said.
That the Obama Administration did not grab hold of the “White House Gate Crasher” story and get its accuracy under control from the get-go, leaves a multitude of nagging questions. Tops on the list of still unanswered questions: How did the Salahis get waved into the White House past multiple checkpoints, if they weren’t supposed to be there?
Twisting In the Wind
The personal aftermath of a national news frenzy is an ugly thing indeed. There’s what the public sees play out on television and in the newspapers, and then there’s what happens to the lock-and-load target’s private life. Every aspect of their past and present is open for cruel dissection: financial woes, family disputes, eating habits, clothing choices, and every personality quirk they ever displayed. And with the Salahis, there was plenty of carrion to feast upon.
The Salahis were excoriated on so many levels—some undeserved, some caused by their own reckless actions. But early on the morning after their White House visit they were still on a cloud, living like a modern day version of Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell III from the old Gilligan’s Island TV show. They were about to be shipwrecked by a massive storm yet they were oblivious, still calling each other “Lovey” and smiling about their adventure the night before. Neither one thought to turn on television news the next morning as Michaele hurried out the door to make a long-standing salon appointment back in DC.
It’s a smack-in-the-face lesson when new found fame morphs into notoriety.
Michaele arrived at the Dennis Roche Salon on K Street to find a Half Yard Productions/Bravo TV producer there. It was a surprise because on this day before Thanksgiving there was no filming scheduled. According to those in the salon, the producer began to beg Michaele to forgo her appointment and come immediately to the nearby Madison Hotel so they could shoot her “reaction to the big night last night!” Michaele demurred. She wasn’t feeling well, she told the female producer and, “It’s my day off. I’m wearing sweats and have no makeup on!”
The insistent producer promised a rare perk: wardrobe, hair and full makeup if Michaele would only come to the Madison. A car had already picked up Tareq and he was on his way into the city to join her for the interview.
After much prodding, Michaele reluctantly agreed to go to the hotel. Tareq was interviewed first—alone—about their visit to the White House. Then, after Michaele was made camera-ready, it was her turn to sit to be interviewed. Again, their Bravo/Half Yard confidentiality agreement precludes them from revealing exactly what they were asked. It wasn’t an unusual practice for the couple to be interviewed separately, so Tareq casually wandered down to the bar area to wait. On his way, he remembered to turn on his cell phone. It rang immediately.
“It was my best friend, Gregory,” Tareq says. “He didn’t even say hello—he just said, really urgently, ‘Wherever you are, grab Michaele and get to my house to hide right now!’ To hide? I didn’t know what he was talking about. I thought it was some kind of a joke.” Tareq quickly learned it was no joke as he took a few more steps into the bar, looked up at the television screen and saw himself on CNN! “People in the bar looked from the screen over to me, then back to the screen. It was surreal,” Tareq said. The volume on the TV set was down but the banner on the bottom made it clear, “White House Party Crashers.”
Tareq, his heart pounding and his mind spinning with thoughts, dashed upstairs to get his wife—she was not going to believe this!
By pounding on the door, Tareq finally got Michaele up and out of the interview chair much to the protestation of the TV producer. He pulled Michaele out of the room and hurriedly tried to explain the call from Gregory and what he had seen on TV while they dashed down a flight of stairs. Tareq spotted an empty
That the Obama Administration did not grab hold of the “White House Gate Crasher” story and get its accuracy under control from the get-go, leaves a multitude of nagging questions. Tops on the list of still unanswered questions: How did the Salahis get waved into the White House past multiple checkpoints, if they weren’t supposed to be there?
Twisting In the Wind
The personal aftermath of a national news frenzy is an ugly thing indeed. There’s what the public sees play out on television and in the newspapers, and then there’s what happens to the lock-and-load target’s private life. Every aspect of their past and present is open for cruel dissection: financial woes, family disputes, eating habits, clothing choices, and every personality quirk they ever displayed. And with the Salahis, there was plenty of carrion to feast upon.
The Salahis were excoriated on so many levels—some undeserved, some caused by their own reckless actions. But early on the morning after their White House visit they were still on a cloud, living like a modern day version of Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell III from the old Gilligan’s Island TV show. They were about to be shipwrecked by a massive storm yet they were oblivious, still calling each other “Lovey” and smiling about their adventure the night before. Neither one thought to turn on television news the next morning as Michaele hurried out the door to make a long-standing salon appointment back in DC.
It’s a smack-in-the-face lesson when new found fame morphs into notoriety.
Michaele arrived at the Dennis Roche Salon on K Street to find a Half Yard Productions/Bravo TV producer there. It was a surprise because on this day before Thanksgiving there was no filming scheduled. According to those in the salon, the producer began to beg Michaele to forgo her appointment and come immediately to the nearby Madison Hotel so they could shoot her “reaction to the big night last night!” Michaele demurred. She wasn’t feeling well, she told the female producer and, “It’s my day off. I’m wearing sweats and have no makeup on!”
The insistent producer promised a rare perk: wardrobe, hair and full makeup if Michaele would only come to the Madison. A car had already picked up Tareq and he was on his way into the city to join her for the interview.
After much prodding, Michaele reluctantly agreed to go to the hotel. Tareq was interviewed first—alone—about their visit to the White House. Then, after Michaele was made camera-ready, it was her turn to sit to be interviewed. Again, their Bravo/Half Yard confidentiality agreement precludes them from revealing exactly what they were asked. It wasn’t an unusual practice for the couple to be interviewed separately, so Tareq casually wandered down to the bar area to wait. On his way, he remembered to turn on his cell phone. It rang immediately.
“It was my best friend, Gregory,” Tareq says. “He didn’t even say hello—he just said, really urgently, ‘Wherever you are, grab Michaele and get to my house to hide right now!’ To hide? I didn’t know what he was talking about. I thought it was some kind of a joke.” Tareq quickly learned it was no joke as he took a few more steps into the bar, looked up at the television screen and saw himself on CNN! “People in the bar looked from the screen over to me, then back to the screen. It was surreal,” Tareq said. The volume on the TV set was down but the banner on the bottom made it clear, “White House Party Crashers.”
Tareq, his heart pounding and his mind spinning with thoughts, dashed upstairs to get his wife—she was not going to believe this!
By pounding on the door, Tareq finally got Michaele up and out of the interview chair much to the protestation of the TV producer. He pulled Michaele out of the room and hurriedly tried to explain the call from Gregory and what he had seen on TV while they dashed down a flight of stairs. Tareq spotted an empty
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