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Tag: linda thompson

  • Leah Jenner, Brandon Jenner Welcome Baby Girl

    Leah Jenner and hubby Brandon Jenner welcomed their baby girl into their lives last week. Eva James Jenner was born on Wednesday, and is the couple’s first child. Dad Brandon is Caitlyn Jenner’s oldest son with ex-wife Linda Thompson.

    Earlier on Sunday, Leah Jenner announced the birth of their daughter via Instagram.

    “On Wednesday, July 22nd I became a Mom. It has without a doubt been the most profoundly beautiful time in my life but also emotionally, spiritually and physically challenging too….and I am so grateful for every second of it. Brandon and I are taking care of our healthy, little baby girl, Eva James Jenner,” she wrote.

    A photo posted by Leah Jenner (@leah_jenner) on

    Brandon and Leah Jenner confirmed in June that they were expecting a baby girl. The couple performs in a band together. He had already completed a song for his daughter before she was born. Leah Jenner comes by her musical talent naturally. She is the daughter of The Eagles guitarist Don Felder.

    Brandon and Leah Jenner have lots of family members to rely on to help with baby Eva in these early days. Brandon can always call upon half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, or their big sisters Kourtney, Khloe, and Kim Kardashian.

    As with most new parents, however, Leah Jenner likely won’t want to put her new baby down. She will likely want to known she’s tucked safely in a cradle or bassinet, no more than a few feet away.

    Babies are so life-affirming, and they bring so much love into a couple’s world. Brandon and Leah Jenner must be positively consumed with love for their new little bundle of joy. Hopefully pictures will follow soon.

  • Leah Jenner, Brandon Jenner Celebrate With Family at Baby Shower

    Leah Jenner and Brandon Jenner were the guests of honor at a baby shower on Sunday. The shower was hosted by Brandon’s mom, Linda Thompson.

    Held in the back yard of the home shared by Brandon and Leah Jenner, the decor was simple, but elegant. It included roses–both pink and white–and a clothesline displaying an array of baby clothes and onesies.

    A cake reading, ‘Welcome Baby Jenner’ served as a centerpiece.

    Leah Jenner wore a white maxi dress and brown floppy hat to the baby shower. She actually had a hand with the pre-shower preparations, too.

    On Saturday, the mom-to-be prepared Sprinkles cupcakes–all tied with blue ribbons–as party favors for her guests. She shared a photo of the cupcakes via Instagram.

    “Tying bows on party favors while trying to figure out how many I can eat and still have enough left over for guests,” Leah Jenner captioned the post.

    A photo posted by Leah Jenner (@leah_jenner) on

    And lest anyone thinks guests at Brandon and Leah Jenner’s baby shower got away without the indignity of playing silly shower games–think again. Linda Thompson had a diaper game ready for everyone to play.

    “A funny little diaper game we played at @leah_jenner ‘s baby shower today. What a great day!!” she captioned a photo.

    Even though Brandon and Leah Jenner were busy celebrating the impending arrival of their baby, it doesn’t mean they were unaware of Brandon’s dad’s huge reveal–from Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn Jenner–on Monday.

    Leah Jenner shared a very special message and photo on Instagram on the day after the baby shower.

    “You’re finally free, Cait. #courageouswoman I love you,” she captioned it.

    A photo posted by Leah Jenner (@leah_jenner) on

    No actual due date for Brandon and Leah Jenner’s baby has been confirmed, but since the shower was this weekend, one can assume they don’t have long to wait.

  • Bruce Jenner Sued for Wrongful Death in Fatal Car Crash

    Bruce Jenner has been sued for wrongful death as a result of a car crash that killed a neighbor of the Keeping Up With the Kardashians family back in February. Kim Howe was killed when Jenner’s SUV pushed her car into oncoming traffic following what might have been a simple fender bender.

    On the heels of his interview with Diane Sawyer, this likely has Bruce Jenner in a bit of a panic. Even though he wasn’t criminally charged for his part in the car crash, it’s clear that Kim Howe’s family is out for blood–or money, so it seems.

    The stepchildren of the woman killed in the crash have sued Bruce Jenner for what is expected to be a huge sum of money–although no amount has yet been disclosed to the media. The wrongful death case was filed on Friday by Dana Redmond and William Howe, who claim to have sustained ‘enormous damages.’

    The lawsuit reportedly claims that Bruce Jenner was “negligent, careless and reckless” when he slammed into Howe’s Lexus on the Pacific Coast Highway, causing it to careen into oncoming traffic where it collided head on with a Hummer.

    Alan Nierob, who serves as a publicist for Bruce Jenner, declined comment.

    During last Friday night’s interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired on ABC’s 20/20, it became quite clear that Bruce Jenner has lots of support from his family members and his friends in his transition from a man to a woman. Even ex-wives Chrystie Crownover and Linda Thompson support the Olympian. Kris Jenner shared her support prior to the interview via Twitter.

    Certainly all these people who love and are supporting Bruce Jenner through his transition will support him through this wrongful death suit, too. Hopefully it isn’t more than the Keeping Up With the Kardashians patriarch can endure.

  • Kathie Lee Gifford: God Loves Bruce Jenner, As Does She and Frank Gifford

    Kathie Lee Gifford made a rather bold statement via Twitter regarding Bruce Jenner and his transition from a man to a woman. As anyone familiar with the Today Show host knows, Kathie Lee Gifford is a devout Christian. These days, many devout Christians translate the Bible quite literally, and some have little to no compassion for those who identify as LGBT.

    Even though Kathie Lee Gifford has never alluded to any hateful beliefs, it likely pleases her fans to know that she holds no animosity toward Bruce Jenner’s life change, and she doesn’t believe him to be an abomination.

    Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford are actually very good friends of both Bruce and Kris Jenner. Kathie Lee says she was shocked when she first learned of Bruce’s transition.

    “I never saw this coming,” Gifford said on Monday’s episode of the Today Show, adding the recent revelation “shocked me.”

    She said she spoke with Bruce Jenner last week, just ahead of the airing of his interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC’s 20/20.

    “If you can imagine the surprise….How do you deal with that? The way you do, ultimately, is when you put love first and try to put yourself in someone else’s high heels, I suppose. Louboutins, in their case,” Gifford said.

    It was via Twitter that Kathie Lee Gifford made her very bold statement, and it would be very interesting to learn if she has received any backlash for it.

    Kris Jenner tweeted her support of Bruce a day ahead of his interview with Diane Sawyer.

    Kudos to people like Kathie Lee Gifford who speak of love when discussing Bruce Jenner and his transition. Hopefully Bruce’s interview and the support of him by people like Kathie Lee Gifford and Kris Jenner–not to mention his two other ex-wives, Chrystie Crownover and Linda Thompson–will encourage others to feel a bit more ease about being themselves.

    As Bruce Jenner said in his interview, he was ‘born this way.’

    No one should feel uncomfortable being the person they were at birth.

  • Chrystie Crownover Watched Bruce Jenner Interview With Family, Feels His Pain

    Chrystie Crownover is Bruce Jenner’s first ex-wife. She watched the Keeping Up With the Kardashians patriarch’s interview with Diane Sawyer on Friday evening–along with other members of the Jenner and Kardashian families.

    Bruce Jenner and Chrystie Crownover were married from 1972 to 1981, and are the parents of Burt and Cassandra Jenner. He divulged his deep, dark secret to her many years ago, while the two were still married.

    “I can’t remember the exact words because it was such a shock to me, but he opened up his heart and confessed, and he had to share this deep, dark secret,” she explained of Bruce Jenner during the early years of their marriage. “He told me he wanted to be a woman, and understandably, I didn’t know what to say.”

    “It’s so hard to wrap your head around it, particularly because he was such a manly man,” she continued. “He never indicated anything feminine in his demeanor.”

    Despite the pain she saw in Bruce Jenner’s eyes the night his interview with Diane Sawyer aired on 20/20, she believes it was a very positive thing.

    “Pain… pain.” “He was tearful at times and it broke my heart,” she said. “It broke my heart for him… I think it was cathartic to watch it together. It was pretty intense.”

    “I’m sure there are plenty of people that don’t have the courage to come out at all, ever, and they live private, dark, tortured lives, and that’s tragic,” Chrystie Crownover added. “That’s just tragic and the fact that he did share it with me that first year, I feel like that was actually a gift he gave to me to trust me with something so intimate.”

    Hopefully the support of two of Bruce Jenner’s ex-wives–Chrystie Crownover and Linda Thompson–will help confirm he has made the right decision in going forward with his painful ordeal. Step-daughter Kourtney Kardashian believes his interview will change lives.

    Now if only Kris Jenner would get on board. Kathie Lee Gifford said Monday on the Today Show that she believes Kris is still ‘new’ to the idea of Bruce wanting to be a woman, and that she doesn’t not support him. She’s simply still processing the entire notion.

    Wouldn’t it be wonderful for Bruce Jenner to have the support of all three of his ex-wives? Chrystie Crownover, Linda Thompson, and Kris Jenner could teach the world a lot about love if they all hopped on board of his journey.

  • Linda Thompson Tried To ‘Fix’ Bruce Jenner, Admits To Being Ignorant About Transgender Issues

    Bruce Jenner’s 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer about his struggle with his gender identity has hopefully opened more than a few eyes and minds.

    Now, his ex-wife Linda Thompson has also opened up about her life and marriage with the Olympic athlete.

    Thompson wrote a compelling piece about her relationship with Bruce on the Huffington Post and said that she was sharing her experience as a means to “enlighten and inform — to lend a modicum of comfort and support for all those disenfranchised, struggling, discriminated-against, searching souls.”

    But she clarified that her experience is “commensurately uniquely my own” and Bruce’s story and struggles are his own.

    The former actress wrote about how she first saw Bruce while watching the Montreal Summer Olympics in 1976 with then boyfriend Elvis Presley and they both agreed that he was “handsome.”

    Flash forward to three years later when she met Bruce at the Playboy Mansion during a charity event. He was already separated from his first wife at the time and Thompson described him as “sweet, shy and very gentlemanly.” The two were married in 1981 and had two sons together, Brandon and Brody. Thompson recalled that those were the happiest years of her life – until he confessed that he identified as a woman and wanted to move forward with the process of becoming a woman.

    Thompson admitted to her own ignorance about being transgender and responded by insisting they go to therapy to see if they could “fix” things. They separated after 6 months of therapy.

    Despite being “heartbroken,” the 64-year-old Thompson wrote she was determined to support her ex-husband and her two sons. Despite waiving alimony and child support, she continued to have an “open door” policy to give Bruce a chance to visit his sons whenever he wanted.

    The powerful piece underlines Thompson’s devotion to her family and her support for her ex-husband. She said that she has already forgiven Bruce for those years and commends him for finally living his life the way he needs to.

  • Chrystie Scott, Bruce Jenner’s First Ex-Wife, Lent Support During Diane Sawyer Interview

    Chrystie Scott, Bruce Jenner’s first ex-wife, was present when the Keeping Up With the Kardashians patriarch was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on 20/20 Friday night. Scott joined several other family members who surrounded Bruce as the interview aired. She hoped her presence would lend some support.

    Bruce Jenner and Chrystie Scott were married from 1972 to 1981, and have two children–Burt and Cassandra Jenner–together.

    Chrystie Scott spoke with Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos on Monday about the interview that aired on Friday night.

    “I can’t remember the exact words because it was such a shock to me, but he opened up his heart and confessed, and he had to share this deep, dark secret,” she explained of Bruce Jenner during the early years of their marriage. “He told me he wanted to be a woman, and understandably, I didn’t know what to say.”

    “It’s so hard to wrap your head around it, particularly because he was such a manly man,” she continued. “He never indicated anything feminine in his demeanor.”

    “It broke my heart. I reached over and tried to give him a little comfort,” Chrystie Scott told GMA. “It broke my heart for him. It was sad.”

    Despite the tears Bruce Jenner shed, Scott believes the interview was a positive event in his life.

    “I think it was cathartic for him,” she says.

    “I’m sure there are plenty of people that don’t have the courage to come out at all, ever, and they live private, dark, tortured lives, and that’s tragic,” Chrystie Scott concluded. “That’s just tragic and the fact that he did share it with me that first year, I feel like that was actually a gift he gave to me to trust me with something so intimate.”

    Bruce Jenner is fortunate to have the support of two of his ex-wives. In a conversation on The Today Show Monday, Kathie Lee Gifford said Kris Jenner supports him, too. She explained that Jenner is still processing what these other ex-wives have known for years. She and husband Frank Gifford are good friends with both Bruce and Kris Jenner.

    Do you expect Kris Jenner will one day come around the way Chrystie Scott and Linda Thompson have, and show her support for Bruce Jenner as well?

  • Bruce Jenner’s Ex-Wives Talk About Their Marriage And Support Of The Olympian

    As expected, Bruce Jenner’s long awaited 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer opened a floodgate of reactions from family, friends and viewers.

    In the two hour interview, Bruce Jenner admitted that “Yes, for all intents and purposes, I’m a woman.” He also talked about his past relationships with his wives and how they all knew about his secret.

    His second wife Linda Thompson showed her support during the interview and opened up about her marriage to Bruce in an op-ed piece that she wrote in the Huffington Post.

    The songwriter, who was married to Bruce from 1981 to 1984 and has two children with him, recounted her years with Jenner. The touching article chronicled her first meeting with the gold-medalist and discussed her struggles keeping his secret while raising their sons.

    While she was heartbroken when Bruce confessed his secret, Thompson wrote that she realized his struggles “made mine pale in comparison.”

    And now that Bruce has finally revealed his secret, Thompson said that “I can now breathe a little easier, knowing he now has found the strength and the courage to fulfill his dream.”

    Bruce’s first wife Chrystie Scott also released a statement during the broadcast stating her support and “so hope the world can too.”

    Excerpt from Bruce Jenner’s 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer

    In fact, the only one of Bruce’s 3 ex-wives who didn’t comment on his interview with Diane Sawyer was Kris Jenner, a fact that was quickly picked up by the media, most notably in a tweet by blogger Perez Hilton.

    However, Kris was quick to react to the tweet, replying “@PerezHilton f— you Perez no one asked me to comment ..and I’m sitting with Bruce now watching this show so let’s keep it real…LOL..”

    But ABC News was quick to counter that claim. In a statement, the network said that “ABC News sent an email to her publicity team more than once. They called and said no comment.”

  • Linda Thompson: Ex-Wife of Bruce Jenner Talks of His Ongoing Transition

    Linda Thompson was Bruce Jenner’s second wife. Shortly after Diane Sawyer’s interview with Bruce Jenner aired on 20/20 Friday evening, Thompson shared her feelings about Jenner’s ongoing transition with the Huffington Post.

    Bruce Jenner and Linda Thompson were husband and wife from 1981 to 1984. She and Bruce are parents to Brandon and Brody Jenner.

    In her op-ed for the Huffington Post, Thompson reflected on Bruce Jenner–the man she once called her husband.

    “I never would have dared to speak on this issue before he was comfortable enough to do so first,” she shared.

    She started off by describing Bruce Jenner–the athlete.

    “Bruce was pretty much the perfect specimen of a man,” she wrote. “The Bruce I knew back then was unstudied, affable, and seemingly very comfortable in his own skin. So it seemed.”

    Linda Thompson said there were no clues that Bruce was living a lie–as he said numerous times during his interview with Diane Sawyer on Friday. She had no clue, in fact, until he confessed his true feelings to her.

    “When Brody was about 18-months-old and Brandon was about three-and-a-half-years-old, Bruce came to me one day with a very somber look on his face and said, ‘There’s something about me that I really need to tell you, something you need to know,’” she wrote.

    “Bruce lamented, ‘I have lived in the wrong skin, the wrong body, my whole life. It is a living hell for me, and I really feel that I would like to move forward with the process of becoming a woman, the woman I have always been inside,’” she added.

    Linda Thompson says for a while she believed she could ‘fix’ Bruce Jenner.

    “I was pretty ignorant of the fact that being transgender isn’t something that can be overcome, fixed, prayed away, exorcised or obliterated by any other arcane notion,” she wrote.

    After about six months of therapy–because of Bruce’s feelings and confession–Linda Thompson and Bruce Jenner got divorced.

    Of Bruce’s position–and his interview on Friday–Linda Thompson speaks very kindly–almost lovingly about her ex-husband.

    “It’s impossible for those of us who are comfortable living in our own skin to fully grasp what an imprisonment that must feel like to be born into the wrong body,” she wrote. “Bruce has already ‘gone through the fire…t is certainly not our place to judge him or others who may feel trapped, ostracized, or alone.”

    If only more people could have the compassion Linda Thompson very clearly possesses. Perhaps then, fewer people would suffer as long as Bruce Jenner has suffered, and they would have a much easier time of admitting their transgender status to their loved ones and friends.

    Regardless of how Bruce Jenner and Linda Thompson feel about each other as divorcees, he no doubt appreciates her acceptance and kind words.

  • Linda Thompson Says Elvis Thought Bruce Jenner Was Good-Looking

    Linda Thompson was married to Bruce Jenner from 1981 to 1986. When the world was anxiously awaiting Bruce Jenner’s interview with Diane Sawyer, Linda Thompson posted an Instagram message supportive of Bruce and the big reveal he was expected to make to the world. He collage was captioned:

    “Once a champion of Olympian magnitude…now a champion for those who share the struggle to just be who they are. #compassion #acceptance #tolerance #education #evolution #kindness #inclusion #freedom #peace,”

    Now that Bruce’s interview with Diane Sawyer is in the books, Linda Thompson is talking about her own experience with Jenner. In the telling of Bruce’s tale from her own perspective in a Huffington Post piece, she mentioned something that might have stunned tabloid-reading audiences back in the day if the Internet had only been around to capture it.

    Elvis Presley thought Bruce Jenner was one handsome man. While that is not all that strange, it was how Elvis phrased it that stuck out.

    “Damn if that guy is not handsome! I’m not gay,” The King said, “but damn, he’s good-looking!”

    Linda Thompson claims that Elvis told her this while they were watching the 1976 Summer Olympics in bed in Graceland. She says she responded to Elvis by saying, ‘”Wow! He is gorgeous! I’m going to marry that guy someday!”

    Elvis replied, “Yeah, sure, honey, over my dead body.”

    Linda Thompson did, of course, marry Bruce Jenner — after Elvis died. What she saw Bruce go through in the years they were together is something she kept to herself until now. As she said:

    “I have respectfully kept his secrets private and would have taken his confidences to my grave had he not spoken out.”

    Linda Thompson says she is only speaking now with the intent to help other transgender folks who might draw inspiration from Bruce Jenner’s story.

    “The sharing of my experience is meant to enlighten and inform — to lend a modicum of comfort and support for all those disenfranchised, struggling, discriminated-against, searching souls.

    “Bruce’s story and his struggle are uniquely his; my experiences with Bruce are commensurately uniquely my own.”