S23: Amber Rose: Calling Out The Steps

[radishcake]

Quote

Amber Rose, is an American model, actress, and fashion designer.

 

[STFUFrank]

She's also an activist and talk show host on VH1. I'm looking forward to seeing her on the show. 

[BoogieBurns]

I think she will surprise a lot of people. This girl has charm for days. She is smart and very tough. Great choice. 

[SnarkyTart]

I'm just hoping she can dance!  It makes me happy to see Maks back, and I hope they're a good enough team to make it into the finals.  She's nice and tall, so Maks has room to move those long legs across the floor. 

[smiley13]

Ugh, they were really scrapping the bottom of the barrel with this one.

[STFUFrank]

How so? I think DWTS is a great platform for her to talk about her activism. She's intelligent and has a great personality. If she can dance well then that's even better. 

[Princess Sparkle]

42 minutes ago, SnarkyTart said:

I'm just hoping she can dance!  It makes me happy to see Maks back, and I hope they're a good enough team to make it into the finals.  She's nice and tall, so Maks has room to move those long legs across the floor. 

This is going to come off like I'm shading her, but I do like her quite a bit so I mean this sincerely - she used to be an, um, exotic dancer and was in a few music videos, so she should be an excellent dancer.  I think she's going to be a great partner for Maks, especially because she's not a shrinking violet, and she is a hard worker who is quite charismatic and charming.  

Edited August 30, 2016 by Princess Sparkle
typo

[SnarkyTart]

1 hour ago, Princess Sparkle said:

This is going to come off like I'm shading her, but I do like her quite a bit so I mean this sincerely - she used to be an, um, exotic dancer and was in a few music videos, so she should be an excellent dancer.  I think she's going to be a great partner for Maks, especially because she's not a shrinking violet, and she is a hard worker who is quite charismatic and charming.  

Ahhh.  I know nothing about her, so thanks for the info.  Maks with a former exotic dancer?   This really should be interesting! 

[smiley13]

You know Maks would not have come back unless he had a contender. As a stripper, I am sure she has moves.

[STFUFrank]

1 hour ago, smiley13 said:

You know Maks would not have come back unless he had a contender. As a stripper, I am sure she has moves.

Not necessarily true because I believe Kendra Wilkinson (one of Hugh Hefners ex girlfriends) who appears a few years ago wasn't that great and if I'm not mistaken she was once a stripper. 

[Dots And Stripes]

1 hour ago, TotalHellion said:

Not necessarily true because I believe Kendra Wilkinson (one of Hugh Hefners ex girlfriends) who appears a few years ago wasn't that great and if I'm not mistaken she was once a stripper. 

Kendra reminds me of Lochte a bit. I think Louis found her very frustrating and that kind of stalled their progress. She wasn't bad and she could move, they just weren't a great pair. I think Amber will have an easier time absorbing everything. Whether she and Maks will hit it off remains to be seen, but I'm hopeful.

[mtlchick]

I know OF her and she's not my cup of tea.  However she can be Mel B. 2.0 for Maks.  And with millions of followers on social media, she may last at least midway. 

[Uke]

47 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

I know OF her and she's not my cup of tea.  However she can be Mel B. 2.0 for Maks.  And with millions of followers on social media, she may last at least midway. 

Isn't she also part of the Kardashian crowd? If they start tweeting support for her, she could last quite a long time.

[kitcloudkicker]

25 minutes ago, Uke said:

Isn't she also part of the Kardashian crowd? If they start tweeting support for her, she could last quite a long time.

Tangentially? Does this convert to support?

(I feel like that episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt where she knows all sorts of Kardashian facts without having seen an episode. "Wait how do I know that? Oh right, it was on the regular news.")

[Uke]

19 minutes ago, kitcloudkicker said:

Tangentially? Does this convert to support?

(I feel like that episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt where she knows all sorts of Kardashian facts without having seen an episode. "Wait how do I know that? Oh right, it was on the regular news.")

My gosh! That's crazy.  Even the young one there, Kylie?, she's in the thick of it too.

Anyway, clearly the answer is yes, Amber is part of the Kardashian crowd.

[simplyme]

2 hours ago, Uke said:

Anyway, clearly the answer is yes, Amber is part of the Kardashian crowd.

Well, she used to date Kanye West. That seems to be most of the connection in that graphic. Her ex-husband Wiz Khalifa is also on there, shown as "in a Twitter feud" with Kanye *yawn*. The other color lines show Amber is friends with, um, someone (I suck at recognizing celebrities, especially celebrealities, because I generally don't give a fig about them), but who knows what counts as friends. And supposedly she's in or had a "twitter feud" with someone else that might be Chloe Kardashian? (Feel free to help me out here, people who can actually id these folks...) I don't know how serious to take twitter feuds. I mean, Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump have had them, and I wouldn't call them part of the same crowd.

Pretty much my takeaway is she dated Kanye (ew, but already knew that), and has a friend in common with a Kardashian or two. YMMV.

[STFUFrank]

I wouldn't put her as being in their inner circle of friends but she's the best friend of Blac Chyna who is expecting Rob Kardashians child and is the mother of Kylie Jenner's boyfriends son. Amber Rose is the ex girlfriend of Kanye West who is currently married to Kim Kardashian. I'm not sure if she ever had any beef with Khloe but she did get into it a bit with Kanye over Twitter only after he brought her son into an argument or some words he had with Ambers ex husband rapper Whiz Khalifa. 

 

Regardless of the above, I'm looking forward to her. She's become an activist and comes across as being genuinely nice. 

[smiley13]

An activist??  For what cause?  Strippers who have inexplicably made themselves pseudo-famous for who they have slept with?

[STFUFrank]

1 hour ago, smiley13 said:

An activist??  For what cause?  Strippers who have inexplicably made themselves pseudo-famous for who they have slept with?

http://amberroseslutwalk.com/

Which if you aren't aware of slut walks this is a link to the DC slut walk http://www.slutwalkdc.com/.

This started in 2011 in Toronto and now they are marches that are held nationwide here to help put an end to rape culture and victim blaming/shaming or anything that puts the blame of sexual violence on the woman. Ex: her clothing, whether she had been drinking etc). Cities include Chicago, Portland and Baltimore. 

That is a very worthy cause to be involved with regardless of her past (which would be a form of shaming if one is to believe or think that because of her prior occupation that she shouldn't speak out). 

Edited August 31, 2016 by TotalHellion

[simplyme]

7 hours ago, TotalHellion said:

I wouldn't put her as being in their inner circle of friends but she's the best friend of Blac Chyna who is expecting Rob Kardashians child and is the mother of Kylie Jenner's boyfriends son. Amber Rose is the ex girlfriend of Kanye West who is currently married to Kim Kardashian. I'm not sure if she ever had any beef with Khloe but she did get into it a bit with Kanye over Twitter only after he brought her son into an argument or some words he had with Ambers ex husband rapper Whiz Khalifa. 

 

Regardless of the above, I'm looking forward to her. She's become an activist and comes across as being genuinely nice. 

Wait. Who is the mother of Kylie Jenner's boyfriend's son? This reads like a soap opera. All we need now is a long lost twin and someone with amnesia.

[STFUFrank]

Just now, simplyme said:

Wait. Who is the mother of Kylie Jenner's boyfriend's son? This reads like a soap opera. All we need now is a long lost twin and someone with amnesia.

Blac Chyna is the mother of Kylie Jenner's boyfriends son. (her boyfriend is rapper Tyga and Chyna's ex) Chyna is also best friends with Amber. 

[simplyme]

3 minutes ago, TotalHellion said:

Blac Chyna is the mother of Kylie Jenner's boyfriends son. (her boyfriend is rapper Tyga and Chyna's ex) Chyna is also best friends with Amber. 

Ah. Ok. So... Amber Rose is best friends with Blac Chyna and used to date Kanye. Everything else is just other people being inter-related and tweeting.

Edited August 31, 2016 by simplyme

[BoogieBurns]

9 hours ago, smiley13 said:

An activist??  For what cause?  Strippers who have inexplicably made themselves pseudo-famous for who they have slept with?

Wait to watch her because pseduo-famous former stripper is not how you'll see her once she speaks. She's like this crazy positive charm-monster who is everyone's insta BFF. 

[BW Manilowe]

23 hours ago, Uke said:

Isn't she also part of the Kardashian crowd? If they start tweeting support for her, she could last quite a long time.

She's not Rob Kardashian's fiancée/baby mama, if that's what you mean; that's Blac Chyna, another female rapper who's the ex of Tyga, Kylie Jenner's on & off partner. Whether or not Amber Rose merely knows the Kardashian/Jenners, I can't remember. I do know Amber was married to another rapper, with whom she has a young son.

[BoogieBurns]

@BW Manilowe She was married to Wiz Kalifa. She used to date Kanye, and seems to be cordial with Kim even when Kanye tries to stir things up. I never watch anything that has Kardashians, and I still know too much!

Amber and Blac Chyna are besties, or were when they went out dressed in these anti-slut shaming outfits:

 

I knew nothing about Amber as a person until she had a guest spot on Blackish, and I liked her acting. Then I saw her on some of the late shows and fell in love.

[chocolatine]

20 hours ago, simplyme said:

And supposedly she's in or had a "twitter feud" with someone else that might be Chloe Kardashian?

She did have a Twitter feud with Khloe. Amber criticized Kylie's relationship with Tyga because Kylie was underage at the time, and Khloe lashed out at Amber. She's also had multiple public feuds with Kanye that were so ugly I'm not going describe them here. I think it's safe to say that the Kardashians will not be rallying their social media followers to vote for Amber.

[BW Manilowe]

52 minutes ago, BoogieBurns said:

@BW Manilowe She was married to Wiz Kalifa. She used to date Kanye, and seems to be cordial with Kim even when Kanye tries to stir things up. I never watch anything that has Kardashians, and I still know too much!

Amber and Blac Chyna are besties, or were when they went out dressed in these anti-slut shaming outfits:

 

I knew nothing about Amber as a person until she had a guest spot on Blackish, and I liked her acting. Then I saw her on some of the late shows and fell in love.

Thanks. I couldn't think of Wiz's name when I posted. And like you I don't watch anything with the Kardashian/Jenners in it, if I can help it (my love for Hawaii Five-0 superceded the fact Kendall Jenner had a 1-scene part in 1 episode of the show, a few seasons ago, though; & I didn't boycott DWTS when they were on either), but I know way too much about them anyway because the mass media refuses to stop covering them! Honestly, I have no problem with Caitlyn (Bruce) because at least she reached her fame legitimately, by winning the Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal when she was still Bruce. I just have a problem with Kris & her kids--at least her daughters--& how they got, & stay, famous.

[BoogieBurns]

[emma675]

I like her--she can be crass and crude, but she owns who she is, isn't ashamed, and has charm for days. I hope she can dance and goes far.

[OakGoblinFly]

She has the most amazing complexion ..... what gorgeous skin.

[boyznkatz]

She has a pretty face, but why does she shave her head? Not trying to judge, I'm just curious since I know nothing about her. 

[Princess Sparkle]

She said once that she shaved her head once in frustration, thought she looked badass, and then started getting attention for modelling/dancing in music videos after she did it so she kept it up.  It's definitely a hard look to pull off, but she has such a lovely face and perfect skin that she can carry it.  

[BoogieBurns]

10 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

She has a pretty face, but why does she shave her head? Not trying to judge, I'm just curious since I know nothing about her. 

She looked too similar to other models. She thought she would hate it, and as @Princess Sparkle said, it turned out looking great. She has kept it for 14 years. It's part of her brand now.

[Tosia]

Amber Rose also admitted to being a prostitute for awhile in her past to support herself.  Her activism. Is for their rights and protection also. 

I think she's beautiful.  

Edited September 14, 2016 by Tosia

[chocolatine]

While Amber seems like a lovely human being, and deserves every bit of her success, I have a problem with her "activism". She's had a great from rags to riches story where she started out stripping at 15 and later became a model and Kanye's girlfriend. But she doesn't seem to acknowledge that her trajectory is very rare, and that most young women who get into sex work at such a young age face a much bleaker future. She has many young women looking up to her, and I wish she would use that as a platform to educate them about the risks of sex work and promote organizations that help at-risk women. I think that would be a lot more powerful than her "slut walks", and she's well-spoken enough to pull it off. 

[STFUFrank]

1 hour ago, chocolatine said:

While Amber seems like a lovely human being, and deserves every bit of her success, I have a problem with her "activism". She's had a great from rags to riches story where she started out stripping at 15 and later became a model and Kanye's girlfriend. But she doesn't seem to acknowledge that her trajectory is very rare, and that most young women who get into sex work at such a young age face a much bleaker future. She has many young women looking up to her, and I wish she would use that as a platform to educate them about the risks of sex work and promote organizations that help at-risk women. I think that would be a lot more powerful than her "slut walks", and she's well-spoken enough to pull it off. 

The slut walks aren't her idea. They started in Toronto and have spread across to several US cities even before she got involved with bringing one to LA and they are just as important. In case you didn't see it above here's a link to the Waahington DC slut walk (the others have Facebook pages/Twitter accounts) and they are to help end rape culture and blaming women for their own sexual assault (ex: Was she drinking? What was she wearing). 

http://www.slutwalkdc.com/ 

Amber is the biggest profile person involved with the movement and it helps raise more awareness to the cause. 

[chocolatine]

This is a very shallow observation, but I noticed that in the rehearsal talking heads she's not wearing makeup and she looks absolutely stunning. It's a sign of true beauty to look like that with a buzz cut and no makeup. I'm not a fan of the arm tats though, and I noticed that she's been wearing long sleeves in both dances as well as in the promo videos. I wonder whether it was her idea or Maks's to cover them up.

Edited September 20, 2016 by chocolatine

[friendperidot]

I've never paid much attention before, in fact the only place I was familiar with her was Go Fug Yourself. She is really a beautiful woman, so I'm in the shallow end of the pool too. I got to see a little of her dance tonight, it seems her nerves may be a little more calm. I hope so, I like to see people enjoy themselves on this show.

[Uke]

I'm reading Amber was upset about Julianne's comments about feeling "uncomfortable" watching Amber's dance this week. "Last night was like, they did the commentary, and I, it was a point in the dance where I had to lift my leg up and Maks [Chmerkovskiy] dipped me & [Julianne] said, ‘Oh, I'm uncomfortable,' and instantly I felt, I did feel body shamed."  (from http://www.eonline.com/news/798766/amber-rose-says-she-felt-body-shamed-by-julianne-hough-on-dancing-with-the-stars )

Julianne's response: "To be clear, that was a produced package, not live coverage and they can put those sound bites anywhere.  My ‘uncomfortable' comment was about the fact that I felt like I wanted more out of the performance – when someone is doing a hot, sexy dance like that without the right amount of energy that is required, it can be uncomfortable to watch. "

So Julianne was uncomfortable because Amber didn't put enough energy into the dance? Dull maybe but "uncomfortable"?   I can easily believe it was a produced package where they put her comment into a spot that would make Amber feel bad. If Julianne had said it was produced from calling my chair uncomfortable or my dress is making me uncomfortable, I could believe that. But to say she meant she was uncomfortable because Amber didn't put enough energy into the moves?  Uh. ya. ok.

I feel bad for Amber on this. I think she's been struggling to built confidence dancing for this audience and this might just shoot her back down again.

[classique]

I love Maks, and I like Amber.....but the dance was uncomfortable to watch, and not because of Amber's body.

[boyznkatz]

Maybe Julianne was uncomfortable because Amber is obviously uncomfortable. I didn't expect her to be that bad, but she's as bad as Lochte. You would think that being a former dancer (stripper?) she would be more at ease on stage.

[boyznkatz]

For the record, I don't care much for Julianne, but I don't recall her body shaming anyone on the show. There have been far heavier contestants than Amber on the show, who isn't even fat, just full-figured. She seems to be the one bringing attention to her body, not anyone else. She looks like she doesn't want to be there.

[FilmTVGeek80]

2 hours ago, Uke said:

I feel bad for Amber on this. I think she's been struggling to built confidence dancing for this audience and this might just shoot her back down again.

I don't.

I've defended Amber before when people have come down on her about complaining about things, but this kind of annoyed me. If she felt shamed why not talk to Julieanne about it and ask her what she meant instead of jumping to conclusions and doing her own shaming of Julieanna. I watched Julieanne's comments and I didn't for one second think she was doing any shaming. The judges have made those kinds of comments before. Usually, it's about being ill at ease watching some routines with dangerous tricks, but still, the comment has been made. Why leap to "Oh, she must be uncomfortable because she thinks my body is gross." There are so many other possible explanations.

I thought Julieanne's explanation made sense. If you're watching two people trying to be sexy and there's not enough "energy" or chemistry or whatever and it's completely unsexy, it can be uncomfortable.

Edited September 30, 2016 by FilmTVGeek80

[McManda]

2 hours ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

I thought Julieanne's explanation made sense. If you're watching two people trying to be sexy and there's not enough "energy" or chemistry or whatever and it's completely unsexy, it can be uncomfortable.

This, or even if there is enough energy or chemistry it can still be uncomfortable. There's a fine line between sexy chemistry and "I shouldn't be watching this" chemistry and none of it has to do with the body composition of the parties involved. Both people could be gorgeous romanesque people and I might still be uncomfortable with the situation.

I think it's an odd comment coming from Amber, mostly because I've always assumed she was a don't-give-a-f*ck kind of person. It kind of helps explain the timidness in her dancing, though. I guess she's not as confident as I imagined her to be.

[laredhead]

I hope Amber's complaint about the comment doesn't make the producers stop airing the judges comments during the performances.  I enjoy hearing their comments.  For what it's worth, I don't think the comment was body shaming.  I thought at the time the dance was not very good and found it odd that Maks had choreographed something like that.  I thought he could have done better.

[treeofdreams]

I was uncomfortable watching it and was embarrassed for her.  It was a vulgar dance, a bad song choice, not a real salsa, and bad choreography.   Does Maks not like Amber?

[sparrowtime]

I get the distinct impression that Maks is very uncomfortable in this partnership. He seems very detached from all proceedings. Makes me wonder if he agreed to do this season just to keep the lines open between him and DWTS. I is looking quite likely that there will be a spot on the judging panel opening up soon and Maks has expressed interest in judging several times. 

[TeeMo]

I am no fan of Julianne but I am on her side here. The dance was uncomfortable because this partnership is uncomfortable. Maks seems like he is phoning it in (hey Julianne!), Amber seems like she is never quite sure of her steps, the choreography was terrible and neither of them seem connected to the other. So when Amber swung her leg across Maks' body, it was uncomfortable because it looked like a person on the street walking up to a stranger and wrapping her leg around him without warning. It was odd and out of place and just seemed weird. It had nothing to do with how she looks and everything to do with how Maks and Amber relate to each other (or don't).

[majormama]

It's been my personal experience that when I feel insecure about myself or a decision I've made, I "see" judgement even when no one is judging me. When I'm confident in myself and my decisions, I'm okay even in the face of overt judgement because I don't give a f*ck what anyone else thinks. I would guess that Amber isn't as confident as she appears, if she immediately sees body shaming in Julianne's comment.

I also think it's interesting how certain topics always lead to cries of "How dare you judge!" If I said I don't enjoy country music, country fans probably wouldn't feel judged. If I said I don't enjoy watching people twerk, how dare I slut shame and/or body shame!

I didn't enjoy Amber and Maks's dance. Part of it was that I don't feel comfortable watching twerking, and part was that they didn't seem comfortable with each other. 

[DancingD]

Also possible that Maks told Amber what the comment meant. His version, anyway.