If you watch “Morning Joe” you may already know this, but Mika Brzezinski is obsessed. Now she’s written a book — her third — about one particular obsession: America’s food addiction, and her own.
Brzezinski was feted at a book launch event last evening overlooking Central Park, where her morning partner Joe Scarborough described the root of Mika’s obsession: “If you know the Brzezinski family, you know why she has the issues she has,” Scarborough joked. “They are crazy, brilliant, and always striving for perfection.”
In “Obsessed” Brzezinski describes her history of food obsession, distorted body image and her struggle to be thin. It is dedicated to her two teenage daughters, Emilie and Carlie. “Girls, this book is for you,” Brzezinski said in her remarks as she asked them to “get off Snapchat and come forward.”
“I don’t want it to take 30 years for you to realize what it has taken me to realize.”
In the crowed, we spotted NBC’s Willie Geist, iVillage’s Kelly Wallace, CBS’s Leslie Stahl, MSNBC President Phil Griffin and CBS News chairman Jeff Fager. The “Morning Joe” crew was there including EP Alex Korson and former EP, now CBS News VP of programming Chris Licht. Also, Donny Deutsch, Joy Behar, Tina Brown and Sir Harold Evans.
In her second book, 2011’s “Knowing Your Value” Brzezinski recounted her struggle for equal pay at MSNBC and the protracted negotiations with Griffin. Last night, she had kind words for the boss: “Three books later, Phil, thanks a lot in so many ways. You let the women of MSNBC be ourselves and if you let us be ourselves, we’ll succeed.”
Friend of the show Miles Nadal, chairman and CEO of MDC Partners, hosted the event at the MDC Innovation Center on Fifth Ave. overlooking Central Park. A parting gift for attendees: ironically-placed chocolate chip cookies. Moderation over obsession.