First of all, people in the UK have already figured out that Nicole Scherzinger has tweaked herself to a crazy degree. Apparently, fans have been “begging” her to lay off the lip fillers and Botox. You can see how insane her face looks in these photos, taken just a few weeks ago.
Anyway, I rarely cover anything to do with Nicole because I honestly never cared about her whatsoever. So I guess I blocked it out completely that Nicole was cast in the Dirty Dancing remake which will air on ABC at some point, probably next year. Nicole was cast as Penny, Johnny’s dance partner and friend. Penny is the one who needs to get an abortion, which is why Baby has to learn the dance routine so she can cover for Penny. Since Dirty Dancing is set in 1963, that’s obviously years before Roe v. Wade, and the abortion storyline is surprisingly gritty and integral to the plot – Penny gets a back-alley abortion and Baby’s father (a doctor) has to treat Penny (which sets up his dislike of Johnny, who takes the blame for impregnating Penny in the first place even though they’re just friends). I’ve never really thought about it this way, but Dirty Dancing has a pro-choice message of “it should be a lot easier for women in trouble to have the choice of access to safe, affordable abortions.” But according to Nicole Scherzinger, she almost didn’t take the Penny role because it “promotes abortion.” Idiot.
She’s playing the role of Penny Johnson in ABC’s forthcoming TV remake of Dirty Dancing. But Nicole Scherzinger has revealed she almost turned down the part, played by Cynthia Rhodes in the classic 1987 film, because she harbours strong anti-abortion beliefs. The X Factor judge admitted that her family is ‘really hardcore’ against termination because her mother had her at the tender age of 18.
Nicole, 38, explained to The Daily Mail: ‘I was like a crazy thing because, my family, my Papa’s a Bishop and my family’s really hardcore against abortion. So I got the role and I almost didn’t take it because I didn’t want to promote abortion, because my character has an abortion. But I was like, hopefully they can learn from you know her ways and I can be a positive influence. My mum got pregnant with me when she was 17 and had me when she was 18. She chose. Her parents were never going to let her have an abortion. So I came out, so I just want to you know encourage everybody to keep your babies.’
Nicole, who was raised Catholic, was born in Hawaii, but her mother Rosemary Elikolani split from her father Alfonso Valiente when she was very young. The star said that her family were initially against her taking the part until her grandfather, who is a preacher, prayed on the subject and decided it was ‘what she was meant to do’. She said: ‘We decided that maybe I could be a voice, that I could shed some light on the subject without being preachy.’
“Without being preachy…” Too late. Again, no pro-choice advocate is saying “abortions for everyone!” We’re saying women should have CHOICES. We’re saying that every woman should have access to safe, affordable abortions and birth control. We’re saying that back-alley abortions are awful and dangerous and they have nothing to do with the sanctity of life. So much of what Nicole says here annoys the crap out of me. “She chose. Her parents were never going to let her have an abortion.” Then she didn’t choose! Her parents wouldn’t allow it, so there was NO CHOICE. Also: merely representing a thing on film or television is NOT AN ENDORSEMENT. Movies about slavery are not endorsements of slavery. A fictional character can have a back-alley abortion and it’s NOT an endorsement of abortion. For the love of God.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmbmllboN6e82imqiklZTApLTEq7Gippeav6C10piYp6yZYrCpu8icnJismJ67rL%2B%2BnaCrrKmUsaK6wqKloJegp7yuu9OeqpiZkqS%2FtbXOp2Y%3D