The Houston Chronicle had the story yesterday about the latest arrest of Dr. Michael Brown, this time accused of assaulting his wife.
Everytime the Chron mentions Brown, we think of the 2002 Houston Press story on his druggy, wife-abusing ways (if sworn affidavits are any indication) and the other articles we’ve done since on the television semi-star.
The stories outlined coke-snorting, wife-beating charges, how Brown lost his medical license, and just general thuggish behavior.
But even as all that was made public, we still got to enjoy the Chron‘s society columnist, Shelby Hodge, fawn over Brown.
The Hand Center’s founder Dr. Michael G. Brown, the fellow
you’ve seen on the television ads with “little daughter Sophie,” enjoyed
two 50th birthday celebrations.After the glittering, Hollywood-style surprise party for close to 200 at
the Majestic Theatre downtown last weekend, Brown never imagined that
his wife, Rachel Brown, would have a second surprise in store for his
milestone birthday. After all, in addition to friends, all five of their
children — Lauren, Sophie, Layla, Raquel and baby Max — were at the
Majestic to offer best wishes.But Saturday night, Rachel and Michael enjoyed a more intimate
celebration at a prime table at Tony’s. Celebrants were Hand Center
senior VP Manny Guyot and Sandy Williamson; Laura and Joel J. Salinas
Jr., the center’s VP of operations; and Tabatha and Dr. Randolph A.
Lopez, hand surgeon.The surprise on this evening was the major bling — Rachel gifted her
husband with a platinum and diamond Rolex, a stunning addition to his
collection of fine watches.
Not mentioned: A year earlier, Rachel had filed a sworn affidavit saying Brown ‘ad a history of violence against her from 2004 to 2006, in which Brown allegedly “assaulted me, spit on me, pulled my hair and degraded me in front of the children.”
Just Imagine
Dr. Michael Brown of the ubiquitous Brown Hand Center television
commercials went all out for wife Rachel on her 35th birthday. He
brought in Cirque Imagination, comprising 25 former Cirque de Soleil
performers, to wow guests with eight astonishing acrobatic acts on the
grounds of the Browns’ Memorial-area home. A Fare Extraordinaire
provided party food.Joining the festivities were Heather and Dr. Robert Wimberly, Debbie and
Rudy Festari, Ericka and Jeff Bagwell, Courtney and Bo Hopson, Suzanne
and Paul Getty, Cerón and loads more, many of whom stayed late into the
night dancing to a Latin beat in the couple’s second-floor disco room.
Not mentioned: Three years earlier, Brown’s medical license had been revoked after he failed a drug test ordered after cocaine allegations.
Fueling the energy for those shopping fantasies was a
bountiful selection of dim sum treats from Gigi’s Asian Bistro &
Dumpling House, owner Gigi Huang on the scene receiving rave reviews
for the dumplings. The crowd of young and venerable fashionables sipped
party libations, snacked on the Asian fare and schmoozed with a rocking
energy. Among them were musician Aaron Courtland, artist Nicola Parente,
Saks couture manager Fady Armanious, Simon’s head of corporate special
events, Jacque Ellis, art collector Carolyn Farb, the city of Houston
webmaster Bob Nowak, the Hand Center’s Dr. Michael Brown and wife Rachel
andPage Parkes Eveleth, whose Page Parkes models were on the runway.
Not mentioned: How Brown had pleaded guilty to beating his pregnant second wife with a bedpost.
Hodge is now at CultureMap (which also extols the Browns); we’ll see how often Brown gets mentioned in the Chron’s society pages (as opposed to their news pages) from now on.
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2010.