Wendy Williamsis donating to two organizations in support of those born with cleft lips or palates after she was slammed for seeming to mock the birth conditions while talking aboutJoaquin Phoenixon her show last week.
While discussing theGolden Globesduring the Jan. 7 episode ofTheWendy WilliamsShow, the 55-year-old host told her audience that she finds Phoenix “oddly attractive.”
“He played that Johnny Cash. It wasn’t Reese [Witherspoon] who kept me, it was him,” she said, referring to the actor’s Oscar-nominatedperformance inWalk the Line.
“He knows how to transform, when he shaves [his beard] off, the way he looks at you,” Williams continued. “And he’s got the good nose that dips way down, like he’s happy with it and so am I.”
Wendy Williams.The Wendy Williams Show/YouTube
“When he shaves off his mustache he’s got a hairline fracture. He’s got one of those — what do you call it — cleft lip, cleft palate,” Williams continued, using her hand to pull up her own lip. “He’s got this.”
“I find it to be very attractive,” she said, still holding up her own lip above her teeth.
In past interviews, Phoenix has said that he does not have a cleft lip, but rather a birth mark.
Williams’ demonstration garnered backlash online, particularly from Canadian football player Adam Bighill, who has tweeted at the talk show host several times over the past week asking for an apology.
Bighill’s son Beau had his lip repaired on Wednesday, the athlete revealed on Twitter.
Later, hewrote in another since-deleted tweetthat he was still waiting for Williams to apologize.
Kevin Winter/Getty
“Waiting for an apology and donation from@WendyWilliamsand since we are still waiting, this campaign has gone viral,” he said. “This campaign/message is all centered around one thing we all agree on, bullying is awful. Thank you all for being a part of the difference#endbullying”
Williams responded to Bighill on Twitter Wednesday in an apology “to the cleft community,” sharing thatTheWendy WilliamsShowdonated to bothOperation Smileand theAmerican Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Associationin Beau’s honor.
“.@Bighill44We’re thinking about Beau today as he is in surgery,” Williams wrote. “I want to apologize to the cleft community and in Beau’s honor, our show is donating to@operationsmileand@AmerCleftPalateand encourage our Wendy Watchers to learn more and help support the cleft community.”
“A cleft lip happens if the tissue that makes up the lip does not join completely before birth,” theCenters for Disease Controlsays, while a cleft palate happens when “the tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth does not join together completely during pregnancy.”
About one in every 1,600 babies is born with a cleft lip and cleft palate in the United States, while about 1 in every 2,800 babies is born with a cleft lip but not a cleft palate, according to the CDC.
source: people.com
