior and she has grown from it, and for Nancy Jo to offer fake sympathy for her in places throughout the book and then basically turn around and laugh at her is really horrible. Especially since she gave an interview about the famous “This is Alexis Neiers calling” clip from Pretty wild, saying: “I wondered what about that moment people still found so entertaining, three years later. I don’t mean to be a party pooper here, but I’ve never found the clip all that funny. Alexis was in real distress during that call” How nice of her to say, right? Well it would be…if she wasn’t CONSTANTLY retweeting other people’s jokes about it and referencing it in her own tweets – for all her judgment about “fame hungry” people, she is clearly using this girls pain for her own fame.
The most ironic thing about this book is how the entire thing is about how awful it is that these kids are so obsessed with celebrities – and then on the final page, in Nancy Jo’s author bio….she name drops that she’s worked with “Damien Hirst, Hugh Hefner, Russell Simmons, Donald Trump, Tyra Banks, Angelina Jolie, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Taylor Swift”. Really??
I have no problem being fascinated with celebrities, in fact, i am myself. But don’t pretend to be above it, when you’re no better than any of those kids who you’re judging for the same damn thing. At least they can admit to it.”
Thank you very much for your sane, balanced take on the material, Katya. To say I’ve been frustrated by the way the distortions this Nancy Jo woman spreads about me get repeated over and over again would be a serious understatement. I can’t explain what it’s like to have my story told by others — and so poorly, too! Thank God, now that the Bling Ring case has been closed for my co-defendants, I am free to tell my side of the story. (And please do stay tuned for this story.) I really feel like I am finding my voice.
It’s such a relief to get so much positive feedback from the lovely people like Katya who are seeing the hypocrisy in the accounts of my life from people like Nancy Jo, as she so nicely outlined above. And Sophia Coppola, too, who was also ‘famous for being famous’ throughout her 20s, being the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola. She is obviously so much more than that, and went on to achieve greatness. But it just goes to show that what we hate in others is often something that we are rejecting in ourselves. I try to be aware of this judgmental tendency in myself, as much as possible. And I hope that I’m more vocal about my own problems than I am busy talking about other people’s.
And to Nancy Jo, I forgive you. As I learn to tell my own story, I care less and less what you say about me. It really doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s your thing. And if I’ve helped you sell a couple of extra books, or gather a few new Twitter followers with this post, then I’m glad for you.
There’s one last thing before I sign off for the night. Something occurred to me today, which I found quite funny, and I hope you do, too, Nancy Jo … Your name will forever be connected with mine, but not mine with yours.
Sleep well!