But I was willing to try, because the quality of my life was starting to really suck, and it hurt. How is this woman still alive? Her fame earned her many accolades, working alongside stars like Janet Jackson and other popular artists. -, Press J to jump to the feed. Famous American singer and dancer Paula Abdul once revealed she survived a traumatizing plane crash in the early '90s, but years after telling the story, some think it's a sham, and here's why. It's like, there are seven other people that were on the plane, who were in that plane accident with me. But Abdul shrugs off such accusations. Thanks! "When we plummeted, I hit my head on the ceiling of the plane. I love you from the bottom my heart. "[I] didn't want to talk too much about it, because it took me a long time to build the career that I had, and I didn't want to be counted out or fearful of people not understanding and thinking that, 'Well, maybe she's really not doing well,'" she told the outlet. The Paula Abdul Plane Crash Mystery (GT Mini) Pop singer and dancer Paula Abdul is "opening up" about her 1992 plane crash: The only date possible for this "crash" is around June 8-10, 1992, which resulted in various tour dates of hers being cancelled with no explanation. This compounded her existing spinal injuries and her condition deteriorated for several years until around 1994 her health problems prevented her from working. She seems like a bit of an odd duck. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. She was a mess the times I saw her, and while I do not recall her ever using a cane or anything (I interacted with her maybe half a dozen times? She explained that she and some of the crew from the tour were constantly traveling between cities in a seven-seater plane, and that the engine caught fire about 40 minutes into the flight after a performance in St. Louis. Was Paula Abdul in a plane crash? This sets a date of June 19, 1992 for St. Louis. One of these theories revolves around the idea that Paula invented the plane crash in 2003, after regaining the limelight as an American Idol judge, to give herself an excuse for falling out of the public eye and to distract from the downturn in her career and personal life during this period. I hadn't heard about the Bratz thing but I will have to look into that, it would add credence to the drug theories. Speaking on why she refused to open up about it, Abdul explained she did not want to be associated with pity or counted out. Frank Pop singer and dancer Paula Abdul is "opening up" about her 1992 plane crash: "It all happened when I boarded a seven-seater plane and an hour into the flight one of the engines blew up and the right wing caught fire and everything went black," she told the crowd (via PEOPLE). American Idol'S Paula Abdul Lying About Plane Crash? She hit the big time in the late 1980s with the release of the multiplatinum album "Forever Your Girl," as BuzzFeed News reported, and then spent the next few years dominating the charts. But Abdul shakes off such accusations. After becoming a top pop singer in the '80s, Paula took a break from Hollywood for several years in the '90s before she reemerged to be a judge on American Idol in 2002. There is simply too much social incentive in doing so and anyone who tried to say that you are lying will be demonized as an insensitive prick. The number varies from interview to interview.) Did you know that Paula Abdul allegedly suffered a serious plane crash in the early 1990s and that this plane crash supposedly led to years of dependence on . In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment in March of 2020, the singer explained that people may doubt if the accident actually happened because she refrained from talking about it until decades later. All content, including text, and images contained on news.AmoMama.com, or available through news.AmoMama.com is for general information purposes only. She extended her talents to the movie industry, featuring in movies like "The Waiting Game," "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," and "The Wayans Bros." Her movie career did not enjoy the success she enjoyed as a singer and dancer. Then, 30 to 40 minutes into the flight (the time has varied in her repeated accounts), there was trouble. I met her several times - this would be 10 years AFTER the alleged plane crash, etc. Advertisement Paula Abdul made a name as one of the most popular dancers and singers in the 1980s. I can understand that rationale to a point but its also how we got into this opioid crisis to begin with. 21. Make of this what you will. So although there are pre-1996 records available on this site, there is no guarantee that these records are complete. That wasn't happening.". I was a perfect pain-management patient at Cedars-Sinai. Worth noting for this point is the fact that Abdul has consistently been open about her diagnosis with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, an incredibly painful condition. So yea, shes probably telling a half truth. According to Paula, around the time her Under My Spell tour concluded in 1992, she was involved in a plane crash. In 2005, she told PEOPLE the engine caught fire 40 minutes into the trip and landed in a cornfield in Iowa. How she managed to go down in a flaming aircraft and get treated in a hospital without a single word leaking to the press is another mystery, albeit one Abdul has accounted for mysteriously. The injuries had a severe impact on her mental state. Fans and tabloids during Abduls run as an American Idol judge often commented on her strange behavior, although she was quick to explain it away. In 1992 1, Paula Abdul was flying from a performance in St. Louis to Denver while on her Under My Spell Tour (sometimes called the Spellbound tour, the name of the album she was promoting at this time). Paula Abdul's Plane Crash Pain - YouTube To her credit, she lived up to the expectation, making herself one of the most popular choreographers in the industry. Is Paula Abdul actually sober like she claims, and is her strange behavior actually just her being Paula Abdul rather than drugs or alcohol? There is some confusion as to which part of her tour the crash occurred on. Yet she released an album during this "break" period of healing, she even made choreographed videos. An Entertainment Weekly report about the summer of 1992's tours mentioned a June 22 Abdul concert at Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre in Englewood, Colorado, which is six miles outside of Denver. --Well, one thing nobody has done is CALL HER OUT and make her PROVE she was in a plane crash. The award-winning dancer noted that she found herself in the hospital with serious injuries on her body. Abdul is one of the many celebrities lucky to escape a plane crash and tell the story. So I figured Id try to piece it together myself. 1 Some articles list 1993 as the date of the crash, including some quotes from Abdul herself, but in the grand scheme of things this did not seem particularly significant. At any rate several of them must still be alive and some may have been injured just like she was. A lot of women here in this industry, they don't talk about this until now. I disappeared for seven years, endured 15 cervical spine surgeries with the top doctors from around the world with the hopes that theyd put me back together again.. Its not my time to go. Then we crash-landed in flames in a cornfield. Before undertaking any course of treatment please consult with your healthcare provider. I took care of that. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://jezebel.com/paula-abdul-keeps-talking-about-surviving-a-plane-crash-1835445212?rev=1560437388395&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=jezebel_twitter&utm_campaign=socialfow_jezebel_twitter, Gloria Estefan was in a horrible bus accident. ), Abduls rep did not respond to my request for clarification on this matter. The other link provided does not contain the same disclaimer and has far more complete records, but I have no way to verify that they are 100% complete. Following her recovery, Abdul spends more time caring for her skin, doing what she loves best, and living her life to the fullest. There are only a handful of aircraft accidents, in fact, in the general vicinity during the timeframe between June 19, 1992, and June 22, 1992in Meade, Kansas, in Rocky Ford, Colorado, in Brighton, Colorado, in Falcon . From her '80s hits, including "Straight Up" and "Forever Your Girl," to her high-profile marriage to Emilio Estevez to her time as a judge in the early seasons of American Idol, Paula Abdul is considered by many to be an icon. After becoming the head choreographer for the "Laker Girls," she was discovered by the popular family group "The Jacksons.". This possibly compounded with previous injuries (such as the cheerleading accident she often mentions in conjunction with the plane crash story) and caused severe harm, but the plane did not crash. and how it resulted in her needing multiple back surgeries. Although there has been some skepticism on the internet about her story, Abdul argues that it happened. I withstood 15 cervical spinal surgeries and I had to take seven years off. Following her successful stint with "The Jacksons," Abdul released her dance workout CDs. Plane Crash. But 2019 was not the first time she told this story. You can't take things personally, and the things that resonate with you that can help you become better, the best version of yourself, you hold onto and you work through that. Especially when there is so much circumstantial evidence, such as her strange behavior that the tabloids latched onto. There are several remarkable things about this oft-repeated account that generally go unremarked. And then I reappeared on American Idol.. Where the plane landed is another odd matter. Paula's appearance on RuPaul wouldn't be the last time that the dancer spoke about the accident. Theres certainly no clear-cut evidence proving she was ever an addict, but its also nearly impossible to disprove something. To be fair, in 92 it would be very very easy for a small private or charter company that caters to the rich and famous to hide a crash or accident to avoid negative image. it's a tactic they use to get publicity. It makes sense and would account for some of her injuries that she allegedly has suffered over the years. Submissions should outline a mystery and provide a link to a more detailed review of the case such as a Wiki article or news report. ), she didnt walk normally. Abduls website lists no shows between the June 10 show in Greenwood Village and the June 23 show in Seattle. I assume pilots are included in the number? I tried taking the different medications the doctors prescribed, but it was the same old story," she told the magazine. Paula Abdul has wowed onlookers with her recent death- and gravity-defying live performances, during which she has swan-dived from "Cold-Hearted"-style scaffolding into the waiting arms of her. Sure, rx is cleaned and safer than street dope but the body doesnt care. It was not fun. The Wikipedia page for the tour uses the same dates as Abduls website. His plane was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after taking off from Palm Springs, California, and he took to his Instagram to share the news with his fans. For the first time in my life, doubt outweighed my spirit, she said. Her disclosure. In the last year or so, as shes become more outspoken both in interviews and onstage about her injuries and recovery, some gossip sites, like Jezebel and DListed, have claimed that Abdul entirely fabricated her mysterious plane-crash story. The same Jezebel article also cites an Entertainment Weekly article from September 25, 1992, which refers to Abdul performing a show at the Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre in a suburb of Denver on June 22. The idea that this happened but was just kept secret through lack of internet is ludicrous. In the process, she told a story shes previously told several times about surviving a plane crash during her Under My Spell Tour, which ran from 1991-92. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. If this story is true there will be evidence for it. While Paula has said that the plane crash served as a turning point in her career, there are people who aren't convinced that the plane accident occurred at all. Paula Abdul Tells Jennifer Hudson Why She Didn't Need to Win American Idol. Paula Abdul opens up about 1993 plane crash - yahoo.com Abdul spoke about the crash with PEOPLE in 2005, saying the plane, flying from St. Louis to Denver, landed in a cornfield. But instead I wound up with differing accounts from Paula Abdul herself, articles claiming she was lying, and lots of ._1W1pLIfaIb8rYU6YeTdAk6{margin-right:6px}._1H6Meh6ZAemKxOJDOEasfK{border-radius:50%;box-sizing:border-box;height:20px;margin-left:-8px;width:20px}._1H6Meh6ZAemKxOJDOEasfK:first-child{margin-left:0}._30vlMmCcnqKnXP1t-fzm0e{display:inline-block;margin-left:-8px;position:relative} Has she stated she was alone on the plane besides the pilot? The veteran singer remarked that she is glad there were no social media platforms during her crash, or else she would have been considered a damaged star. It's like, there are seven other people that were on the plane, who were in that plane accident with me. "The Jacksons" fell in love with Abdul's passion for dance, and soon she became the main part of their videos, with her energetic dance steps pairing perfectly to the sweetness of their melodies. But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been.. I was a big fan of hers when I was young, I vaguely remember the story about the plane crash and I definitely remember hearing about her injuring her back and struggling w/ an eating disorder. No other passengers have spoken about a crash. She began choreographing sequences for several movie productions, like "Reefer Madness" and "American Beauty.". The Truth About The Plane Crash Paula Abdul Claims She Was In - Grunge.com This goes far more in depth than that post and was heavily requested so hopefully it does not get removed this time. Is Paula Abdul lying about her plane crash years ago - Blogger "It was time to set the record straight. We didnt have the extent of paparazzi or the (internet), so you were able to contain some information.. Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan luckily survived a huge scare during a trip to Saudi Arabia for the Crown Jewel wrestling event. Paula Abdul Claims She Was In A Plane Crash But No Record Of It Exists EDIT: As referenced in footnote 2, the Jezebel article had an edit claiming that a reader had found a Kansas City Star article listing a June 20, 1992 date at the Sandstone Ampitheater in Bonner Springs, outside of Kansas City. Entertainment). But even through all of that there was one thing that kept me going, one gift that stood by my side, and that one gift is each and every one of you. We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. 2 Rich Juzwiak at Jezebel dug up records that give us a possible date for the alleged crash. I dont have proof of anything, but a personal anecdote. Paula Abdul recalls 1992 crash landing: 'I was really injured' - Yahoo! In an interview with Music News, she said, "I was so afraid of being counted out and looked at as damaged goods," pointing out that she actually was because she had to take so many years off. Sounds like some Jameela Jamil level of storytelling! The other, more popular theory, is that she used the plane crash as an excuse to either explain away her loopy behavior during her American Idol years as non-drug related (if you believe 2005 USA Today I have never been addicted to anything Paula Abdul) or to excuse it as being caused by medication prescribed to her for her injuries. The dates, circumstances, and other specifics have changed over the years, but the general outline she gives claims that she was flying from St. Louis to Denver when the plane caught fire and was forced to land in an Iowa field. I am convinced that celebrities make up personal tragedies way more than we think, or at least will stretch the truth about a personal tragedy to the point that it is basically a full out lie. Paula Abdul reflects surviving a crash landing after an alleged plane crash in 1992. An Investigation of Paula Abdul's Supposed 1992 Plane Crash - Jezebel Before a rapt crowd, she recalled the time everything came crashing down., It all happened when I boarded a seven-seater plane and an hour into the flight one of the engines blew up and the right wing caught fire and everything went black, she said. I woke up in the hospital only to find that I had crushed my cervical spine, leaving me partially paralyzed.. Dependency and addiction are also not the same thing. The singer has spoken out multiple times about a serious plane crash accident, but there are some who don't buy her story. I cannot find any news about what Abdul wouldve been doing in Nebraska in September 1991, so I dont believe this is the accident. Specifically the 2009 Ladies Home Journal interview says she was in a car accident in 1992 that caused a neck injury, and places the plane crash in 1993. The LHJ interview had direct quotes from her talking about her struggle with drug addiction. The Barista Express grinds, foams milk, and produces the silkiest espresso at the perfect temperature. Not sure why aviation seems to create those false memories. does not take responsibility for any action taken as a result of reading this article. RSD and any severe chronic pain can sometimes also cause people to seem spacey or loopy, which could also explain why so many people thought she was acting strange during the time she was on American Idol. The information in this article is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Not a crew member or friend flying with her?