conference room and they ducked inside. Tareq pulled out his cell phone and called their attorney, Paul Gardner. He was, after all, the man who had helped arrange things with White House liaison Michele Jones—he would certainly know what to do next.
“He told us to calm down. He said he’d call Michele Jones right away and get it all straightened out.” Gardner put them on hold and the Salahis say the next voice they heard over their speaker phone was Michele Jones when she joined them on the call.
“She was saying, ‘This is just a huge misunderstanding. The media has blown this way out of proportion. I am going to speak to the President if necessary, so don’t worry,’ and then she told us to ignore the media. Easy for her to say!” They hung up believing CNN would issue a correction any minute.
In their haste to reach out for help, the Salahis say they had left the conference room door open. During their call, they realized two Half Yard Production employees were crouched down on the nearby stairwell listening in. “It was unbelievable,” Michaele said. “Our heads were spinning about what was happening to us. We didn’t know the whole world was calling us names!”
But the TV production crew did and they wanted to get as much of the beleaguered couple on video tape before the Salahis figured it out and clammed up. Two sources close to the production crew reveal that early on the morning of November 25 th they got word that all Thanksgiving leave was cancelled with the phrase, “Houston, we have a problem!” The team was instructed to turn on CNN to become fully briefed on the “White House Party Crasher” theme and to corral the Salahis at all costs!
On their drive to Gregory’s house, Tareq and Michaele frantically discussed how their dream night could have turned so nightmarish. They couldn’t fully grasp what had happened at that early stage. Yet it seemed crystal clear that their TV production team had known about media reports labeling them as “Crashers,” and the producer hadn’t even bothered to fill them in! No wonder she was so insistent on interviewing them that day — right then and there ! They felt betrayed by the setup, and the episode added to the Salahis’ growing mistrust of Half Yard Productions.
More than an hour later, safe inside Gregory’s house, CNN was still reporting the “Crashers” angle. The Salahis didn’t understand why no correction had been made. Tension mounted while they flipped the channels and kept seeing the same video of themselves, entering the East Room, Tareq in his tuxedo and Michaele in her sari. It was played over and over again. Any minute now, they thought, surely all this will be made right.
It never was. At one point, Michaele jumped off the couch in sheer frustration and announced to the room that she was going over to the White House, knock on the front security gate and say, “Hey, you looking for me? Because I’ve done nothing wrong! Here I am, ask me anything!” Tareq, along with Gregory and his wife, gently talked Michaele off that particular emotional cliff, although there were many more to come.
Tareq lost patience. Grabbing up his cell phone, he called Gardner again as Gregory, his wife and Michaele listened over the speaker phone.
“Tareq was saying to Gardner, ‘We were invited!’ And Gardner was saying, ‘Yes! You were invited!’” Gregory recounts. But when Tareq pressed his attorney on why Michelle Jones hadn’t yet issued a statement setting the media straight, Gregory said he was aghast at the response. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” said Gregory, recounting the conversation. “Gardner said, ‘Oh, I see how you are. A friend does a favor for you and you want to throw him under the bus! You want to throw Michele under the bus!?’”
Gregory remembers at that point he literally jumped back from the phone. Holding his hands up in the air, he wildly gestured for Tareq to hang up—and hang
“He told us to calm down. He said he’d call Michele Jones right away and get it all straightened out.” Gardner put them on hold and the Salahis say the next voice they heard over their speaker phone was Michele Jones when she joined them on the call.
“She was saying, ‘This is just a huge misunderstanding. The media has blown this way out of proportion. I am going to speak to the President if necessary, so don’t worry,’ and then she told us to ignore the media. Easy for her to say!” They hung up believing CNN would issue a correction any minute.
In their haste to reach out for help, the Salahis say they had left the conference room door open. During their call, they realized two Half Yard Production employees were crouched down on the nearby stairwell listening in. “It was unbelievable,” Michaele said. “Our heads were spinning about what was happening to us. We didn’t know the whole world was calling us names!”
But the TV production crew did and they wanted to get as much of the beleaguered couple on video tape before the Salahis figured it out and clammed up. Two sources close to the production crew reveal that early on the morning of November 25 th they got word that all Thanksgiving leave was cancelled with the phrase, “Houston, we have a problem!” The team was instructed to turn on CNN to become fully briefed on the “White House Party Crasher” theme and to corral the Salahis at all costs!
On their drive to Gregory’s house, Tareq and Michaele frantically discussed how their dream night could have turned so nightmarish. They couldn’t fully grasp what had happened at that early stage. Yet it seemed crystal clear that their TV production team had known about media reports labeling them as “Crashers,” and the producer hadn’t even bothered to fill them in! No wonder she was so insistent on interviewing them that day — right then and there ! They felt betrayed by the setup, and the episode added to the Salahis’ growing mistrust of Half Yard Productions.
More than an hour later, safe inside Gregory’s house, CNN was still reporting the “Crashers” angle. The Salahis didn’t understand why no correction had been made. Tension mounted while they flipped the channels and kept seeing the same video of themselves, entering the East Room, Tareq in his tuxedo and Michaele in her sari. It was played over and over again. Any minute now, they thought, surely all this will be made right.
It never was. At one point, Michaele jumped off the couch in sheer frustration and announced to the room that she was going over to the White House, knock on the front security gate and say, “Hey, you looking for me? Because I’ve done nothing wrong! Here I am, ask me anything!” Tareq, along with Gregory and his wife, gently talked Michaele off that particular emotional cliff, although there were many more to come.
Tareq lost patience. Grabbing up his cell phone, he called Gardner again as Gregory, his wife and Michaele listened over the speaker phone.
“Tareq was saying to Gardner, ‘We were invited!’ And Gardner was saying, ‘Yes! You were invited!’” Gregory recounts. But when Tareq pressed his attorney on why Michelle Jones hadn’t yet issued a statement setting the media straight, Gregory said he was aghast at the response. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” said Gregory, recounting the conversation. “Gardner said, ‘Oh, I see how you are. A friend does a favor for you and you want to throw him under the bus! You want to throw Michele under the bus!?’”
Gregory remembers at that point he literally jumped back from the phone. Holding his hands up in the air, he wildly gestured for Tareq to hang up—and hang
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