Let me start by saying I despise Jenny McCarthy. This will not be unbiased, nor will it be kind.
Jenny went on the Howard Stern Show this week to promote the new reality show she’s hosting and her upcoming Playboy spread (July/August issue). Talk turned to Jim Carrey not visiting her son, Evan, since the split. (Source)
She says she’s asked Jim to see Evan numerous times and that Evan misses Jim, asks about him “almost weekly” and is in counseling to deal with his feelings about it.
The implication is that Jim’s a cold-hearted dick. So, what is Jim’s responsibility here, if any? They dated – 5 years is a significant amount of time – and when you date someone with children, you have to be IN it. I think Jim was in it. Jenny has a new boyfriend and it doesn’t sound like she’s on friendly terms with Jim. Call me callous, but it’s grey and complicated and ultimately…Evan is not Jim’s responsibility. Would it be nice if Jenny’s new boyfriend and Evan’s dad and Jim could crack a few beers and hang out in the backyard? Sure, but we don’t live in puppy dogs and rainbow land. Adults have messy, irrational feelings that manifest in petty ways. Jenny controls how much her son is exposed to her relationships, and when she makes that choice, she has to decide if the long-term consequences are worth it for Evan.
Jenny goes on to say, “I haven't [reached out directly] . . . I think that sometimes people need to take a real break from each other. But I still love him. I think you can love people from a distance and respect him. But as a mother, you just hope when you have a relationship with someone, it has nothing to do with the child when you break up."
She hasn’t reached out to him; she just went on Stern to call him out.
And this is my issue with Jenny McCarthy. How does going on Stern help her son’s relationship with Jim Carrey? She knows the story will get picked up. If anything, it will make the relationship she claims to want them to have even more unlikely.
But she’s Jenny McCarthy! She’s warrior mom! Which leads me to why I fervently dislike her. Oprah, CNN, Larry King Live, The Doctors, The Hour (sorry, George) have all given McCarthy a platform to spout her theories on the causes of autism. And they are tenuous and controversial theories. Here’s an article she penned for CNN (with Jim) detailing how she healed her son from autism through diet and therapy. And this has always been my problem with her: her head is up her a--, and anyone who disagrees with her wants to HARM CHILDREN. She is aggressive and confrontational and noisy. And the voice she uses is far-reaching because moms give her a lot of respect and attention. When she talks about Evan’s treatment, she’s saying, “I loved my kid enough, I was smart enough and I have enough money and access to do something about his diagnosis.” And if you are a parent with an autistic child, and other kids, and a job, and bills, and a mortgage, and are relying on your doctor’s advice, well then you aren’t a mommy warrior.
Here’s just one of the many inane quotes I pulled (there are dozens): “I believe that parents’ anecdotal information is science-based information.” I’m no doctor but that’s not at all science-based information, Jenny. It’s the exact opposite. At 4:15:
Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who pioneered the vaccines/autism link, has been widely discredited as a fraud and has no medical license in the UK or the US (incidentally, Jenny wrote the forward to his autobiography, Callous Disregard). He’s a charlatan and a conman. There are hundreds of thousands of parents, siblings, teachers, autism support workers and doctors who work daily to treat and understand autism – but they don’t get book deals and a seat on The View.
Of course she’s going to seek out the best treatment for her son. But this is the thing with McCarthy advocacy: it leaves no room for discussion, just one very rigid point of view. Telling the story of your son’s treatment is one thing, but advising parents on how/when to vaccinate their kids is something completely different. Vaccines are a choice parents make with their doctor, not the 1994 Playmate of the Year. She wrote 3 books in 3 years; medical research doesn’t work that fast. But celebrity does.
In short, I can’t stand her bullsh-t and I hope Melissa McCarthy uses her Golden Globe as a centerpiece for every family dinner.
Jim Carrey released a statement saying he misses and wants to do what’s best for Evan. He’s not brushing it off, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be changing his position, either. (Source).
Let me leave you with Colin Farrell on Ellen talking about his son James and Angelman syndrome. He’s humble and eloquent and sincere – and he acknowledges how money has helped him with diagnosis and treatment. He brings attention to his cause without beating his chest and the message still gets through. Beautifully, I might add.
Attached - Jenny on Live with Kelly earlier this week.
