New York- “Sopranos” star Jamie-Lynn DiScala – who just signed with an offshore gambling company to raise awareness and money to fight eating disorders – abruptly ended the relationship yesterday after a casino exec called her “fat, then scrawny,” in a press release.
Dennis Rose, senior vice president of the Trinidad-based multibillion-dollar Casino Fortune, didn’t stop there.
In his announcement of the deal – which Lowdown brought to DiScala’s attention – Rose cracked: “Why did we hire her? Mainly because she was fat, then scrawny, and finally found a way to control her eating disorder.”
The loose-tongued exec went on: “Many of our female players experience the same. Sitting on the couch night after night watching ‘The Sopranos’ and other shows takes a toll on the human body. We’re offering our players a little guidance and inspiration.”
The actress’ 33-year-old husband, A.J. DiScala, told me his 23-year-old wife – who has battled anorexia and exercise bulimia – “burst into tears” when told of the gambling exec’s crass comments.
“She was devastated, absolutely devastated,” DiScala said during a conference call with his wife’s lawyer and publicist.
“We found these comments grossly offensive and insensitive,” Jamie-Lynn’s husband continued. “Most of the people who deal with this disease deal with it on a daily basis. For Jamie-Lynn, the scar goes with it every day. For people with eating disorders, dealing with food is an everyday, three-meal-a-day thing – like an alcoholic going to work in a bar. And it’s very difficult.”
The DiScalas’ lawyer, Mitch Schuster, told me: “We are terminating this agreement immediately.”
And publicist Leslie Sloane Zelnik slammed Rose’s remarks sarcastically: “What classy people they are! What a way to talk about the 75% of their online customers who are women!”
Yesterday, Rose, phoning from Trinidad, told me his comments were misstated by another Casino Fortune exec who put them in the announcement without his approval.
But Rose acknowledged that at a recent cocktail reception at his casino – during which guests were invited to compete for a $10,000 prize by correctly guessing weights – he quipped: “It’s a good thing we don’t have to guess Jamie-Lynn’s weight, because it’s always changing.”
Rose added: “I don’t want to say too much and put my foot in it again.”
Sounds like capital advice!
