#calista flockhart
(but for real, why is she shaking so much in this promo? [source])
I’m not posting this to make light of any eating disorders. I’m just posting facts about something I remembered vividly as a teenager.
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Calista Flockhart and anorexia. What’s been whispered in the gossip pages and zapped around the Internet for weeks, finally worked its way into a legitimate news report late last week.
One problem: It wasn’t accurate.
Last Friday, CBS’ New York affiliate reported on its 5 p.m. newscast that production on Flockhart’s hit Fox series, Ally McBeal, had been halted “indefinitely” while the waifish actress underwent treatment for the eating disorder anorexia nervosa.
An hour later, the station issued an on-air retort from Flockhart’s publicist: The show was not shut down; its star was not hospitalized. Its star was, in fact, in “good health.” (This, according to a transcript of the broadcast read by a station worker.)
WCBS-TV did not refer to the second report as a retraction, although that’s what Flockhart’s publicists called it. Station news officials could not be reached for comment.
[…]
New York Daily News gossip columnist Mitchell Fink kicked it up a notch two weeks ago, reporting that the skinny thespian had been asked to hide her barely there frame in a bulky sweater for a recent Entertainment Weekly cover shoot.3
Connie Chung has cost NBC’s “Today” a May sweeps interview with Calista Flockhart.
Flockhart, the size 0 star of Fox’s dramedy series “Ally McBeal,” was so upset over the grilling Chung gave her about her weight–or lack thereof–on Wednesday’s edition of ABC’s “20/20” that her publicist insisted that “Today” agree not to ask her any such questions during their interview, which was slated for Monday. Flockhart’s reps had booked the appearance three months ago, the pretext being the May 19 release of her feature film “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” 4
But, as Calista Flockhart nears the end of her second season as the star of ”Ally McBeal,” she has a new perspective on the poking and prodding of the media. ”At first, I took it personally,” she says. ”I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. But now I’m certainly not shocked by anything they write, and I ignore mostly all of it.”
Flockhart, 34, who will star in the new film version of ”A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” even admits that she appreciates some of the headlines for what they are — entertainment: ”The most outrageous was the one that said that Webster, my dog, was also an anorexic. That is so clever, you have to admit. That’s the thing about the tabloids. They are what they are, and sometimes they are very funny and very clever.” 5
Newspapers began speculating about the actress’ physical fitness after the Emmys; London tabloids wondered whether she might be haunted by her leading role in the 1992 HBO movie The Secret Life of Mary-Margaret: Portrait of a Bulimic. And it’s not just the press. Jay Leno’s writers fashioned an Ally McBeal TV dinner — a tray with a few frozen peas and lima beans. And EW’s Sept. 25, 1998, cover, featuring the star and The Practice’s Dylan McDermott, drew a flood of mail. ”Is Calista Flockhart trying out for the ’90s version of a Karen Carpenter story?” wondered one reader. 6
Q: After reading so much about Calista Flockhart’s supposed anorexia, has anyone ever asked her what she likes to eat? Also, how tall is she?
A: Ironically, the 5-foot-6 star of Ally McBeal is the daughter of Ronald Flockhart, a quality-control executive for Kraft Foods. As a child, she says, she and her brother Gary ate a lot of the products marketed by her dad’s company. “Generally speaking, I like the kind of food that most people like,” she says. “A filet mignon and salad, for example. And I love vanilla ice cream.” 7
It hardly seems possible but Calista Flockhart, aka Ally McBeal, appears to have lost weight. The actress, whose body now looks to be constructed out of flesh-covered pipe-cleaners, has just had her holiday snaps published in the tabloids accompanied by headlines that purport to be concerned about her size. “Ally, the ocean waif” reads one. “Ally McMeal” quips another. 8
In a June, 1999 Los Angeles magazine cover article, she is pictured eating some sort of cinnamon bun:
Related:
Ally McBeal at 20: A Lawyer Went to Court & Everybody Judged - E! Online [archive]
Portia de Rossi, Ally McBeal, And A Generation Of Eating Disorders[archive]
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1. Trollinger, Sara, and Mike Yorkey. Unglued & Tattooed: How to Save Your Teen from Raves, Ritalin, Goth, Body Carving, GHB, Sex, and 12 Other Emerging Threats. Washington, D.C: Lifeline Press, 2001.
2. Leone, Daniel A., ed. Anorexia. At Issue. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2001.
3. E! Online. “‘Ally McBeal’ Star Dogged by Anorexia Rumors,” October 5, 1998. https://www.eonline.com/news/37104/ally-mcbeal-star-dogged-by-anorexia-rumors.
4. Moraes, Lisa de. “Calista Flockhart, Throwing Her Weight Around.” Washington Post, April 30, 1999. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/04/30/calista-flockhart-throwing-her-weight-around/86310c98-f845-44cf-8dfb-669c9a76123f/.
5. EW.com. “Calista Flockhart Has a New Reaction to Anorexia Rumors.” April 26, 1999. https://ew.com/article/1999/04/26/calista-flockhart-has-new-reaction-anorexia-rumors/
6. EW.com. “Calista Flockhart: Anorexia Rumors Abound.” October 16, 1998. https://ew.com/article/1998/10/16/calista-flockhart-anorexia-rumors-abound/.
7. Parkyn, John. “WHAT DOES CALISTA LIKE TO EAT?” OrlandoSentinel.com. November 29, 1998. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1998-11-29-9811190423-story.html.
8. Staff, Guardian. “Thin, Thinner, Thinnest.” the Guardian, October 18, 1999. http://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/oct/18/gender.uk2
