{"id":94130,"date":"2025-08-17T22:47:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T05:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=94130"},"modified":"2025-08-17T22:47:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T05:47:04","slug":"will-gladys-waffle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2025\/08\/17\/will-gladys-waffle\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Gladys Waffle?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know who had a career before the \u201870s?  Mamie Van Doren <\/strong>\u2013 the last surviving Hollywood blond bombshell.  I\u2019m always suspicious when people make allegations about folks who have passed away.  The 94-year-old Mamie claims that Rock Hudson <\/strong>wanted her in a sexual way.  No, really \u2013 she believes that.  During an arranged studio date, Van Doren says, \u201cHe came on to me, and in my book I told about having on a Crimmins <\/em>skirt and him getting very passionate and rolling on the kitchen floor.\u201d  Did it occur to her that maybe he just wanted the skirt?<\/p>\n

By the by, Mamie and several other former Hollywood luminaries will be honored at Cinecon 61<\/em><\/strong>, which takes place in Hollywood over Labor Day Weekend.  The special honorees, in addition to Mamie, include Ann-Margret<\/strong>, Pat Boone<\/strong>, Juliet Mills <\/strong>and her \u201cversatile\u201d husband, Maxwell Caulfield<\/strong>.  You can grab tix at Cinecon.org<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This week\u2019s Ask Billy<\/em><\/strong> question was troubling.  Henry <\/strong>from Chicago asks, \u201cWhat is really going on with Gladys Knight<\/strong>?  Is she really losing it?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019re not quite sure.  Gladys has a son, Shanga<\/strong> (who had a short-lived bakery in Las Vegas).  He believes his 81-year-old mom is being forced to perform by her husband of 25 years, William McDowell<\/strong>, despite her declining cognitive ability.  Shanga went to Health and Human Services <\/em>and filed a complaint against McDowell for elder abuse.  They are investigating.  Shanga is basing his opinion on Gladys forgetting lyrics and appearing disoriented onstage.  Additionally, he says sometimes she doesn\u2019t even know who she is.  It bears mentioning that she didn\u2019t miss a single concert on the recent The Queens Tour<\/em><\/strong> alongside Patti LaBelle<\/strong>, Chaka Khan <\/strong>and Stephanie Mills<\/strong>.  Gladys made her own statement: \u201cI\u2019m sorry that my health and performances have been misrepresented.  I want my fans and those concerned to rest assured I am doing very well for someone who has been on stage for three quarters of a century \u2013 hard to believe, right?  I\u2019m healthy and happy and visiting friends and family these last few months.  I\u2019m excited to get back on the road with my sisters and on stage with The Queens Tour<\/em>.  See you soon.\u201d <\/p>\n

Of course, it didn\u2019t end there.  Gladys\u2019 publicist (who works with Knight\u2019s husband\/manager) was less polite: \u201cGladys and her team are greatly saddened by Shanga\u2019s unfounded allegations, especially as he has had no substantial contact with her.  She has not been on tour since June 1st<\/sup> and can\u2019t wait to begin touring again in September.  At this time our lawyers have no choice but to explore any and all legal remedies due to Shanga\u2019s defamatory comments.\u201d  This won\u2019t be their first legal battle.  Back in 2017, Gladys successfully sued Shanga for opening a chain of unauthorized restaurants called Gladys Knight\u2019s Chicken & Waffles<\/em><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

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When all I\u2019m thinking about is chicken and waffles, we\u2019ve definitely come to the end of yet another column.  Before closing, we must acknowledge the passing of Terence Stamp<\/strong>, who bore a striking resemblance to the late Jeanne Cooper<\/strong>.  His death dashes hopes for a Priscilla<\/em><\/strong> sequel \u2013 something I never thought would or should happen.  What will definitely happen is more dish on a regular basis on www.BillyMasters.com<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 the site that never met a Twinkie<\/em> it didn\u2019t like!  If you have a question, send it along to Billy@BillyMasters.com<\/a><\/strong> and I promise to get back to you before Gladys goes back on tour (which is September 19th<\/sup> in Greensboro, NC).  Until next time, remember, one man\u2019s filth is another man\u2019s bible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know who had a career before the \u201870s?  Mamie Van Doren \u2013 the last surviving Hollywood blond bombshell.  I\u2019m always suspicious when people make allegations about folks who have passed away.  The 94-year-old Mamie claims that Rock Hudson wanted her in a sexual way.  No, really \u2013 she believes that.  During an arranged studio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94130"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94131,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94130\/revisions\/94131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}