Radar Online has news of an upcoming interview in Star Magazine with the parents of six year-old Toddlers & Tiaras star Eden Wood. Eden’s parents admit to spending upwards of $150,000 setting up their daughter for a life of pageantry. They could have spent a fraction of that to hire in-home tutors, send their daughter to the best schools, or have her learn an instrument or a second language. But really, she’s six so all of that would come later. She should be playing, learning to read and doing basic math. Instead Eden’s parents poured all that money into grooming their daughter to be a performer who trades on her looks.
In a video on Radar, Eden shows off her skills in a little belly-baring outfit with a butt-slapping rap-lite performance that I found really disturbing. She sings:
They call me cutie, cutie patootie
walking up the pageant stage and checking my bootie
cutie, cutie patootie
I’m a little Southern girl but no one [unintelligible]
Seen my face in magazines, pictures in the TV…
Got my own facebook page…
Pretty hair, pretty eyes…
I didn’t understand all she said. The video then cuts to Eden on the catwalk in a big blonde wig, dancing to 80s hits while adults take her picture.
Then around 1:30 into the video she’s wearing a cowboy outfit with a little bra and short-shorts. She strips off her jacket and smacks and shakes her butt! There are little stuffed animals peeking out from her back pockets and she repeatedly wags and shakes it to the music. It’s way too adult and suggestive a performance for a little girl, but I guess that’s all we can expect from these pageant moms.
Here’s Radar’s story:
It takes a lot to make such a little performer a champion of champions. In fact, in an exclusive interview, Eden’s mom, Mickie Wood, tells Star magazine that she estimates the family has spent in the region of $175,000 turning Eden into the mini-celebrity that she is.
“We’ve probably spent up to $150,000 or $175,000,” Mickie confessed. “I may be a little over the top with it, but she’s my only little girl.”
While controversy ramps-up over claims that the competitive world of child pageants exploits it’s young stars, Mickie is unfazed by the claims. “I really don’t care what people think. From what the show puts out there, it looks like we’re crazy. It’s just not so,” she told Star.
In the exclusive video of Eden’s performance at the Cowgirl Riders Debutante Fashion Show in New York City, her routine seems well beyond her years, strutting and singing in the spotlight and even whipping off her denim jacket to reveal a rhinestone-studded halter-and-shorts get up.
However, her mother insisted that it was a perfectly suitable performance for a little 6-year-old girl: “There’s not anything in her wardrobe that’s inappropriate,” Mickie said.
[From Radar Online]
It takes a special kind of parent to do this to their kids, the same kind of parent that is going to defend it and say there’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing. These people probably took out a second mortgage in order to afford to put their daughter on the pageant circuit. They probably think it’s paying off too, now that everyone is talking about her.
These photos are from Eden’s Facebook Page.
Here’s Eden doing “Cutie Patootie.” This outfit is more conservative than the one she wears on Radar’s video.
And here’s an Inside Edition report on Australians trying to ban the likes of Eden. Her mom cries and says “this is what she wants to do.” What a piece of work she is.
SO disturbing. Jeebus.
Bride of Chucky!
Bottom picture…is that a sexy look or am I reading too much into it?
Creepy. All this pageant thing is creepy .
P.S.: I was a pageant girl when I was 5 years old, I think…can’t remember the year exactly. But it was something done in the kindergarten and the prize was a doll from a local store. Nobody wore make-up and we were dressed like, you know, children. I was really pissed because I was first runner-up.
She looks like a little Anna Nicole Smith…. omg…
I’m cheering for Australia….that is all.
Pageants for females under the age of 16 should be banned.
The end.
I simply cannot make up my mind on this issue – one day I think (like today) that they are pimping out their daughters and the pedophiles are having a great time with all this –
then on another day I say, it isnt that bad and just kids and moms having fun.
….thats…….scary
When ever I see these kids I always think of Bettie Davis in the movie “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane”. Sad.
The incongruity of seeing heavy makeup on such a young face creeps me out. As for the video, all I can do is shake my head. Words fail me.
Mom should have saved the $150K…Eden’s going to need it for therapy when she’s older.
I wish her the best of luck.
That airbrushed poster is scary as hell.
And her parents are wasting their money because she is not any cuter than any other 6 year old girl (in other words, they are all cute…..I’m not slamming on little girls LOL). Lame parents.
I find all of this very disturbing. I have never seen the show but I have to wonder if this show is a favorite among child molesters. These pageants should be illegal. And these parents should keep their eyes out for predators.
She looks just like the blonde girl from the Princess and the Frog.
Also/nightmares
Not meant as a slam on the little girl but…what the heck was wrong with the kid that they spent $150K just to get to that point? for $150k I’d expect my daughter to be turned into an awesome combination of Mia Hamm and Mila Kunis (including speaking…was it Russian?) and already graduated from high school.
When I saw the picture on the home page I thought it was a doll baby…….
OMG…this is so tragic, having a nice looking 6 yo tot prance around on stage like a 30 yo hooker – cutie patootie my arrsse, what’s next soft-porn?
Yeah I can see this child in the next 10 years heading for a ride on the Linnocent Crack-train
She is a cute little girl, and that is what she should be a little girl. Not some little girl, Brittany Spears wanna be. Remember when Brit Brit was controversial when she was being to sexy at 16?
This is way to young.
They should have put that money into her college fund.
I call it ‘The Shirley Temple Syndrome” (Who did well/better in her adult life). But it can also be called “The Judy Garland Syndrome” or “The Lindsay Lohan Guide Book of Child Exploitation”. (sigh)
I really wish they would ban children from reality shows.
I think it’s ok to push your child to be competitive but there is a line one should not cross. Sometimes these parents really push these little girls to think they want this and when they get older that isn’t the case. I wish parents would stop living their dreams through their child. Let their child decide on their own dreams and make it happen.
As for the bride of chucky look that made me spit my coffee out. I didn’t see it until someone else said..
“This is what she wants to do!”
Seriously? This is an excuse for this woman? She is 6. When I was 6, I wanted to eat candy for dinner, but my parents said no because that would have been bad for me. Not as bad as me turning into a 6 year old pagent queen, however, and learning to value only my looks and sexuality before I even knew what that meant. This is why children have parents! To guide them and do what’s best for them, even when the kids get upset and cry. No one said parenting was supposed to be easy.
Because why put away $150-175K for her future education (hello, college?) when you can use it to turn your 6 year old into a tart instead. (And yes, in that black & red pic, she totally looks like Anna Nicole.)
Colour me disgusted. Even more disgusted than before.
Cheers to Australia!
What a complete waste of money. I would save that money for her education. Fools.
Future Courtney Stodden. Another victim of Extreme Stage Mothers.
Dear Mrs. Wood,
Please send me the $150,000 that you wasted on pageants and making your child into a “star,” so I can go to law school and become a human rights lawyer. I promise it will be put to a better use than what you used it for. Kthanxbai!
Sincerely,
Mrs. It is ME!!
P.S. The photoshop job on that kid is redonkulous.
Oh, and Mrs. Wood?
I promise you will get your change back from my law school fees. Whatever I don’t use, I will return to you.
Really going now,
Mrs. It is ME!!
Maybe because she isn’t smiling, but that’s the first pageant toddler/child who I can tell is really striking lookswise. What a beautiful little girl even with all the makeup. You know, the Japanese were fascinated by the Jonbenet Ramsay murder because they felt it absolved them from the gangrape murders they committed upon tens of millions of Chinese children.
I think the movie called Little Miss Sunshine is a perfect commentary to all this. You guys should really see it, it’s hillarious and neatly points out the hypocrisy behind this kind of industry.
Here’s the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWyH_twcMl0
What a waste of money especially since the kid is STILL freaking ugly.
Well, I have seen her on Toddlers and tiaras and she does seem to like the pageants.There are other kids on the show who dont seem to be that interested in doing pageants and who are extremely bratty. I am raising a six year old and she is not involved in pageants at all but she loves the idea of them. I have yet to let her try it. Maybe when she is 7 or 8 if she is still asking, I will let her. Just like there are grown women who want to be models; there are kids who want to be pageants. I think that kids should have the opportunity to participate in pageants if they would like to, but it is up to the parents to strictly control the environment and ensure their child does not do inappropriate dance moves or anything vulgar.
thing is kids enjoy a lot of things as long as they are social/ competitive. Dancing, sports and music all would be as much fun for her and would be so much better for her (not encouraaging nastiness based on looks and generally a really warped worldview) She would enjoy say ballet as much or ponies. WHY THIS?
This is so disturbing on so many levels. I refuse to watch that show it is so disgusting. And it is really disturbing because I think this child has colored contacts in her eyes. A child that age shouldn’t even be wearing contacts. I would be willing to bet the $150K that she doesn’t even need to wear corrective lenses. Anyone who supports this is a total loser.
she is so going to be a cracked-out whore by the time she’s 16.
Not only at age 16, but I can just picture her when she’s 75. Hope she won’t peak at age 7!
She’s like a little doll. Lord, please keep this child safe. AMEN
She specializes in doing the booty drop? Let me swallow the vomit that just came up.
I’ve got an 80’s party coming up and I don’t think I even COULD cake as much makeup on as there is on that little girl, especially in that poster. Trowel, anyone?
Im not a fan of child pageants nor would i put my child in them but to each his own people.
How is what she does different from any young kid that works in Hollywood? It isnt.
From what ive seen of Eden she is well behaved and a very cute little girl. Many of the kids on the show are brats who back talk their parents constantly. I have never seen Eden do this. I did see her pout once when she didnt win BUT what young child wouldnt do that!
Alot of celebrity and wealthy parenst spend $150 k on cars for their kids! Its their money and they can do with it what they want. The return if she became an actress on a Disney show or something would be in the millions so $15ok is nothing if thats what Eden wants to do & her parents can afford it.
Geez that loser Taylor from REal HOusewives spent $65k on a bday party for her 5 yr old who didnt even want anything to do with the party. That is money wasted with no return and that we now know they couldnt even remotely afford.
Who would comment that a little innocent girl will be a cracked out whore when older? That is pathetic on your part.
Micki Wood is nothing short of a monster. She’s wasted over 150+k to turn her child into a spoiled brat, who is not a nice kid, all in hopes of being the ultimate stage mother to make money on and exploit her child for financial gain. We should expect to see Eden riding a stripper pole in 12 years, barely able to read or count the change men throw at her after her dance. Mom will probably be there to catch the change and tell her she’s a star.
Why CPS isn’t stepping in is anyone’s guess, but this is abuse. This is not any kind of normal childhood.
I am loathe to admit. . . I knew exactly who you were talking about before I even clicked on the story.
I like Eden, she’s not nearly as odious as some of the kids on the show, but she has no real spunk or charisma to speak of. She’s just a normal little girl being shoehorned in to her mama’s unfulfilled dreams. This poor kid never had a chance – her mother graduated from the Dina Lohan School of Parental Fuckery.
Poor baby was doomed from the start – I mean, Eden Wood?!
Sounds like her stage-momager had a very controversial career path in mind for her daughter since birth. . . Why not just name her “Lilo” or “Jenna Jameson”? It’s pretty much the same career trajectory.
I swear to God. . . some people should be thrown in jail and involuntarily sterilized. . .
Why can’t they have pageants for kids without the makeup and sexy outfits? If these kids want to compete, fine, but why add in the sexualization?
Ban Ban Ban! These sick moms are feeding their children to pedophiles on a platter.
Nothing like being pimped out by your parents
a pedophile’s wet dream… those photos are being downloaded across the globe.
That photoshopped pic is just disgusting. These VERY SICK parents need psychiatric help asap.
Why do they set thier kids up to be possible targets for pedophiles and child murders? (Remember what happened to Jon Benet Ramsey)
BTW: A pagent for kids CAN be done in way they does NOT sexualize them!
I work with kids ages 3 to 6 and one of the best things about them is how cute they are WITHOUT make up and costumes or crazy clothes. Kids are cute and sweet and they can learn about make up and hair and whatever when they’re teenagers.
Just let them be their sweet little selves.
I’m pretty wary of getting knee-deep in “mommy-wars” style criticism of other mothers’ parenting. It’s not that I don’t have opinions or standards, just that I know how hard it is to be a mom, and how many times I am tired/overworked/ just doing the best I can to make sure my kid is healthy, loved, happy, and secure. So I don’t want to be too judgy, usually.
But THIS? This sh!t crosses seventeen kinds of lines. I have no problem getting judgy about this–especially as a professor who has spent a lot of time researching gender issues. I can pretty much guarantee that the result of this pageant nonsense for these little girls will be nothing but misery, insecurity, premature sexualization, social anxiety, and on and on. Ugh.
Where the H&%*L is child protective services????
I think this is terrible. I think all these kind of “children abuses” should be
banned and punished.
is she really that cute? she looks like average little girl (with more make up than i had in my whole life)
This woman would rather her daughter get her MRS. than her Masters. She’s just grooming her to look pretty and (probably) marry rich. How sad for that little girl.
Also, what child NEEDS their photo airbrushed? They have no wrinkles, acne etc.
The poster I thought was a blow up doll. That is all I can say without my forehead vein having a blowout.
Where is CPS? Never around for cases that really need their attention.
I used to use cutie patootie as a nickname for my kitten, and then I heard it was the name of this girl’s song and it was ruined. She’s a cute kid, but she’d be a whole lot cuter in a pair of shorts making mud pies with her neighbours.
Oh, and we didn’t succeed in getting this shit banned in Australia. The pageant that Eden was the headline act for went ahead, but she didn’t show up so now the organisers are facing fines, which is something, I guess.
I hate when the parents say “it’s what she wants” 98% of these kids started before they can even talk. So how do you say it’s what they want. These kids don’t know anything.
What the hell is that photoshopped picture with the roses??? I mean what the hell is that???
What a waste of money. I guess it’s because I’m freakin’ poor but I think of all those things that money could buy. I could have a new house AND a new car. And money left over to put in my children’s college fund.
(Before any one thinks I’m crazy, houses in my area typically sell for about 100,000. I don’t need a fancy car. I’m just saying this because I know some places you can’t get that much for your money.)
I thought about entering my daughter in one, because you can win money. But I took one look at the prices of a used dress and haven’t considered it since. Waste of money.
Plus, my daughter doesn’t need all that gunk and fake hair.
Of course she enjoys doing it, she’s a little girl! I would have just about KILLED to dress up in half of those outfits with makeup on when I was her age.
But that doesn’t change the fact that the people in charge of her “career” (her mother) sexualize her. She doesn’t understand that her moves are provocative, she simply does what she gets told and gets to look like all the adults on TV. She’s too young to even understand that it’s inappropriate for her to look like an adult in any way.
Her mother is delusional if she thinks that this is OK, and being an Australian myself I am team ” no pageants” all the way for as long as they allow any underage girls to act like miniature sex symbols.
Omg how can people not see how this is warping these kids minds? The so called mothers are setting these little girls to base their self esteem on winning.I’d like to beat the hell out of these women.btw I.live is appalachia ane find the term appalachian apple juice extremely offensive.not every mother from here agrees with these monsters and what they’re doing to these beautiful but emotionally damaged children