Victimized by an online scam, a recent health scare, and losing her mother to dementia — Kimberly Williams-Paisley might be a star, but her life isn't Hallmark-perfect.
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00:00Victimized by an online scam, a recent health scare, and losing her mother to dementia,
00:05Kimberly Williams-Paisley might be a star, but her life isn't Hallmark perfect.
00:09As a regular star of the Hallmark Channel's Feel Good Movies and wife of country singer
00:13Brad Paisley, Kimberly Williams-Paisley's life seems charmed, but the actor has gone
00:17through many pitfalls during her life.
00:19Fans were first introduced to the actor when she starred as Annie Banks in the heartwarming
00:221991 rom-com Father of the Bride alongside Steve Martin and Diane Keaton.
00:26The film was Williams-Paisley's first big break, which shot her to fame, but at the
00:30time, she was only 19 years old and struggled with finding her footing in Hollywood.
00:34After Williams-Paisley got cast in Father of the Bride, she made the move to Los Angeles,
00:47which she described as terrifying.
00:48She told E! News,
00:49While the beginning of her career was challenging, a recent health scare brought an entirely
01:08new struggle.
01:09Her career depends on her ability to speak, which is why her August 2024 health reveal
01:12was so tragic.
01:13She shared on Instagram,
01:15Almost two years ago, I lost my voice on stage at my Alzheimer's event in Nashville.
01:19It's been a challenging couple of years, but we finally got to the bottom of it.
01:22I have damage to my laryngeal nerve.
01:24After trying various ways to fix the issue, she finally had surgery, which left her with
01:28a long scar on her neck.
01:29In 2013, Kimberly revealed to ABC News that she had fallen victim to an internet hoax.
01:34A person claiming to be named Carrie reached out to the star over email and shared that
01:38her daughter had a fatal form of pediatric cancer.
01:41She was 8 years old and had neuroblastoma and had seen a movie of mine called The Christmas
01:47Shoes.
01:48For over a week, the two kept speaking and Kimberly's husband Brad Paisley even sang
01:53Amazing Grace over the phone to whom he believed to be the dying child.
01:56The woman even put the supposed child on the phone.
02:06When the woman claimed that her daughter had died, Kimberly offered to send flowers but
02:10received a terse message that stated,
02:12I don't need you to pray for me.
02:13Doesn't seem like God hears much of anything these days.
02:16After doing some investigating, the couple discovered that the pictures of the supposed
02:19daughter had been grabbed online.
02:23The scammer was revealed to be a woman named Hope Lynn Jackson, who was subsequently arrested
02:27and charged with theft of services, a charge stemming from the fact that Paisley sang to
02:30her over the phone.
02:31Kimberly and Brad weren't her only victims, and Jackson had been using the dying daughter
02:35hoax for years.
02:36Strangely, the scam didn't seem to be about money.
02:39Sadly, the tragedy in Kimberly's life doesn't end there.
02:42She kept her mom's dementia diagnosis a secret for over ten years, but she finally opened
02:46up about the family struggles in her book, Where the Light Gets In, she told Today.
02:50After so many years of feeling like I had to be private and secret, it was just so empowering
02:53to be able to take the reins of the story.
02:55Kimberly saw signs something was amiss with her mom, Linda Williams, as far back as 2003,
03:00but it wasn't until two years later that she was diagnosed with dementia.
03:03Kimberly watched as her mother's symptoms got worse and she became destructive.
03:06She told Redbook,
03:07"'Almost every time we had dinner together, a glass broke or a plate of food wound up
03:11on the floor.
03:12She ate spaghetti with her fingers.
03:14She had accidents and falls that landed her in the ER.'"
03:16"'It's hard, what I have struggled with.'"
03:19Sadly, Linda died on November 16th, 2016.
03:22Kimberly shared a smiling picture of her mom on Instagram and wrote,
03:25"'I will remember you this way, mom.
03:27Rest in love and peace.'"
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