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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 29
Monday, January 29, 2007
Tearful time for Braxton: Son’s autistic
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Part-time Alpharetta resident Toni Braxton broke down during Monday’s telecast of “The View” as she disclosed that her 3-year-old son Diezel has been diagnosed with autism.
The pop star served as the celebrity co-host on the ABC daytime talk show as it dedicated an entire episode to the topic.
“I get so emotional about this,” Braxton told co-hosts Rosie O’Donnell, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
Last summer, Braxton, husband Keri Lewis and their two children relocated to Las Vegas, where Braxton is under contract to perform at the Flamingo Hotel through March.
On air Monday, the singer and actress said that she first suspected something was wrong when Diezel was enrolled in school there.
“I could see little red flags,” she said. “He wasn’t advancing at the same level as his brother [Denim]. We got his hearing checked twice. He went to speech therapy. … There were behavior, speech and compliance issues.”
Finally, Diezel was diagnosed with autism last fall.
Braxton said she agreed to go on the autism-centered episode of “The View” Monday to help heighten awareness for other families.
Said Braxton: “That’s why I’m here.”
As the show went into its first commercial break Monday, a tearful Braxton got a hug from O’Donnell, who encouraged her, saying, “You’re doing fantastic.”
Overscene
Rapper-actor Bow Wow chatting with Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins at the Hawks-76ers game at Philips Arena over the weekend. Also on hand were Atlanta Thrashers head coach Bob Hartley and Thrashers winger Slava Kozlov.
Celebrity beat
Former Atlantan Allison Samuels’ collection of behind-the-scenes stories — “Off the Record: A Reporter Unveils the Celebrity Worlds of Hollywood, Hip-hop and Sports” (Amistad, $24.95) — touts interviews with some famous locals like Coretta Scott King, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson. But since it’s not always all about us, when Buzz got her on the phone, we asked the Newsweek reporter to dish about things other than our fair city.
After all, she is the same reporter who once had to tell the now-resurging Eddie Murphy he wasn’t cover material. Oprah Winfrey told her that American students don’t appreciate what they have in terms of educational opportunities. And Denzel Washington felt comfortable enough with her to concede that he passed on a love scene with Smyrna gal Julia Roberts in “The Pelican Brief” because he didn’t want to upset his black female fans.
Before her signing at 7 tonight at Barnes & Noble in East Point, Samuels — a former intern at this newspaper — discussed whether her job at the weekly is basically to cover famous black people:
“[Laughs] Kind of. But it was my decision.
“When I got to Newsweek, there were 100 reporters to cover Jodie Foster and one reporter to cover Babyface. So I thought it was a sensible thing to focus on African-Americans of note.”
For more information on the signing: 404-349-0359.
Help for twin boys
Dr. Stephanie Martin, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, plays a key role in a Sunday episode of a new Discovery Channel series, “Surgery Saved My Life.”
For several months in fall, Discovery cameras followed the journey of Griffin single mom Roxann Moore and her two 6-year-old sons, both of whom suffer from cerebral palsy. Neither was expected to walk unassisted, but Martin found a way to surgically repair John, the first twin, a year ago at Children’s at Egleston. He now walks on his own.
So far, James is not walking, but Martin says he’s now standing. “He has an internal desire that’s unparalleled,” Martin said. “I didn’t know if he’d have enough gumption to get up.”
Martin said watching herself on TV was both “strange” and “humbling.”
She was amused when the filmmakers insisted she go jogging to show she’s active, when in fact she’s so busy with her career and kids, she doesn’t really jog.
She hopes the show will inspire folks to help out Moore, who can’t afford the tuition to send James to a special school.
Discovery is airing the episode at 1 and 9 p.m. Sunday. Be warned: It’s not for the squeamish. There are close-ups aplenty of ligaments, muscles and bone during the surgery.
Sick bay update
Blues legend B.B. King was discharged from a Galveston, Texas, hospital over the weekend, following treatment for a fever, and was “back to his old self.”
The 81-year-old guitarist was “feeling fabulous,” said Tina France, vice president of Lieberman Management of New York. King still plans to perform tonight in Fort Worth, France said.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Gene Hackman is 77. Actress Vanessa Redgrave is 70. Singer Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship is 65. Musician Phil Collins is 56. Actor Charles S. Dutton is 56. Comedian Brett Butler (“Grace Under Fire”) is 49. Actor Christian Bale (right) is 33. Actor Wilmer Valderrama (“That ’70s Show”) is 27.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Sonia Murray and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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