Archive
Blackwater and Autism — The Lauritas Use Autism as a Platform to Promote Blk; Jacqueline Admits She’s In It for the Money!
Wearing their blk shirts, the Lauritas give Nicholas blk to drink (blatant product placement in the scene) and say:
Chris: He’s come a long way. I’m 100% sure we’ll recover him.
Jacqueline: If you look back six months, he’s really accomplished a lot.
On November 27, 2012, Jacqueline told Radar Online exclusively why she struggled with coming back for another round of fights on reality TV:
Signing up for more yelling, name calling and spats with Teresa Giudice was a yes for Jacqueline for a simple reason: money. “Several things make me stay,” she exclusively told RadarOnline.com friend Tom Murro. “Contracts and the money of course.” As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Housewives contracts can be lucrative, earning six figures a season and for NeNe Leakes up to $1 million a season! Jacqueline has another motive that she says is why she’s opening up for more drama – being able to bring attention to Autism, a cause near to her heart because of her son Nicholas’ diagnosis. “I know my son will get so much help and support from others. And as much as much as it helps us, we can help others in a big way. We can use the platform to raise awareness and do so much good.“
On November 21, 2012, according to Tom Murro’s source (he is a friend to the Manzo/Laurita camp, so Jacqueline is the source):
“Jax is struggling with starting to film and keeps putting it off. A part of her is afraid to take the time away from her children. Especially Nicholas who really needs her focus. As much as she wants to share her journey with others, she doesn’t want it to distract her from her kids.”
According to Wetpaint, Jacqueline shared the following with Parenting Magazine in November 2012:
Since her son Nicholas was diagnosed with autism about a year ago, she has been tracking his progress, often tweeting updates to fans whenever her little one learns how to say another word. And although Jac is holding out for the day when Nick will say, “I love you” again, she’s proud of every bit of progress he makes — no matter how small it may seem. Last week, Nick said “mommy” and Jacqueline couldn’t help but share her excitement. On November 18 Jacqueline tweeted, “Tonight Nicholas said, ‘Mommy, come! Mommy come on, Mommy …lollipop.’ (He knows how 2 get what he wants) Lollipops & cookies r his reinforcers.” What’s more is that Jacqueline always remains confident in her son’s abilities, and she’s aware patience is important. “Nicholas can say some words now! No real functional language yet but he’ll get there! We look 4ward 2 his accomplishments daily,” she shared on November 18. Starting in February, Jacqueline will be sharing Nick’s progress in articles for Parenting Magazine.
Cast members of Bravo TV’s The Real Housewives of New Jersey hosted a blk. water tasting event on at Stacks Pancake House in Paramus on Saturday. Caroline Manzo and her sons, Albie and Chris Manzo, along with Jacqueline Laurita and her husband, Chris, appeared at the event and are partners in Blk. Beverages. Visitors enjoyed taste-testings, photos and autographs with the Housewives and their families. A portion of the proceeds from this event are being donated to Autism Speaks. – NorthJersey.com and WycoffPatch.com, November 19, 2012
FameWhorgas received an e-mail (the source requested to remain anonymous) which supports the suspicion that the Lauritas are using Nicholas’ autism diagnosis to sell blk, and that the timing of Jacqueline’s announcement in People magazine (about Nicholas’ diagnosis) was coordinated with a fulvic acid study using the blk product to test for “beneficial changes” in children with autism.
Here was the original e-mail sent to FameWhorgas about the alleged blk scam on parents with autistic children:
I realize this is a little late in relation to your article on the suspicious timing of Jac’s announcement of her son’s diagnosis but I have some FACTS about her manipulation and using her son to pimp out BLK water. My son has Autism. We are always willing to try new things to see if they helped alleviate his symptoms. Earlier this year (April, May or June) an autism organization that we are affiliated with asked for volunteers for a “fulvic acid” study. Of course we were willing to volunteer. We received a case of BLK water. Then after giving my son the suggested “dosage amounts” I was to document any behavioral differences.
This was the e-mail sent at the end of the “study”:
As we have reached the end of the fulvic acid study using the blk product, I needed a few things from you to wrap up the findings.
Please complete a post study ATEC so that we can compare any changes during the timeframe using the product. I have attached the link to the survey below. Please share any comments or feedback about the product used during the study.
We truly appreciate your time and cooperation during this study. If you have any questions or concerns at any time, please feel free to contact me directly.
During the study;
1. Did you see any beneficial changes in the health in your child?
2. Did you see any beneficial changes in the behaviors in your child?
3. Did you experience any problems in your child taking the blk beverage?
4. Overall, what are your comments regarding the blk beverage product?
5. Would you recommend this product to another family? If yes, why? If no, why?
The above was sent at the beginning of July. The Lauritas wanted the results of their study in time for the People magazine article. This is all one big scam to get people to buy BLK water, and Jacqueline is using her son’s autism diagnosis [and unsuspecting, vulnerable parents of children with autism] to do it!!!!!!!!!
I can provide emails as proof….unlike Jac, I am not afraid to BE HONEST!
Here are the rest of the e-mails that were forwarded by the source to FameWhorgas:
The Fulvic Acid Case Study
March 26, 2012
We appreciate your patience as we finalized the details for our fulvic acid study. I needed to follow up with you to find out if you are interesting in participating. If you still would like to participate, please respond to be considered as a part of the study. Again, thank you for your patience.
Please send me your address that you would like product sent to.
April 24, 2012 5:02 PM
Subject: product shipped- dosage recommendations, please read carefully
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for your patience. I just found out that the blk product is shipping out today. You should receive your supply as early as this Thursday. Please let me know when you receive your product. I do want everyone to start administering on the same start date. We should be able to start this Saturday, April 28th, if everyone receives their product in time.
Here is the recommended dosage, you can give in small increments throughout the day, with or without food.
Kids 30 – 40 lbs. = 8 ounces daily
Kids who weigh 40 to 50 lbs. = 10 ounces daily
Kids who weigh 50 – 70 lbs. = 12 ounces daily
Kids who weigh 70+ lbs. = 16.9 ounces daily
Again, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns at any time.
Thank you for your participation. I look forward to your feedback.
May 02, 2012 12:55 PM
Subject: product delivery
Hello,
Everyone should have received your blk (fulvic acid) product by now. You may go ahead and start using the dosage recommendations.
Again, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns at any time.
Thank you for your participation. I look forward to your feedback.
May 30, 2012 1:37 PM
Subject: end of fulvic acid study
Hello Everyone,
As we have reached the end of the fulvic acid study using the blk product, I needed a few things from you to wrap up the findings.
Please complete a post study ATEC so that we can compare any changes during the timeframe using the product. I have attached the link to the survey below;
http://www.autism.com/index.php/ind_atec_survey
Please send me the results directly as the cc’ option does not always work. Also I need you to please complete the short questionnaire below. Please share any comments or feedback about the product used during the study.
We truly appreciate your time and cooperation during this study. If you have any questions or concerns at any time, please feel free to contact me directly.
During the study;
1. Did you see any beneficial changes in the health in your child?
2. Did you see any beneficial changes in the behaviors in your child?
3. Did you experience any problems in your child taking the blk beverage?
4. Overall, what are your comments regarding the blk beverage product?
5. Would you recommend this product to another family? If yes, why? If no, why?
June 18, 2012 6:58 PM
Subject: fulvic acid study close
Hello,
I needed to follow up to find out where you are with the blk product. If you have completed the 21 days, I need you to please complete a post ATEC and the post questions. I am attaching the questions as well as the link to the survey.
http://www.autism.com/index.php/ind_atec_survey
Please let me know if you have any questions or need any other information.
The People Magazine article titled Jacqueline Laurita: My Son Has Autism was in the September 3, 2012 issue (with the online article dated August 22, 2012). The other article in the same issue (Vol. 78 No. 10) was titled Jacqueline Laurita: Fighting for My Autistic Son.
The following is an August 2011 article from Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes Patch which makes you wonder about the Manzo’s and Laurita’s true intentions for announcing that Nicholas has autism — it appears they are positioning themselves to use autism as a platform to promote blk.
Manzo-Laurita Family Strikes Black Gold With Blk.
Franklin Lakes men leverage RHONJ fame to launch a new calorie- and caffeine-free, all natural health and energy drink. Blk. — an energy (and everything) drink that is the new business venture of the Manzo brothers — gets its color from a chemical reaction between fulvic acid and spring water.
By Rebecca K. Abma
August 9, 2011
When Ramapo High School alum Albie Manzo’s law school dreams fell apart during last season’s Real Housewives of New Jersey the Franklin Lakes resident admits he didn’t know what to do next.
Naturally, he applied to other law schools, and was dismayed that he wasn’t accepted. After one particularly good interview he found out why: The RHONJ limelight cast an unfavorable hue on his applications.
“Schools were afraid to take a chance on me coming back because of the high visibility of the show,” Manzo told Patch. “I was very discouraged and didn’t know what I would do.”
This apparent “black” listing may prove to be his lucky color: it matches his new venture, the health beverage blk., which has been flying off shelves across the country since its launch this spring.
blk., or black water as it was called when Albie and his uncle Chris Laurita discovered it last year at the food show in New York, is Canadian spring water infused with fulvic acid, a natural nutrient-rich compound that has been used in alternative healing circles for centuries.
The beverage’s black color comes from a chemical reaction between the water and fulvic acid, and is part of the drink’s allure.
“The color is what gets people listening in the first place,” Albie said.
The health and energy boosting benefits, however, is what keeps people drinking it. He said it leaves him feeling refreshed, like he’d gotten a solid eight-hours night’s sleep.
In typical Manzo-Laurita style, the entire family supports the business. Both Chris and Albie Manzo work on the business end of the company, along with their Uncle Chris Laurita, who is a partner in the venture. Manzo mom Caroline and aunt Jacqueline have helped out on the promotion end with public appearances (just this weekend, they gave samples at Corrado’s in Wayne).
But it was a Canadian family who “invented” blk., both accidentally and out out of necessity. About four years ago, the mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and was sick and weak from chemotherapy. In search of something to make her feel better, her children took to the internet seeking alternative treatments and holistic remedies when they discovered the free-radical scavenger known as fulvic acid.
They mixed it with spring water, and it turned black. They gave this black water to their mom. She drank it and felt better. So she kept drinking it. Four years later, she is not only alive but thriving. And while they wouldn’t go so far as to say the water cured her, they believe it restored her strength and increased her stamina to keep fighting.
The family thought the black water was a pretty cool product, so they decided to package it and sell it, which lead them to the food show, where the Manzo-Laurita family found them.
Albie and Chris attended the show on a mission to find something new and different to market using their RHONJ celebrity. They left with several leads, but after researching fulvic acid and meeting with the family in Vancouver, they narrowed the field down to black water, changed its name to blk. and created its sleek, eye-catching packaging.
“They were the nicest people I’ve ever met,” Manzo said. “Then we started drinking the water every day and I felt completely different, physically. I was sold.”
Considering what is at the core of the beverage and its effects, its commercial appeal isn’t surprising. Fulvic acid is mined from prehistoric sediment and been dubbed a “miracle molecule.” The list of ailments it is said to cure is endless and its medicinal history is timeless. Ayervedic medicine calls it shilajit (or salajeet), a rejuvenating agent believed to have anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety and anti-aging properties.
In western medicine, fulvic acid is being investigated as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, thyroid conditions, diabetes, eye problems, ulcers, AIDS, cancer and a host of other conditions.
A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that in the laboratory fulvic acid not only inhibits intracelluar Tau protein tangles formation but also may reverse existing tangles. (Simply put, these tangles are a measurement of the neuro-cognitive-degenarative process and a key stage in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.)
“Fulvic acid is likely to provide new insights in the development of potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease using natural products,” the study authors concluded.
Manzo admits he was skeptical of the claims at first and he doesn’t quite understand the science, but the more he drinks it — he downs a bottle a day — and the more he hears from satisfied customers, the more he believes in blk.
One case in particular, he told Patch, has really assured him of the product’s potential: A mother gave her autistic son blk. to drink, thinking its unique color might get him drinking more water. The boy not only drank it, he loved it, but the amazing part, he started behaving. The mother reached out to Albie, shocked, who sent her two more cases to try. Her son is stimming less and listening and following directions more. The difference, she told Manzo, is unbelievable.
As is the product’s commercial success, Manzo said.
“It is blowing off the shelves across the country,” he said, noting Wegman’s picked up distribution of it early on. “We literally couldn’t believe that people grasped on to it as quickly as they did.”
In the Franklin Lakes area, you can find it on the shelves at Food Town in North Haledon and Corrado’s in Wayne, and it will soon be available in ShopRite, A&P and King’s.
A 15-oz. bottle of blk. retails for $2.49, which Manzo noted is priced matched to the popular coconut water health drinks, blk.’s biggest competitor. Since blk. is only water and fulvic acid, it has zero carbs or calories and no caffeine.
For more on blk. and its history, visit blkbeverages.com.
Here are some comments on the article from that website:
gesu said on Monday, August 13, 2012
Unfortunately, the body does not require fulvic acid and simply excretes as it would any other dirt in your water. This is disgusting to give people false hope that it will cure their various ailments. Think about it. If it were so good, why do Chris, Caroline, Jacqueline and Greg look like crap? They are bloated and full of acne. Please check that any supplement has been approved by the F.D.A. This Blk water has not.
denise in austin said on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
There have always been snake oil salesmen and there always will be snake oil salesmen. And as PT Barnum famously said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Save your money, people.
denise in austin said on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Here’s an article where a doctor debunks blk’s heath claims:
http://www.self.com/health/blogs/healthyself/2011/09/black-water-dont-believe-the-h.html
PP said on Wednesday, July 11, 2012
I’ve tasted the blk. and I don’t like it. It tastes like bad tap water. So, if you can get it down, then the health benenfits might pay off. Good luck. Interesting article to follow up on:
denise in austin said on Friday, July 20, 2012
It’s not a matter of being negative nor is it a matter of slander as we’re all just giving our opinions on a message board. It is just that the health claims of blk black water have already been disproved by medical doctors. If you want to waste your hard-earned money on snake oil to make the Manzos rich, that’s your business, but it’s hardly “slander” to call it snake oil when medical doctors have already debunked it. Here’s the article if you want proof:
http://www.self.com/health/blogs/healthyself/2011/09/black-water-dont-believe-the-h.html
Ike said on Monday, July 30, 2012
This water is a sham. Not only is it not beneficial, its proven to be toxic if a lot of levels. If anything get vitamin water…thats a gimmick too but vitamin A and C and E are vital nutrients. This stuff these frauds are selling is useless and people backing them is laughable. And when they go bankrupt at another venture, hope u realize your NJ taxes will pay their debts.
Ultraworld said on Sunday, August 5, 2012
I also think this is a sham, an expensive sham. They charge $2.49 for 15oz. The water is free & the small amount of Fulmic acid costs very little. The bottle is the most expensive component. A bottle of BLK can’t cost more than $0.25 to manufacture, and they have the nerve to charge $2.49. 500% profit? Suckers.
Tina said on Thursday, September 27, 2012
You don’t have to wait until it comes to you. Go to a health food store or search out on the internet on where you can buy the fulvic acid then mix it with water. They are making too much money on something everyone can do themselves. Why not keep your money in your pocket. They put it in a plastic bottle. I wonder what kind of plastic they are using and is that toxic. They haven’t mentioned that yet. We can do it our selves.
The following is an article debunking the health benefit claims made by blk.
Will the Truth Come Out with Danielle Staub’s Return to RHONJ? Melissa Gorga Says, “I’m Not Going to Run from Her”
According to exclusive reports from sources to various bloggers, there will be a large cast for season 5 of RHONJ:
| Teresa Giudice | Kathy Wakile | Gia Casey |
| Melissa Gorga | Danielle Staub | Linda Berger |
| Caroline Manzo | Kim DePaola | Noelle Brescia |
| Jacqueline Laurita | Priscilla DiStasio | Jennifer Dalton |
Some of the cast for season 5 are what Jacqueline Laurita refers to as “extra B-role people for others that need someone to film with.” – 20 Questions With: Jacqueline Laurita, Ashlee Holmes Interviews Her Mother for Buzznet, November 20, 2012
“All of the Housewives are back for the 5th season. Danielle has NOT been asked back and Kim D has not been given a contract, but has a small role (and not that of a Housewife). Teresa has friends they they have asked to film with her but not offered contracts yet or to be Housewives.” – Jacqueline Laurita, as communicated to her friend Tom Murro on November 21, 2012
In Touch is reporting that Danielle Staub is heading back to The Real Housewives of New Jersey — and she plans on revealing some pretty big secrets while she’s at it:
“Danielle will set the truth straight and shed light on all the little stories they have been telling on the show,” an insider tells In Touch. “She will say whatever she wants.”
During Danielle’s short two seasons on RHONJ, the former stripper managed to single-handedly turn every cast member against her— and she plans to remind them why upon her return.
“Danielle knows what people want to see and she’s going to make a big return,” an insider tells In Touch. “Not everyone liked her and she is going to steal the spotlight away.”
And while the former reality star’s calculated moves may anger many of the remaining cast members, it’s exactly what fans of the show are dying to see.
In Touch is also reporting that Melissa Gorga is not shaking in her boots over Danielle’s return:
“I don’t think anyone can cause more problems for Teresa and me — not even Danielle,” Melissa Gorga, 33, told In Touch.
As In Touch first revealed, Bravo is bringing the previously axed Housewife, 50, back to the series that made her notorious.
“I’m not going to run from her,” Melissa insists. “If she wants to film together let’s film together.”
“Bring on the drama!” says Melissa of firebrand Danielle.
Related:
- In Touch Magazine is Reporting That Danielle Staub Will Return for Season 5 of RHONJ But Danielle Tweeted That ‘Bravo Didn’t Offer Me Enough to Go Back on’ the Show; In Touch Source Also Says Filming for Season 5 Has Begun Already
- Andy Cohen Teases Fans by Hinting That Danielle Staub Could Be Returning to RHONJ
FAMEWHORGAS 