Delta Burke, who played Suzanne Sugarbaker for five seasons on Designing Women, is opening up about the scrutiny she faced over her weight — and how she once turned to crystal meth to shed pounds during her time on another TV series, Filthy Rich.
During an appearance on the Glamorous Trash podcast, Burke, 67, told host Chelsea Devantez that while she was attending acting school in London, she was prescribed weight-loss pills. It wasn't until she returned to the United States, however, that she learned her prescription was illegal in this country.
Then, on the set of Filthy Rich, which ran for two seasons from 1982 to 1983, Burke found someone to get something similar, pills she called "Black Beauties." According to the actress, she would "take them in the morning so you won't eat." She added, "They were like medicine to me."
However, after building up a tolerance to them, someone on the show suggested that Burke try methamphetamine. "Nobody knew about crystal meth at the time," she said on the podcast. "[They told me,] 'You chop it up. You snort.' I said, 'I don't want to snort it.' So I put it in cranberry juice and [drank] it… and wouldn't eat for five days."
Burke added, "They were still saying, 'Your butt's too big. Your legs are too big.' And I now look back at those pictures and go, 'I was a freaking goddess.' "
After Filthy Rich ended in 1983, Burke went on to breakout success with Designing Women, earning two Emmy nominations during her time on the series, from 1986 to 1991.
However, the continued focus on her weight ultimately contributed to her exit from the show, with Burke admitting on the podcast that she was "emotionally too fragile" to deal with the "incredibly ugly" narratives about her size.
"I thought I was stronger. I tried very hard to defend myself against lies and all the ugliness that was there and I wasn’t gonna win. I’m just an actress, you know. I don’t have any power," Burke explained, recalling that one time "on the set, when it got to be really bad, and I wasn’t handling it well with a smiling face, my whole body language changed. I would kind of hunch over... I just tried to disappear."
She added, "Hollywood will mess your head up. And I had always thought, 'I want to be a famous actress.' I thought that meant that you would be a famous and well-respected actress, but that’s not what it meant. And the moment I became famous, it was like, 'Oh no, no, no. This is not what I had in mind at all. I don’t think I want to be this anymore.' But then it’s too late."
The Quran - Chapter Ad-Dukhan : 37 - 38
Are they superior to the people of Tubba’ and those before them? We destroyed them ˹all˺, ˹for˺ they were truly wicked.
We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything in between for sport.
The Story of Tubba'
أَهُمْ خَيْرٌ أَمْ قَوْمُ تُبَّعٍ "Are they better or the people of Tubba? (44:37) ". The people of Tubba` have been referred to twice in the Qur'an.
Here and in Surah Qaf. In both places only their name has been mentioned without recounting their chronicle.
Therefore, the commentators have discussed extensively about the people of Tubba' , trying to identify them and their history.
Tubba' is not the name of a particular individual, but is said to be the royal title of the kings of Himyar in Yemen.
The Kings of Yemen were only known by this title when held sway over Himyar, Arabia, Syria, ` Iraq and parts of Africa for a long time; western part of Yemen was their capital.
Therefore, the plural of Tubba' is Tababi'ah, and the kings are called Tababi` ah of Yemen. It is not clear which of the Tababi` ah is referred to here.
Hafiz Ibn Kathir's research and conclusion would appear to be most plausible. His conclusion is that Tubba' here refers to Tubba' Ausat (Middle Tubba`) whose name was As` ad Abu Kuraib Ibn Ma` dikarab Yamani.
This King ruled at least seven hundred years before the advent of the Holy Prophet of Allah ﷺ . Among the Himyari Kings, he ruled the longest. During his rule, he went on a journey of conquest invading many regions and annexing them to his domain until he reached Samarqand, expanding his kingdom.
According to Muhammad Ibn Ishaq's narration, during his conquests once he passed by the area of Madinah and intended to attack it.
The inhabitants of Madinah adopted the attitude that during the day they used to resist his attacks and during the night they entertained him.
He felt embarrassed and abandoned the intention of fighting. During this period, two Jewish Rabbis warned him that that was the place of migration of the Final Prophet of Allah ﷺ ، and that he would never be able to prevail over that city.
He was thus persuaded and left Madinah and went away with the two Rabbis to Yemen. The Rabbis invited him to embrace the Mosaic religion, and he did accept it. As a result, his people were also influenced by him and they too embraced the Mosaic religion.
However, after his death they went astray and reverted to idolatry and fire-worship. This brought down on them the Divine wrath, the details of which are available in Surah Saba'. (Condensed from Tafsir Ibn Kathir: vol. 4 /p 144).
This incident shows that the Tubba` mentioned here had himself embraced Islam, but his people later went astray.
On both occasions the Qur'an has made reference to the 'people of Tubba', and not to Tubba' himself .
This is supported by the narratives of Sayyidna Sahl Ibn Sa'd and Ibn ` Abbas ؓ which are recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim, Imam Ahmad, Tabarani and others that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: لا تسبّو تبّعافانّہ، قد کان اسلم "Do not revile Tubba', because he had embraced Islam." (ibidem).
