February 16, 2009
(2-3) Octuplets: Publicist Joann Killeen on Larry King
(3-10) Octuplets: Updated list of posts
Nadya Suleman’s publicist has had enough. Who would want to try and make money promoting octobirther? Might have looked good at the beginning but not now. What possible defense or explanation is there for what that woman did? None.
Joann Killeen on Larry King explaining the situation. She doesn’t understand why America is so angry and says Nadya denies having had plastic surgery, thinks welfare is a resource and that once Nadya goes back to school and gets her degree she won’t need the “resources”.
Transcript & video & video
Larry King: When you did this show February 3, you were representing her. Now you’re not. Why not?
Joann Killeen: Well, Larry, the number of death threats that came into our office, both by e-mail and voice mail, we had to make a decision about what was in the best interests of our own personal safety and that of our firm.
So we met with the police department on Friday. We filed a criminal report. We provided them with all the information with all the threats. And they told us that we should take this very seriously.
King: Why you and not her?
Killeen: Well, they’ve also threatened her. But the majority of the threats are coming to our office. I mean, Nadya doesn’t have an e-mail account. She doesn’t have a computer. So there’s no way to reach her. So the closest thing they can do is come after me. And they have — and just in painful, painful ways.
King: How would do you characterize the nature of the threats?
Killeen: Well, they’ve said to me that I should be put down like an old dog, I should be paralyzed, my client’s uterus should be ripped out, she should be put on an island. I mean, Larry, I don’t know what’s happened with America, but they are really, really angry and letting me know what they think about this issue.
King: Do you take special security precautions?
Killeen: Yes, I do. Yes, I do. We have extra patrols on our street. … We’re very conscious. The police department has been absolutely wonderful to work with. They’ve given me a special number to call if anybody stakes out my house, as they have before. I’ve been followed by paparazzi. I’m not a celebrity, so it’s a different position for me to be in.
King: How did you inform Nadya that you were no longer…
Killeen: Well, we talked on Friday. And she’s had death threats, and I’ve had death threats. And she’s very upset that someone would come after us and come after her. I mean she says: “I’m just a mom. I don’t know why everybody is so upset. I’m just a mom trying to do the best job that I possibly can.”
[She has no idea? Having 8 more kids when you can't feed, clothe or shelter the 6 you already have?]
King: Why do you think people are so angry — crazy enough, angry to threaten killing?
Killeen: Well, I think they are frustrated by a lot of things. When the news came out that Nadya was receiving some state disability from an injury and that she was trying to rehab and find a new career and go to school and she also had children at the same time, I think the taxpayers just absolutely flipped out and said, you know, we’re paying for this and we’re not getting our own fair share of government services. We pay a lot of taxes, the economy is bad, there’s no jobs. They’re angry. And they’re just taking it out on me. For some reason, they’re taking it out on me.
KING: You’ve got a lot of clients, right?
KILLEEN: Yes, we do.
KING: You ever experienced anything like this?
KILLEEN: Never. Never. And what’s happening is, thanks to social media, people are organizing and they’ve called our clients. They’ve e-mailed our clients. They’ve threatened our clients and said they’re going to boycott their goods and services and make sure nobody ever does business not only with the Killeen Furtney Group, but also with any of my clients.
KING: Nadya Suleman’s fielded a lot of flak, of course, since giving birth. Among the critics were her own mother.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM RADARONLINE.COM)
ANGELA SULEMAN: To have them all is unconscionable to me. She really, really has no idea what she’s doing to her children.
Why would she do this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The person has got to cringe when they see something…
KILLEEN: I’ve cringed the few times…
KING: …your client’s mother.
KILLEEN: …that I’ve seen it. Yes, I have.
KING: Were you shocked?
KILLEEN: Well, you know, grandma is tired. Grandma and grandpas are in their 70s. You know, they’ve raised a daughter. I’m sure they didn’t think that they were going to be helping to raise six children. Remember, Nadya was on bed rest for 10 — almost 10 weeks before the octuplets were born. So Mom and dad had to come in and help out with six kids and school and schedules. And it’s stressful. They’re six little kids that have high energy and big demands.
KING: Has she retained someone else, another firm?
KILLEEN: No, she has not.
KING: Do you think that will be a problem, getting a firm?
KILLEEN: Well, I think she needs to listen to the advice of people that are closest to her. She’s in a really challenging situation. And I hope she takes the good counsel that’s available to her and makes the right choice and decisions, so she and her kids can be together in the future.
King: If you’re getting threats, what do you imagine she’s getting?
Killeen: Well, and I’ve seen them, because, again, there’s no e- mail account. So they’re sending them to me. … People will call my office and just say profanity on the phone. And with caller ID, I know exactly who they are. Others have sent handwritten notes to me with horrible words that I never would repeat on the air, Larry. And they even put their return address on them so — as if I’m going to return that call.
KING: Well you could give those to the police…
KILLEEN: I’ve given every…
KING: …because threatening of death is a crime.
KILLEEN: Right. Yes. I have given them to the police. In fact, this morning I was even recording more for the police, to give them — the threats, that continue to come in.
KING: The last time you were with us, you called Nadya a wonderful woman, said you couldn’t wait for the media to meet her.
Here’s part of her interview with “The Today Show.”
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM “TODAY,” COURTESY NBC)
NADYA SULEMAN: You wake up one minute, you know, you’re thinking about your children and how they’re doing and their safety and their — their well being. And then all of a sudden, someone just opens you in half — you know, cuts you and opens you. And it just wants to dissect you and just wants to put you under a microscope. And it’s really kind of sick, because I think people really need to focus on their own lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: You think she did well there?
KILLEEN: I think she told the truth. I mean, one of the things I know about Nadya is that she’s very honest and very candid. And she speaks her mind. And I think she finds it offensive that people are so willing to, you know, provide shame and blame and judgment. And they don’t know her. She’s doing the best job that she can with all of these children. And yet people are ready to write her off. People are even willing to take her kids away from her.
[What type of maternal judgment has she shown? And how much more does one have to hear her say to be convinced that she is not delusional?]
King: What about the stories that she’s obsessed with Angelina Jolie — even had work done on her face to look like her more?
Killeen: You know, I asked her about that. And she just laughed. She said remember, with the octuplets, I put on 100 pounds — a hundred pounds of extra body weight for my babies. So of course things are going to look a little different than they did when I first started.
King: She does look like her.
Killeen: Well, I think hair and makeup, you could probably look like anybody you’d want to look like. She has said to me she has not had plastic surgery of any kind. And so I have to believe what my client tells me to be factually correct.
King: So the only reason you’re out of this is threats on you and the firm, not because of any qualms with her?
Killeen: Oh, no. Not at all. Larry, I just can’t run my business and continue to do the things that I need to do for my clients with constant death threats and phone calls and interruptions. You know, I took on this account because I’m a mom and a grandma, and I wanted to help someone who needs help with the media. I did this pro bono. I’ve made no money. I have no intention of getting any money. And I think people need to realize I just did this out of the goodness of my heart to help a woman who didn’t know how to work with the media.
[She hasn't made any money because nobody wants anything to do with that woman. Despite the fact she was not getting paid, she was getting PR for her firm, which is no longer positive which is why she's signing off.]
KING: Is your husband involved, too?
KILLEEN: Yes, he is.
KING: Did you regret taking this account?
KILLEEN: No, never regret. One of the things Grandma Murphy (ph) taught me as a young girl is to grow as an individual, you need to go toward your fear. And my concern was that I would do something that would not help her cause. And in reflecting upon my two weeks of working with her, you know, I’m very proud of our work. We did, you know, a great job of answering every media call that came in from around the world. I went on every show that I could to tell the positive story about my client and let people know and to just give her a chance.
KING: How much did the media bug her?
KILLEEN: Oh, they were around the clock. I mean, people were coming to my house. I was being followed, calls night and day. My — I had so many hits to my company Web site, Larry, it crashed twice.
KING: From around the world?
KILLEEN: From around the world. We had almost like 50,000 hits in a half an hour.
[Who sponsors her website?]
KING: Television, radio and print?
KILLEEN: Everybody. I’ve heard from media from every continent in the world.
KING: Money offers?
KILLEEN: Oh, of course. The tabloids in London. Of course, they offer all kinds of money. But any legitimate news organization in the United States doesn’t offer money. We know that. So there was no money offered nor was there money exchanged from NBC.
KING: How about the tabloid television shows?
KILLEEN: Well, of course they always offer. Of course.
KING: They did?
KILLEEN: Of course.
KING: So no money was made in this?
KILLEEN: No. No money was made on my part. NBC didn’t give her any money. In…
KING: “People?”
KILLEEN: No. No.
KING: Why didn’t she ask for money?
KILLEEN: Well, you know what, she didn’t ask for money. She’s just solely focusing on being the best mom that she can be and telling her story.
KING: So that never came up, how much can I get for this?
KILLEEN: No.
KING: The question of a single mom supporting her children, that caused a lot of controversy. She addressed the welfare issue with “The Today Show” this way.
KILLEEN: She did.
KING: Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM “TODAY,” COURTESY NBC)
SULEMAN: No, I’m not living off of any taxpayer money. If I am, if it is food stamps, it’s a temporary resource. You receive no cash. And it’s every month, about $190. And that’s only for food. Yes, that’s an excellent resource if used appropriately and not for too long. So it’s not affiliated with welfare.
[And the disability money for herself and 3 of her children?]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Is that part of the anger — food stamps, taxpayers’ money, etc.?
KILLEEN: That’s what people are complaining about. They’re upset.
KING: What do they think, the kids shouldn’t eat?
KILLEEN: Well, no, Larry. They think that my client is in denial about, you know, what’s welfare — any type of state assistance or federal assistance, based on the e-mails that are coming into my office, the general public believes, is a form of welfare. And she believes it’s a resource. She’s taken two semesters leave of absence from school. And when she goes back to school, she doesn’t believe that she will need that continued resource to help her get along.
[Who is more delusional? When is she going to have time to go back to school?]
King: Does she keep in touch with the father?
Killeen: The sperm donor?
King: Yes.
Killeen: They have a very limited relationship. He’s not active in their life at all.
KING: There have been, historically, multiple moms. I was just a baby, I think, when the Dionne quintuplets happened. But he became and she became a family — this was a family in New York — no, maybe Canada…
KILLEEN: Canada.
KING: …gave birth to five daughters.
KILLEEN: That’s correct.
KING: And they were world famous. They were hailed all over the world — magazine articles, stories praising them. Nobody criticized them.
King: Why are we mad at her?
Killeen: That’s a good question to ask America. If you look at the e-mails that are coming into my office, they’re saying they think that she’s worked the system. They think that she’s been able to stay home and live off of the taxpayers and have these multiple children. She’s not organized. She doesn’t have any kind of structure, you know; isn’t six children enough? She intentionally went out to get eight children.
And, you know, remember, Larry, she worked with the same doctor for every [in vitro fertilization] attempt. Based on her history of six embryos implanted, she got one child. The doctor told her the most this last attempt would be would be either one baby or twins, at the most.
[So she was implanted with 6 each time.]
So she was shocked, he was shocked. Nobody expected eight children. That’s the big — big misnomer here. Everybody thinks she went and ordered eight and she got eight. She didn’t.
[She ordered six and got eight. There is no defending her choice to even implant one more. Period.]
King: Where does she go from here?
Killeen: Well, I’m confident, as we continue to talk, that there are resources that are available to her, and she will collaborate with, you know, church leaders in her area. And hopefully the American public can get beyond their anger about her choices and her decisions and think about those eight little kids, Larry.
You know, it’s all about those kids. That’s the whole reason why I took on this account, was to help the mom with those eight little kids.
KING: Any move to try to take the kids away?
KILLEEN: Well, you know, I read in the news last week that Carol Lieberman, a local doctor, has filed papers to have the octuplets removed and not even let them go home, you know, which I think is rushing to judgment.
KING: Thanks, Joann.
KILLEEN: Thank you, Larry.
KING: I hope that the threats stop now.
KILLEEN: I hope they will, too.
Thank you.
KING: It’s not her account anymore. Leave her alone.
Joanne Killeen, president of the Killeen Furtney Group. Thank you.
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(2-3) Octuplets: Publicist Joann Killeen on Larry King
(3-10) Octuplets: Updated list of posts
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