SHOWBIZ on Location: "The Wendy Williams Show"; Ladies` Fight Club; An Ultimatum for J. Lo?
A.J. HAMMER, HOST: SHOWBIZ on location. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York with -</s>WENDY WILLIAMS, HOST, "THE WENDY WILLIAMS SHOW": Wendy Williams!</s>HAMMER: Hello. How are you doing?</s>WILLIAMS: I`m good.</s>HAMMER: Oh, I can`t wait to hang out with you. We`ve got to talk - oh, my god - so many things to talk about. Bobbi Kristina showing up at the Billboard Music Awards. Kim and Kanye - I think you have a thing or two to say about them. Also, tonight, ladies fight club. Violent confrontation, bone-crunching battles, women behaving badly on reality TV. Tonight, the brand-new demand to stop the violence. An ultimatum for J. Lo? Bracing for an "American Idol" showdown over Jennifer Lopez`s hints she may leave the show. Did J. Lo`s boss just demand she stop playing it coy? And SHOWBIZ dares to ask, is J. Lo about to make a huge mistake she`ll soon regret? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT starts right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): You act a real psycho right now.</s>HAMMER (voice-over): There seems to be a lot of that going around right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you shut the</s>HAMMER: VH1`s "Basketball Wives" is getting a little too slap-happy with cast members insulting -</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You will forever be a bum.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you`ll forever be a hoe.</s>HAMMER: Threatening -</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m going to kill that</s>HAMMER: And worst of all, smacking each other with wild abandon. "Basketball Wives" violence is definitely taking its toll. Frequent abuse victim, Meeka Claxton, eventually left the show.</s>MEEKA CLAXTON, FMR. REALITY TV STAR, "BASKETBALL WIVES": She hit me for no</s>HAMMER: And this slap actually led to a misdemeanor battery charge against the slapper, Nia Crooks.</s>OMAROSA MANIGAULT, "REALITY WEEKLY": Unfortunately, it`s gutter</s>TV. HAMMER: Reality TV`s Omarosa Manigault knows something about reality show conflict. She famously mixed it up on "The Apprentice."</s>MANIGAULT: Darling, sweetie pie, you have said so many things -</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don`t call me sweetie pie.</s>HAMMER: But Omarosa tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT what she`s seeing on "Basketball Wives" is just nuts.</s>MANIGAULT: I have never once taken part of any situation that escalated to the level of violence. I don`t believe that adults should resolve conflict by getting physical.</s>HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you, like some of the short-tempered ladies on "Basketball Wives," some of the show`s famous fans have had enough. Sherri Shepherd and Star Jones have both criticized the show. And long- time fan, Wendy Williams, announced in February she was done.</s>WILLIAMS: I can`t take the fighting. I think it`s embarrassing.</s>HAMMER: A Change.org petition protesting "Basketball Wives" has gotten almost 30,000 signatures. And today, the makers of Summer`s Eve feminine products confirmed to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT they`ve pulled their adds from "Basketball Wives."</s>MANIGAULT: Viewers are saying, you know, we like drama, but we don`t like violence.</s>HAMMER: Of course, "Basketball Wives" isn`t the first show featuring woman on woman violence.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Slap me, bitch.</s>HAMMER: Ever since bumpkin in New York mixed it up on "Flavor of Love," ladies have been going at it on reality shows. The "Jersey Shore" ladies have had far more fights than the guys have. And the "Real Housewives" franchise has had its share of scraps from Beverly Hills to Atlanta. But the "Basketball Wives" violence is drawing particular attention because of its mostly African-American cast.</s>MANIGAULT: It is a predominant cast made up of African-American women who are fluent, who are educated, who are wealthy. And yet, they`re behaving like hood rats. It is unacceptable.</s>HAMMER: Now, we`re seeing "Basketball Wives" may actually start chilling out a bit on the violence. Shaunie O`Neal, the ex-wife of Shaquille O`Neal and the executive producer of "Basketball Wives" has announced a no- violence policy for the show`s next season.</s>SHAUNIE O`NEAL, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "BASKETBALL WIVES": We hear it. We know it`s going on.</s>HAMMER: And on the end of season reunion show, she promised a kinder and gentler "Basketball Wives."</s>O`NEAL: We are going to do our best, you know, moving forward, to show you some better content and more positive, intelligent women that, you know, we`ve got our act together.</s>HAMMER: But Omarosa tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT she`s skeptical.</s>MANIGAULT: To hear this producer, this creator to now say, "You know, we can do better," when she sat there as a bystander witnessing this and not stepping in, it`s just not enough. And I`m not certain that the viewers will trust her saying that.</s>HAMMER: So with violence continuing on the show in its fourth season, we see if all the anti-violence backlash -</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you need to be, smacked in your</s>HAMMER: Really has helped the "Basketball Wives" wake up and face the error of their ways.</s>WILLIAMS: Originally speaking, I was very upset with "Basketball Wives," because as a woman, as a black woman, I mean, you know, we get enough stereotypes. People will still call Michelle Obama an angry black woman. So we get enough stereotypes, so it was embarrassing for me and my female kind.</s>HAMMER: Yes. You made the same point after you were punched on the show. You have to be pretty happy that people like Wendy are now speaking out about this.</s>CLAXTON: I`m very happy that they are now speaking out, people like Sherri Shepherd and Wendy Williams. You know, it`s great to see powerful, professional women, my kind, as Wendy said, speaking out. It`s just sad that, you know, it`s almost a year after I reached out to these same women and asked for them to stand up with me against the violence on television.</s>HAMMER: Because when you first signed up to do "Basketball Wives," Shaunie O`Neal, the executive producer of the show, did not say to you there was going to be hitting and punching and you might get beat?</s>CLAXTON: You know what? No. Actually, I didn`t even speak to Shaunie. I was speaking to another producer, and of course, I was hesitant. My husband and I both were both like - we were only - we maybe only caught a couple of episode of the two seasons that had been on. But what we saw was really negative -</s>HAMMER: But the violence wasn`t what you signed up for?</s>CLAXTON: Not at all. And you know what? The hesitation was met by reassurance that we`re going back to the lifestyle. This is not what we`re doing.</s>HAMMER: And that didn`t happen. I want to bring in another great voice. Sheryl Lee Ralph is joining us now from Hollywood. Great to see you, Sheryl Lee. Sheryl`s an actress and author of a great book called "Redefining Diva: Life Lessons from the Original Dream Girl."</s>SHERYL LEE RALPH, ACTRESS AND AUTHOR: Thank you.</s>HAMMER: And you write a lot about this very issue in your book. Do you want the boycott to end reality violence in "Basketball Wives" or in everything?</s>RALPH: Look, this is show business, and I`m not mad at Shaunie O`Neal. After all, she did get her show on the air, and I would like to get mine on the air, which might help, because what is lacking is a diverse image of black women on the screen. It is sad that Michelle Obama doesn`t have a show. It`s sadder that Oprah`s is gone. So all we have is cast after cast of big-mouthed, big- butt, bad witches - spell it with a B - knocking each other upside the weave and down the other. It`s got to stop.</s>HAMMER: Now, it may get calmed down according to Shaunie. They claim that they`re going to have a more balanced show next season. Would that be enough for you?</s>CLAXTON: I agree with Sheryl 100 percent. The violence just has to stop. I`m not the woman that`s throwing bottles across the table. I`m not fighting with other women. I teach my girls - I have two little daughters. I teach them to resolve conflict with their words. They`re not always going to like everyone, but you don`t start fighting. You`re a representative of a black woman.</s>RALPH: That`s right.</s>CLAXTON: And we`re not the stereotypical - which is sad what the stereotype is, you know.</s>HAMMER: Yes.</s>CLAXTON: It`s sad.</s>RALPH: That`s right.</s>HAMMER: We know it`s not just "Basketball Wives." It seems like if there`s a show with "wives" in the title, you can expect you`re going to see a fight and some tables flipped. And you can also expect that it`s going to a ratings winner, though, Sheryl. Is it possible to turn the tide here and have shows that speak to a wider spectrum of women, particularly black women who don`t flip tables on a regular basis? Because we all know it`s the drama that brings the ratings. Otherwise, the shows don`t necessarily live.</s>RALPH: You`re right. We love a good coliseum show where you throw the people to the lions. We love that kind of TV. All I`m saying is, we need shows that have different images of women of color, especially black women. White women, Hispanic women have all different kinds of images of themselves on the screen. We seem to be very type-cast and very limited. And our daughters are suffering. They don`t know that if your hand - you feel you need to put it upside somebody`s head, that`s wrong. Real people, divas, women do not carry themselves like that.</s>HAMMER: Meeka, let me ask you something, though, because you have inferred in a recent tweet you`re not done with reality TV. You`re ready for your next show. I`m thinking since it was such a lousy experience, why not walkway from it?</s>CLAXTON: Well, I`m on board with what Sheryl just said. The reason why I even went on this show is because I wanted to show another type of black women.</s>HAMMER: Right.</s>CLAXTON: I`m CEO of three blooming businesses. I`m a wife. I`m a mommy. I`m just - I`m a phenomenal woman.</s>RALPH: I love it.</s>CLAXTON: I want young girls - I want young teenage girls to not just want to be like what Sheryl said, the big bootie video vixen.</s>RALPH: Right.</s>CLAXTON: But to be like the strong, independent business woman.</s>HAMMER: Do me a favor. Get that on TV and figure out a way to make it a success, because I would love to see that happen.</s>CLAXTON: It`s great to be here. Bye, Sheryl.</s>HAMMER: We`ve got to move on now to a special SHOWBIZ special exclusive on location with Wendy Williams. Wendy talking to us about so many hot topics tonight, including Kim and Kanye.</s>WILLIAMS: Obviously, she hasn`t learned her lesson. If you want a real relationship with anybody, you need to keep it off TV.</s>HAMMER: I am right there on the set with Wendy. She is fired up about Kim-ye tonight, about violence on reality TV and so much more. Also, John Mayer`s health confessions. One surgery down, one to go.</s>JOHN MAYER, ACTOR: Make a list of all the things you like to eat and drink and those are the things you cannot eat and drink.</s>HAMMER: John Mayer on how he`s surviving without singing. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN.