Thursday, September 30th, 1999
Tidbits
I hear that Dave Hardman broke a rib on a Jim Lane shoot.
Robert Sterling writes: Two tidbits: Sasha Gabor is back online. He is still under house arrest. I saw him 2 weeks ago at his pad, and he was still suffering from the trauma of prison time. He had it better than most: knowing Ron Jeremy well has privileges in prison, and gave him special treatment from both guards and inmates. He also isn't doing too bad: he flirted like hell with the 3 or 4 20-something women who stopped by his building, and was supposed to having sex with a stewardess later that night after I left.
I went to the gym in my apartment complex, and there was this new, really attractive Hispanic girl. She looked a lot like Claudia de Corazon, the amazing fluffer at the Houston 500. It turns out, it was Claudia. She lives just a few doors down from me now, and we hung out in her single for about an hour afterwards. She is divorced from John Q. Milky Way, who couldn't hang with her lifestyle. She's been offered a few contracts already, but doesn't seem interested in that. She was stunned to find out I pay as little for my 2 bedroom as she does for her single. I got the feeling she was contemplating possibilities over that. Stay tuned.
XXX: Hey Luke-ask Robert Sterling to find out if Claudia still works escort. I used to go see her when she called herself "Shaleena" (billing herself as a Selena lookalike), and OH! I used to love those nipples! Thanks-and if she doesn't get too pissed off at the whole thing, maybe you can get me a contact number, so I can see her again?
Chris Mann Interview
Luke interviewed the owner of Video Team, Christian Mann, Thursday morning. While I wait on hold, I hear hard rock music piped through the phone line.
Luke: Do you have any thoughts on the large number of Jews in porn?
Chris: No. I don't have any thoughts about ethnicity or religious background of people in the adult industry. I think it is a non-issue.
Luke: Are you guys still all-condom at Video Team?
Chris: Is Video Team still all-condom or not? I don't want to discuss that right now.
Luke: How did you feel about the AVN black adult video discussion?
Chris: I was not intending to be one of the participants. I was really there to help the moderator because the moderator was not that familiar with this segment of the business. And I couldn't help but get involved in the discussion.
How did I feel about it?
Mann sighs: I felt it was a worthwhile discussion... There has emerged this particular genre of tape... But I thought it was unfortunate that it came down to an issue of the racial make-up of the people making the videos. I felt there were some sentiments expressed, while honest expressions of people's feelings, that I do not agree with.
I feel that some of the people incorrectly believed that they had been discriminated against and I think that sometimes that is just an easy excuse. To say, I did not get that job because I am black. That may or may not be the case. I just think it is too easy to fall back on racial discrimination as the end-all answer to anything that does not go your way.
If Luke F-rd applies for a job, and does not get it, it'll be very easy for Luke F-rd to say, obviously an anti-semitic employer would not hire me because I am Jewish. When in fact, maybe they did not hire Luke F-rd because you are rude or obnoxious or any other number of reasons. You've just elicited more of a comment from me than I've made publicly since that issue came out.
Luke: I would've thought it as like a glass of cold water in the face.
Chris: I still respect people's rights to have an opinion. Your feelings may be wrong but they are still your feelings and you are entitled to them.
Luke: I found the notion, if you're not black, get back, disturbing.
Chris: Obviously I intend to keep producing black video and I believe that we do it tastefully within the parameters of making X-rated videos. Our attitude is race friendly and I think that the people who have worked for me will say that they have been treated fairly, regardless of their racial background. Video Team tries not to humiliate or ridicule anybody.
Luke: It seems that most black product out there, particularly outside of Video Team, seems degrading to blacks, this ho ghetto mentality.
Chris: I think the X-rated business reflects what is happening culturally. Look at the music business. You see probably far more accepted example of degradation, misogyny and race baiting than you do in the X-rated video business. And I think that the people doing it don't have a racial agenda they're trying to set forth. I don't think there are any companies owned by skinheads that are trying to promote a certain image of black people... They're just trying to do what will sell product. When I look ethnic product made by white video companies or white producers and I look at product like Jake Steed's Freaks, Hos, Flos, which is black owned, distributed and directed, his product can be just as 'degrading and racially insensitive' as that product produced by the others. Everybody is just doing what they can to make their product stand out and sell. We don't have a race agenda beyond not crossing the line into what is racially insensitive or promoting a negative racial stereotype.
We highlight the difference between the races and there are differences... We feature black performers... We point that out. We don't live in a colorblind world. There are people who want to see black performers as opposed to blonde performers. But outside of that, we avoid mean or hateful stereotypes. All of our plots don't center around pimps, hos, and maids and gangsters and criminals and the other hateful, hurtful stereotypes.
Do we always succeed? No. Let us not forget that we are still making low budget porno.
Our product is about 50% ethnic. We put out about three features and 12 compilations a month. Our budgets range greatly. I don't discuss my budgets. Some of my bigger budgets have been ethnic product... I don't say, this is a black movie, let's make it cheaper.
I've been reading your comments about the cable companies. I've had excellent support from the cable companies. Worldwide Broadcast aka The Big Hit and I've never been asked to change or manipulate the racial makeup of the performer. Nobody has ever said, you better stop picking black men with white women. I have heard that many years ago that was a factor. But since I have been marketing my product to the cable companies, I've never had them try to manipulate the racial makeup.
The only concern that the cable companies have shown me is that there is some attention paid to storyline, continuity, quality of the movie, and that we not depict copyrighted or trademarked logos. The standard legal concerns that apply to all the product. But I've never been told to lay off a certain type of racial coupling.
Luke: Do you guys do deals with Playboy?
Chris: Yes.
Luke: So would you say the reports that the major manufacturers are backing away from black men - white women scenes in their features are wrong?
Chris: I can't speak for other companies. But I have not experienced that.
Luke: When I think about interracial, I think of black men doing blondes.
Chris: More visual contrast. Robert Maplethorpe liked photographing that because it was visually striking.
Luke: Do you understand that interracial disturbs some people or is it all old hat to you?
Chris: There are some people who are interested in seeing that. I think that when it comes to sex, there are people who have preferences that otherwise would be considered prejudices. That somebody is turned on by blondes is ok. If that some person in employment only hired blondes, that would be discriminatory.
I'm sure that there are some people out there with a racial agenda who are disturbed by that. Then I think there are some people out there who are not racists...other than that they are sexually not interested in that. It's possible for someone to say, I do not want to see interracial sex in my sex videos. It does not stimulate me sexually. But that same person may be a fair employer and does not harbor notions of prejudice in the rest of their dealings.
I have no doubt that there are people who are perturbed by interracial sex. There's a proliferation of race baiting on the internet. There are white supremacist groups sprouting up around the country recruiting people who were born in the '70s and '80s, Gen X...who you'd think would not have that issue. There are young white supremacists out there. It's surprising to me but I'd like to think that I am not prejudiced racially or religiously or culturally.
Luke: Have you ever knowingly met a racist?
Chris: No. Nobody has come up to me and said, I'm a white supremacist or against racial mixing. I frequently wonder what Luke F-rd's issue is with this...with religion. I don't know if it is because you like to stir up emotions and initiate a dialogue by making outrageous statements. Journalistically I don't understand what you're about. But I do notice that it seems to be an ongoing theme. And I've read a lot of your writings and you're always talk about Judaism. And I know that your background, you were raised by very conservative Christian parents and you converted to Judaism and found fulfillment in that. Which is fine with me, of little consequence to me one way or another. But it seems to be pervasive in your writings so it is obviously an issue to you.
Luke: Yeah, it is. I find it interesting why there such a tiny group like Jews so dominates certain industries like academia, news media, psychology, Hollywood and pornography. And how most of these Jews have a marginal Jewish identity and rarely participate in Jewish life.
Chris: I'm not Jewish so I can't really comment on whether the successful Jewish people in entertainment are as devout as they could be, should be, shouldn't be... I have no opinion. I don't think it is any of my business. That there happen to be a lot of successful Jewish people, I think there's a cultural issue that Jewish people who emigrated to the United States raised their children to be successful, hard working and studious. You could probably look at Asian immigrants and find the same high ratio of successful entrepreneurial people. Look at any group that migrated from Europe or Asia to the US... These are people who've struggled, worked, focused on their ambition, and studied and made a successful start in this country. I think it's strictly cultural, and has nothing to do with their religious beliefs.
I know that there is a large trend in Judaism so that people who were Reform are going Conservative [more traditional in their religious outlook and observance]. The cultural pendulum is always swinging back and forth and I am not as fascinated by the issue as you.
I don't know if there is such a thing as asking you off the record. I've seen a lot of things that you've printed and the truth is, over the last several months, unless somebody says, hey, did you see something on Luke's site, I generally don't look at these sites. I don't have time. Whether it's yours or Gene's.
I think you make a lot of outrageous statements and I think that you surround them with phrases like "I wonder if," like, "I wonder if Christian Mann wears a teddy while having gay sex with Steve Hirsch." Which may be your right to do but my question to you would be, why? Is it to initiate dialogue or you want to stir people up. For what it's worth, it doesn't piss me off. I don't really care what you write about me on a website. I think people take it with a grain of salt. I don't think people really believe that stuff. I'm hoping, in my case. Why do you write things like that?
Luke: It's a great question and my honest answer is that I am not sure why. I think one reason is that I am Australian and I like cutting down tall poppies. That's why I go after Steve Hirsch. He's now the tallest poppy, the biggest pornographer.
Chris: It reminds of that sadistic dentist who gets tired of drilling on the same tooth because that nerve is dead. So he has to find a fresh one. I think that after a while of making so many outrageous statements, it lowers your credibility. When you say things that are obviously not true it casts doubt on your other work. Where you could be a real muckraker, a Matt Drudge, and really uncover scandal and come up with good scoops, I think it detracts from your ability to do that. Like the boy who cried wolf. I don't think there's any credibility left. So when you do come up with something that might be true or might be worth discussing, I don't think people take you seriously anymore. It seems to be more hurtful to your site, and stops you from being a journalist. I don't know if it makes you a satirist or just a madman ranting ad nauseum.
Bill Murray writes Luke: Exactly what IS up with this new "jew-this, jew-that" slant to your columns. The last time I read your site, you were ranting on the Russian Mafia. At first I thought it might have been some dry English-through-Australia humor, but that was obviously an incorrect surmise. Or is it? I sincerely hope you aren't turning into one of those wide-eyed, THEY're-out-to-Get-Me-types. Especially since we all know those tin-foil hats are never in style.
Mike Ross Loses His Wife
Republican Sacramento Jew porn lobbyist Mike Ross has lost his Jewish wife to Jewish porno. She's sick of him traipsing around the country raising money for the Jewish sex industry.
"My wife and I couldn't have kids," says Mike. "And it was a tremendous problem for her. But the real thing that pushed us into overdrive was the tremendous success I'm having building this organization. The more I travel, the bigger the thing gets, the more I accomplish, the less she felt a complete person because she felt I was overshadowing her. And there's nothing I can do to correct that. I became too successful.
"I've become driven to become the number one person in the industry. There have been pluses and minuses. One of the minuses is the thing with my wife. One of my pluses is that I feel that I have contributed greatly to the industry. I think the industry is poised to be treated respectfully and professionally.
"My wife says that for the last three years she hasn't been happy," said Ross, sitting in a lemon green teddy while taking a puff off his crack pipe. "I was shocked."
J.D. Considine: Um, lemon green? Where do you buy *your* produce?
Krash: Shouldn't that be "lime-green"? (James Joyce in Ulysses mentions the "snot-green sea"). Are the teddies an everyday thing or just something whimsical for Casual Friday?
LF: Shows how porno warps the mind.
Ross: "My wife left when I was in Las Vegas doing the [strip club] show and that's why people have come to the conclusion that it was not because of me and it was not because of her but because of what's going on, i.e., I'm becoming more famous and stuff. We're doing more things, we're making more money, we're changing the world. She feels she hasn't accomplished anything. She's worked in a grocery store for 24 years. And I can't help make her feel good.
"I can pick up the phone like I do with you and say, hey Luke, how are you doing, feel good, and pat you on the back. And I can support my wife and hug her and kiss her but it doesn't do any good."
Steve: "Why do you say "Mike Ross has lost his Jewish wife to Jewish porno"? First of all, I ask you again, what is your obsession with Jewish porno. If indeed, Mike lost her because she doesn't like porn, or even sex, that is one issue. It has nothing to do with being Jewish, or porn being Jewish. (P. S., I am not Jewish) What you go on to say only describes two people going in different directions. One being very egotistical and feeling superior in his career, while the other felt stifled and left behind in hers, plus being frustrated by their inability to begin a family. Sounds like a lot of lawyers, bankers, teachers, secretaries, home makers etc., etc., facing the same frustrations whether they are Jewish, Protestant, Buddhist, Islamic or Atheist. From what you say, this has nothing to do with porn or being Jewish. Did I miss something?"
Mike Ross's marital break-up proves that Morality in Media was right - pornography does break up marriages.
Luke wonders if the newly single Ross becomes the executive director of the FSC, will he get as much porn star nooky as retiring Jewish exec Jeffrey Douglas?
Luke detected a very Jewish line of thought in Mike's interview with . Mike, who's been on Gene's site eight days in a row, told the AVN Polish-American lapsed Catholic: "You can operate a non-profit as a business and still be in good shape. Structurally, the things they need to do is professionalize the board. What we used to do with the United Jewish Appeal was have retreats. We'd go away and have someone from the United Way teach us how to be a board, how to operate professionally, how to vote, how to research issues, how to hire staff, how to promote, all that kind of stuff. And it's free for 501C3's of which Free Speech is. I suggested that they have somebody come in and teach them how to run their board. But they don't want to do it."
Luke has backed up his fellow Zionist Mike Ross for years now. It's nice to see that AVN is jumping on board after they, in pique, dropped him from their publication over a year ago for criticizing the sacred cow of the Free Speech Coalition aka The Pornographers Profits Cartel.
"We've seen the FSC self destructing," said Ross, "and we need to have them around. We may not like them..."
What Luke has long despised about the FSC (and Adult Video News) is their self righteousness. We know better than you because we're insiders. Just shut up and listen to us and do what we say. We will distribute the news. We are authorized. We are the Chosen Ones. Because we believe in our hearts that we are doing good, we are good. Our motives are good. Therefore, if you criticize us, you are opposing the Good and you are evil.
Luke wishes the porn industry trade group would get an honest name and make a new start. It's the Pornographers Profits Cartel. The FSC has as much to do with free speech as Luke the Jew does with Roman Catholic day schools.
Luke's written for two years about what a bunch of incompetent nincampoops the FSC (and AVN) have become but porn insiders have always told me that I did not know what I was writing about. That they (Paul Fishbein and company) truly knew what was going on. That the FSC was reorganizing and reenergized. Well Paul, I was right and you were wrong. The FSC is in big trouble. This week's five resignations from the board show that. And just like AVN had to make massive changes to catch up to the internet and launch GeneRoss.com, so too the FSC will probably have to be buried and start anew with an honest name.
People who criticize you and your organizations Paul, aren't always your enemies and people who assure you that you are on the right track are not always your friends.
I hear that Ross is in the process of assembling an alternative FSC board, to support Ross and new management for the porn industry trade group. These candidates include Mike South. Three people on the current board and one of the persons who quit are willing to support Ross.
I suspect that the Adult Entertainment Industry Education Fund (Mike's group) and the FSC will merge and come up with a new name.
I hear that the Ross-VCA lobbying movie is back on again and will star Juli Ashton and Nina Hartley. Mark Kernes is writing the foreword. Last year VCA director Jane Hamilton shot footage in Sacramento of Nina Hartley and Mike Horner demonstrating their political prowess by blowing a few legislators.
Talent interested in volunteering their talent for porno's version of "We Are The World," should contact Hamilton at VCA (818-718-0202).
Despite their many conflicts over the past two years, Ross and Hampshire are working together again. They're planning a prayer vigil in October to convert Southern Baptists to pornography.
Some people may think that my boosting of Mike Ross diminishes my credibility as a disinterested journalist. They are right.
The Mandingo Illusion
VCA may develop a new movie called The Mandingo Illusion. The illusion is that all black men have giant penises and lust after white women. Here's the listing from Maltin's 1995 Movie & Video guide: MANDINGO (1975) Rated BOMB Director Richard Fleischer, stars James Mason, Susan George and a bunch of black people. Trashy potboiler will appeal only to the S & M Crowd. Mason is a bigoted plantation patriarch, George his oversexed daughter, (Ken) Norton -- what else? -- a fighter. Stinko! Based on the Kyle Onstott novel, the first of a long series, although only one more -- DRUM -- was filmed. Anyway, it's a steamy tale of interracial passion which can no longer be shown on TV and which is always mentioned as one of Hollywood's Golden Turkeys.
Luke's heard that major manufacturers like VCA and Vivid will phase out scenes of black men doing white women in their features because of cable TV concerns.
Mike South writes on RAME: Yes this one is true. I have heard it from too many people for it not to be true, including some of the people who have been told NOT to shoot those scenes. This apparently does not apply to "gonzo" releases, only to features intended for cable TV release. ( Which does include some gonzo) Personally I suspect that a vocal minority is dictating via complaints to cable providers and such. Is it really Vivid or VCA's fault if the cableco says we wont buy material that contains this subject matter? I think the real fault should be laid at the door of those who just accept whatever the vocal minority dishes out. If you want interacial call your cable provider make noise same as the bigots are.
BritPop: I don't know if it is true or not, but if it is figuring out a way to fight it would be tough. If it is cable companies dictating this, that means finding a way to attack Playboy Entertainment Group. The only weak link in Playboy's armour that I can think of is that they have an interest in most of the major adult cable companies. Didn't Playboy sell one of their networks to Vivid in an attempt to avoid the appearance of having a monopoly hold on the adult cable channels in some markets? If I remember correctly, Playboy financed the deal entirely, since Vivid did not have the cash. If you could prove that Vivid was not free to act independently of Playboy in cable programming, then you might have an FCC angle to work on.
Truly Disgusting Video
ST. LOUIS (AP) - A stolen camcorder contained evidence of a more serious crime, which is why police say its owner never reported the camera missing in the first place. William Hampton, 44, has been charged with four counts of first-degree statutory sodomy and one count of using a child for a sexual performance.