Calista Tells Press Where They Can Kiss Her

For months the national media have been obsessed with the rear end — and other, shall we say, "noticeably uninsulated" anatomical regions — of Ally McBeal star Calista Flockhart. Now after months of resisting pointed interrogations about her weight, the pint-sized starlet has publicly invited reporters, commentators, and pundits to size up her south 40 at point-blank range … so to speak.

Thursday night Flockhart appeared on David Letterman's Late Show and her host, without any beating around of the bushes, frankly asked her if she was comfortable with her present weight. Flockhart replied that she was, and Letterman asked if she felt that the national obsession over her celebrity trim had run its course.

"I don't really know," she replied. "I don't pay attention any more. I'm very, very bored with the whole thing."

Not that she's ready to bury the hatchet or anything.

In a display of unabashed candor worthy of her miniskirted alter ego, Flockhart then looked directly into the camera and coyly announced — much to the delight of the studio audience — "I would like to take this opportunity just to tell the press to kiss my skinny white ass."

We can't think of anything else to say but "You go, girlfriend."

Entertainment writers and reporters around the country openly speculated about Flockhart's well being after she showed up at last year's Emmy Awards ceremony clad in a dress that revealed there was somewhat less flesh on her bones than many deemed strictly healthy. Her TV character had already become a cause célébre among concerned feminists, and Flockhart soon found herself in the eye of a journalistic hurricane.

The matter came to a head last April, when she appeared on 20/20 with Connie Chung, ostensibly to promote the release of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. After Chung grilled her about her weight instead, Flockhart canceled a series of publicity appearances, including scheduled interviews with Letterman and daytime dish diva Rosie O'Donnell.

Her Thursday night chat with Letterman marked Flockhart's first foray back into talk television since the 20/20 debacle.