Jeffro

Madrigal owns LPH. That’s who would be issuing paychecks for every LPH employee.

This was indeed my question, especially as applied to someone as public a figure as she obviously is.

The producers were absolutely trying to manufacture conflict. They insisted that those of us asking questions sit sprinkled throughout the audience so she wouldn't think we were all together.

Appreciate the sympathy. He had a heart attack as a result of congestive heart failure, which in turn was the result of diabetes. So it goes. I, along with everyone else attending the event, had to sign a media release, but certainly not any kind of confidentiality agreement. Hell, I wouldn't have even had to put my real name on the release if I didn't want to. Forgot to add that I was super amused by her calling me a "young man." I'm 5 days short of my 29th birthday. She's what, 32? Her attempts to infantilize other people are quite something.

So, hi! I'm the guy who asked the question in the beginning, and the whole thing was super duper bizarre. I'm the assistant debate coach at App, and my boss got an email from the producers on Monday before the event on Saturday or Sunday (I forget which) asking if we could have some kind of personalized throw down with her. As the week went on and their filming schedule appeared to change, they pared it down to "a couple" of questions during the Q&A, and they specifically selected the two people they wanted. Me, I assume for my maleness (and also because I hover around 300 pounds; the chest up shot was pretty kind to me), and the last girl to speak, I assume for her thinness. The event was pretty poorly attended. Maybe a quarter, MAYBE a third of the auditorium was full, but they also did absolutely no promotion of it. They didn't even announce it on campus until Friday. Guessing they were unsure of their filming schedule, because the skiing stuff shown in the show was filmed the night before the Q&A. The film crew was sort of gross; they made a point to find the heaviest people in the lobby and single them out for solo camera shots. I was gratified to see that none of that made the final edit. I'm fairly sure she didn't have the questions ahead of time, as I was texting with a producer while she was on stage giving her presentation trying to hash out the exact language. The bit about my dad was extemporaneous, and the result of a conversation she had with a girl immediately before me. Her answer was essentially what you saw in the show, but longer. A winding ramble about how she just does what works for her, but she's not an expert just because she's on TV. The part that was substantially different was her answer to the last girl who asked a question. The question was actually about body shaming directed toward thin people - "eat a sandwich," etc. Whitney was fairly polite and supportive in her answer, but obviously we saw how the show chose to portray her thoughts. They had a receiving line afterward for autographs and selfies and whatnot, and I was specifically asked to steer clear of that, so I guess I really did piss her off. Her folks were great, though. Had to stand in a single file line to meet her, but her parents were walking up and down the line the whole time saying hello to people and shaking hands. Her dad came to find me and tell me he was sorry for my loss and whatnot. Seemed like a really nice guy who was really embarrassed by the event.