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ONE-on-ONE<br />
‘momma’ says she’s misunderstood by millions<br />
By Crystal KassaB JaBiro<br />
For six weeks, NBC aired the<br />
mother of all reality shows. Literally.<br />
Khalood Bojanowski, 50, talked to<br />
The Chaldean News about her recent<br />
controversial appearance on “Momma’s<br />
Boys.”<br />
CN: What made you decide to go on<br />
this reality show venture with your son?<br />
KB: Jojo saw it online and we didn’t<br />
actually think we would get selected.<br />
After two days we got a call, and after<br />
two weeks we were gone. We didn’t<br />
really know what was ahead.<br />
CN: Do you think you were portrayed<br />
positively?<br />
KB: Absolutely not, it was negative.<br />
The producers Ryan Seacrest<br />
and Andrew Glassman set everything<br />
up and edited what they wanted to.<br />
They made me the star of the show.<br />
They would do stuff to rile me up.<br />
For example, the episode where the<br />
girls chose not to make cutlase or<br />
dolma was actually because Ryan and<br />
Andrew hid my recipes to make me mad.<br />
CN: You insisted that your son meet<br />
a Catholic girl. Was going on a reality<br />
show to fi nd a match for your son a<br />
“Catholic” thing to do?<br />
KB: No it wasn’t. None of those<br />
girls were there to fi nd love, they were<br />
all sleazes. I didn’t like any of those girls<br />
for my son. When it comes to my son,<br />
I’m going to be a sneak and fi nd out everything<br />
about the girl. And every mom<br />
thinks the same way, I just said it on TV.<br />
CN: In the introductory video, you<br />
said, “I can’t have a Jewish girl because<br />
I’m Catholic. I just can’t see that<br />
white and black thing. It has to be a<br />
white girl. I just want a nice Catholic<br />
girl who is not from a divorced family. I<br />
want her to cook, I want her to clean,<br />
be petite and pretty, and she does what<br />
I tell her to.” How do you respond to<br />
viewers who thought you were racist<br />
and shallow?<br />
KB: I’m not racist. It’s just from my<br />
experiences. I don’t like the average<br />
Khalood and Jojo Bojanowski<br />
back in Michigan<br />
American culture. It seems like Americans<br />
don’t care if their kids get pregnant<br />
or don’t go to church. And if that’s how<br />
they want to be, that’s fi ne. I respect it,<br />
but I don’t like it. I want my son to fi nd<br />
someone like us. Even Esther, the Jewish<br />
mom, didn’t want her son to be with<br />
a non-Jew, but lots of that nonsense got<br />
edited out. I’m very comfortable with<br />
who I am and I’ll tell you whatever you<br />
want to hear to your face.<br />
CN: You come from a mixed culture,<br />
right?<br />
KB: Yes, but we’re Catholic people.<br />
My father is Chaldean and my mother<br />
is German. I grew up in Iraq, and then<br />
moved to Highland Park when I was<br />
15. My husband Jerry is half-Italian<br />
and half-Polish. These groups are very<br />
similar, very family-oriented.<br />
CN: How do you respond to other<br />
Chaldean mothers who found your behavior<br />
embarrassing?<br />
KB: I’ve only been getting a bad rap<br />
from the Chaldean community. How<br />
dare they do that to me? We should<br />
stick together. It pisses me off to say<br />
I’m a disgrace because I’m very proud<br />
of my heritage. I’m very nice and I’m<br />
very approachable. I’ll never stab you in<br />
the back. You’ll see the knife coming.<br />
So whatever happened to Jojo? He<br />
is in Boston studying International Business<br />
and playing hockey on a $40,000-<br />
a-year scholarship at Nicholas College.<br />
And he’s single.<br />
36 CHALDEAN NEWS <strong>FEBRUARY</strong> <strong>2009</strong>
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