Last month, The Tom Joyner Morning Show attempted to interview former video vixen-turned-author, Karrine Steffans, ending in her hanging up after a couple of questions. Comedian and co-host of the show, J. Anthony Brown talks to Entertainment Wire about the question that ended the interview, her reaction and the reason he thinks the tell-all vixen is definitely bride material.


Entertainment Wire: Were there any limits set on what you all could ask Karrine in the interview?
J. Anthony Brown: No, that’s one thing about our show. We have had people call up before the interview and say don’t ask about such and such a thing and Tom (Joyner), to his credit, won’t interview them, especially if it’s something that everybody wants to talk about. For her, there were no limits but I thought it was a good question to ask. If you are a super of heads, then you should have a number. That would determine or not, if you really was a super. In order to be a top basketball player, you know how many points you scored. So, quite naturally if you’re the Superhead, what’s your number?

ETW: Okay.
JAB: It might be a number that somebody out here has beaten. Then, you really aint the Superhead.

ETW: Okay. So, that was the question…about the number. And I think what she said exactly is that she thought it was tacky.
JAB: I think it’s tacky to write stories about people and then, when someone asks you a question about you, you get mad. That’s tacky. I mean, you got all these guys’ names in these books about how they’re rating and their size. And then when someone says, “Well, how many?” “Oh, that’s tacky.” That’s crazy.

ETW: Did you think that she would be humorous or take it with a grain of salt?
JAB: I’ve heard her on other interviews. She’s hung up before. I try not to wait til they come on our show to attack them. I don’t wanna come off as that…Super of heads. You gotta have a sense of humor.

ETW: So, looking back you don’t think that you all were a little hard on her?
JAB: Nah, I mean…(laughter) No, not all.

ETW: What other questions did you have for her if she had continued to talk?
JAB: I was gonna ask her how often she gets an AIDS test.

ETW: Well, you know. I guess that would be a valid question.
JAB: You have Magic Johnson who lived the same type lifestyle that she’s lived. It was just being promiscuous with women. And he has come out as a spokesperson against AIDS. Jaime Foxx has a campaign. If she’s shown negative, she should, you know, start a campaign. You would at least know how often you’re a-- goes to the hospital and gets tested for AIDS.

ETW: Okay. Any other questions?
JAB: She had hung up. I guess sometimes you have to try not to take yourself so seriously as an interviewer or as a person being interviewed. It’s life and we all do dumb sh--. We would have Johnny Cochran on, when he was alive, all the time and the first question I would ask Cochran was, “Did he really do it”? And he would laugh it up! She’s taking herself serious and there’s nothing wrong with that.

ETW: Perhaps one of the reasons she takes interviewing so seriously is because she did say that she felt like there is a double standard, which there usually is for women.
JAB: There is a double standard. If she would come on and say, “You know what? I’m changing my life. This is the old way.” But [with the books] what else you gonna ask her?

ETW: Someone asked the question “Have we come to the point where a woman like this would actually be considered BRIDE material by a man?” And-
JAB: Oh, yes! How many women have married the biggest ho on the block? It’s no different from that. That’s what’s so hard for us to accept. Women are like men and men are like women. We’re really not that much far apart. If there was a guy on the radio that said he’d slept with 1,000s of women, we’d be bragging but, Karrine, we call her a ho.

For more information about J. Anthony Brown, visit www.janthonybrown.com.

In the age of tell-alls, it’s not surprising to hear another story about life in the entertainment world. Yet, celebrity publicist Pam Pinnock’s book, The Father Fracture: Revelations of a Battered Woman, seeks to deliver a message of hope with rare and sincere honesty. In addition to shedding a little light on her relationship with former boxer, Mike Tyson, Pam explains to Entertainment Wire why people think she and “Video Vixen” Karrine Steffans are writing a book together.

Entertainment Wire: When and why did you decide to write a book?
Pam Pinnock: Well, I started writing the book about 10 years ago as therapy for myself. Once I finished, I realized that it was too much of my private information. So, I put the manuscript down for like a couple of years.

ETW: How did you get the book deal? Did they approach you or did you market the idea for the book?
PP: I think the publishing company that wanted to push the book, at first, wanted me to focus on the abusers and to give more personal information about them and that wasn’t what the book was about for me. I decided not to go with that publishing company because the book was to empower and inspire women.

ETW: Were you ever apprehensive about telling your story?
PP: Yeah, I was. One of the reasons it took me so long to finish it was because it was so much private information about me. But I just came to terms with the fact that I really needed to publish this book because I think that it’s going to help some women out there that’s really trying to find their way. I think that gave me the motivation to go forward with the book.

ETW: Terry McMillian sent a letter to publishers about the type of content that is being published now. She said that she thinks the subject matter of books, like Video Vixen, etc. are degrading. Did you feel any responsibility for the content that you chose for your book?
PP: I did get the email that she sent but someone else sent it to me. My response to that is my book is in no way about degrading a woman. It’s a book about my personal journey through abusive relationships. And yes, there is adult content in my book because, you know, I’m an adult. The people that I was involved with, they are adults. I just didn’t feel like that statement that she made had anything to do with the book because if you read my book, it inspires you to get out of it [abusive relationships]. You can look at my story and know that I went on to do better things with my life.

ETW: Getting into the book, how did you end up meeting Mike Tyson?
PP: I met him when I was about 14-15 years old. He was at a charity, then. It was Thanksgiving. I was young and he was the heavyweight champion of the world. I guess I was impressionable. I was a young country girl. So, I felt flattered that he was even interested in me. We kinda had a phone relationship at the time because I was too young. I would sneak and call him on the phone. After I went to college, that’s when we had more of a relationship.

ETW: Did you ever talk to anyone about your relationship with Mike while you were with him, outside of your family?
PP: Of course, you talk to your friends about your boyfriends. So, they knew that we were dating. Some of my immediate family knew that we were in a relationship but they never knew that he was abusive. I never talked about the abuse to anyone.

ETW: In the part of the book where you mentioned that you had a fibroid, it was growing and you needed surgery, why didn’t you tell Mike about it?
PP: If there’s something wrong with you, then you have that fear that ‘I won’t be good enough anymore. He might not want to be in my life.’ I still have that fear of abandonment.

ETW: Towards the end of the book, you mentioned women being lucky enough to not be in an abusive relationship. Do you think it is luck that keeps some women out of abusive relationships?
PP: I don’t think that it’s luck. It has a lot to do with your self-esteem. I think that in the beginning when you meet a guy, you really don’t know that they’re going to be an abuser. By the time you realize that they are abusive, you’re already into the relationship. I’ve had low self-esteem. I think that when you have low self-esteem, it has a lot to do with staying in those relationships. I don’t think that’s an issue for me now.

ETW: You also mentioned that you were married and that your ex-husband was also an abuser. Was he a part of the entertainment industry?
PP: He is.

ETW: Do you ever want to marry again, after having that experience?
PP: I definitely want to be in a relationship. I have not been in a relationship for over three years. I think I didn’t trust myself.

ETW: In the book, you talked about entering the psychiatric hospital. You also mentioned a hip hop artist that you met there. Being that you decided to leave him unknown, does that mean that he never came out about his drug issues?
PP: I won’t discuss that person. And I think that’s another thing that brings me to Karrine Steffans. The person [in the book] is not Bobby Brown. I think that a lot of people were saying that there was something going on with Bobby and myself.

ETW: I did read something about that. I remember thinking, “Where did that come from”?
PP: Yea, exactly. Somehow, there was a media person that said she and I were in cahoots together to write a book and it was something about Bobby Brown. I didn’t write the book to expose anyone. I wrote the book to heal myself. He [the hip hop artist] wasn’t someone that I felt I really needed to talk about. So, I didn’t mention him in the book. It’s a matter of people seeing us [Steffans and I] together and reading bits and pieces of the book. I met Bobby in Las Vegas with Mike Tyson but we never had a relationship. It was just a hi and bye type of meeting.

ETW: It’s been said for several years that there are many celebrities who are gay or bi and you make a reference in your book that there are a lot of them that go “both ways.” How do you know that so many of them go both ways? I mean, do they tell you, do they show you, you’re at a party and see something? Or are there rumors?
PP: It’s seeing certain things. Sometimes it’s just being in different places. It’s a part of life, I guess. Not to really put anyone out there.

ETW: Many people who become saved decide to leave the entertainment industry behind. How do you reconcile or balance the entertainment business and your faith?
PP: It’s been hard for me because I am saved and I practice celibacy. It’s difficult because I’m around so many celebrities and parties and things like that. There are a lot of events that I don’t go to. You just set your mind on what you’ve decided to do and you just stick with it.

ETW: Do you have any plans to write another book?
PP: I’m actually working on another book right now but I’m really focusing on movies. It’s something that’s in the making later on. I’m really concentrating on being a publicist and working on movies. I do plan to write a sequel to this book because there are a lot of things that I didn’t get out that I plan to get out in the next one.