HGTV people - Nicole Curtis

[josieposy]

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/11/hgtv-host-nicole-curtis-deletes-carjacking-post-facebook/72047878/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatodaycomnation-topstories

I couldn't figure out why I remembered her name, and a quick Google reminded me that she got into some kerfuffle with Mpls City Hall over an old house awhile back.

I don't watch her show. So I am curious about the link re: what happened in Detroit. Why did her story change?

[twotrue]

I like some of her renovations but she's been in a trouble a couple times for not pulling permits and stuff while working.

[jeaniebueller]

She was robbed, not carjacked. That is probably why she changed her tweet--when she realized that her followers would not doubt factcheck her version of events.

[sfy]

I don't think she was intentionally lying or anything, I think she just may have botched her terminology.

[jeaniebueller]

Sept 11, 2015 10:51:18 GMT -5 sfy said:

I don't think she was intentionally lying or anything, I think she just may have botched her terminology.

I am skeptical of it being an innocent mistake, partially because "carjacking" sounds much more dramatic than "robbed." And I am fiercely defensive of Detroit, so I hate that any aspect of the crime would be exaggerated, although I can completely understand how scary the situation may have been. gpw, your thoughts?

[Michelle]

Sept 11, 2015 10:54:52 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Sept 11, 2015 10:51:18 GMT -5 sfy said:

I don't think she was intentionally lying or anything, I think she just may have botched her terminology.

I am skeptical of it being an innocent mistake, partially because "carjacking" sounds much more dramatic than "robbed." And I am fiercely defensive of Detroit, so I hate that any aspect of the crime would be exaggerated, although I can completely understand how scary the situation may have been. gpw, your thoughts?

So is Nicole the rehab addict. Her whole passion is preventing the tear-down of homes in Detroit and restoring them to their former glory.

Whether her work is quality or not as questioned above - I'm not qualified to answer that... she makes things look pretty and new fairly inexpensively and does do total tear-outs of electrical and stuff when there is obvious safety issues.

Seems like she is passionately trying to build up Detroit and just used an inflated term without thinking through the consequences of her comments.

[starlily]

I'm not that outraged. A lot of people mix up legal definitions.

[decemberwedding07]

Sept 11, 2015 10:46:19 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

She was robbed, not carjacked. That is probably why she changed her tweet--when she realized that her followers would not doubt factcheck her version of events.

In her defense, I don't actually think a lot of people know that terms like "carjacking," "theft," and "robbery" have actual definitions and mean very different things. I have always been amazed by the way people interchangeably use the terms on our neighborhood email. Someone did once send out an email with the subject line "Carjacking," but then the contents of the email made it clear that the person woke up that morning to find that his laptop had been taken from his unlocked car. It's not unlike the way that people kept talking about Michael Brown's "strong arm robbery" as a reason for the police to be out searching for him. I really think people thought the term was "strong ARMED robbery," as in, "he had a gun and robbed a convenience store," not "he took some cigarettes and shoved someone," which is much less serious and much less likely to result in all available officers in a major metropolitan area being on the lookout for the kid. 

So, maybe she was just being overly dramatic to garner attention, maybe she was so shaken by the event that she wasn't thinking clearly and misused the term "carjacking" on accident, or maybe she thinks that if you're in a car and someone takes something from you, that's a "carjacking." 

[Deleted]

Another Detroiter here. I think most people in and around Detroit know the definition of car jacking (even if this is not common knowledge elsewhere).

When I first read the account, I thought "that's not car jacking!"

And I'm another fierce Detroit defender, so I'm not proud this is a common occurrence.

[gpw]

Sept 11, 2015 10:54:52 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Sept 11, 2015 10:51:18 GMT -5 sfy said:

I don't think she was intentionally lying or anything, I think she just may have botched her terminology.

I am skeptical of it being an innocent mistake, partially because "carjacking" sounds much more dramatic than "robbed." And I am fiercely defensive of Detroit, so I hate that any aspect of the crime would be exaggerated, although I can completely understand how scary the situation may have been. gpw, your thoughts?

Did not read the article, I don't have time right now because this bitch right here is in the office all fucking day.  I'm with you.  Carjacking and robbed are two different things and it's not like it's a gray area.  Unless I read the article and get a different impression, it seems like she may have been exaggerating.  If she deleted a tweet, especially.  I mean, I can see tweeting out a correction (did she do that?) but the complete delete makes it suspect.   

[jeaniebueller]

I'll just Add too though, that many white people in metro Detroit suburbia are going crazy about the story, as far as her being the victim of a crime. Lots of obnoxious statements about how Detroit will never get better, etc. So yes, tweeting out a false statement about The severity of a crime you were a victim of does have consequences with how Detroit is perceived to the rest of the world.

[Michelle]

Sept 11, 2015 11:52:37 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

I'll just Add too though, that many white people in metro Detroit suburbia are going crazy about the story, as far as her being the victim of a crime. Lots of obnoxious statements about how Detroit will never get better, etc. So yes, tweeting out a false statement about The severity of a crime you were a victim of does have consequences with how Detroit is perceived to the rest of the world.

In that regard she needs to issue a correction.

[partiallysunny]

I read her FB post (I follow her, lol) and in that post she made it clear she thought it was an attempted car jacking. Her account is the person got in the driver's side, tried to start the car, found no keys in the ignition, so instead grabbed a bag that was on the passengers side seat.

Edit: I just read the article, and it seems the police version of a bag grabbed through an open window is very different from her statement of attempted car jacking.

Interesting.

I doubt she'll issue a correction or statement.

[msmerymac]

I read her original post, because I follow her on FB, and I did not know that she had deleted it.

Her FB posts are often... streams of consciousness. I admit to really liking her, but she has a tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve, put it all out there, and write WOTs. So... I feel a kinship with her, lol.

If the "controversy" is that she claimed car jacking when actually someone just stole something out of her car, then it's NBD as far as I am concerned. She said she lost a few items, but thankfully her keys were on her person.

She was very explicit that she is extremely pro-urban living. She restores homes to try to bring both old houses and older, neglected neighborhoods back to life. She lives in Minneapolis, but is originally from Detroit, and has worked in both places (and Cleveland, IIRC). She is a total cheerleader for mixed use, diverse, walkable neighborhoods. She claimed that she has never had anything like this happen before, and she got careless (leaving her purse in plain sight, I guess), and that it has certainly not changed her opinion about city living, but crime happens.

[BirdGirl]

She also tweeted a response to questions about her pregnancy with a joke about being a surrogate that was so confusing it was unclear if she was a surrogate or not. She quickly corrected and said she was not. She's an odd duck.

[josieposy]

So while we are on the subject, are there any really good HGTV shows these days that I can watch online or on Netflix or something? Trying to get motivated for some project work.

[msmerymac]

Sept 11, 2015 12:37:08 GMT -5 josieposy said:

So while we are on the subject, are there any really good HGTV shows these days that I can watch online or on Netflix or something? Trying to get motivated for some project work.

I still watch income property. Also, I have recently discovered FYI network. They have re-runs of Flip This House (Armando Montelongo is still shady as fuck), as well as a show called Flipping Boston, which is pretty good as far as construction issues go. 

I also watch Flip or Flop, House Hunters Renovation, and I'm trying to get into Fixer Upper, although Chip Gaines creeps me out.

[ksun]

has she had her baby yet?

[sfy]

Sept 11, 2015 12:37:08 GMT -5 josieposy said:

So while we are on the subject, are there any really good HGTV shows these days that I can watch online or on Netflix or something? Trying to get motivated for some project work.

I really liked American Rehab, but it was a short season, maybe 6 episodes? They're OnDemand. I also like Fixer Upper. Chip started off normal, but I do get what msmerymac is saying, because I think he tries too hard for the cameras. I still like the show.

[fairygodmother]

She did have her baby but I don't think it was "announced" anywhere... I just randomly read a notice.

Her FB posts are so rambly and lack grammar and punctuation; I can see her using the wrong terminology, easily. (I did see a retraction, of sorts...)

That said, while its become rather formulaic, I like her reno work. I don't know what the cities (Detroit and Mpls) think of her..

[dexteroni]

Based on this article, it sounds like she was victim of theft, not carjacking. But I know I would definitely be shaken if someone jumped into my car as I was loading my stuff into it.

She is definitely an odd duck though. I used to follow her on FB, but it seemed like there were more long, dramatic, caps-lock-filled posts than posts about the show or her work, so I unfollowed her. I did hear that there was a mysterious / unacknowledged pregnancy, and that didn't surprise me either.

I do still like the show, although I don't watch it as often as I used to. I like that she champions saving old houses and original materials though, and that she seems committed to helping Detroit.

[4speedy]

I think it's just a matter of someone who used the slang improperly. She probably though a carjacking was any time you are robbed while in your car. She over generalized. She may not have understood that a carjacking involves theft of the car itself under threat of bodily harm. I didn't see the tweet, but I would imagine the replies made it pretty clear to her that she had inadvertently embellished the actual events. At least, this is what I am assuming and what makes sense to me, since I know nothing of this woman.