After Oprah, but before Tyra, there was the Webb.
Veronica Webb.
The supermodel, journalist, author and TV personality seemingly had it all going for her and was the "it" girl in the late 1990s. The World Wide Web was just getting its legs back then, the air was pregnant with possibilities and the tall, slender Webb was connected with both New York's and Hollywood's elite. At her height she had a segment on "Good Morning America," was a contributing writer to the New York Times magazine and discarded photographers that sought photoshoots of her in lingerie.
Then she was discarded.
Webb, the first African-American to have a major cosmetics contract (with Revlon, preceeding Halle Berry and Beyonce), saw her opportunities as a writer and journalist much more than as a TV host or spokeswoman. She gravitated to the small boutiques and independent scene. It took her away from the huge budgets of Hollywood but put her in alliance with the smaller more grass-roots movements of the day.
Today, except for a brief turn as co-host of "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" on Bravo (where she was unceremoniously let go), Webb is content doing smallish events to turn people's attention away from the bubble-gum-wars of pop culture. Things like
Lingerie Miami.
Hey, brains and beauty last forever. Can't knock the hustle, till you know the hustle.
