Posted on 09/18/2005 3:54:53 PM PDT by Hildy
LOS ANGELES - The producers of "Extreme Makeover" promised Deleese Williams "a Cinderella-like" fix for a deformed jaw, crooked teeth, droopy eyes and tiny boobs that would "transform her life and destiny." But when the ABC reality show dumped the Texas mom the night before the life-changing plastic surgeries, it shattered her family's dream and triggered her sister Kellie McGee's suicide, says a bombshell lawsuit filed in L.A. Superior Court.
As part of the premakeover hype, producers coaxed McGee and other family members to trash Williams' looks on videotape, the suit alleges. When they suddenly pulled the plug on the project, and the promised "Hollywood smile like Cindy Crawford," a guilt-ridden McGee fell apart.
"Kellie could not live with the fact that she had said horrible things that hurt her sister. She fell to pieces. Four months later, she ended her life with an overdose of pills, alcohol and cocaine," said Wesley Cordova, a lawyer for Williams.
"This family is shredded. There is a human cost to this," Cordova said.
Williams, 30, and her husband, Mike, are raising McGee's two children, along with two kids of their own. The suit seeks unspecified money damages for breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other offenses.
"Deleese is so hurt and humiliated, she won't leave the house now. She grocery shops at midnight," Cordova says.
ABC declined to comment on the allegations.
The show announcing Williams' selection for a mega makeover had already aired on Jan. 7, 2004, when the producers abruptly dropped her because the dental surgeon told them her recovery time would be longer than expected, Cordova said.
Williams was alone in a Los Angeles hotel room reading her pre-op instructions when a producer showed up and dashed her dream of a new life with a "pretty" face, the suit alleges.
"You will not be getting an extreme makeover after all. . . . Nothing. It doesn't fit in our time frame. You will have to go back to Texas tomorrow," the suit alleges she was coldly told.
Williams broke down sobbing: "How can I go back as ugly as I left? I was supposed to come home pretty," the suit says.
The 31-page complaint begins with the line "Deleese Williams is considered ugly."
It details a horrendous tale of pain and humiliation that began when she applied for the reality show in December 2003 and had to submit a "full body shot" video showing "all of the body parts that need help."
For years, Williams' friends and family "didn't notice or pretended not to notice" her homely looks, but once she got picked for the show, they were coached to focus on nothing but her physical flaws, the suit says.
In McGee's taped interview, she tried to play up her sister's good points. But the hard-nosed producers "peppered Kellie with questions about her childhood with the ugly Deleese . . . and repeatedly put words in her mouth," the suit says.
To please the producers, Williams' mother-in-law also laid it on thick. "She said things like 'I never believed my son would marry such an ugly woman.' " Cordova says.
The family's comments never aired on TV, but Williams, who was in an adjoining room, heard them all.
The experience ruined her family life.
"Now that she returned in the same condition in which she left, there were no secrets, no hidden feelings, no reward," the suit says.
McGee's "guilt was overwhelming." She OD'd on May 25, 2004, four months after the show's producers sent her sister packing.
"These programs are cheap to produce - there are no actors or screenwriters to pay. But there is a very high human cost," Cordova said.
They emphasize all the wrong values, and think of how many lives they've affected indirectly by making people feel they need to be perfect physically to be happy.
I always wanted one, too, until I ran into multiple pairs of sisters who didn't talk to each other or had equally dysfunctional relationships. Now, I have two girls (and maybe another one on the way) and I am so nervous about how they are going to get along in the future!
My 2 sisters and I get along great most of the time...best friends in a lot of ways. We are lucky though.
"What's pure bull?"
If you can't figure it out, I can't help you.
Hard to tell but she doesn't look that bad!
And there you have it, why ABC was so wrong and unethical in this instance. We can do what we want to the "Simpsons" or "Family Guy", Even "Desperate Housewives" and no harm done, because they are NOT real.
I hope this is the end of reality TV.
Why so coy? Hildy's question was legitimate.
We have a lot of Iraq war Vets who have been permanently disfigured and who are much more deserving of help. I can't pity this woman too much just because she thinks bigger boobs are going to change her life for the better.
Get a clue, too.
My three sisters are my best friends. They are the ones I can talk to about anything. Plus, they will be there till the day I die no matter what.
When I saw the headline, I thought this was another Cindy Sheehan story.
You mean she may have already been doing cocaine, alcohol, and pills?/
If they (ABC) compensate her for her time, that is the end of their obligation. It's not as if they started the surgery & dropped her.
Unless a person has a serious deformity, I don't know how they think becoming what they aren't will make them a better person. You just have to have it inside, and ifyou don't, you could look like brad pitt and you are still ugly.
Judging by her looks, which aren't that bad, I think she needs extreme psychotherapy more than an extreme makeover.
Poor and struggling?
Excuse me, but call me when they have the "win a college scholarship" reality show.
Otherwise, this is just perpetuating the beauty myth and it's crap.
I'm glad I don't have daughters.....
You are very lucky. My family is nowhere even close to being close, friend wise and geographically. There are 5 of us. ! in Mass, 1 in CT, one in New York, 1 in texas and another in California. The one in Cali isn't far enough away, as far as I'm concerned.
The people who put on these shows don't ever get a dime from me. They're hopeless degenerates, not worth the recognition of any right-minded person.
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