Star Jones Gets a Lashing

Mascara maven Tammy Faye Messner is firing back at The View's Star Jones over some pointed remarks the co-host made during Messner's recent appearance on the ABC gabfest. Jones accused the former televangelist of stealing from the Praise the Lord [PTL] satellite network, a charge Messner and ex-husband Jim Bakker have always denied.

"I think Star must have some hidden problems of her own; generally you do when you lash out at somebody else," Messner tells TV Guide Online, adding that Jones was "aloof" during the entire interview. "[But] it's OK because it's The View and everybody gets to have their view. She [just] decided to bring up the negative."

Messner adds that although the other co-hosts ? Meredith Vieira, Joy Behar and Lisa Ling ? "were so kind to me," Jones's comments "put a knife through my heart. She accused us of what Jerry Falwell accused us of." Not one to hold a grudge, Messner, who was on the show to promote her new documentary, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, has this message for the former prosecutor: "It's OK, Star. Keep truckin', girl!" A spokesperson for The View had no comment.

Messner hopes that the documentary, which opened in limited release on Friday, sets the record straight about her dramatic fall from grace. "I wanted the truth to come out, even if it's bad," she says. "I think it needs to come out. If you can get truth out, then it can't be played with. The parts that hurt are true and that's my life. I have to accept my life the way it is. They say in every life a little rain must fall. I've had a flood."

The artist formerly known as Tammy Faye Bakker discovered a surprising ally during those dark days: the gay community. "I too have been a minority," she says. "The whole world was against me. I know their struggles and they know I know. When Roe [Messner, her current husband] was in prison for two years, the gay community took care of me. They sent me gifts, money, pictures of their dogs named Tammy Faye. A lot of my friends have named their dogs Tammy Faye. Some of you probably think I'm a dog anyway. Woof! Woof!"