Sarah Jessica Parker Whores for Woman Beater

Posted by Don Hazen at 5:17 AM on September 18, 2007.

There seems to be an epidemic of all sorts of violence against women -- beatings, stabbings, shootings. Often wives and girlfriends are the target. Even People Magazine had a recent feature on high school girls who get trapped in relationships where their "cute' or "popular" boy friends regularly pulverize them. But it seems so hard for prominent people to hold their pals even the slightest bit accountable for bad behavior.

One guy who seemed to pay the price for women battering was Chris Albrecht, the former CEO of HBO, who developed mega shows like The Sopranos and Sex in the City. He was forced to resign last May after being charged with assaulting his girlfriend in a Las Vegas parking lot. Then it came out that he had payed at least $400,000 to a women in 1991, who worked under him, who accused him of choking her during a disagreement in her office. We don't know what happened in between.

But in the Hollywood world of many chances, Albrecht has landed firmly on both feet as a major player as head of the global business unit at IMG, a growing Hollywood talent agency, owned by big finance guy Theodore F. Forstman. The NY Times reported the new life for Albrecht in a god-awful puff piece by Andrew Ross Sorkin in the business section yesterday. The article did not quote a single person who uttered anything remotely negative about the newly re-empowered Albrecht and his past behavior. And in a great show of enterprising energy, Sorkin gives a key quote framing the new role and image of Albrecht to......... the Goldman Sachs partner who helped broker Albrecht's deal. I bet that guy offered a lot if insight. Quite a journalist that Andrew Sorkin.

But the most nauseating performance in the article was by Sarah Jessica Parker, who is quoted as saying:

"I would never be reluctant to working with him again. Maybe I'm being Pollyanna-sh but people want to work with people who are successful."

Right. It doesn't matter what the guy does in his private life, as long as the big bucks and juicy roles keep pouring in for Ms. Parker.

Albrecht may have had a substance abuse problem, and if he fixed it, good for him. But for Parker to not even give a nod to a pervasive problem of violence against women by making it crystal clear that the guy's behavior doesn't even warrant a moment of consideration, is pretty pathetic. Parker added that she had been very upset when she heard about Albrecht's resignation: "It was like losing a parent" but said, she: "wasn't interested in the grisly details." That's good, Ms. Kiss-ass Parker, keep those eyes closed tight.

Tagged as: media, parker, hbo, violence against women, entertainment, albrecht

Don Hazen is the executive editor of AlterNet.