Exactly. It's a waste of money. Suing for hearsay is never good.
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We all know that those biographies contain stories that are not always factual. It is really the question of the credit can we give to an interview given by someone involved: the story is always distorted by the interviewed person and its own interests. But how to know how distorted it is? To know who close to the subject the interviewed person is, and his sides [[real friend or rival…) of course helps but that information is usually hard to get [[and when the sources are mentioned, they are at the end of the book… well, it’s really not practical to go back and forth while reading…)
As Captainjames rightly points out, related stories involving only two persons whom which we know none of them would tell about it to a journalist are necessarily a recreation that most probably comes from a third party. And Taraborrelli’s biographies are full of that [[or, does he have the ability to transform into a fly? - oh! that’s only in Harry Potter only – sorry).
Most of us here know how the read between the lines, and it’s also the reason why I wrote in a former website I created on Diana Ross, about Taraborrelli’s “Call Her Miss Ross”, that it made me love her more [[probably because it depicted Diana Ross in a more human way than only an ultimate Goddess – or maybe just because I didn’t believe everything I read - lol). But some things I read or hear in interviews still get me on my nerves, I can’t help it!
It’s also one of the main reasons I created a factual Timeline about Diana’s career that can help to put some perspective to some stories and to correct the too numerous inaccuracies that we can found in those books [[and alas also in the booklet of the expanded edition).
http://dianarosssupremes.free.fr/
Laurent
[[RanRan79; love your post on Diana’s approach, I couldn’t have say it better)
let's also look at the time period in which CHMR was written. in the 80s, the style of celebrity writing was tabloid-ish. sensational revelations were the hit thing. Supposedly the ghost writers and publishers encouraged Mary to amp things up too. "tell alls" and intimate secrets sold not only books but magazine and tabloid newspapers.
While some of this is still around today [[TMZ anyone?) it appears as though the biographies being written are toning things down somewhat. in 1987 the word "diva" was sort of new and almost offensive. Nowadays, anyone can be a diva.
I believe that's why Randy opted to released the latest Diana biography which is MUCH more even handed with the material.
Yeah Randy's revised bio on Diana got rid of the tabloid stories.
Randy is a great guy and his revised Diana Ross biography from 2007 really is the definitive biography on her. He’s been involved with all the expanded editions and he is one of the authority voices on the Supremes/Ross history. He also has written some incredible books on the Kennedys.
some of his early books are great too - his first DR biography and motown: hot wax, cool city, solid gold
Yes he is a nice enough guy.I have not always seen eye to eye with him on everything, but for the most part he is thoroughly decent guy. I enjoyed his books on Marilyn and Sinatra amongst others. He has a real flair to his writing and is not afraid to admit to previous mistakes.
I think it was rather sad and embarrassing that Randy T. would reveal on television how jealous Diana Ross was of Whitney Houston. I mean, she had like a 20 year head start on Whitney and was old enough to be Whitney's mom.
I think Joan and Randy T. were a bit strong in stating that no one liked Diana Ross. Just because they audience was frowning doesn't mean they did not like Ross, right?
One of the most telling stories that came out of this interview was about that Las Vegas security guard that helped Miss Ross only to be refused help from her when he needed it. Kind of reminds of that time back in her Supremes days when she collapsed on stage in Boston from exhaustion and Florence took care of her and made sure Mr. Gordy cancelled the remaining shows so that Ross could be hospitalized.
When Florence became ill, Miss Ross exclaimed "Oh she is not sick, lazy is more like it". Sad because Florence really was sick.
Also, she kept butting heads with RCA Records over her musical direction. When she was in Motown, she was THE QUEEN. But RCA didn't treat her as such. And that led to a woman at the age of 41 to lose touch with the MTV generation. I mean she was still dressing up in gowns with big hair and old school show business charm. She was split between what her image had been and what they expected of her. Once Whitney Houston took off as America's Sweetheart of Song, Diana had to pass the torch. The book didn't end Diana's chart success, it was a mixture of MTV, the industry's reluctance to older black artists [[sans Aretha, Tina and a solo Patti LaBelle), RCA struggles and the emergence of Whitney, that led to Diana being out of favor by 1986.
My guess is Randy got caught up in the drama that he had to make something up. By all accounts, Diana loved Whitney.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c5/13...72c39729a8.png
This short little interview, along with Mary's book and Diane's own admission explains why she has no friends other than her children. Very depressing and sad for her to live this long and have no friends.
Diane's reaction to a 10 year old Taraborelli gift he had worked hard to draw for her was "just make another one....." is priceless~ Cruella de Vil has nothing on this chick LOL!
That is interesting that you would say that. This is what J. Randy Taraborelli had to say about it:
"Thank you! My first best seller! I love being a part of The Sleaze Factor. -:) JRT"
https://sleaze-factor.blogspot.com/2...y-j-randy.html
Yes she did. You have a great memory. They were out shoe shopping somewhere when Diane made that comment. I almost fell out of my chair when I read that. LOL! She has NO friends and I think that is by design. Later on in the 90s she goes on Oprah wining about she doesn't have any friends except her secretary and that she didn't know why LOL!!!!
Ignore this individuals remarks folks. He just cannot rid himself of this Diana Ross obsession.
Captainjames, thank you for mentioning that one point! I have asked myself countless times why Flo’s confidant, biggest supporter, hero and almost-like-family friend NEVER seems to have taken a moment to pose with her for a photo...
Agreed. Also it is important to remember that Diana had two children in a very short period of time around this time also, and she prioritizes motherhood. But Mary's book was a non factor. All the book did was confirm what a lot of people already suspected: that Diana Ross could be a first class bitch. I think any case Diana might have wanted to bring against Mary, or JRandyT, or even Tall Tales Turner, would've hinged on her being able to prove that her reputation suffered horribly and irreparably in the wake of these books. That would be an easy case if suddenly she lost bookings and was ostracized from the industry, but she wasn't. Plus little tid bits about her diva antics were already out there in print, so Mary wasn't giving the world the scoop that Mother Theresa was a mean old lady who was secretly poisoning the poor, she was merely expounding upon what information was already floating around out there. Diana didn't have a case.
That made the Det News and Free Press. I was shocked they would report that incident abt Ms. Ross. I can’t remember the ladies name, but I know she was loaded and should have sued. But then again, Ms. Ross was under so much stress. I wonder what mental disorder makes people do things like that?
On a side note, U gotta love Coleman Young lol!
I don't think Diana cares about having a ton of friends. She and Smokey are apparently still close though. Patti Labelle says she and Diana talk often. There's nothing wrong with having a few friends. Keep your circles small. The larger they are, the more drama. I've learned that in the few short years I've been on this earth. Diana is 75 so I would hope she's learned it also.
Yes, Motown had to scramble fast and hard to squash that potential lawsuit. It's been said that her mental disorder is that she is a socio-path. Now I am not a doctor,etc, but that's what many have concluded about Diana Ross. That's why when I read "Dreamgirl, My Life As A Supreme" I began to pick up on that and Mary's mournful tone regarding many of the things Ross did. You can hate her or feel sorry for her because she ain't right! In every sense of the word........
Look at the video again. Pay attention to Joan Rivers puzzled look and the comments she made. She was describing a sociopath and may not have even realized it. Same thing with Mary and her first book. Mr. Gordy's comments in Ebony Magazine as to why he never married her. They were all describing what we now know as a sociopath!
Actually Mary’s book was pretty benign and it is obvious she didn’t hate DR, but rather a portrait/life experience of major disappointment. Why treat people so badly! Millions of people have come from nothing and don’t act like that.
I wonder Wht the tea incident cost Motown lol!
Nothing shows up when I goggle it. Any links you can share so we can all read this story about Miss Ross throwing hot tea in a ladys face.
Please and thanks
https://www.google.com/search?q=dian...obile&ie=UTF-8
I often wonder about her childhood. It seems those who are deeply ambitious as she was come from awful childhoods. I know Diana talked how she was raised in a loving family but she's talked about how difficult it was getting the attention of her father. Folks like that adapt a rebellious, ambitious, and sometimes nasty streak when they get older. That explains why she always had to be the center of attention. I guess when one gets older, they mellow. Diana has some of that old streak in her but judging on Patti and even Mary, she is not the same person she was 50 years ago.
All you have to do is pay attention and you will see that she is hardly ever around any of her own brothers and sisters! They come to her shows when she is playing the Detroit area ,but let her or one of her kids get married and they are invisible. When Arthur aka T-Boy died, she did not even go to his funeral and she was in the country at that time!
Well to be fair, most normal people don't sit on the internet and write so negatively about a person they don't know either...
If she's such a sociopath, why does Mary want to have Diana in her life? Why is it that whenever someone needs some cash for a house or a doctor's bill they call on Diana? If someone is a sociopath, wouldn't the normal people want to stay as far away from that person as they could? Isn't the fact that the "normal" folks like Mary Wilson and Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy still wanting to be around a sociopath make themselves sociopaths? Seriously, aren't the only people who are attracted to sociopaths, sociopaths themselves?
And why would a sociopath, the definition of which includes someone who lacks a conscience, help people out when they need it? The entire scenario sounds really weird.
I think her childhood has something to do with her drive. She has spoken about feeling second rate to her sister Barbara, particularly where her father was concerned. I suspect that when she figured out that God had blessed her with a singing voice, it was her way of getting attention from her father. Apparently it didn't work too well as her father looked at singing as almost nonsense, especially when compared to Barbara Ross' academic achievements. So when Gordy took an interest in her, this older man who presided over Motown in a paternalistic way, I think she revved her engine and did whatever she could to maintain his attention, no matter the cost. Ultimately she achieved the highest status of music legend there is. One has to wonder what might have happened if Fred Ross had lavished upon her the attention Diana craved. Would she have been so intent on a music career? Would Gordy have been able to treat her the way that he did and get results?
Likewise, Mary's youth comes into play as an adult also. I suppose that her need to resurrect this "Diana and I need to come together" sentiment every so often is because of the rejection issues that she has steemming from her own childhood. After all, if she's the sociopath that some want you to believe, why would Mary want to have a relationship with her? Of course I don't believe that Diana is a sociopath [[that's an accusation clearly leveled by people with little to no knowledge of mental health, but instead have the ability to Google the terminology), but Diana has all but said she's not interested in Mary Wilson at this point in their lives, so why keep on it? I think Mary has a hard time letting go of people. I think that's why she didn't leave Motown with Jean and Lynda. There may have even been some of that in play when she was with Pedro, although of course we know she bravely did end that relationship.
I think a lot of people are unaware of the way their childhood is manifesting itself in their adult lives. I suspect that if the truth of some childhoods of posters on SD were revealed that it would give light into some of what we see abounding in these types of threads.
Exactly.
Marvin Gaye had issues when they were recording D&M but Diana invited him to her show in Brussels in 1982 weeks before Sexual Healing came out and they kissed and hugged [[the emotion was real with Diana, she was HAPPY to see him and he was happy to see her). If Diana was a sociopath, Marvin would've not attended and stayed far away from her, right?
https://media.giphy.com/media/2ud6BlIUaEdc4/giphy.gif
Yeah Mary's feelings of being rejected as a childhood definitely affected her and makes me understand why she occasionally talks about wanting her and Diana to reunite. Altogether, her, Diana and Florence were women whose childhoods affected the way they eventually became as adults.
One has to read the full history of Diana to understand why she became what she became.