Precious , Gabourey, Robin Quivers & Their Kindred Sisterhood

I was forwarded audio of Howard Stern and Robin Quivers recent comments regarding Gabourey Sidibe. Even before I pressed play, I was ready for Howard to be his normally offensive self. When I listened, I was not shocked at all by the shallow, heartless and demeaning comments he made. Howard said that Oprah lied to Gabby, as we affectionately call her, in her introduction at the Academy Awards when she said this was “just the beginning” of Gabby’s career. He spoke with certainty that the role in “Precious” and was going to be her last, basing his opinion on her appearance alone.

His rant obviously blinded him from realizing that those same things were said about Oprah, who for years was the recipient of Howard’s verbal assaults because of her weight. But there Oprah stood, now tasked with voting for future Academy Award nominees having received such an honor for once being a nominee herself. In her introduction Oprah spoke to Gabby directly as a living, breathing, billion dollar testimony that success is in fact attainable at any size.

What I found more surprising was the comment,”Come on, be honest with the girl. Look in that room. Who else do you look like? Those are the people that work all the time..” made by Howard’s longtime co-host Robin. Robin was born in 1952, during a time in history where the same dismissal would have been given to a little African American girl from Maryland with a name like Robin Ophelia Quivers who had dreams of working in broadcasting some day.

To Oprah’s question of where Gabby pulled from for her role since she was so positive and upbeat in real life, Robin alluded that she had to have had her own ridicule,”..look at her!” she exclaims. Perhaps Robin spoke with such authority because she too was once 100 lbs overweight. Maybe she had her troubled past to blame for her weight gain and suffered ridicule as a result. In her book ,”Quivers, A Life” she chronicles abuse by the hand of her own mother and father, just like Gabby’s character in the movie. The odds were against her too, but somehow she rose above it and has had a successful career for over 20 yrs.

I hope that amid this current firestorm in the news over her comments, Robin reflects on how Gabby’s story and the fictional life of Precious may be similar to her own, that just maybe by lashing out at Gabby she really is reflecting on her own pain. Gabby has some powerfully positive people around her that will help her buffer some of these negative comments. I am sure Robin could benefit from that type of support now that she is receiving some harsh criticism herself.

~Cassy