Rosie O’Donnell has raised the ire of skin cancer prevention groups after saying she can’t get enough of the sun during a recent talk show appearance.
Skin cancer prevention groups are furious over recent comments by Rosie O’Donnell. During an appearance on Rachael Ray, a burnt umber O’Donnell declared that she “lives to tan,” and said that exposure to the sun isn’t dangerous.
The comments angered officials at the Ray Festa Melanoma Foundation, which labeled her remarks “dangerous” and ill-informed. Cartoonist and foundation supporter Marisa Marchetto responded to O’Donnell, saying, “Going out into the sun without protection is as, or even more dangerous, than having unprotected sex.”
The foundation has requested that O’Donnell make amends by doing public service announcements about the hazards of sun exposure and risks of skin cancer.
Many Hollywood stars have already turned in their tanning bed for spray-on tans that are safer and don’t cause premature aging, but some stars still sport tan lines, and their young fans follow suit. Brandon Holly, editor-in-chief of Elle Girl magazine, told the CBS Early Show, “I think teenagers look a lot to celebs for style and beauty. There are a few celebrities, we call them tanorexics: Britney Spears, J.Lo, Tara Reid, the Hilton sisters. So it’s very hard for girls not to do it, especially when MTV and movie stars and videos are all showing these tan celebrity icons.”
Dermatologist Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas agreed, saying, “It is particularly alarming, given how much we already know about the association of ultra-violet light with skin cancer. One can start to see permanent, early signs of wrinkling, brown spots and skin cancers in patients, as young as their late 20s.”
And while procedures like laser skin resurfacing and chemical peels can help with age spots and wrinkles caused by sun damage, they can’t remove it, and won’t lower an individual’s cancer risk later in life.
O’Donnell has not responded to criticism over her comments.
windy spirit responded:
I am certainly not a Rosie fan but she is right! It is not the sun that gives you cancer, it is the chemicals in the ‘sun screen’ that absorbe into your skin and give you cancer. Depending where you are, just stay in the shade in the hottest part of the day. The sun gives life people!