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.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I agree with your whole post
Here's a hint: Don't post stupid one liners, inviting further discussion, when you have nothing else to bring to the table. Sheesh
Subject? They were going to give her a free makeover, probably worth $100,000. We pay attention to people's character, it's just easier to be good looking. You can say it doesn't matter, but we all know it does.
Breach of contract is breach of contract, and ABC should be held accountable for that. The rest of the charges are far too murky to prove. They'll settle out of court, that's my bet.
Nobody would watch it.
Egads, I hope there are no FOX executives on this board.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
EXTREME TAKEOVER!
Only unattractive people say those kinds of things.
Wow. That might be ust a little too close for me, but again, you are lucky.
I'm in the same boat. My sister and I haven't lived anywhere near each other in over fifteen years.
I wish I had a close relationship with her, but when we're together, we have a huge fight two days after we see each other. It's like clockwork.
I love her, but I guess there are too many "issues," relating to our parents, that we'll never be able to get past.
To be or not to be: that is the question, whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer... or to take up arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them? ... When she herself might her quietus make with some drugs and a little cocaine.
I can't really blame my parents, (I've never seen them figh, only civil arguement) except that if there was a fight, we never talked it out.
My siblings all treat me like the black sheep. I guess it's because I went military out of highschool, then worked blue collar several years before going to college. Now, I only have a bachelors degree, when all have there masters, and one is a PhD with his JD. I have not had much published, either.
The fact I drink (quit a month ago) smoke cigarettes and have a heavy-duty temper are also contributing factors.
When we get together, it's always in hotels or disney so we can escape when necessary.
I'm willing to bet she signed away any legal rights to sure ABC. She is going to the press to generate sympathy, perhaps justly so.
I don't feel any sympathy for the sister who killed herself after she was so willing to trash her sister on national television.
Nice family.
Yeah, but for the whole world to see? I don't get that.
Wasn't that the 'Larry the Cable Guy' special?
It's not all THAT uncommon!
I think, and there are always exceptions, that once they are grown they will get along great. Of course you and I will be the common factor in what they talk about, as in how awful we are, but I can live with that. Well, for tonight anyway. Hahahaha
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