Jenny McCarthy swears she didn’t tell cousin Melissa McCarthy to lose weight
In the Spring of 2013, before Jenny McCarthy landed her short-lived gig on The View, there were rumors that Jenny was begging her cousin, comedian Melissa McCarthy, to get her a job. Jenny had a lousy VH1 talkshow at the time that was going nowhere, and Melissa was allegedly reluctant to help out her cousin. Star claimed that Melissa wasn’t about to help Jenny because Jenny didn’t help Melissa out at the beginning of her career and told her to lose weight. Considering how much Jenny talks about her own weight loss, the story had the ring of truth to it.
Well now that a whole week has passed without Jenny McCarthy making headlines, she’s decided to refute that stale rumor. Jenny told People Magazine that she never told her cousin to lose weight, that she did help Melissa out at the beginning of her career, and that it’s not exactly true that Melissa was snubbed from Jenny’s upcoming wedding, it’s just that it’s going to be a small wedding.
“There is a crazy story going around that I once told my cousin, Melissa, that she would have to lose weight in order to get into show business. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Jenny tells PEOPLE exclusively.
Although Jenny is responsible for helping the actress get her foot in the door, Melissa’s success in the spotlight is a result of her own perseverance – and plenty of praise from the bride-to-be.
“When she was starting out, I was fortunate enough to be in a position to get her a job on a show I was doing, to learn the ropes and get some experience on a TV set in front of the camera and behind the scenes,” Jenny, 41, says.
She adds, “She has accomplished everything she has accomplished through hard work and her extraordinary talent, and I’ve only ever encouraged and supported and wished her the very best.”
As for her upcoming nuptials to Donnie Wahlberg, the Dirty Love star insists she wasn’t being a bridezilla with the guest list when she didn’t send the actress an invitation.
“‘They also say that I’ve ‘banned’ Melissa from my upcoming wedding, which is also ridiculous,” she says. “Donnie and I are planning a very intimate ceremony that will involve a very small group of our closest friends and that’s it – not a huge production with hundreds of friends and extended families.”
“It’s hurtful that people make up stories that pit not just families, but specifically women, against each other,” Jenny adds.
That story isn’t “going around” at all, it’s 14 months old. That’s not “going around,” that’s dead and buried in gossip years. This is Jenny’s M.O., wait until people aren’t talking about her anymore and then issue a rebuttal to an old rumor as if the story is still fresh.
Also, isn’t it telling that Jenny just isn’t saying how much she loves and respects Melissa and would never say such an awful thing to her cousin? She’s claiming that she did help Melissa out and she’s bragging about specifics. The fact that Melissa isn’t on the guest list for Jenny’s wedding sort-of suggests there is a rift. This is Jenny McCarthy, she’s going to have a medium-size wedding at least (she told Howard Stern that 80 people are invited) and ten to one the wedding will be shown on her fiance’s reality show. If she still talked to Melissa at all, she would have invited her.
Melissa McCarthy is shown at her hand and footprint ceremony on 7-2 and at premieres for Tammy on 6-30 and 7-1. Jenny McCarthy is shown on 6-21. Header images are from 2013. Credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
