Fresh Loaf

There’s nothing Jaxson won’t do for fame. Unfortunately, fame has remained elusive.

Welcome to CL’s annual catalog of impotence: the 11 Least Influential. You’ll meet folks who tried to achieve an ambitious goal, but fell short; people who’ve devoted themselves to a personal mission in near-total obscurity; and ordinary Joes who can’t get anyone to pay attention to them. Every day until the full issue hits the streets on Nov. 11, we’ll bring you a new story of failure — some noble and heroic, others abject and pathetic.

Subject: Jonathan Jaxson
Failing: Can’t make it to the A-list

Jonathan Jaxson has been angling for fame since the tender age of 15. But even after tabloid television appearances, the launch of a celeb blog and stints as a publicist for fellow D-listers, the Atlanta-based PR rep just can’t get to the next level.

The 26-year-old’s futile attempt at fame began in 1999, when he reconnected with his estranged father on the talk show “Forgive or Forget.” A year later, he came out to his dad on a “teen secrets” episode of the “Sally Jess Raphael Show.” Jaxson allegedly became the head of publicity for the Backstreet Boys the same year, after winning backstage tickets to the boy band’s concert. And from there, the 16-year-old continued to network with celebs.

Relying on the fame-by-association theory, Jaxson ran the now-defunct celebrity gossip blog JJsDirt.com where he trashed his supposedly Hollywood “It” girl friends. In an attempt to score privileged information from the queen of all media, Perez Hilton, Jaxson sent the blogger sexually explicit videos of himself. In return, Hilton filed a federal defamation suit  after Jaxson claimed Hilton asked for those videos.

(more…)

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1) Real Housewife Nene Leakes signs her book, Never Make the Same Mistake Twice, at Barnes & Noble.

2) Sugar Ray performs at Variety Playhouse.

3) Counting Crows, Michael Franti and Augustana play Chastain Park Amphitheatre.

4) The Braves face off against the Washington Nationals at Turner Field.

5) Thy Mighty Contract plays the Earl.

See more Atlanta events.

(Photo © Simon & Schuster)

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“I’m just a boy in pumps.” These are the humble words of Derek J, who’s tamed tresses for music videos, hair competitions and local celebrities — including the ladies of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

How did you get started?
I’ve been doing hair now for 10 years. My aunt used to do hair out of her house, so I used to watch her. I liked the transformation of women. You would see a woman come in and she was having a bad day, and then she would get her hair done and feel so much better. With a woman, when she has a physical change she has an emotional change.

Where would you say your inspiration for your style comes from?
If I want to come to work with some booty shorts on and have an off-the-shoulder top with some thigh high boots, that’s what I’m going to do. When I first started wearing heels, I would wear them with a dress slack so you couldn’t really tell I had a heel on. Then I moved to skinny jeans. I used to say I will never wear my toes out, and then I put on a peep-toe. It’s about pushing the envelope and seeing how people respond. To see people’s reactions and their acceptance makes me strive to do more

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This is really more sad than anything else.

Sheree Whitfield, a refugee of Bravo’s successful train-wreck of a reality series, “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” went to court to try to get a healthy chunk of alimony from her ex-husband, a washed-up Falcons player. When she lost in Superior Court, she appealed to the state Supreme Court …

Well, you can read today’s press release from the Court:

The Georgia Supreme Court has granted a motion to dismiss the appeal brought by Sheree Whitfield in her divorce from Bob Whitfield, a former Atlanta Falcons football player. She had appealed to the Supreme Court after a Fulton County court refused to grant her alimony. The couple has two young children.
On the day the parties argued their case before the Supreme Court, her lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, stating they had recently learned that the athlete had “squandered his assets.” Meanwhile his attorney filed a motion asking the Supreme Court to sanction her for bringing the appeal.
Today’s two-sentence order grants the motion to dismiss while denying the motion for sanctions.

In other words, Sheree doesn’t have anything of value to show for all the time she invested. Now she knows how “Real Housewives” viewers feel.

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Ugh. Another impressive clip to add to my “published articles” file. But here goes.

According to Fox News:

On the topic of new couples, Tarts has been told that “Real Housewives of Atlanta” starlet Kim Zolciak has just started dating “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis. The two were spotted getting particularly cozy in Park City over the weekend and even shared the same house at the film festival …

The commenters at Access Atlanta say Kim looks like a “hot mess.” More details on this earth-shattering story to come. Meanwhile, the state might cut more jobs to make up for a $2 billion deficit. And President Barack Obama, now in his third day in office, announced yesterday he would close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.

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Rubi Cuautle, at a vigil for slain bartender John Henderson

1. Vigil for murdered Atlanta bartender (Posts about the huge crowd that attended the vigil and the memorial fund set up for victim John Henderson speak to the community’s mobilization after the tragedy.)

2. Don’t Panic: Why is Israel bombing Gaza? (Violence in the Middle East — second in popularity only to violence at home.)

3. Intowners claim crime has become more brazen (Ironically, this post about a perceived uptick in crime was published a few hours before news broke of Henderson’s death.)

4. Lisa Borders’ home burglarized (City Council prez loses flat-screen to thieves — hours after attending a speech in which the mayor claimed crime was down)

5. ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ star going to Ga. Supreme Court (In lighter — but still sociologically disturbing — news, Sheree argues her divorce alimony to the state’s highest court.)

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Sheree Whitfield, one of stars of the Bravo’s televised clusterfuck “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” will appear in Georgia Supreme Court on Monday to argue a Fulton County court’s refusal to grant her alimony and a new trial.

In court documents, Sheree’s attorneys say the lower court erred when it didn’t grant alimony to the reality-TV star. Her ex-husband, Bob, is a former Atlanta Falcons player who now operates several successful businesses, including a recording studio that earns him $50,000 annually.

His lawyer says Sheree has received more than enough compensation and is delaying a move out of the $2.6-million Sandy Springs residence awarded to her in the divorce.

“The trial court left no stone unturned in regard to determining the assets and incomes of the parties,” [Bob Whitfield's] lawyer argues in the briefs. From the divorce, she receives a total yearly income of $113,422. In addition, she gets a portion of three NFL retirement programs. His attorney argues she should be fined $2,500 for bringing a frivolous appeal solely for the purpose of delaying the time when she’ll have to vacate the Sandy Springs home.

Whitfield, as we’ve mentioned, is one of the four “real housewives” who’ve recently fallen on hard times, and in the process, become even more “real.” The television show was recently picked up for a second season by Bravo and is sure to be another trainwreck of exurban charity dinners, awkward cocktail parties and montages of makeup-caked women getting pedicures. It will be a triumphant success.

Full summary of the Whitfields’ case, including numbers, names and a smorgasbord of factoids, follows after the jump.

(more…)

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T-Boz Watkins

Amount that Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins of TLC owes in back payments on her Gwinnett County home, according to foreclosure docs filed in December: $532,500

Square footage of the home, which is located in Sugarloaf Country Club: 10,000

Amount in back rent owed by NeNe Leakes, one of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” and her husband when they were evicted in September: $6,240

Amount that “Real Housewife” Sheree Whitfield is asking for her suburban Atlanta home, which was recently put on the market: $2.8 million

Dollar amount of a check that Whitfield recently bounced: $346.61

Amount that Whitney Houston’s stepmother is seeking from the pop diva after Houston allegedly kept her late father’s $1 million insurance policy — rather than pay off his mortgage: $723,000

Sale price of the home of “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino, which was put up for auction after she failed to repay money loaned to her to pay property taxes: $1.1 million

(Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

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1. Annals of bizarro: Andisheh publicly questions Sunday Paper news editor (allegations of weirdness abound)

2. Jezebel: Four out of five “Real Housewives” are broke (oh, celebs — they’re just like us!)

3. Word: Travesty of death (Brian Nichols is spared the death penalty; Troy Davis continues to fight his death sentence)

4. BMF’s third-in-command sentenced (20 years for the Black Mafia Family’s Fleming “Ill” Daniels)

5. Southeastern Film Critics Association’s got Milk for best picture (critics group — which includes our very own Curt Holman — digs the Harvey Milk biopic)

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On his blog Andy2000.org, former CL senior writer and current freelancer Andisheh Nouraee poses a rather pointed question to the Sunday Paper and its news editor, former CL staff writer Stephanie Ramage:

Ms. Ramage and Sunday Paper management owe the public a clear answer to a simple question: Did Ms. Ramage author a comment to John Sugg’s column using the pseudonym Lazarus?

If so, Nouraee continues:

[S]he has used her position as an editor at Sunday Paper to launch anonymous personal attacks, [and] she’s violating more professional rules and ethics than I can count.

The Lazarus comment, according to Nouraee, contains “several false and slanderous personal and professional allegations about my friend and former CL editor Ken Edelstein.”

The column to which the comment was posted was written by yet another former Loafer, Sugg. His column — in my estimation, anyway — has its own conflict-rich history. (For yet another potential conflict-of-interest that I didn’t address, check out the end of this Atlanta Magazine blog post.)

That brings the total number of former Loafers involved in this imbroglio to FOUR — not counting Sunday Paper Publisher Patrick Best, who’s hardly kept his nose out of the news.

Real Housewives, move over.

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The enterprising scribes at gossip blog Jezebel have sifted through hours of reality-show reels — and some local television investigations — to uncover what many people surely have assumed all along: the stars of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Atlanta” may not be as posh as they portrayed themselves.

Among the allegations Jezebel reports: NeNe and her “real estate investor” husband Gregg were evicted from their home — it was a rental (!) — and that the actual relationship between the two is unclear. Sheree’s put her house on the market for $2.8 million and is arguing her divorce settlement all the way to the state Supreme Court. Lisa filed for bankruptcy after she couldn’t repay a $150,000 loan from ex-husband Keith Sweat (we feel ya, Lisa!). Kim’s selling her townhouse in a terrible market but is dating a plastic surgeon (score!). And it turns out a quasi-scandal during her teenage years in Connecticut helped clarify speculation about her age. DeShawn is DeShawn and apparently doing OK.

While I feel for these ladies — who, in their own special way have done so much to improve metro Atlanta’s image — I, being the 80s-baby that I am, am more concerned about my own well-being. And frankly, this is not good. I now have nothing to watch with my dear friend after we get our nails did.

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Somehow I managed to avoid getting caught up in the drama that was Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Atlanta.” Consequently, I suspect that this satirical sketch from syndicated chat-fest “The Bonnie Hunt Show,” performed by Hunt and Niecy Nash around Thanksgiving, will be most appreciated by “Real Housewives,” their fans and people who just love to hate the show:

You can also see Hunt sit down with “Atlanta Housewife” Kim Zolchiak in the flesh.

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CNN’s Anderson Cooper was on Jay Leno last night and admitted to watching “junk” on the tube, specifically namechecking a particular show we hold dear in our hearts, “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

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— Has there ever been a sillier television show than Real Housewives of Atlanta? Oh, let us kount count the ways. You can’t even call them “Buckhead Bettys” because none of them actually live in Atlanta proper. Local celebrity chef Richard Blais is keeping a blog on the show, that includes impressions on different restaurants the BBs visit, and he’s decided the show is missing one key ingredient: Drama. What? Isn’t Kim’s off-key singing, and her perpetual cigarette and glass of wine enough?

— It’s still political season in Georgia and, nationally, the right-wing conservatives are trying to regroup. DriftGrift has a thoughtful post on the battle between moderates and conservatives for the soul of the party. He also notes Rush Limbaugh’s quote that uber-conservatives want moderates to vote Republican but that “they can never be one of us.”

— And then there’s the Paul Brouns of the world. At Rather Than Working, Dave posts a letter he sent to the distinguished Congressman noting that there’s a big difference between objective opposition and just being plain stupid.

— The folks at Down Right were also taken aback by Broun, and say that comparing our president-elect to Hitler doesn’t accomplish very much. Instead, they write, let’s step back and assess how Obama handles all the burning issues he faces once he takes office.

— At Going Through The Motions, the lovely Sara also pleads for reconcilliation and partnership. And she’s also found a cool blog that tries to foster that spirit: From 52 to 48.

— And, finally, Muskrat shares the meaning behind Veterans Day, and what the little things meant to him when he was deployed to Iraq.

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— The election is less than a week away and, somewhere, the real housewives of Atlanta are plotting “strategery” to protect their Benjamins from being spread around. But after last night’s fund-raiser fiasco, let’s hope their plans don’t include an A-List party to raise last-minute cash for Johnny Mac. At Politits, Dcup tells them where they, and those like them, can go.

— Spread the wealth … Joe the plumber wasn’t happy with that idea either and neither is Jason Pye. However well intended, he writes, it is a socialistic concept. Pye would rather see spending cut across the board.

— My favorite J-Mac quote from 2000, back when a maverick was really a maverick: “Sooner or later, people are going to figure out if all you run is negative attack ads, you don’t have much of a vision for the future or you’re not ready to articulate it.” Hmmm. Jill Chambers, a Republican in good standing, should take note. DriftGrift discusses her desperation tactics to keep her House seat.

— Halloween is near. People create ghoulish scenes. And … please keep the politics out of it. Amy at Georgia Women Vote is no fan of Caribou Barbie. But a noose around the neck of the clothes queen? Definitely not cool.

— Want a summation of the difference between J-Mac and “that one”? The lovely Sara at Going Through The Motions puts things into perspective with the tale of two Ashleys. I remember the Ashley moment. It’s when I began to swing towards “that one.”

— Another national tragedy that the pols seem to relish is the slow death of traditional journalism. And it’s not just newspapers. As Live Apartment News notes, WSB radio just laid off two of its most experienced news reporters. Has anyone noticed that Atlanta is a town teeming with unemployed, award-winning journalists?

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Controversial pastor Bishop Eddie Long appeared on Bravo’s supremely trashy Real Housewives of Atlanta last night.

Housewife DeShawn, who attends Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, asks Long if he is willing to be auctioned off to benefit her charitable foundation.

Long appears non-committal, but nevertheless boasts that an auction for a lunch with him and wife will bring a lot of money.

“I guarantee you, we’ll bring the highest,” Long says.

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“Image is everything in Atlanta.”

“In Atlanta, money and class give you power.”

“Everybody wants to be in Atlanta. It’s hot!”

These are just a few of the tips I picked up watching the premier of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” last night. It was all news to me, and I’ve lived in Atlanta my whole life. (Marietta, technically, but if these women — in their 15,000-square-foot mansions in the gated communities of north Georgia — live in Atlanta, then so do I.) I’ve never had money or class or a cake in the shape of a Louis Vuitton bag, but I’ve still managed to scrape by. And it’s definitely true that Atlanta is hot. Sometimes very hot. (more…)

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