Archives - Thursday, June 24rd, 1999

Porn star Gina Ryder now only does girls due to her current relationship with Kevin Beecham, owner of Midnight Video and KBeech. "I think that is so curious," says a source. "That's one of the reasons she dumped her last man. I guess money makes the difference. Her ex-husband was constantly depressed [by her porn career]... and wanted her to stop and move home, have kids, blah blah blah. She slept with TT Boy and decided her hubby was a bad lay... She liked f---ing too much to give up porn.. now she quits boy/girls for Kevin... Go figure."

Check out below the lawsuit threat I got from Herald Price Fahringer on behalf of Steve Hirsch's Vivid Video. Fahringer is a mafia consigliere, the legal advisor to Gambino crime family associate and Show World owner Richard Basciano, who succeeded Robert DiBernardo as the mob's main man in the New York sex trade. Starting out as a First Amendment idealist, like many porners, Fahringer, like many porners, now sucks off the teat of organized crime. And this is the type that Hirsch and other leading porners, turn to for legal help. What a bunch of scum bags. If these pussy profiteers think I am going to let up on them, they can suck my dick.

BBC Does Porno

Lattara writes on RAME: UK-based readers might like to know that on BBC2 this Saturday (26th) at 9.40pm there is a documentary on the history of the legalisation of porn in Scandinavia. It's in the Timewatch series - so it should be informative - and the Radio Times warns us it "contains explicit language and images" - so it should be passably entertaining, tho' the same magazine tells us "the more obscene material is obscured." The pre-publicity also suggests it features an interview with Silvia Saint talking about filming weightless sex ('The Uranus Experiment' - I presume). Also coming up on the Beeb in the next few weeks supposedly Ruby Wax meets porn performers and has a go at directing her own porn film (!). I hope this is an indication of a new direction under the new management.

Elvis: Fans with a gangbang bent might check out Nerve Magazine because they've posted 2 articles each featuring the life and times of two of our most favoritest gangbangingest starlets: The first gives a behind-the-scenes of the Houston 500 (621), complete with pre-show, color commentary, and post bang analysis. Some candid photos of the event too.[http://www.nervemag.com/Ueland/houston/] The second is a pretty detailed interview with Annabel Chong waxing philosophical about her life in the gangbanging dojo, the irony of being gangraped, banging in general, drinking, college, christianity, asian- culture, personal life, etc. etc.[http://www.nervemag.com/Goodman/chong/] Both well-written. Enjoy.

Charles Geerts Death Threat

A Concerned Friend writes: "I have for some time watched your columns closely, as the wealth of information contained therein is helpful ascertaining some of the who's who in the domestic porn realm - I watched (read) with interest your recent postings concerning Charles Geerts and others, and after some basic investigation of my own and calling in a favor or two, looking at several government files and having access to current active case numbers - which indicate the nature of the offenses being investigated - I feel compelled to issue you the following friendly advice: Stop. Have a good day, and read between the lines Luke - just make sure you're on the right side of the line when you look across."

Luke: "If anything should happen to me, we will all know who's likely responsible - Charles Geerts and his buddies in the underworld."

Dith Doth Korey

On the newsgroup rec.arts.movies.erotica (RAME), Dithering takes on porners DrJ and Kevin Korey, hubby to porn star Nakita Kash. <> indicates comments by Kevin or Dr. J.

> You must be killing yourself over the fact that a 52 year-old man can still > get the kind of girls you to this day only dream about

Dith: This is the traditional preprogrammed theme you clowns recite when posters express unflattering opinions of your associates. Somehow, you overlooked the minor detail that West PAYS to get the girls you assert Voyager "dreams" about. Did that slip your mind?

Let's discuss these girls you assert he, and by inference we, "dream" about. How many of these girls you think we "dream" about are honors graduates of Bryn Mawr, Radcliffe, Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, or Barnard, like some of our wives, sisters, and mothers? Huh? (I just named five of the Seven Sister Colleges. You name the other two, Champ.) How many of these girls you think we "dream" about are the polished, accomplished daughters of affluent, prominent families? Speak up, I can barely hear you.

How many of these girls you think we "dream" about are drop-outs, drug abusers, and mind-numbingly self-destructive and shortsighted in thinking through life and career choices? Say what? How many of these girls you think we "dream" about, who, because of "career" choice and number of sexual partners, are walking microbe "magnets," bristling with infections like herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea, chlamydia, hepatitis C, and HIV? Damn skippy I "dream" about girls like that Champ.

How many of these girls you think we "dream" about will suck an unwashed dick coming directly from their, or someone else's anus, in front of a camera, for films intended for worldwide distribution? Real brainiacs, aren't they? And you think I "dream" about kissing women like this?

How many of these girls you think we "dream" about are functional illiterates, unable to compose and submit simple letters to electronic bulletin boards using proper punctuation, syntax, and spelling?

How many of these girls you think we "dream" about are considered abject and humiliating failures by their own families, and subsequently become estranged from their blood relatives? How many of these girls you think we "dream" about gladly attend family reunions, with proud, beaming parents? How many of these girls you think we "dream" about fake their own death to boost sales of fan-club merchandise? How many of these girls you think we "dream" about pitifully show grade or high school spelling bee trophies to a reporter to "prove" her aptitude? How's that for self-confidence?

How many of these girls you think we "dream" about are former police officers dismissed for wrongful arrests and perjurious testimony relating to those arrests, just before embarking on a promising f----and-suck-for-money on-camera career? Real dream-come-true girls, aren't they? How many of these girls you think we "dream" about sport more paint than the Sistine Chapel, enough metal affixed to their bodies to set off airport metal detectors, and cement-filled breasts the size of basketballs, all of which immediately identify them as sex-industry workers. Yes, my "dream" girls.

How many of these girls you think we "dream" about ultimately attract and marry men who are physicians, corporate-finance attorneys, investment bankers, portfolio managers, venture capitalists, genetic researchers, self-employed entrepreneurs, management consultants, academicians, nationally-known politicians, or senior executives of publicly-traded companies; men whose sustainable incomes are six, seven, and eight figures, with the social status that income confers.

Instead of the eleven sample occupations I mentioned, let's explore this issue from a different direction: How many of these "dream" girls instead establish relationships with seemingly criminally-inclined, equally undereducated and semi-literate "pimps," who send menacing emails to anonymous Usenet posters who criticize the slattern they "rent" out to other men? Starting to enjoy this post yet, cuckold? Now, I'm sure some sweet, sensitive industry actress reads this post and feels insulted by comments she construes as hurtful. So be it.

But you hanger-on goons are the root cause of sometimes blistering remarks in this forum by chanting this "Don't you wish you could have these women" or "You are jealous" or "You envy our lifestyles" nonsense. The answer is no.

Sadly, there is a contingent of chaps who seemingly fumble when it comes to real-life women, or who lack social standing, graces, income, or whatever to woo high-echelon females. Ask Darwin how that works. Maybe that group is enamored with the f----and-suck-for-money on-camera crew. Pitiful, if true. I neither know nor care. But, for future reference, find more persuasive retorts when you disagree with critical comments in this forum.

Your industry is not composed of "dream" girls except to a certain echelon of men. Your industry is not anyone's fantasy, beyond a small group of mooks like the leach who attached himself to Brandy Alexandre and eventually humiliated himself to the Usenet community. Maybe punks like that envy you people. But rest assured that type is the polor opposite of many others.

Your industry is one of manipulation, misrepresentation and duplicity to consumers, exploitation, abuse, bad-faith and treacherous business dealings, degradation, disease, and ruining lives and reputations of confused young women who are quickly tossed into the rubbish heap after being triple-penetrated for the thirty-third time on-camera.

And you honestly believe someone like Voyager is jealous of dolts like Randy West? Take another hit off the crack pipe. Sucking that glass dick clearly enhances your critical thinking skills. Your industry thrives because males have an insatiable desire to see women wearing few, if any clothes; not because well-balanced, successful people aspire to any involvement whatsoever with your industry or its employees. It is one thing to enjoy watching Trixie Tyler (for example) bouncing on a stiff dick, with spurtle dripping from her mouth. But that voyeuristic thrill does not extend to wanting any real-life contact whatsoever with Trixie Tyler. Why is it hard for you hanger-on goons to grasp that concept?

These are generally self-destructive, untrustworthy and confused young women, often from troubled homes, who could have chosen community college and/or secretarial school given their reasonable looks. The subsequent career of office jobs would preclude welfare as an option and provided access to prospective white-collar mates (like high-income bosses).

They instead choose the short-term rewards of using their pussy as a per-transaction income source for the short duration their physical looks provide that option. And then what? The value systems and personal qualities of women like this are not women I covet. But to a lovelorn mook, they are "special," aren't they? >making their own decisions in a business that has extream side-effects, >sounds like more balls than most men.

What does "extream side-effects" mean? Try resubmitting this post after you gather some composure. You can fawn and idolize pariahs and estranged misfits if you choose. Other people have the exact opposite world view. Upscale, overeducated, overachieving, pretty women, from good homes, are my "dream" girls. Kiss my f---ing ass if my "dream" girls are unavailable to you, and, as such, you believe others must embrace your downmarket fops.

>After all, how many men do you know who can face their wives and say:" >I WILL watch who and what I want to to!" get my point? What point? > Please start understanding something, it's still entertainment! This is news to you? How astute. >

You made mention about a girl sucking dick fresh outa the ass....well, > hate to break it to you but, EDITING! most girls WILL NOT do that. Which is it Slick? First you assert ass-to-mouth shots are edited, notwithstanding myriad scenes and posts from on-scene insiders stating the exact opposite. You seem misinformed. But yet you subsequently assert "most girls will not do that," which implies some will. The ones who do, and do so in front of cameras, for money, may be your "dream" girls--certainly not mine.

Sadly, your feelings are hurt. Don't worry, there are many mooks, lap-dogs, and slavering fan-boys, like yourself, who are currently offended. There are also many readers who are grateful that someone submitted a cold-eyed, accurate description of on-camera females to this newsgroup to offset the malignant stupidity of the bottom-feeders and the industry pimps looking to exploit them. The danger of pandering to the lowest common denominator is everyone is pulled into the gutter they inhabit, like a vortex. Sorry Slick, that will not happen. You people will receive no sanctuary from me. Pull your pud to your heart's desire, but do not foist your filthy dream-girls on others who are uninterested.

In case you lost track, an industry pimp and hanger-on initiated this discussion with the old-hat assertion that a non-laudatory post was the result of jealousy over not being able to "get" the girls seen in Randy West's films. You know, the f----and-suck-for-money on-camera girls. I explained, in simple, clear language, that, at best; adult-film actresses are only appealing as images on a screen. Beyond that, they are undesirable. But seemingly, to people like yourself, downmarket women are your "type," thus you embrace these on-film women. But be goddamn sure these are not "dream" girls except to mooks like you. Why don't you apply for the next 975-man gang-bang so you can "interact" with the women of your dreams? Or high-tail it to the Bunny Ranch.

Dr. JX (a Randy West associate) writes on RAME: David Aaron Clark .. Now there is a real respected name in the XXX industry ... NOT! A porn reviewer from San Francisco that makes Ron Jeremy look thin and has the collective brain cells of .. (Well, I'm above petty name calling at this point).

Makes a sad case when a man who writes for a living has to resort to such tactics. Early this morning I had a meeting with Randy, John Stagliano & Joey Silvera. After business was completed I informed them of the negative notes you have posted on RAME, and each one stated something to the effect that your opinion(s) and reviews are worthless and not to let it get to me. [Although I will give you the benefit of the doubt as John & Joey both said you were a "nice" guy] All of these long-time, award-winning producers have come to the realization that TRUE PORN FANS do not rent or purchase adult videos based on reviews .. Your's or anyone else's!

C'mon! These review magazines claim to have a huge circulation, meanwhile our office gets 3 copies of the same magazine each month? You would figure with the countless negative reviews these three producers have received from individuals like yourself it would have had some effect on their sales (positive or negative), which it most definitely has NOT! I am going to heed the advice of my business associates and no longer allow myself to be agitated by anything you may have to say about Randy or his video productions; however, an unfounded personal attack simply makes any point you have mute!

David Aaron Clark responds: Gee, you're above petty name calling, huh? Right after you make a reference to my Admittedly Impressive Girth? Of course, being overweight negates any opinion I might have. Shall I descend to your level for a moment, just for, as they say, giggles?

Well, how about this: If I only possessed as many pounds as you do brain cells, I would have to tie my self down when a strong wind from an asshole porn-industry bottom feeder came biliously whistling out of his permanently puckered-to-kiss-porn-king-ass mouth. Though "mouth" might be too elevated a description of the orifice that God in his infinite jest obviously switched at birth with the hole at your other end. (I must say what really hurt, though, was being called "from San Francisco." New York City-bred, buddy. San Francisco was just a stopover.)

How utterly pathetic of you to try to one-up me (or impress anyone) because you've been actually allowed on the premises of the Evil Angel offices. My, doesn't that make you special! I hope you didn't puddle on the floor while you were there. And BTW, go make your fat jokes at Victor and see if he's amused by your rapier-sharp wit (Ah, excuse me, can't confuse you, we know how upset that makes you: "rapier" is a sword, Mr. Lube Holder, not a Max Hardcore performance) ...

I'm also confident enough in my always-been-frank relationship with John and Joey to know they would never claim that my particular reviews are "worthless" -- though I suppose Randy might have been stung here and there when I've had no choice but to catalog his occassional shortcomings. It's merely proof that Joey and John are indeed endlessly tolerant guys that they patted you on the head like the good dog you are and told you not to worry about "bad reviews" -- though I haven't seen that I've ever reviewed anything YOU'VE done.

I mean, what HAVE you done, anyway? HAVE you done anything in this business besides be a lapdog suitcase pimp, my friend? Oh, wait -- I'll bet you've held the c-light a couple times, haven't you? Or maybe even been trusted to go out and buy lunch for everybody? I've earned (that's earned, not bought) two spotlight picks in the last year in AVN (my first year as a director) and been acknowleged by both my peers and Joey, and John, and a raft of other directors, as one of the leading porn reviewers of this decade. I've also had six books published. Have you even read six books? And no, "Making a Total Dolt of Yourself on Internet Newsgroups" doesn't count, especially if your lips are moving when you read it. Christ, I'm shocked you can even figure out how to sign on! To AOL, even!

I hate bursting a retard's little happy balloon, but back when I was reviewing every week for Screw and the Spectator, I was sent just-edited shows and called regularly by directors wanting to know not just what my praise was but what criticisms I had of their work. In fact, I can't count the number of directors -- John included -- who have said tne times over that they always enjoy my reviews even if I don't like their movies, because I understand what they're trying to do.

I'm sincerely sorry to the rest of the guys here for letting this little cockroach rile me enough that you all have to put up with me rattling off my resume like this, but ever since I got to L.A. these little nothing, two-digit IQ hanger-on pricks have been a bane to my existence. It seems like they thrive in Porn Valley, where everybody has been so bitten by the ego bug that even otherwise respectable souls will tolerate the lowest level of sycophant.

And by the way, rocket scientist, the reason porn mags send multiple copies to video companies is because that's the way it works -- the companies send the mags tapes and chromes (and often t-shirts, hats, food, etc) in the hopes of publicity (which of course you say is useless; then why do you think they go to the expense and trouble, Bizarro-Einstein?). Then the magazines send them multiple copies so they can use any positive (or, if they have a sense of humor, negative) reviews therein for publicity purposes. And my apologies to Dithering. Go ahead, man. Rip this guy a third asshole, anytime you like ... and give me a good rap to the side of my head, too, if I ever let myself get so worked up over the remarks of someone so obviously an inbred, congenital idiot and waste so much band with in reply, ever again ... dacxxx (who's feeling a bit testy right now, what with having to put up with Luke F-rd's bulls--- the last couple of days)

Hirsch: 'I'm a little pansy'

Vivid Video Threatens Luke F-rd

LIPSITZ, GREEN, FAHRINGER, ROLL, SALISBURY & CAMBRIA,
LLP ATTORNEYS AT LAW
42 DELAWARE AVENUE, SUITE 300
BUFFALO, NEW YORK 14202-3857
(716) 849-1333
FAX (716) 855-1580
WRITER'S TELEPHONE EXTENSION 346

June 23, 1999
VIA CERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
VIA E-MAIL TO: luke@lukeisback.com

Luke Carey Ford
264 South La Cienega Blvd., # 1417
Beverly Hills, CA 90211

Re: Steve Hirsch/Vivid Video, Inc.

Dear Mr. Ford:

Lipsitz, Green, Fahringer, Roll, Salisbury & Cambria, LLP, represents Steve Hirsch and his company, Vivid Video, Inc. [hereinafter "Vivid Video"], and related individuals in matters relating to the enforcement of their respective interests and rights.

It has come to our attention that you have recently published, and are continuing to publish, certain false, misleading and manifestly libelous statements concerning my clients. The statements are being written and posted by you at the l-keford.com website, which we understand is under your sole control and authority.

On Tuesday, June 22, 1999, you made the following false and libelous statements:

Vivid Girls Do the Bunny Ranch

Vivid Owner Stevie Hirsch tells Luke F-rd that all his contract girls, including Janine and Julia Ann, will be available at the Bunny Ranch this summer. "I took a look at the action those Sin City execs were getting, a real piece of the pie, Luke," said Hirsch by phone Tuesday morning, "and I wanted some for myself."

The foregoing statements are false and were clearly known by you to be false when made. The reported conversation between you and Mr. Hirsch never took place. Mr. Hirsch has only met you personally on two occasions and has only spoken to you on the telephone once, several months ago. The statements are libelous per se because they refer to Mr. Hirsch contemplating possible Mann Act violations, and his contract girls planning to engage in acts of prostitution.

On Wednesday, June 23, 1999, you made the following libelous statements:

Justice Department Cracks Down

FBI agents swarmed across the San Fernando Valley this morning, arresting leading members of the American porn industry for anti-trust violations that include price fixing. At his arraignment this morning, Vivid impresario Steve Hirsch wore a tasteful purple chiffon gown which accentuated all his curves.

...While watching videotape of a chiffon-less Hirsch taking it up the ass from a strap-on wielding Janine, Dutch pornographer Charlie Geerts said the arrests did not interest him nearly as much as the rumor that Marc Davis and Kobe Tai had split up.

The above statements are completely false and were clearly made by you with knowledge of their falsity. The "story" is a complete and utter fabrication on your part. The statements are libelous and in some cases, libelous per se. Among other things, you accuse Vivid Video and Mr. Hirsch of engaging in criminal antitrust activities. Needless to say, Mr. Hirsch was not arrested or arraigned by the FBI or any other authority.

On Wednesday, June 23, 1999, you further made the following additional libelous statement:

Meanwhile, KCBS TV reports that the reason Vivid, VCA and AVN mandate the use of condoms in their productions is that all of their contract girls have AIDS.

The foregoing statement is outrageous and completely false. You are damaging the reputation of the Vivid actors and inflicting emotional distress on the actors and their families. The foregoing statements were clearly published with malice and with the apparent intent of harming Steve Hirsch, Vivid Video and its employees and agents, and subject you to legal action for compensatory and punitive damages, an award of attorneys fees and costs, and injunctive relief.

Accordingly, in light of the foregoing, Mr. Hirsch, in his own capacity and on behalf of Vivid Video, hereby demands that you retract and apologize for each and every falsehood referred to hereinabove without delay. Although we do not believe that you are entitled to avail yourself of the protections set forth in California Civil Code Section 48(a), that Code Section provides some guidance regarding the nature of an effective retraction. Pursuant to Section 48(a), the retraction must be made no later than twenty-one (21) days of the date on which the demand therefor is received. In other words, any retraction published by you must appear on your website at the same time of day as the original Posting and that it appear no later than twenty-one (21) days after you have received this letter. Moreover, your retraction must be complete, unequivocal, and published in a manner that is substantially as conspicuous as the original Posting.

Demand is further made that you cease and desist in the publication of the above-referenced defamatory statements concerning our clients -- regardless of whether such publication is made by means of Internet transmission or otherwise. Be fore-warned that your failure to comply with the foregoing demands will result in my clients' immediate exercise of their legal rights and remedies against you. Moreover, in the future, you should take care to engage in more responsible reporting, and not just spew out venomous falsehoods. Please note that the foregoing is not an offer to compromise or settle this matter, and Vivid Video, and its principals, agents, and contractors, hereby reserve all of their rights and remedies relative thereto, including the right to seek recovery for damages notwithstanding your publication of a retraction.

Should you have any questions regarding the foregoing, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned. Very truly yours,

LIPSITZ, GREEN, FAHRINGER, ROLL, SALISBURY & CAMBRIA, LLP

By: Paul J. Cambria, Jr. PJC:mae

cc: Steve Hirsch
Craig Vasiloff at: cvasiloff@FANTASTICONLINE.COM
Craig Vasiloff
3 The Carriage Way
Thornhill, ON L3T 4V1

Greg Zeboray: "They have a good point Luke! Hell, people believe the s--- you write. Just today XXX told me that Wicked signed Kid Vegas. I said XXX, where do you hear this s---? Her reply - I read it on Luke F-rd today. Well, I went and read it, knowing better, and after reading, I said to myself "I can't believe anyone took that as fact.""

Oy writes: "Fahringher?! He used to be a free-speech advocate--so he *knows* that you can depict his client in a frock, a codpiece, a sarong, toe-socks, antimacassars or any other damn cladding you deem appropriate to achieve your satirical objectives. Not to worry, Scoop-- Falwell v. Flynt, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, was decided in your favor, Scoop--and that of anyone else who mercilessly derides a public figure. Meanswhile, pussy-and-perversion profiteer Hirsch would do well to consider Voltaire's apercu: "Satire is a mirror in which men see all faces but their own." And shame on you Herald Price Fahringer--consigliere to the mob: Bill Kunstler is twice the lawyer you are--and he's DEAD."

Vivid owner Steve Hirsch writes: "Luke, I'm hurt and disappointed by the nasty turn your site has taken. Normally Luke, you are a man of God, always seeking to do His will. But of late you've taken to making personal attacks and I don't know why. Have I or Vivid ever done anything to you? Did we not take you in, adopt you as one of our own, give you suckle and blow jobs? We brought you on to our sets and set you up on "dates" with our contract girls. We gave you free screeners of our great movies. Why the change in your attitude? You always seemed like a nice Jewish boy, and I kinda liked you. You're very cute.

"PS. Our sales manager Howie Levine blows you kisses.

"PPS. I never really wanted to be a pornographer. I'd like to be, uhh, a lumberjack... Striding through the great forests of the Pacific Northwest...cutting down trees, tying my shoes, eating my lunch. I could work all day and sleep all night. On Wednesdays I'd go shopping and eat buttered scons for tea.

"I could skip and jump, wear high heels, suspenders and a bra. I wish I was a girlie, just like my dear papa.

"PPPS. So you see Luke, I'm really just a little pansy. That's why I had to resort to lawyers with you. They say that homosexuality results from a f---ed up relationship with one's father, which is sure true in my case."

James DiGiorgio writes to Luke: "Now you've really done it, tall-tale-teller-boy! You've plagiarized Monty Python's Flying Circus with that Lumberjack song! You'll be hearing from officials of the Ministry of Silly Walks at the very least...you'll probably be sent dead parrots....you'll most certainly be invited to compete in the Twit Olympics. And without a doubt, you're going to be sued by some pompous English barrister who'll email you everything you ever wanted to know about the Larch."

Luke: Stevie, I'm just following in the footsteps of our Lord, who also taught impressively through the use of parables. By the way, you forgot to sue me for this story below which I also made up:

Ginger Lynn's Torn

Monday afternoon VCA owner Russ Hampshire phoned to say hi. "Love your column, Luke," boomed Russ. "But not as much as Janey Hamilton. She thinks you're a real giggle. Most every time you make an update to your site, she dissolves into paroxyms of laughter.

"I wanted to thank you for your review on Still Insatiable. I want you to sit at my table for the Night of the Stars dinner dance coming up. I will pay for your ticket. Janey would love to see you again. You're site has been a real hoot since the makeover.

"By the way, I have this great new movie coming out starring Ginger Lynn, Torn. Directed by Jane Hamilton. It's the story of Ginger trying to collect her $20,000 a month child support payment from Vivid owner Stevie Hirsch. TT Boy will play Hollywood Hirsch. TT has been studying Misner technique and he has Stevie's mannerisms down...

"Geez, I will never forget those days in 1996... I was having an affair with Christy Canyon at the time. And we were in bed together the night Stevie Hirsch phoned up hysterical because the DNA tests had come back on Ginger's baby and they showed he was the father. Pretty funny stuff..."

Russ dissolves into laughter.

Fred writes: "Dear Luke, a quick observation and a question. Some things that you post might seem to you to be obvious gags. You know they're gags because you know the people involved. If and when somebody decides to sue for libel, a jury will not have the benefit of knowing people when it decides what is a gag and what is not.

"Question: It seems that there are things about the porno industry you like, or are certainly fascinated with. Yet you periodically criticize the industry quite sharply, and comment that you wouldn't be so disappointed of a right-wing republican got into office and started up criminal prosecutions. As Shakespeare said, "To thine own self, be true." (Hamlet) Don't you think you are being a tad bit hypocritical by enjoying pornography, on the one hand (poor choice of words) yet condemning it on the other? Dont' you think you're being dishonest with yourself?"

Luke: "Whether or not I enjoy or use a particular product is irrelevant to the morality of the product. That I at times enjoy porno and profit from people's fascination with it is irrelevant to making a moral judgement on it. I do not consider myself the source of morality. God is the source of morality.

"And two, I am so compromised by my involvement with the porn industry and with numerous porners it is laughable to think that I could achieve objectivity in evaluating it. I laugh at myself, even while I strive to that end. So, Fred, I do not take my own moral pronouncements on porno and public policy very seriously.

"Three, yes I am hypocrite. Hypocrisy flows through my life, if hypocrisy is understood as believing in standards that one does not live up to. I believe that the ideal form of sexual expression is within heterosexual marriage and yet I am not married. Nor has the Lord granted me the gift of chastity.

"As a writer, it is most freeing to not need to regard my subject (porno) with any respect. There are numerous things that I cherish and want to nurture. Porn is not one of them. Porn can suck my dick."

Porner Pleas For Responsibility

A porner writes Luke: As an active and higher-profile member of the adult video industry, I have tried to avoid commenting on the state of the business. However, recent events have changed my feelings. As much as I support the right to free speech, I can't support the way a few rebels are acting, particularly when it jeopardizes the growth of an entire industry.

Recently there seems to be an increase in promotion of these individuals (thanks to you, Gene Ross, and AVN), and the product they produce. I cringe every time I see another interview with one that loves to talk about drugs and his use of illegal guns. Another produces movies that are lined with controversial subjects like smoking crack cocaine while pregnant and self -aborting a fetus. It has been reported that a recent (AVN) award-winning director released a tape this year that included a fisting scene, and the list goes on and on. Then, top it all off with the number of producers / directors who take way too many liberties with the female talent.

Luke (and Gene), the industry of which you report on, has had it relatively easy (politically) during the past seven years. The Clinton administration has been good to the porn world, but his term ends in a year, and that's what scares me. Clearly, the best hope for porn is that Gore be elected the next President - currently a long shot - although Mrs. Gore's record regarding family values should be a reason for concern.

For the recent past, the FSC has successfully directed funds toward lobbying on the industry's behalf. Now just may be the time to direct some funds toward self-policing. Could they possibly be at the point where it is no longer optional? I conclude by pleading with you to stop promoting the negative side of this great industry, before it's too late. Distance yourself from any companies / individuals that appear to have no concern for the ramifications of their actions. Act responsibly and make others do the same. I am very concerned that if everyone in the industry does not do it, the future government will do it for you.

Luke: "I couldn't give a damn if all the big porners went to jail."

From www.thedatalounge.com: "Tarzan is winning over giggling gay audiences not only for the tanned and trim appeal of the jungle hero and his over-long if tattered loin cloth, but for the booming villain and the modeled on Chelsea way he swings his -- well, frankly enormous weapon."

The other hot topic on gay boards, according to NiceJewishGirl, is: "Ricky Martin who is gay has said he was molested by the guy who ran Menudo. Said he is gay because he was molested. There was a molested scandal about that, but, here's the interesting part, the Menendez bros. (the guys who were convicted of murdering their parents) say their pops molested them. Who was their dad? They say (on the gay boards) that pops managed Menudo!"

Learned Hand writes on RAME: " I am a lawyer. There are three general rules for discrimination law that apply here [can the Bunny ranch discriminate against blacks, because many of the porn stars they employ do].

1) Individuals can discriminate against whoever they want.
2) Laws that forbid discrimination almost always exclude from coverage small businesses, defined by the number of employees that a business has. A typical threshold is 15 employees.
3) Business that are public accomodations (I my not have exactly the right term of art here, I don't generally deal in this type of law) have the most strict regulations on discrimination.

Another important rule is that independant contractors operate under different rules than ordinary employees. Independant contractor status is amazingly important in the law. Applying these rules to this case (and keeping in mind that I am not an Employment or Civil Rights specialist and that I have not actually researched the laws in question), I would guess that the Bunny Ranch is a public accomodation, but that the fact that the women are independant contractors will allow them to individually discriminate.

In other words, the Bunny Ranch could not turn away Blacks, but each individual woman could turn them away if she chose. The woman is her own small business and is probably exempt from the regulations on discrimination since she has only one employee. Someone who was bound and determined to challenge this would be most sucessful if he were to be able to establish that the women were employees rather than independant contractors. This would be true for adult films as well.

As a general rule, your instincts on this are usually going to be correct. I think that most people would guess that the Ranch had to take all customers but that the women would not have to. In any case, would you really want to live in a country where the law would take the ability to make that choice away from you?

Sex and the City

Darren Star's Death and the City

Krash writes about Darren Star (real name XXX), the gay producer of the HBO TV show Sex and the City, who left behind a dead 19 year old blonde in his hotel room.

When questioned by New York detectives about the dead blonde Star left behind when he checked out of the Mayflower Hotel, Darren Star gave his name as �XXX�--a ruse that enabled the producer of HBO�s �Sex and the City�--in complicity with Star-struck reporters from the Daily News, NY Post and weekly NY Observer-- to embargo the truth 19-year-old about Leigh Zerhmuhlen�s overdose.

And when the Medical Examiner�s report on Zermuhlen was issued approximately two months after her death, it was ignored by the aforementioned periodicals. Only The Staten Island Advance, in an item dated 12-7-95, took note that �texicology tests found a lethal combination of opiates, cocaine and alcohol� in the doomed Staten Island blonde Star met at the nightspot Bowery Bar.

Later that same night, accompanied by Zermuhlen, Star rented the Mayflower Hotel room where hotel workers found Zermuhlen dead of an apparent overdose three days later. When New York City cops reached Darren Star by phone at his home in California, the producer claimed Zermuhlen was only asleep when he left the room at six a.m. on Oct.25 to catch a California-bound flight . Shortly after speaking with the NYPD, Star traveled to Hawaii for a vacation.

Possibly because the 19-year-old decedent�s apparent overdose bore no evidence of violent homicide, there followed a merely perfunctory NYPD investigation in which no charges were filed against Star--enabling Jay Stowe, Joanna Molloy, Richard Johnson and other memebers of Gotham's gossip junta to conceal from their readers and editors the producer�s role in the fatality.

This conspiracy to spin the story into nothingness is evident in clips from the Post and Daily News. [both dated 11- 14-95] as well as Jay Stowe�s Observer piece. Note how Star�s name is omitted from all three items; note especially Star�s omission altogether from the Observer --where, given Star�s HBO executive-producership of vogueish Observer writer Candace Bushnell�s �Sex and the City� column, the conflict-of-interest is most tangled...almost as tangled, as that embodied by the fact that the New York Post's Page Six gossip columnist Richard Johnson's wife Nadine was the paid Bowery Bar publicist who coordinated the entire cover-up.

And what America really wants to know is: Who scored the hot-shot that killed Leigh Zermuhlen? And what was Star, widely believed to be gay, doing with her?

The May 1999 issue of Brill's Content devoted its cover story to gossip columnist Richard Johnson. I quote a couple of excerpts: "Another source of criticism derives from Johnson's marriage to Nadine Johnson, a publicist who promotes events for restaurants, magazines, and others. "In a city that runs on questionable relationships," one competing publicist says, "this probably is the most conspicuous."

"An unspoken rule prohibits competing columnists from writing negative items about each other."

A source describe Leigh: "She was a bubbly, very attractive 19-year-old blond, obviously not visibly underage because she was something of a regular at Bowery Bar. According to Joanna Molloy's evasive report, which attempted to stigmatize the victim while ignoring the victimizer [16 years Zerhmuhlen's senior], the gal was something of a wannabee star-f---er....always bragging about the celebs she saw at Bowery Bar."

From the 5/31/99 New York Daily News: "Spanking, anyone? To celebrate the opening of the fetish-themed restaurant La Nouvelle Justine in the East Village, the owners invited "Sex in the City" columnist Candace Bushnell and some of her friends for dinner last week. During the night, a dominatrix made the rounds and spanked Bushnell, Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Noth, Darren Star, Bret Easton Ellis, Sandy Hill Pittman and Nicole Miller."

Krash says: According to Joanna Molloy's elliptically written Daily News item, her [Leigh Zermuhlen] mother's name was Kathleen Ryan--and supposedly is an actress. At one of the numbers I spoke to a relative, and at the other, I got some panicked female who said, "I don't know who you are"--and hung up. I'm thinking some sort of quick and quiet financial arrangement was made.

Now when I stumbled into this, I was not looking for Darren Star--in fact, did not know who he was. Rather, I was troubled by the idea of a story in which a nameless "small-time producer" was able to skip out on this thing...all the way to Hawaii. And suddenly the story vanished...only to reappear in the New York Observer in a puff piece on Joanna Molloy--who in fact had deliberately muddied the trail--a suckjob tribute to Molloy's reportorial skills in "getting the goods" on party-girl Zermuhlen.

Here's where it gets interesting: I asked Baird Jones, who was a desk assistant for the "Rush and Molloy" column, who the "small time producer" was. And Baird said, "Darren Star". And I said, "Who's Darren Star?" Quoth Baird: "He's some HBO producer." Baird gave up this info because he was pissed at married couple George Rush and Joanna Molloy for firing him. The Daily News offered Baird a $12,000 hush-hush buyout--and Baird refused it...presumably so he'd be at liberty to leak stories like this one. "I remember the week the Star thing went down. George and Joanna [New York Daily News gossip columnists] were going crazy on the story--not trying to report it, but trying to bury it." And they did...until l-keford.com.

Jay Stowe writes in the 12/18/95 New York Observer:

Our story begins with [New York Daily News gossip columnist] Ms. Molloy hard at work, trying to get the goods on Leigh Zermuhlen, an aspiring teenage actress who was found naked and dead in the Mayflower Hotel after a wild night that included a stop at the Bowery Bar.

Her body was discovered on Oct.27, but the city�s tabloid reporters had missed the story--until Ms. Molloy got wind of it. Ms. Molloy had one little problem with her scoop. To fully report the story, she would have to call the Bowery Bar for comment. And that meant having to talk with Ms. Johnson, who does PR for the bar. Ms. Molloy must have feared that Ms. Johnson might put the duties of love above those of her profession, and spill the story to her husband over at the Post [Richard Johnson, "Page Six].

So Ms. Molloy waited as long as she could. Then she called Ms. Johnson and got a comment about the underage Ms. Zermuhlen allegedly being served at the Bowery Bar. According to sources, before she hung up, she asked Ms. Johnson to refrain from leaking the story to Mr. Johnson as a professional courtesty, so that she could keep her story exclusive. Ms. Johnson apparently agreed to keep mum.

Ms. Molloy�s story hit the stands Nov. 14. And guess what was in the Post that same day? The story of the naked and dead Bowery Bar girl. In the Post, it ran on page 8 and was reported by Phillip Messing and Larry Celona.

Ms. Molloy got mad. Now, there was the chance that the Post metro staff had stumbled on the story of a woman who had died two weeks earlier--but it seems plausible that Ms. Johnson had used her husband as a conduit.

According to a Daily News source who sits within earshot of the gossip desk, Ms. Molloy was heard to shout , �Nadine, the story�s in the Post today. How did that happen?�

And then: �I don�t want to talk to no assistant. I wanna talk to you! How�d this get in the POST� After a good pause, Ms. Molloy was heard to utter: �you�re full of it, Nadine! gottta go.� SLAM!

Now here are excerpts from Joanna Malloy's piece in the New York Daily News. Notice how she ignores the Darren Star angle, seeking to shift the focus to the dead 19-year old girl.

�Mystery of dead student�

[byline: Joanna Molloy] 11-14-95

Police are investigating the death of a 19-year-old college student whose body was found in an Upper West Side hotel, after she partied at the trendy Bowery Bar. Leigh Zermuhlen had checked into the Mayflower Hotel on Central Park West.

Police say she was accompanied by a television producer [Darren Star].

According to Zerhmuhlen�s family, the two had met at the exclusive East Villge restaurant and bar. Zermuhlen was an acting student at the New School for Social Research and the granddaughter of city Public Arts Commissioner Frederick Zermuhlen who along with Robert Moses engineered the city�s 20-year postwar building boom.

The television producer [Darren Star] has not been charged with a crime and could not be reached for comment. He told cops he had left the room at 6 a.m.on October 25 thinking Zermuhlen was asleep, a police source said.

Hotel security personnel entered the room when the Do Not Disturb Sign remained on the doorknob two days later. They found Zermuhlen�s unclothed body on the bed, the hotel manager said. Police have questioned the producer by phone and requested that he return from California to New York for further questioning. The chief medical examiner is awaiting toxicology reports.

The woman�s mother, Kathleen Ryan, said she became concerned this summer when her daughter began frequenting the Bowery Bar, a virtual clubhouse for trendy scene-makers. She was caught up with seeing the celebrities. She�d say, �Mom, I met Leonardo DiCaprio� or �I met Laurence Fishbourne.�

Days before her daughter�s death, Ryan accompanied her to the Bowery Bar. �I wanted to see what was going on,� said Ryan. �I couldn�t believe it--the bartender served her a drink. I asked her not to go there anymore....�

Bowery Bar Babble-On

By Krash: The �Rush and Molloy� column was recently caught out for lying and fabricating its �scoops� in Brill�s Content Online earlier this year [2-99] In an item aptly entitled �Sucker Punch�, Michael Kadish writes: �Tabloid readers rely on the reporting of gossip columnists like George Rush of the New York Daily News's �Rush & Molloy � to give them the dish on exclusive celebrity events - events that readers might assume these insider columnists actually attend. On Tuesday, January 19, Rush ... described the wild celebrity antics in Las Vegas following Mike Tyson's January 16 victory over Fran�ois Botha - a victory that neither Rush nor Molloy nor their associates were on hand to celebrate. Instead, it seems Rush lifted nearly everything from Sharon Waxman's piece published the day before in The Washington Post... Both columns also featured identical quotes and similar descriptions... ...

"Rush acknowledges that he may have slipped up when it came to the party's guest list. In Waxman's column, there's an anecdote about Showtime producer Jay Larkin describing to dancer Gregory Hines how he had seen Mikhail Baryshnikov eating dinner with Tyson. But when Rush inserted the ballet dancer into his column, he transformed him from a subject of conversation at the party into an actual party guest. However, Baryshnikov was not at the party or the fight....�

NEW YORK POST:

Tuesday, 11-14-1995:

�Cops quiz Hollywood producer in death of �star struck� S.I. teen�

[byline Phillip Messing and Larry Celona]

Police probing the mysterious death of a �star-struck� teenage blonde from Staten Island at a posh Midtown hotel are questioning a Hollywood producer who briefly stayed with her there.

The medical examiner said yesterday a cause of death has not been determined for Leigh Zermulen [sic], 19, whose nude body was found at the Mayflower Hotel on October 27.

The police investigators say they believe the teen --whose mother acknowledges she was taking anti-depressants and suffered from eating disorders--died of a drug overdose.

Police have not charged the �small-time� producer in the death. Butt they have talked with him by phone from his home in California and expect to question him further when he returns from a vacation in Hawaii [!].

Zermulen [sic]�s mother, Kathleen Ryan, said her daughter was taking acting and writing classes at the New School for Social Research. She said Zermulen [sic] met the 35-year-old producer at the trendy Bowery Bar in lower Manhattan after leaving home on Oct. 24.

�She was Star struck,� she said. �She used to go there on Thursday night after her acting class,� she said.

Ryan said the producer rented a room that night at the Mayflower at 15 Central Park West [Darren Star at the time was producing a series called �Central Park West]--where an employee found Leigh�s nude body inside Room 1610 three days later. The producer moved out before her death, Ryan said.

She claimed police officials told her the film producer left because Zermulen [sic] was �acting irrationally.��

�If he�s telling the police that she�s acting irrational, I would like to know why he didn�t call 911 for an ambulance or ask for her mother�s number,� she said. �As far as I�m concerned, he was just unfeeling, uncaring and callous. He was just looking out for himself.�

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE, 12-7-95

"AUTOPSY: OVERDOSE KILLED ASPIRING ACTRESS�

[byline: Associated Press] An aspiring Staten Island actress whose body turned up in the Manhattan hotel room of a Hollywood producer died from an accidental drug overdose, authorities said yesterday.

Toxicology tests found a lethal combination of opiates, cocaine and alcohol in the blood of Leigh Zurmuhlen, 19, of Tomkinsville, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner�s office. A security guard found the young woman�s body in a 16th-floor room of the Mayflower Hotel on Oct. 27, more than two days after she and an older man first arrived together.

The man had left earlier without checking out. Detectives later contacted the 35-year-old californian--described by police as a �struggling Hollywood producer�--through his lawyer. The producer was never considered a criminal suspect. But the dead teenager�s mother, Kathleen Ryan, had accused him of �just looking out for himself� by leaving her daughter alone in the room.

Inspired by River Phoenix--the young actor who died of an overdose in 1993 outside a Los Angeles nightclub--Ms. Zermuhlen took night acting and writing classes at a Manhattan college, her mother said. The young woman also was a regular on the Manhattan club circuit, Ryan said.

On the night of Oct. 24, she met the producer at the Bower Bar, a celebrity hangout in the East Village. At 3 a.m. Ms. Zurmuhlen called her mother to say she was spending the night in Manhattan. At 4 a.m., she and the producer checked into the hotel on Central Park West, police said. Her body was discovered Saturday afternoon, behind a door with a �Do Not Disturb� sign hanging on the knob.�

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE, 10-31-95:

�POLICE INVESTIGATING DEATH OF ISLANDER�

[byline: Craig Schneider]

Police are investigating the mysterious death of a 19-year-old Tompkinsville woman whose body was found in a Manhattan hotel Friday.

Police say there were no indications of foul play in the death of Leigh Zurmuhlen, of the 70 block of Tomkins Circle, who was found on a bed in the Mayflower Hotel on Central Park West at 2 p.m.

�There were no bruises on the hbody and no sign of a struggle,� said Police Department spokeswoman Noreen Murray. Investigators are awaiting results of an autopsy and toxicology tests, expected in a few weks.

Ms. Zurmuhlen had checked into the hotel the day before with a friend, XXX of California, and, when the two people had not checked out on time, security staff entered the room and found Ms. Zurmuhlen, police said. XXX was not on the scene and police are seeking him for questioning, Ms. Murray said...

NEW YORK POST:

Tuesday, 11-14-1995:

�Cops quiz Hollywood producer in death of �star struck� S.I. teen�

[byline Phillip Messing and Larry Celona]

Police probing the mysterious death of a �star-struck� teenage blonde from Staten Island at a posh Midtown hotel are questioning a Hollywood producer who briefly stayed with her there.

The medical examiner said yesterday a cause of death has not been determined for Leigh Zermulen [sic], 19, whose nude body was found at the Mayflower Hotel on October 27.

The police investigators say they believe the teen --whose mother acknowledges she was taking anti-depressants and suffered from eating disorders--died of a drug overdose. Police have not charged the �small-time� producer in the death. But they have talked with him by phone from his home in California and expect to question him further when he returns from a vacation in Hawaii [!].

�She was Star struck,� she said. �She used to go there on Thursday night after her acting class,� she said. Ryan said the producer rented a room that night at the Mayflower at 15 Central Park West [Darren Star at the time was producing a series called �Central Park West]--where an employee found Leigh�s nude body inside Room 1610 three days later. The producer moved out before her death, Ryan said.

She claimed police officials told her the film producer left because Zermulen [sic] was �acting irrationally.��

***

A poster writes on the HE/SHE Gay page about Darren Star: "My friend, a real estate broker in NYC, had the unfortunate pleasure of trying to find him an apt to purchase. He said Darren was a "cheap, arrogant, prick" This was two years ago. Mr. Star kept putting in ludicrously low offers on apartments he was interested in. He claimed to be "in-the-know" about New York real estate even though he had never purchased in NYC before! He lost out on six different apartments because of this arrogance. He tried to slip a dog by one coop board failing to report the true size in inches. The board asked that he bring the dog to a meet some of the board members. Needless to say he was rejected from that building. Finally my friend had to stop returning his calls because he didn't want to waste his time."

NJG writes: "Luke, good for you for getting to the bottom and digging deeper into what happened to that poor star struck girl. That's good work! My criticisms of you are when you get lazy and just report your ridiculous rape fantasies, or when people people send you positive press releases about an up and coming porn star or movie. Then you are just as bad as Gene when you do that stuff. BTW IMHO Darklady from RAME is a man. I don't have proof, but it just seems that way to me, maybe a TS, or unoperated on TS. Just a girl's intuition, but...anyways, looking forward to more scooping, less "poops" from you sweetie."

Email: "So if Darren Star is totally gay as they say over on the Is She/He Gay Board (I went over there and asked). They said totally gay, gave proofs (people who he slept with or almost slept with), if he is totally gay, then why was that girl naked and dead?"