March 13, 2012, - 4:44 pm

Kidnapped Like a Kardashian: Former Hostages Dugard, Smart Desperately Seek Fame

By Debbie Schlussel

I’ve noticed an annoying trend, lately.  But I seem to be the only one who finds it disturbing:  former hostages and kidnapees seeking fame and seemingly desperate for attention.  Jaycee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart are Exhibits A and B.  They’ve been free for some time, and yet they won’t go away quietly, to no benefit for the rest of us.

Tonight, Dugard, the woman who was kidnapped for 18 years and raped, will make her gazillionth appearance on ABC News.  According to reports, she’ll “catch audiences up with how her life is going now,” as if we really, really need to know.  I’m glad she’s safe and I know this might sound insensitive, but I really don’t care “how her life is going now.”  This morning, I didn’t wake up and say, “Gee, I wonder how Jaycee Dugard is doing right now.”  If you did, you don’t have a life.  And you probably need help.

I feel for both these young women who were kidnapped and raped.  But now they are safe.  And they really need to move on.  It used to be that victims of horrendous crimes either went quietly away to live their lives, thankful to have survived.  Or they crusaded against their perpetrators and to change laws to help future potential victims.  Dugard and Smart have chosen a new path:  seeking to be Kardashians.


They aren’t the first to try to turn their kidnappings and captivities into fame.  Patty Hearst, after her stint with the SLA, was quite the celebrity on the party circuit in the ’70s and ’80s, photographed at “Studio 54” and making special guest appearances on TV shows.  But the enterprises and branding by Dugard and Smart make her seem like small potatoes.  You would think that people whose lives and privacy were taken from them would react by trying to take that privacy and modesty back.  But you would be wrong.  They want you to know everything about them.

In a tawdry and cheap (though not in dollar terms) move, Elizabeth Smart sold exclusive photos of her wedding to People magazine for a cover story and multi-page spread.  She’s graced the magazine’s cover at least FIVE(!) times.  And she has a contract with ABC News, reportedly a six-figure deal, to be their “kidnapping commentator,” which is kind of absurd, since she has zero expertise in the matter beyond her own uniquely bizarre experience.  Smart also tours the country in high-paid lectures on how to keep your kids safe.  But how would she know?  She was kidnapped because her upstairs bedroom window wasn’t locked.  “Lock your windows” isn’t exactly Einstein-esque anti-kidnapping advice, and it won’t fill an hour or even a half-hour speech.  She’s not a law enforcement expert and not someone I’d seek out for advice on how to protect kids. 

At a Birmingham, Michigan appearance, Smart wore more make-up than the prostitutes who walk Eight Mile Road a few miles away, and her way-too-short skirt wasn’t much different than what they wear.  Here’s my anti-kidnapping tip:  don’t dress and make up your daughters to look like hookers when they’re just eleven or  younger.  Remember JonBenet Ramsey?  (Even her father is still doing the rounds about his tragedy, but yet he said and did nothing as his wife dressed the girl like a stripper from the Hustler Club.) But, hey, I was never kidnapped, so you should pay no attention to my advice, as I’m book-less and People-Cover-less. So what do I know, right?

The pretense that Smart and Dugard are doing this to help others is phony. They are doing it to feed their bank accounts and fame-seeking appetites. They won’t stop a single kidnapping or help a lone child about to be snatched. It’s just baloney to claim otherwise.

It’s not like either Smart or Dugard needs the money.  Smart is from a wealthy family, and her father got a big book deal to write about her.  Presumably, he shared some of that with her. Dugard got a $20 million settlement from the State of California.  And that’s in addition to the settlements she’s gotten or is still seeking from other parties.  She also reportedly made seven figures from her best-selling book and an exclusive ABC News hour-long interview show promoting the book.  With all of this money, it’s not that she “needs” to remain in the public eye.  It’s that she’s seeking it.  Craves it.

Enough is enough.  Like I said, I’m sorry these two had to endure the tragic events that took them away from their families and lives.  But now they are back, and we don’t need to hear how they are doing or what they are doing now.  It’s kind of sick that they are creating (or answering) some sort of weird prurient curiosity about how a kid who was raped years ago is doing.  But anything goes in the Facebook/Twitter/Make Me an Instant Celebrity era in which we now live.  And nobody–not even supposedly modest victims of terrible crimes and their professional, money-seeking handlers–has the scruples to say no.  The cha-ching and allure of being famous is a siren call they’re just too weak and unclassy too ignore.

It’s time for these formerly private citizens to return to their private lives.  Now that they are free, they should try to do something useful and productive with their lives, raise families (Dugard has two children), and quietly recede from the headlines and TV interviews.

It’s bad enough that we have reality TV fixtures like the Kardashians and the fake “Real Housewives.”  We don’t need the “Real Kidnapees of America” added to the mix.

Move on, women.




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83 Responses

Well stated, Debbie. These type of attention-seekers and this special form of “celebrity” always bothered me, but I couldn’t quite describe exactly why. You summed up exactly why it’s so annoying.

DS_ROCKS! on March 13, 2012 at 5:02 pm

    They were not only hostages, they were raped, tortured, impregnated, starved, and HUMILIATED, one for months and the other 14 years. I WANT to hear they’ve done well. Jaycee was picking up an award, she’s not asking for anything. One of these comments mentions they were watching Entertainment Tonight and just couldn’t believe Jaycee was on there. Awwwww, did she take away from someone important like Charlie Sheen or the tween angst Bieber is feeling now that his hair is no longer in style? I’m replying to DS_Rocks which is obviously YOU commenting positively on yourself. I’d never even heard of you before today, now I know why. Delete away….

    Murphy Brown on March 15, 2012 at 9:54 pm

      WOW DEBBIE. Every time I post anything similiar to your article I get slammed, banned and my comments deleted. How do you do it? How refreshing to find another person with some intelligence and common sense. You are definately on track with you comments about Jaycee Dugard. Elizabeth Smart, too, but she is nowhere near as dedicated to pimping her story to the public as Dugard is. Jaycee has totally rewritten the manual on “cashing in” on being a victim.
      You left out a lot of the paydays that Dugard has cashed in on since her “rescue” and IMO underestimated a lot of her financial windfalls. She got approx $500,000 – $750,000 for those first pictures she sold to People Magazine. Every one of the short interviews she has sold has went for $10k – $20K. The ABC interview (which was really just a long infomercial for her book) had to bring $3-$5 million. Remember, she laughed when Oprah offered her a measly $1 million for the interview. The book she had written for her brought more like 8 figures than 7. The going rate for her mother to give her speech at all those womens groups is $50,000 – $75,000. The Jaycee Dugard Foundation is nothing but a tax shelter that has only assisted one victim to date. The original Jaycee Dugard Fund for private donations was at $2 million just 2 mouths after Jaycee’s “rescue”. It should easily be up to $10 – $15 million by now. They don’t even bother to open the mail with donations anymore. They have a outfit called Platinum, Inc I Los Angeles that opens the mail and banks the cash for her. Lastly, the public appearance in NYC to accept the DVF “award” was only to pickup the $50,000 check that goes along with the trophy.
      Debbie, you are so spot on with the facts on these “victims” not truly desiring the privacy and seclusion they so publicly and frequently ask for, that I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on the lies and misinformation the authorities and courts put out on The Jaycee Dugard Sage.

      SpaceCowby43 on April 28, 2012 at 11:37 pm

This is gonna be one of those posts that get the concern troll lurkers all agro. LOL. I’ll enjoy that.

You always think outside of the box DS. I felt a weird feeling I could not define when I saw that “People” magazine with Smart on it (I think she is keeping her maiden name so you are on the proper track unlike the agro, offended trolls who react with anger without thinking about your points of view) and saw Miss Duggard was a female at that stupid “Women of The World” Conference. I, too, feel badly for them and wish they would have a nice, private life.

Perfect!

Let me add my own person who gets me outraged (and one who is NOT an innocent victim in my point of view). The skank Amanda Knox who received FOUR MILLION for a book advance.

Pretty nice lucre when the strange beast is NOT gonna write about the evening of the murder of Meredith Kercher OR the morning after. That would be way too self-incriminating to her phony cause.

Because if those in USA (and the USA people who “think” they followed this case mostly do not know of the PR her family spun to try to depict her as a victim and NOT an accessory to a brutal murder) think of her as a victim but she is NOT.

I will not be buying her disgusting tome. Ever.

Skunky on March 13, 2012 at 5:09 pm

Very well-said, Debbie. You articulated exactly how I’ve been feeling about this bizarre phenomenon of cashing in one’s misfortune. I’m glad those ladies are safe, but there is just nothing otherwise newsworthy here. Just an attempt to capture another 15 minutes of fame on their part, and a chance for the media to exploit the whole sex angle as we head towards sweeps month.

D41guy on March 13, 2012 at 5:20 pm

I wonder how the LDS Church feels about all this?

Hollywood on March 13, 2012 at 5:35 pm

    The LDS will get their 10%.

    Jimbo on March 14, 2012 at 2:37 am

      LOL LOL LOL!!!! Exactly Jimbo!!!!

      Hollywood on March 14, 2012 at 8:11 am

Every time I think popular culture and women’s issues can’t get worse, I read something like this.

Little Al on March 13, 2012 at 5:36 pm

Very well done, Debbie. I can see the future episodes of E Smart as she begins to procreate like her parents did. A large family is within her reach, she is still young. I don’t think any decent person would wish their tragedies on anyone but I think we would all be better off not knowing what they are up to, how they have been doing, or when they are going to be going around looking for cash so they don’t have to work a legitimate job. Exploited for their flesh as children they are now exploiting themselves for cold, hard cash and it nauseates me. Speaking of Mr. Ramsey, didn’t he spend some time inside Natalie Holloway’s mother after the two met at a conference for missing and murdered kids? So glad they were past their prime and didn’t conceive a pity-party kid. Glad you were found, so many aren’t, now go and thank your lucky stars every day for the rest of your lives and fade from memory.

But while we are on the subject, has anyone heard how Baby Jessica is doing? I can’t walk past a well and not wonder how she must be doing these days.

TS

TS likes DS on March 13, 2012 at 5:38 pm

@Skunkie – “concern trolls” lol!

DS_ROCKS! on March 13, 2012 at 6:14 pm

Agreed! Since the world left rational thought with the rise of liberalism, it fits the liberal mentality: it’s all about feelings. Just a simple correction in paragraph 3:”raped against their will.” First, it is “wills” – two people, two wills. Second, rape is defined as being against someone’s will. You’re a lawyer, DS, and it is about using words accurately. It’s not often I get to correct a lawyer’s use of language. Thanks for the opportunity. :>)

Damon on March 13, 2012 at 6:48 pm

Its human nature. I’m not blaming them for becoming famous – and rich. Who doesn’t?

But I do agree with Debbie there’s a point beyond which it gets to be more than ridiculous! Enough already.

NormanF on March 13, 2012 at 6:58 pm

DS is right, but I must add that the primary driver for these things is the media, which in turn is driven by the advertisers, who love this stuff because their audience laps it up. None of that would happen if all that was not true.

Remember: the media does not sell content to audiences, it sells audiences to advertisers.

oao on March 13, 2012 at 7:07 pm

I really do lose any sympathy for “victims” when they take advantage of their victimhood for private gain. As noted by Debbie, both of these women have already been amply compensated for their duress, and will not need to work a day for the rest of their lives. However, this is still not enough. Both women did suffer from horrible situations, especially Dugard. However, parading their victimhood around for profit benefits no one, and in fact probably encourages copycat kidnappers.

Worry01 on March 13, 2012 at 7:17 pm

    i feel like i stepped into the twighlight zone. i would think jaycee is someone ‘conservitives’ would hold up as an example as a survivor who overcomes and doesnt use her horrible experiences as an excuse to be a monster, but as a beacon of hope for other victims, survivors, former pow’s (yes, look it up if you will) and just people that need a real hero. no she’s not searching for traitors in the goverment like some lawyer who has a talk show (but no i bet you dont crave publicity or money debbie).
    i dont think she’s making people desenztized to molestation as one poster puts. i think thats what already goes on. thats why people like phillip garrido are able to get out and do it all over again……cause no one cares. they get lighter sentences then killers do…….or they walk because juries are stupid. like casey anthonys or oj’s or micheal jacksons.
    i just dont get the posts or logic here. maybe you all secretley worship liberals……..cause this is actually the liberal attitude you are supporting….not the consertive ones you claim you stand for.

    Scot on March 16, 2012 at 6:09 am

    I thought Jaycee’s mother, Terry Probyn, summed up the Dugard mentality when she stated, in the Diane Sawyer ABC interview, “$20 MILLION IS JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH”. Apparently they haven’t decided yet how much money would be “good enough” but I an sure they do only view it in financial terms. They don’t seem sincerely concerned whether the Garrido’s went to jail or not.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 12:54 pm

If it was me that was kidnapped and the public was stupid enough to pay me big bucks to tell and re-tell my story you better believe I would be laughing all the way to the bank.

I’m sure if Smart or Dugard read this article they would be thinking “Complain all you want. As long as I’m needing a wheelbarrow to haul my money to the bank I’m gonna keep on doing what I’m doing.”

The real reason the public pays for their stories is because they are pretty white girls. If an ugly boy got kidnapped and raped, he couldn’t sell his story for a nickel.
Just like the murder of a pretty white girl is national and even international news, but a homely black girl getting killed in the same exact way barely makes the the local evening news.
Examples of both of the above are plentiful.

smg45acp on March 13, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    Thanks, but no thanks for bringing in a racial angle to all of this. Also, do you consider child molestation to be such a small thing? You degrade those two women SMG, while at the same time insulting everyone in here. Take yourself back to Dearborn where your vile comments will have an audience.

    Worry01 on March 14, 2012 at 6:40 am

      worry01,
      Are you blind to the racial element here?
      I’m not saying that it’s right.
      I’m merely pointing out the obvious.
      If Elizabeth Smart, Natalie Holloway, Jon Benet Ramsey, Laci Petersen had been black females they would not have attracted national news or ever gotten on the cover of People magazine (and dozens of others).
      Kidnapped and/or murdered pretty white girls (especially blondes) sell magazines and papers.
      Search the internet, apparently you know how to use it since you got on this site, and you’ll find many studies and stories pointing out the same thing I just pointed out.

      Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger.
      I didn’t start racism, I’m not a racist.
      I’m merely pointing out something something as obvious as the nose on your face.

      smg45acp on March 14, 2012 at 9:47 am

I can’t really blame these ladies. If I was getting millions thrown at me I’d probably consider it.

Welcome to Oprah Nation.

I’ll never understand why people read and watch Oprah/People/ETV, etc.

Jeff_W on March 13, 2012 at 9:11 pm

I am not surprise they do it. And on my opinion it’s not about seeking attention.First of all it’s all about money. Every USA citizen want their 5 minutes of fame, and millions $$ wich will come with this fame. They don’t care about ethics, they don’t care about anything, but money.
There is a second reason, why they do it. USA psychologist teach people, who have a bad expirience like rape, kiddnaping or sexual abusse to be more open, and to share their expirience with people. They say the more you share, the less pressure you will feel. Thats how all AAA works, that’s how they treat a victims of sexual abbuse or kiddnapping. That’s why so many USA celebrities goes to media to share their problems. They taught to do it, so why it’s surprised you? It’s usuall practice in USA psychology, everyone and their mother do it. And for media it’s a way to sell magazine’s or show it on TV for better ratings. This is so usual, that I am surprise, you even notice. This is how hungry for gossips society works. There is nothing new, just usual.

Rina on March 14, 2012 at 12:59 am

Yes and no. I generally cringe at the “Look at me I’m a victim” routine. But I have to cut these two a lot of slack after the horrors they have been through. Their stories could easily have ended with their remains having been found many years later, or never. Remember, during the time they were missing, many gave up believing they would ever be rescued. Celebrate those who kept looking, praying and hoping. When they were found it seemed like a miracle. Let it be. Look at their smiles.They live!

civilwarvet on March 14, 2012 at 1:34 am

Capitalizing on horrendous experiences is nothing new. Ever hear of History of the Spirit Lake Massacre and Captivity of Miss Abbie Gardner by Abbie Gardner-Sharp? ? It was published in 1885.

Miranda Rose Smith on March 14, 2012 at 3:08 am

Ugh, don’t remind me! How the TV news in those days was all over the likes of Elizabeth Smart, Natalie Holloway, Jon Benet Ramsey, Laci Petersen, and allah knows who else, totally overshadowing events like jihadi attacks in Israel, Iraq and other places.

I fully agree w/ Debbie. I too felt sorry for the Smart family and was happy the day she was recovered and re-united w/ them. But now, it seems that kidnapping seems to have been the best thing to have happened to her: had that not happened, what would they be doing today? One would have hoped that she’d have gone on to either get into a proper career of her own, or simply marry into one, as she now has. But Debbie is right – for her to be an expert on kidnapping – is just inane.

Well, since this is what they’re doing now, I guess the next step will be that whenever Elizabeth Smart or Jaycee Dugard next become pregnant, they can pose nude & pregnant just like Jessica Simpson and the others who’re posing that way on the Elle magazine covers.

Infidel on March 14, 2012 at 5:07 am

    Elizabeth Smart nude might be OK but, please, not Jaycee Dugard. Not unless she sheds that 50-60 lbs she has gained since she was “rescued”. Might be interesting to see who could get the most for their nude photo spread. Elizabeth has the best looks and body but Jaycee has Nancy Setzer, the highest paid press agent in the world. Jaycee pays her over $1 million a year.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 2:19 pm

DS, I just saw this update on Dugard. I couldn’t help seeing it as it was on the front page but had to laugh. She wants her daughters to have a “normal” life” Maybe she should of thought of that sooner, ya think???

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=710865

Hollywood on March 14, 2012 at 9:05 am

    i bet to differ but when this idiot claims that jaycee and elizabeth are worse then patty hurst (who was never even kidnapped, she was in on the whole thing) and calls elizabeth a hooker cause she wore a short skirt (ever see the short skirts lawyers like debbie parade around in?) she sure the hell is ripping on the victims.

    and she clearly has no clue who jaycee is what she is doing for other victims. She has no concept or cares little for the veracity of the BS that spews from her article.

    Jaycee is one of the strongest women there is. But idiots here want to rip on her for surviving, and monday morning qb how she did it.

    THis is pahtetic.

    Scot on March 16, 2012 at 11:59 pm

    funny how you ignored all my other comments where i pointed out how innacurate your article is.

    Scot on March 20, 2012 at 11:45 pm

    Btw ‘weak’ and jaycee dugard should never EVER be used in the same sentence.

    Scot on March 21, 2012 at 1:42 am

Fame and money at any cost.

These people should be pitied.

PitandPen on March 14, 2012 at 9:33 am

Debbie I would love to meet you to shake your hand. You hit the nail on the head. Yesterday I came home from night school and Entertainment Tonight had Ms Dugard along with the ever vacuous Oprah Windbag. I was saying to myself enough already!While I’m greatful that Dugard and Smart are ok it is time for them to move on. Their experiences have made them very wealthy and they don’t need the money. Jaycee says that she wants her daughters to have a “normal life.” If thats the case then she really needs to stop with the interviews and such. Also I didn’t care to know everything about the Smart wedding. It reminded me of other celebrity weddings. Ho Hum! She also has a job at ABC as a kidnapping commentator? That’s like saying since I ran track in highschool I deserve a six figure contract from ESPN to commentate on the sport. That makes no sense. What’s next pregancy covers of them both on those rags
Elle and Vanity Fair. If this keeps up you know that can’t be to far behind.

Ken b on March 14, 2012 at 12:41 pm

Yes, these two women where ripped out of there non-public lives. I am positive neither ever wanted fame in this way. They were young, happy, healthy girls, just living their lives.

Yet, they were subjected to endless, useless, unmentionable torment in their time away from their families! They didn’t ask for that. I am sure neither hoped for it.

Now that they have been found alive, if not totally unscathed, it is their RIGHT to speak about the tragedies that befell them.

These two women are a beckon of hope and faith for more people then is imaginable. To hear about their past, present and future is a privilege to all of us!

For someone to come out of this kind of alienation and torture and still be able to speak about that tragedy and grow from that is amazing! They are truly wonderful, strong human beings! I am grateful everyday for their optimism, their hope and their faith in human kind, despite what they have went through.

Shame on this woman for writing this wretched story! She is spiteful, mean, jealous, and lacks the forethought to realize, yes, some of us wake up occasionally and wonder how these strong women are doing!

Roxy Reed on March 15, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    Well you are right about one thing. Neither Elizabeth Smart not Jaycee Dugard seem the least bit “traumatized” by their ordeal as the media and public keep insisting that they are. I suppose you detest me, as well, for pointing that out.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 2:24 pm

Amen Roxy! VERY well said.

Anyone who bashes either of these women needs padded walls and a straight jacket LOL

redhead on March 15, 2012 at 10:10 pm

    DEBBI one more thing, I will not be reading you anymore.
    while the media is a HO you are a bigger HO. pick on another story not these 2 precious, courageous survivors.
    And I agree with the one who said anyone who has anything negative to say about these 2 women should be secured behind padded walls.
    U-R-A-B. A very jealous one

    songline on March 27, 2012 at 6:22 pm

Hey its a troll checking in……

What the writer left out here, is that Jaycee Dugard set up her own foundation to help victims of other traumatic events. it not only includes kidnapping and abuse victims, but family of soliders killed in war.

You can presume part of her ’20 mill settlement’ from california, plus proceeds from her book, went to set up and run her foundation.

So she is helping vicitms…debbie downer. if you bothered to read the whole story. but you dont care so why bother right?

Scot on March 16, 2012 at 2:26 am

    Btw comparing them to the spoiled, elitist kardashians is garbage. NOne of those kids has worked a day in theyre life…..tried to help anyone but themselves, and are just looking for the next nba star to marry, or dance show to sneak on to.

    Scot on March 16, 2012 at 2:36 am

    Scot….I have only found one “victim” that the Jaycee Dugard Foundation has actually given financial aid to. They say they are helping many but only that one is confirmed. The Jaycee Dugard Foundation is really just a tax shelter for Jaycee’s millions.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 12:48 pm

SerIous? This is an unreal posting. Who cares if they are capitalizing on their horrific experiences. Isn’t this the essence of Capatilism? Why should they not make money off of their experiences. Does this mean all the holocaust survivors should not make money by garnering attention and publishing books because of their plight? Does this mean the hostages from Iran during the Carter administration should not be able to make money over their plight? If you don’t want to watch them, turn the channel. There are a lot of people who are interested, and they have every right to make as much money as they can over their circumstances? Take the Chilean miners. They colluded into not saying anything so they could share equally in the profits they might make. Unfortunately, they were not as lucky. But if anyone has a right to make money it is they? The reason you are the only one cares is because it’s not a big deal. I say MORE POWER TO THEN

Mark D on March 16, 2012 at 5:40 pm

Ms. Shlussel – you are a pathetic excuse for a human being and I would gather that nobody really cares about your plea for fame in your column either but you still spew your useles opinions. I would also summize that you have never been a victim of any traumatic experience that makes your opinion relevent. Obviously there are an abundance of people who care how these women have fared after their traumatic experiences and they offer a survivors story that is RELEVANT to other people who have been victimized. I would much rather hear from them than some awful columnist looking for her own claim to fame.

LM on March 16, 2012 at 7:24 pm

Whoa, that is quite an interesting use of insults coming from a broad who looks she just stepped off the set of a porn shoot. What I really got from the time I wasted reading this crap was a sense that the writer is envious…this is nothing more than a one-sided cat fight.

james on March 16, 2012 at 7:26 pm

I’m listening to the interview with Debbie, and I listened to a sound bite of part of Diane Sawyer’s interview with Jaycee Dugard.
Two things stand out: Elizabeth Smart is from an affluent, white Mormon family. JC is from another white family, one that is presumably a functional family in which these young women had ALL the opportunities and support TO recover from their respective ordeals.
There are missing children of color, and their families wouldn’t have the financial or societal wherewithal to recover if they ever do. Are these girls saying ANYTHING about that? Although their so called foundations are supposed to be for the benefit of those who have undergone similar ordeals?
Elizabeth Smart is only asked about HER experience, which has now been years ago. Same for Dugard.
We really must move on. There isn’t anything new about them or their story, and they certainly aren’t talking about anyone ELSE who experienced the same thing.
But those in the media aren’t publicizing anything about the phenom of abduction or the missing. They spend SO much inordinate amount of time on just THESE two who are ADULTS now who evidently are FULLY recovered and are RICH from their experience.
Enough about THEM.
There are others in which to focus on.

RD on March 16, 2012 at 8:01 pm

As a conservative woman, I must say I am appalled by this article. It is mean spirited and completely uncalled for. When you ridicule women who have went through such a horrible ordeal it makes you look incredibly weak and spiteful. In my opinin it appears to be Ms Schlussel who wants to be a Kardashian, not these poor young women. I must say you will never win any new people to the conservative movement with this type of hateful attitude!

Angel on March 16, 2012 at 8:56 pm

    Debbie certainly won me over. Not only with her article but with her courage to put it in print. She knew her’s was going to be an unpopular opinion and she posted it any way. Go Debbie S.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 5:20 pm

To the three stupid and idiotic dopes who commented here this evening, I’m talking about LM, James and Angel, did the three of you clowns read the entire article word-for-word? Of course the three of you didn’t bother to read the article, if three of you read the whole article instead of reading a few lines, you would’ve known that Debbie felt bad for these two young ladies, you didn’t read “I’m glad she’s safe”, and/or “I feel for both these young women who were kidnapped and raped”?, no the three of you attack the messenger for no damn reason.

Debbie did NOT ridicule, mock or made of the these two girls, she’s basically saying that the two of them need to move on with their lives instead of parading around their reputation for fame, that’s all. And NO this article is NOT spiteful, hateful.

And BTW, LM, if godforbid Debbie went through a traumatic exprience she wouldn’t be doing media interviews day-in-day-out to increase her fame and beg for attention, she’ll move on with her life like just about everyone who’s exprience a traumatic incident. So if any of you three clowns, (Angel, LM and James) want to comment here again, a) read the whole column word for word, b) make some damn sense and know what the hell you’re actually talking about and c) DO NOT attack the messenger like a coward, that’s like “throwing stones at glass-houses”!

“A nation is defined by its borders, language & culture!”

Sean R. on March 16, 2012 at 9:20 pm

I totally agree with you. I first heard you on the John Phillips Show on KABC and then of course read your article. It is always a tragedy when one becomes a victim of a crime. However, I can not see much healing when the victim reaches stardom as a result of the tragic incident, financially capitalizes on it by writing books and appearing on talk shows. These actions will subsequently take away from the seriousness of the incident and of course delay the victim from moving forward with their lives.

Robert R. Heredia on March 16, 2012 at 11:46 pm

one jaycee dugard is worth a thousand debbie shysters

Scot on March 17, 2012 at 12:02 am

    Um Jayce Dugard NEEDS to move on with her life and not continue to do the “yadda yadda look at me I want attention, fame and money to promote my awful exprience yadda yadda”.

    Yes what happend to her was terrible, NOONE deserves the treatment what she went through when she was sexually assualted, so as I said, she needs to move on and live her regular daily life. And you’re the one who’s a shyster and fraud my friend, and you didn’t read this whole article as well, as Debbie normally says, “RIF, Reading Is Fundamental”, you and you’re ilk of moronic trolls need to improve on you’re reading comprehension skills.

    “A nation is defined by its borders, language & culture!”

    Sean R. on March 17, 2012 at 3:09 pm

      Actually Sean R, researching the material your writing about is pretty important too.

      Debbie just wrote this to the sheep of her fan base who don’t know any better….

      First she says that Jaycee and Elizabeth are doing this ‘to the benefit of none of us.’

      That’s a load of BS. Maybe its not to the benefit of Debbie, or any of her sheep, but it is to the benefit of many victims and survivors, people you guys apprentley looks your noses down on…….Debbie may have the pulse of the people who follow her, but not of the majority of the American public.

      COmparing Jaycee and Elizabeth to the Kardashians is an insult beyond comparison, and then she implied they are worse then patty hearst. IM sorry, did Jaycee and Elizabeth commit crimes for the people who ‘kidnapped’ them and then gloat about it? I must have missed that.

      She says that Jaycee and Elizabeth are doing this all for themselves and they’re bank accounts….I Know for a fact that Jaycee Dugard has a foundation that she set up personally to help families of traumatized victims and families herself. so when she says that what Jaycee is doing is helping no one, that is utter garbage.

      She absolutely has the right to her opinion, but when she conveniently edits the facts to fit her position, that makes her a fool. If you bother to do the research you’d see that and not be calling me a shyster……

      Scot on March 17, 2012 at 3:35 pm

Well thanks for the laughs. I almost forgot how many fools are in this world and have access to the internet and want fame. I doubt if the fame you will get for your trash will make you any money but it will certainly show people what you and your followers are. Trash pure and simple. No compassion and maybe if you are lucky all the things that happened to these women could happen to you and I don’t usually wish bad things on people but you and your camp deserve any and all things bad that happen to you. Maybe if you are lucky they will just use you and bury you nasty asses and we won’t hear about you at all. But more than likely the news will run with your story and then will show people this disgusting site and the pity party will be over for you and no one will offer you a cent .
By even starting this blog you are begging people to notice you so that makes you a famewhore period. See these women didn’t ask for this but YOU are begging for people to notice YOU. You started this trash site for you have it and now you are a Kardashian without the money. SO take away the fame and you are what you and you followers are. Do us a favor if one of your unfortunate kids get kidnapped keepn it to yourself we wouldn’t want the papers or the news to bother to help you find them after all you wouldn’t want a famewhore for a kid would you. I bet you are a gtood Christan too all of you. lol

Judyk on March 17, 2012 at 12:24 pm

    Judyk…There sure do seem to be a lot of you out there that get incensed every time someone points out any hard facts about these cases. The Dugard Saga, especially.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 1:04 pm

Excuse me Judyk, if this website is “trash” & “disgusting” in you’re opinion then for starters why the hell did you come here? If this blog is trash you wouldn’t have posted you’re pathetic and stupid comment. Also, you did NOT read the whole article, so you need to improve on you’re reading comprehension skills, you only read the headline and made you’re conclusion. Friggin pathetic and sad of you Judyk.

For starters, Debbie did NOT attack and/or mock and ridicule these girls, as I said to a few dumbass intellectually lazy trolls last night, Debbie is ONLY saying that they need to move on with their regular personal lives and not parade around for their “fifteen-minutes” of fame. Also, DS felt terrible what had happended to them when they were sexually assaulted, she NEVER said that they deserved to be raped, only a low-life moron would say such stuff. And I was disgusted and pissed off what you said between-the-lines in you’re comment, and here it is:

“I don’t usually wish bad things on people but you and your camp deserve and any all things bad that happen to you.”

So, you want terrible things happen to not only to Ms. Schlussel, but you want terrible and evil stuff happen to myself personally and everybody who comments here and fans/supporters of DS? Thanks for showing you’re true colors of how really pathetic and disgusting you really are Judyk, your the one who’s disgusting and pathetic. And I hope you and you’re dumbass ilk-camp of unthinking trolls will NOT come over and embarrass yourselves again, because trolls like you Judyk give other trolls a bad image!

“A nation is defined by its borders, language & culture!”

Sean R. on March 17, 2012 at 2:59 pm

Btw dont you guys see the irony of A high profile Lawyer with a talk show calling other people fame seeking media whores?

Scot on March 17, 2012 at 3:43 pm

“I want to be remembered for what i do, not what happened to me”-Jaycee Dugard, march 9 2012

What she wants to do is help others like her. She has a strength and a amount of courage that none of the people who sit in judgement on here dont even understand.

Or maybe you think you could do better then she has had you been in her position?

Dont we as conservitives look for an example like her? someone who has overcome awful odds to do something with her life? Or did you all just wish she’d gone crazy and shot some people to give weight to the whole theory that victims become monsters?

She never graduated the 5th grade but she’s done more with her life (even during her captivity) then most of us ever will.

I think you guys dismiss her off hand. I dont understand it. If you could give me a reason why she should just slink away and dissapear…..isnt she someone to look up to? Doesnt she give others hope? Who’s to say that her book and interview last summer arent the reason more and more sandusky victims are coming forward. Because the dirty little secret of child molestation and rape is not the victims shame….its the offenders.

Jaycee dugard has done more in the last 2 and a half years to help people in this country then the previous presidents of the last 25 years.

Scot on March 17, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    Well, Jaycee Dugard’s story has certainly inspired more people to come forward with claims that they were kidnapped, abducted, raped, gang raped and held prisoner than ever before. Unfortunately, a larger percentange than ever are turning out to be false claims. Just an attempt to get media attention and money.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 12:42 pm

I also believe a nation is defined by the strength of the people that inhabit it. but thats just me.

Scot on March 17, 2012 at 4:17 pm

    If that is true, then a nation can also be defined by the weakness of the people that inhabit it. I think we are still a strong nation but we are getting weaker. Weaker minded, at least. If we don’t stop turning into such sheep, we will soon no longer be a world power and, soon after, some other country’s “bitcX”. As a nation, we really need to “grow a pair”.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 3:17 pm

I’m sure that both Jaycee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart would gladly give back all the money they have made in place of the years of innocence that was stolen from them. Jaycee spent most of her formative years in the backyard of a psycho path where she was repeatedly raped and gave birth to two children. I commend her for having the courage to come forward and share her story. I feel the same way about Elizabeth Smart. Many rape victims live in a bubble of silence, ashamed and afraid. They are both role models for anyone who has lived through a traumatic experience and refused to allow it hold them down. You have no idea what these girls went through, or how much that still haunts them. If sharing their stories helps them heal, who are you to judge that? No one if forcing you to buy the People magazine or watch the news specials. If two women, who were both kidnapped and raped, sharing their stories of survival bothers you so much that you have to devote an entire article denouncing them and anyone interested in their stories, then I say it is you who has no life. These women are not “fame seekers”, they are survivors.

Stevie on March 19, 2012 at 7:01 pm

    Stevie…I don’t believe Jaycee Dugard, and especially, her mother, would give back all the money to not have Jaycee kidnapped. I am not sure they would even give back half of it. The Smarts, yeah, they would.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 28, 2012 at 11:42 pm

i think part of this article stems from jealousy.

i doubt debbie could captivate 15 million people on tv….and get them lining up to buy her book the next day. so much so that the book is on back order for months.

that’s what i ‘comprhend’ when she says that she’s kidnap-less and ‘book-less’.

she doesnt think jaycee or elizabeth are as important as her and her joe mccarthy style tactics.

Scot on March 19, 2012 at 9:50 pm

Btw does putting your captors behind bars for the rest of there lives count as ‘crusading against they’re perpatrators?”

S: Um, they both already did that . . . LONG AGO. Time for them to move on and quietly recede into private life instead of seeking fame and celebrity. DS

Scot on March 20, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    Actually, while Elizabeth Smart did stand up in court and testify to get her kidnapper convicted, Jaycee Dugard sat in on Nancy Garrido’s plea bargaining sessions and lobbied to get her a lighter sentence. I am sure she was in on the Phillip Garrido plea deal as well. There has to be more to that plea bargain than a remorseful Garrido accepting the maximum sentence. Jaycee may have made a few statements publicly proclaiming her disdain for the Garrido’s but her action don’t back them up. Remember how long and loud she promised Phillip Garrido that she would do everything she could to keep him out of jail when he was first arrested. About a year later, her public relations people, convinced her to start “officially” condemning him.

    SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 12:15 pm

I just think you made many inaccurate statements, particuarly about Ms. Dugard, that you wont own up to.

.I know your a lawyer and lying and twisting the truth is your specialty, but i would suggest you do it to people who might actualy deserve it.

Scot on March 21, 2012 at 1:03 am

Plus i see you used them as an excuse for part of a talk show about your spectacular article about them.

So who’s the media whore fame seeker here? try looking in the mirror for once.

Scott on March 23, 2012 at 1:54 am

DEBBI I think it is you who wants the attention. I find your choice of what to write about an attention grabber.
Both Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard are and inspiration. They give many hope, and they give some a reason to stop whining and get on with life.
You on the other hand are milking the cow; your insensitivity is another topic. You may be pretty but you leave anyone cold.
YAP i shoot from the hip. you deserve it.

songline on March 27, 2012 at 6:12 pm

The big thing that got me interested in the Dugard case was the bizarre comments I noticed on almost every website where comments were allowed on stories about Jaycee’s 20 million.

One of the most weird comments came from somebody who had figured out how many tax payers were in California and what your share as a CA tax payer will be and muttered something about how your share would only be about 75 cents so why should you mind handing it over?, the classy people of CA need to understand that “this one is justified” and told somebody they were stupid for not understanding this.

I don’t know were people defending Jaycee get such an outstanding sense of entitlement. It’s like if somebody were to steal my bus fare on the way to work, do I have the right to go up to everybody at the bus stop and say, “hey, there are 5 of you waiting for the bus and my bus fare has just been stolen, I need 2 dollars to ride the bus so I am dividing 5 people into 2 dollars and your share of replacing my bus fare is only 40 cents. I know all of you have at least 40 cents in your pockets you don’t need. If somebody took your bus fare you would want somebody to help you so help me it is right thing to do.”

eagle on April 29, 2012 at 2:50 am

While Jaycee Dugard is definately pimping out her kidnapped / sex slave story to anyone who will pay, it is certainly a throughly censored and sanitized version. What halfway intelligent person would believe that she didn’t have sex with Garrido for the last 12 years that she was with him? Come on! Hmmmm….I have a ugly 50 year old wife and a attractive, totally submissive 20 year old sex slave that will do anything / everything I tell her to do….which one do I want to have sex with? I find this particular lie to be very insulting to a persons intelligience

SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 12:30 pm

All the Dugards public pleas for privacy and seclusion to “heal” are just advertising to keep the up the going price of their interviews and public appearances. If they really wanted “privacy and seclusion” all they would have to do is stop selling interviews and public appearances. That isn’t rocket science.

SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 12:59 pm

Has anyone else considered the possibility that the reason Jaycee and the authorities so zealously prevent any pictures of Jaycee’s daughters being taken is that, one or both, wasn’t really fathered by Phillip Garrido? Hispanic features, maybe?

SpaceCowby43 on April 29, 2012 at 2:29 pm

Spacecowboy, you spread this absolute crap theories on every site you visit…….are you phil garrido’s boyfriend and thats why you feel the need to be an idiot?

Scott on May 14, 2012 at 4:41 pm

    Scott…You are one of the multitude of drones that believe anything the authorities say and everything the media prints.
    How can anyone with the slightest bit of common sense not see how incredulous many parts of the Official Jaycee Dugard Saga are. A sexy teenage kidnapped sex slave that has been CELIBATE for the last 12 years. Sure. Who wouldn’t believe that. All five of Garrido’s neighbors are telling the same lie and there were no backyard parties or late night visitors. Even though they have no reason to lie and Jaycee is very motivated personally to keep that part or her ordeal private. Scott, you are are either very naive or very dim. Or you are on the Dugard payroll like Nancy Setzer, Jaycee $1 million a year “press agent”.

    SpaceCowby43 on November 29, 2012 at 2:46 am

    Scott…You are one of the multitude of drones that believe anything the authorities say and everything the media prints.
    How can anyone with the slightest bit of common sense not see how incredulous many parts of the Official Jaycee Dugard Saga are. A sexy teenage kidnapped sex slave that has been CELIBATE for the last 12 years? Sure. Who wouldn’t believe that? All five of Garrido’s neighbors are telling the same lie and there were no backyard parties or late night visitors. Even though they have no reason to lie and Jaycee is very motivated personally to keep that part or her ordeal private. Scott, you are are either very naive or very dim. Or you are on the Dugard payroll like Nancy Setzer, Jaycee $1 million a year “press agent”.

    SpaceCowby43 on November 29, 2012 at 2:46 am

Jaycee Dugard has EVERY right to get all the money she possibly can. She was held hostage for 18 years she was raped for days on end and had 2 daughters at 14 an 17 by a stranger who took her from everything! She would not get these interviews or sell millions of dollars in books if people did not want to know what happened or is happening. If you had your childhood taken from you at 11 years old and somehow made it out of her situation with 2 kids that were concieved by being raped are you honestly saying you would not get every penny you could out of it? If you say you would not you are lieing to yourself. Did anyone stop to think that maybe Jaycee Dugard wants to tell her story to people that want to know because she had no one but these sick people that tortured her for 18 years to talk to? Maybe you should read her book and you might feel differently about being heartless pigs.

kristy on July 11, 2012 at 1:50 am

If course it’s all tawdry. But hey do have one indisputable bragging right; they were, after all, kidnapped and raped.

I can cast no aspersions at anyone. I can only ask myself this; if I went through an ordeal, and, subsequent to being delivered from said ordeal, had the further choice of either trying to cope and recover in obscurity, with all the indigence that might entail, or trying to cope and recover in imperial splendor, I certainly know what choice I would be strongly tempted to make.

As Our Lord says,

“How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
(Luke 6:42)

I know I have at last 2 of the 7 Deadly Planks in my own eye; greed and sloth.

Randy on October 31, 2012 at 6:33 am

Your an idiot.

d on January 18, 2013 at 4:51 pm

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