Conan O’Brien did a segment last night called Coffee Table Books That Didn’t Sell. One of the fake books featured a cover photo of Happening Now co-anchor Jenna Lee with the title “Fox News Anchor or Porn Star?” Outnumbered co-host and FBN anchor Sandra Smith was also poked fun at during the bit.
It turns out the photo was from a food blog Lee spoke with back in 2011 and simply featured the FNC anchor enjoying a blueberry lemonade. Lee has fired back, issuing the following statement on her Facebook page:
It’s from an interview I did right before I got married in 2011…for a food blog.
AdvertisementThis is the same photo Conan O’Brien used on the cover of his “joke” book. I’ve let these comments sail by in the past; why give it more attention? I think to myself…”I signed up for this business, didn’t I?” But as a wife, and a new mom, this trashy comment is not only inappropriate, it’s clearly ridiculous. And not even funny! I’m also someone’s daughter – and it’s for the benefit of young girls, like Conan’s daughter Neve, who are growing up in a world where porn references to successful, educated women are somehow considered “funny” and appropriate, even when made by fathers, that I think we need to discuss this…
In fact, Conan brings up a sad truth. Some women feel they need to dress and look like porn stars to make it on TV. I wonder where they get that idea? Could it be that the more provocative and sexy their social media photos are, the more followers they get? Maybe they don’t care about their “traditional career” – the Twitter followers are enough. But personally, it makes me extremely sad to see so many talented women tarted-up because they feel like thats what they need to do to be successful.
As many of you have noted – I dress more conservatively than many of the women on TV. It’s a conscious, strategic decision. My theory is my body should never be more important than my body of work – and I’m not done building the latter. Quite frankly, I’ll never be. I may not be the most popular on social media – or voted the sexiest – but at the end of the day, I’ve wanted to be one thing – a journalist. And based on a series of conversations recently with young women, I see the younger generation questioning about where their priority should be – the sexy selfie or the solid resume? And you can’t blame them for being confused. Class is on short supply as a priority for young women. It’s seldom reinforced, re-tweeted, tagged or trending – but it’s the one thing that never goes out of style.
So I’ll end this by asking you, as I normally do during our show – what do YOU think about this comment from Conan O’Brien Presents: Team Coco…Comes with the territory? Or crosses the line? Watch Here: http://bit.ly/1NugPMw
And now a note from someone who is actually funny: #StayClassy
Check out the segment below: