Gram Ponante
Interview
We speak Friday morning, February 4, 2005.
Luke: "When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew
up?"
Gram: "President of Warner Communications, after starting out
as a reporter. I never thought I'd be writing DVDA (double vaginal,
double anal) or ATMs (ass-to-mouth) or fisting.
"I went to most colleges on the East Coast. I'd go for a while.
I'd run out of money. Then I'd go again. I went to Emerson, Williams,
Harvard. I graduated from Emerson with a degree in journalism. Then
I did a masters at Columbia Journalism School. I did interships at the
Boston Globe and the Boston Herald.
"I got out of journalism because it didn't pay well. I was making
$5 an hour as an intern. I wasn't interested in being a beat reporter.
I fooled around with web pages and I got into IT (Information Technology)
consulting.
"When I finally, against my own wishes, moved to California, I
wanted to upend my own sensibilities. I didn't have a marketable skill.
I was a writer, but so was everybody.
"I got a job with MTV. I was their IT director. I worked on reality
shows like Real World and Road Rules. Speaking of having your sensibilities
upended, I found that the reality shows are scripted.
"I had an option of hanging out a freelance IT shingle or a freelance
writer shingle.
"The [San Fernando] Valley was unlike anywhere I'd lived before.
In 2001, there was a big movement for the Valley to secede from Los
Angeles and call itself Avalon or Camelot.
"I pitched a story to various publications about what would the
Valley be apart from Los Angeles. I assumed that the Valley got most
of its money from the airline industry, Rocketdyne, the Budweiser plant...
I spent a lot of time at Boeing and Budweiser. More and more people
would say, well, you know the big business in the Valley is porn.
"I'd say, hahaha. I had no idea. Regardless of what inflated numbers
you hear from industry sources, it is such a big business.
"On a whim, and with the promise of an article on Salon.com, I
called a couple of people [porn publicity folks], tittering like a little
girl, asking to come in on a porn set.
"But there I was. The first set (Sin City's Whoriental Sex Academy)
I went to was a revelation. It was fun.
"I wrote a big article. I cut it into different pieces and had
it published in various forms in various places.
"Then I found myself submitting things to setgo.com.
"I had met Stephen Ochs at AVN. He let me know the managing editor
job [at AVN.com] was available. I sent a couple of things in and got
hired [working for AVN from November of 2002 until April 2003]."
Gram has written freelance pieces for AVN, mainly for AVN Online magazine
over the past 20 months.
His wife of two years, Rebecca Gray, an actress, has worked for AVN
for years. "I loved the people I met there. There were a lot of
youngsters there who were good at what they did. They didn't a stigma
about them that they were slumming by writing for porn. They had broad
insights.
"The thing I hated about AVN is true for the industry in general
-- the lack of commitment to excellence. You get press releases with
names spelled wrong. There are people advertised on the boxcover who
aren't in the film. You can't be sure that the press contact one week
is going to be the press contact another week. It became representative
for porn.
"When I was a kid, people would say, 'Good enough for government
work.' In porn, people say, 'Good enough for porn work.'"
Luke: "Why did you get fired?"
Gram: "That's a good question. I think it was a personality issue
but nobody ever told me why. Any number of people might've hated me
there."
Luke: "What have you been doing since then?"
Gram: "Commercial acting. Web design. I write plays."
Luke: "How do you balance having friendships with people in the
industry and having to write on them things they might not like?"
Gram: "I haven't gotten to the point where I'm writing things
I know have offended anyone. I don't think that's going to be the focus
of GramPonante.com. Other people do that better. I like the humorous
aspect of porn. I think it is a fun industry. That there is so much
misery in the business side of it has always surprised me.
"Porn reminds me of a microcosm of Hollywood in the '20 and '30s
when people really felt they were pioneers. They might be wrong in every
aspect. They might be deluding themselves on a massive scale, but they
still feel they are pioneers. They feel they are an exclusive rip-roaring
community.
"Things I hate about porn? Not enough people can get rich in it."
Luke: "What do you say to strangers about what you do for a living?"
Gram: "If you say you are a writer in Hollywood, that pretty much
shuts people up.
"I don't apologize for writing on porn. You should only apologize
for it if your writing is s---."
Luke: "Which of your articles has gotten you in the most trouble?"
Gram: "I wrote one on the Tera Patrick show still being called
the Tera Patrick show, even after she left it (when Digital Playground
was still attempting some spin control that got me in trouble). That
was around the week I got fired. It might've been that."
I asked a source at Digital Playground if they had anything to do with
Gram's firing from AVN. The person said no. The person said he/she had
no memory of Gram's article.
3/1/07
Kurt
Lockwood Blows Up On Egoist 'eXXXtra'
Set Thursday
Email Luke a caption (the
winner gets a dinner for two with Kurt):
Jim Jones: Lockwood and Gram battle it out like men...while Luke
hides like a pansy.
Luke simpers: "I'm not about to get in the middle of that dust-up,
mate! Those two were like a couple of tightly coiled death adders!
Besides...I'm gay!"
Jed emails: Don't you know who I am? L.A. Vice? The Real Boogie Nights?
err.... Mixed Nuts? C'mon! Steve Martin was in that.... No he didn't
f--- me in the arse!
Abby Ehmann emails:
You called me a fag!
C'mon, pussy!
How ya gonna spin this?
Don't ya just love my new tribal tats?
Do ya like my new pec implants?
Kurt Lockwood finds out the morning of March 1 that his latest movie
will not be released by Sex Z Pictures because much of its script was
stolen from P.T. Anderson's 1998 movie Boogie Nights.
11:10 a.m. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES: Arriving an hour late with his dog,
Kurt tries to park in the cramped building lot.
The building manager has a dog and tells Kurt he can't park there with
his dog.
Kurt threatens the manager: "I'll kick your ass."
The manager tells the movie crew that he does not want Kurt in his
building.
Kurt backs out on to the street.
Jennifer James and some of the crew walk down to the street to try
to sort out the problem.
Gram Ponante and Abby Ehmann
walk up.
Kurt screams at Gram: "You want to fight?"
Jumping out of his car, screaming threats, and pulling off his shirt
and jacket, Lockwood shoves Ponante several times, spilling Gram's coffee
all over his shirt. (Video)
Nursing a $1200 laptop, Gram tries to apply his Harvard education and
superior intellect to defusing the situation but Kurt is not to be appeased.
(High-res
picture.)
Lockwood gets back in his car but keeps yelling.
Director Jennifer
James tries to calm him.
Kurt repeatedly screams at Ponante: "Call me a fag now!"
A van stuck behind Lockwood on the street honks. Kurt threatens the
driver.
Three crew members and the building manager chat with Kurt. (Video,
Video)
Lockwood eventually shakes hands with the manager.
Eventually, Gram has a sit down chat with Jennifer James and Egoist
owner Brian Scott. Gram says he'll press charges of assault against
Lockwood.
Jennifer and Brian are apologetic but they need Kurt for this shoot
and so Ponante is asked to leave.
A few minutes later, Kurt tells Brian that either I leave or he leaves.
Brian and the production manager ask me to leave.
I do.
Video of Sunny Lane, hair
in curlers, rehearsing with James Bartholet. Video.
An Adult videographer emails:
As a camera guy, I've worked alongside Kurt a few times. I have
nothing personally to gain by making comments pro or con about him.
I've seen Kurt exhibit extremely bad judgment on a set. At the same
time, I've also seen him treat crew and talent with absolute class
on occasion. It goes both ways (no pun intended)...
After working alongside porn "actors" for quite a while, I think
I pretty much have the psychology down as to why some of them act
the way they do. In my opinion, porn is a magnet for people with self-esteem
issues. The attention that these actors receive working in porn is
probably the most amount of "acceptance" they've ever received in
their entire lives including family or anyone else. Therefore, certain
types of people process this porn attention into meaning something
more than what it actually is. Being the best porn actor around doesn't
really amount to anything in Hollywood or the rest of the mainstream
world.
Johno
Rogers posts to XPT: "I love it how Kurt Lockwood sticks it
up the morons and cretins who attack him like cowards over the internet
He's one of the few guys who can defeat a ton of haters with a few choice
words. While he's out having sex with tons of gorgeous women, many of
the haters are sitting at home wasting away."
Conky posts: " I can add nothing more to this awesome story illustrating
the pressures modern performer/directors find themselves under."
Kurt Lockwood emails Willie D and the XPT crew:
Date: Nov 18, 2006 2:19 AM
Subject: TO MY NUMBER ONE FAN!!
Body:
HEY WILLIE D "Steve, don't forget that you're pushing middle age,
and that ultra-hot sex you brag about happens because other people
pay those whores to allow you to penetrate them. But I wouldn't excpect
you to understand...you're Caligula...Caligula was a sociopath, too."
YAWN... OKAY NOW I AM STARTING TO GET BORED. THIS JUST GETS REPETITIVE
AND I'M REPEATING MYSELF NOW. BTW, I LIKE HOW YOU DIDN'T POST MY LAST
RESPONSE TO YOU. CHICKENMASTER DID THE SAME THING. YOU HATERS ARE
SUCH COWARDS. I PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE IN THAT LAST POST AND YOU COULDN'T
BRING YOURSELF TO POST IT, HUH, COWARD? NOR DID YOU ANSWER ME BUT
YOU STILL TAKE POST SHOTS AT ME ANYWAY LIKE THE PUSSY THAT YOU REALLY
ARE. SO OKAY HERE WE GO... AGAIN...
YES, I AM PUSHING MIDDLE AGE AND WHAT? FATHER TIME COMES FOR US ALL
MY FRIEND. I THINK I"M DOING BETTER THAN MOST IN THAT DEPT. I'M LOVING
GROWING OLDER AND THE WISDOM THAT COMES WITH IT. PLUS, IT TURNS ME
ON THAT THE HOT CHICKS ARE 18 AND I'M 36. PLUS, WOMEN WILL TELL YOU
MEN GET BETTER LOOKING AS THEY GET OLDER. EXCEPT YOU OF COURSE. BTW,
ONE LOOK AT YOUR FAT, GRIZZLED, UGLY MUG AND I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY
WHY YOU HATE ME. IF I LOOKED LIKE YOU HATERS I WOULD HATE ME TOO.
WE ARE THE SAME AGE AND YOU LOOK 20 YEARS OLDER THAN ME AT LEAST.
AS FOR THE GIRLS WHO HAVE ULTRA HOT SEX WITH ME ARE PAID BY SOMEONE
TO... WHO GIVES A f---? I'LL TAKE IT, HAHA!
IT SURE BEATS THE HELL OUT OF NOT GETTING ALL THAT HOT PUSSY THAT
I GET TO f---. I'LL TAKE THE HOT f---ING GIRLS WHO ARE PAID TO HAVE
SEX WITH ME OVER WHATEVER NOTHING SEX LIFE YOU f---IN' VIRGINS HAVE
(OR DON'T HAVE) ANY DAY. YOU HATERS ARE MISSING THE POINT. GUYS LIKE
YOU WHO PAY SO MUCH ATTENTION TO OTHER GUYS' SEX LIVES ARE G.A.Y.
AND THERE'S NO WAY AROUND THAT FACT. YOUR BEHAVIOR IS GAY!! AND LAST
BUT NOT LEAST, THE CALIGULA LINE? AT LAST, YOU ARE FINALLY BEGINNING
TO UNDERSTAND ME. GOD, YOU HATERS ARE JUST DUMB. LAST BUT NOT LEAST.
USING MY REAL NAME? EVEN FOR A SCUMBAG LIKE YOU THAT IS A NEW LOW,
ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU HIDE IN ANONYMITY, ASSHOLE. GET SOME f---IN'
PERSPECTIVE, DICKHEAD.
I'LL SEND THIS BELOW TO YOU BECAUSE I KNOW YOU WILL PASS IT ON TO
CONKY ON XPT. HEY CONKY ZZZZZZZZZZZ.... OH ARE YOU DONE? I MUST'VE
DOZED OFF.
YOUR OBSESSION WITH ME IS TRULY REMARKABLE. SEVERAL POSTS FROM YOU
ABOUT ME A DAY? GOD, I MUST BE THE FIRST THING YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN
YOU WAKE UP. YOU ARE TRULY THE ULTIMATE FAN. I KNOW YOU SAY THE CONTRARY
BUT IT'S TOTALLY A CASE OF "THE HATER DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH METHINKS."
HERE'S YOUR FATAL FLAW. YOU CAN'T SAY YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME WHEN
YOU POST ABOUT ME EVERY DAY. THERE IS AN ORGY OF EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST
THE CONTRARY. I IRRITATE YOU? EXCELLENT! I WANT TO IRRITATE STUPID
HATER ASSHOLES LIE YOU AND YOUR ILK DUMBASS! THAT'S MY WHOLE f---ING
PURPOSE FOR RESPONDING TO THESE THINGS! DON'T YOU GET IT YET? AS FOR
MY EGO BEING MY DOWNFALL. WHAT DOWNFALL? LET ME TELL YA TRUE CONKY,
I WOULDN'T SWAP LIVES WITH ANY OF YOU LOSERS. NOT FOR A SINGLE f---ING
SECOND! YET I THINK THERE ARE MANY OF YOU HATERS WHO WOULD SWAP LIVES
WITH ME IN A f---IN' NANO-SECOND. AND YOU KNOW THAT'S THE TRUTH. ABOUT
IMPRESSING YOU AND AFFECTING YOUR LIFE? WHO GIVES A f---? WHO EVER
SAID I WAS OUT TO IMPRESS YOU? I'M JUST WAVING MY DICK IN YOUR FACE
AND LAUGHING AND WATCHING YOU HATERS SQUIRM. I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR
SMALL LIFE. IT'S YOU WHO POST ABOUT ME MR. OBSESSIVE NOT THE OTHER
WAY AROUND. I COULD GIVE TWO s---S ABOUT WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU
DO. OF COURSE YOU DON'T OPEN YOURSELF UP TO EQUAL SCRUTINY BEHIND
YOUR HATER WALL OF ANONYMITY NOW DO YA PUSSY? ANYWAY, I STOPPED READING
YOUR SECOND PARAGRAPH ABOUT HALF WAY DOWN BECAUSE I'VE HEARD IT ALL
BEFORE AND IT'S BLAH BLAH BLAH. AND KURT'S A FAG AND WHATEVER....
NEENER NEENER. THAT'S WHAT YOU DON'T GET. MY RESPONSE TO YOU AND THE
REST OF THE HATERS IS: I GET IT. YOU HATE ME. AND WHAT? IS THAT ALL
YOU HAVE TO SAY? DID YOU GET IT ALL OUT? COZ I'M STILL GONNA RUB IT
IN YOUR FACE. SO SAVE YOUR UN-SOLICITED DIMESTORE B.S. PSYCHO-BABBLE,
DR. PHIL. I MEAN, I LOVE THAT YOU STUDY ME SO HARD THAT YOU TRY TO
PSYCHO-ANALYZE ME. (GOD, I AM THE MOST EXCITING THING IN THE WHOLE
WORLD TO YOU, HUH?) AS FAR AS YOU BEING IN THE BIZ LONGER, THAN WHY
HAVEN'T YOU GROWN A f---IN SAC IN ALL THOSE EXTRA YEARS? WHY HIDE
YOUR PORN IDENTITY? WHY? BECAUSE YOU ARE A FULL OF s--- WANNABE LOSER
NOBODY DELUDING YOURSELF THAT YOU ARE NOW IMPORTANT BECAUSE YOU ARE
POSTING ON A STUPID WORTHLESS HATER BOARD? CONGRATS! YOU MADE IT!
AS FAR AS MY CINEMATIC QUALIFICATIONS GO, WHO GIVES A f---? I GOTTA
JOB DOING WHAT I LOVE AND BEING CREATIVE AND IT'S SELLING WELL AND
THAT'S THE BOTTOM f---ING LINE.
PLUS I WILL LET YOU IN ON A LITTLE SECRET. I'M ABOUT TO SIGN AN EXCLUSIVE
FEATURE DIRECTING CONTRACT WITH SEX Z PICTURES WORTH SIX FIGURES.
THAT'S IN ADDITION TO THE SIX FIGURES I ALREADY MAKE, ASSHOLES. OH
SNAP! YOU REALLY HATE ME NOW, HUH? YOU'RE s---TING YOURSELF RIGHT
ABOUT NOW, RIGHT? YEP. YOU'LL BE HEARING ABOUT IT SOON. GONNA BE MAKING
CLOSE TO A QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR SOON. HOW ABOUT HAT? PLUS
I WILL f--- ABOUT 400 GIRLS THIS YEAR. HATE ON THAT $UCCE$$, YOU HATER
MOTHERf---ERS. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST. HEY JRV, I SEE YOU'VE JOINED
IN THE FRAY. JESUS, YOU LOSERS ABOUND. TO MY KNOWLEDGE WE'VE NEVER
MET, I'VE NEVER SAID A WORD ABOUT YOU. BUT YET YOU TALK s---. FUNNY
I SAW YOU AT THE PARTY THE OTHER NIGHT AND YOU DIDN'T SAY A WORD.
WHY NOT SAY SOMETHING THEN? WHAT COULD BE PREVENTING YOU? SELF-PRESERVATION
I THINK. BUT JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER COWARDLY HATERS YOU LOVE TO TALK
s--- WHEN I AM NOT IN FRONT OF YOU. TELL YA WHAT. NEXT PARTY I SEE
YA, YOU OLD, UGLY, IMPOTENT, FAT, f---. I'LL GIVE YA CHANCE TO REPEAT
YOUR COMMENT TO MY FACE. FAIR ENOUGH? SEE YA SOON. ANYWAY, LOVE TO
ALL THE HATERS. IT'S COOL. I GO ON MYSPACE AND THERE'S MY POSTIVE
RABID FANS (WHO THANKFULLY COMPLETELY DESTROY YOU HATERS IN SHEER
NUMBERS AND LOVE) AND THEN I CHECK XPT WHICH IS LIKE MY NEGATIVE FANS,
BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, YOU CAN DELUDE YOURSELVES ALL YOU LIKE,
BUT YOU HATERS CAN'T POST THIS MUCH ABOUT ME AND NOT ADMIT THAT YOU
ARE OBSESSED WITH ME. FOLLOW THE LOGIC, ASSHOLES. ANYWAY, I'M TIRED
AND GOING TO BED. TOMORROW I SHOOT THE THIRD AND LAST DAY OF FILMING
"COCK ROCKERS #2" OUT ON SEX Z PICTURES. TOMORROW I'M f---ING BRITNEY
AND WHITNEY STEVENS...TOGETHER, HAHA! BEST, KURT f---IN' LOCKWOOD
Nov 10, 2006 4:59 PM
Subject: RE: RE: TO MY NUMBER ONE FAN!!
Body: Hey Willie D Glad to see you have a sense of humor. One that
you have never allowed for me, btw. Let's see Jamesn has given me
his stamp of approval, Chickenmaster threw in the towel (and like
a true Chickens--- didn't post his side of the conversation where
he complimented me and told me I was "alright" in his book and said
that my talking to him was a "complement (sic)." But rather than admit
it in XPT he fell on his own sword, er, chickenclaw, haha. So who
is next? Lockwood 2 Haters 0.
Willie perhaps I should call you into question next. How about this
post from you on xfanz.xom When I joined here I said I enjoyed the
drama, backstabbing, and something else I forgot how to spell, but
I left out one crucial element to my enjoyment of modern pornography:
the gossip. There wasn't a whole lot of drama in my high school, except
when one of Barry Goldwater's relatives got kicked out for drinking
on campus...so porn is filling that void in my life which was lacking.
- Willie D Dude!! This speaks volumes about you and your life and
your hate! Not too mention, porn "filling a void in your life??" Weak.
A "gossip void"? Dude. Seriously, I may like strap on sex, but you
sir, are a F.A.G.! A grown, successful man does not bemoan the "gossip
void" his high school left him with. Jesus Christ! f---ing grow a
pair! Is the D. in Willie D. for douchebag or what? What are you?
A little old lady in a sewing circle? Waaah, no gossip in my high
school! I'm a little bitch! Still, this speaks VOLUMES about you and
what cheap thrills you get out of this and why. Do you feel like you
have an identity now, "Wiilie D"? Do you feel sexier as "Willie D?"
Do you delude yourself in thinking that your internet hate carries
any real-world weight at all? Seriously? Or are you too, just sucking
your own dick and kidding yourself into thinking that bonding over
the impersonal safety of the internet over shared anonymous hatred
of others is somehow making real human connections and makes you noteworthy?
Truth? It won't and it doesn't.
I told all you hatersl, my responses seem to be making their way
to xpt just fine from here. I'm responding because it gives me pleasure.
It's like mooning all you haters right to your faces and none of you
can do a damn thing about it. Hey, I don't expect you to understand
what I'm saying, I mean anyone who is that satisfied with themselves
for so little has really lost perspective of what is important in
life before we even start, know what I mean? Who knows maybe you can
come up with some bit of oh-so-clever hatred that Smeely Monkey will
compliment you on and make your whole f---in' hater life! That's pretty
thin and noticeably pathetic. But you go and enjoy that. As for me,
I just f---ed Luscious Lopez and I've got six scenes over the next
three days to go shoot. Count dat money, bitches! Best, Kurt f---in'
Lockwood
Kurt
Lockwood - Orgasmic Analyst
Proving that XRCO members, indeed, do have a sense of humor, Kurt
Lockwood received an honorary mention in the Orgasmic Analyst category.
"Lockwood did have more than enough actual nominations to be listed,"
XRCO co-chairman Dirty Bob revealed. "However, we decided that this
award is best served for females – hence he is listed, but in a non-voting
capacity."
Conky
writes:
I think we at XPT should take the moral high ground from this point.
It's time to start the healing. I think this appalling act by XRCO
will only heap more pressure upon Kurt to appear ultra macho. Unless
we now step in and embrace him as one of our own, he can only be days
away from demonstrating his strength by ripping up phone directories
and pushing nerds around at his local high school. It's time to stop
the hate, people. Like his black lab, Kurt needs to be rescued and
re-housed. I think he should become a Moderator here at XPT and usher
in a new dawn of metrosexuality and compact SUV ownership.
Egoist 'eXXXtra'
Shoot
Jennifer James responds:
hi luke, I am sorry about the upsetness that happened that day, and
the resulting abrupt departure of yourself and Gram... after all I
did invite both of you. I did not know anything about the problems,
and was caught totally off guard. I am sorry about what happened to
gram, after all I invited him as well, but i had torn up my right
shoulder just days before the shoot and had gotten a cortisone shot
in my shoulder, could not move my right arm and was shooting, in great
pain, left handed. And i was not about to jump in the middle of the
two of them, and risk any more damage.
After everything, Kurt came on set and delivered a breathtaking performance,
I wrote the role with him in mind and it called for a guy who was
a bit "over the top".He did a great acting job , requiring few retakes
and gave a white hot sex scene with Sunny Lane. and I would love to
workwith him in the future.. I wish you would have come back at the
end of the day to see the blistering anal sex scene between Audrey
Hollander and hubby Otto Bauer, I think it will be an award winner..both
Lynn Lemay and Sunny lane stayed around just to watch, and were blown
away, as were the rest of us, amazing performance on their part.
We have a great movie in the can, and with Hustler handling the DVD
distribution it's a great way to launch Egoist Entertainment, a company
that, like myself, believes in all those things our business seems
to have forgotten, romance, seduction, beauty, sensuality, great production
values, doing business in an honorable way and paying on set with
checks that don't bounce!
AdultDVDTalk Locks Discussion Of Kurt Lockwood's Jihad
Moderator
Hardware posts: "I don't see what this has to do with porn,
besides the guys in whatever this incident is being in the biz. Rather
than move it to another forum, where I doubt it would be any more appreciated
by the mods than it is here, I'm locking it."
It won't take much escalation in Kurt Lockwood's feuds for somebody
to get killed, but I guess that has nothing to do with porn. Nor did
Wonderland
Avenue, I suppose.
Here's
an ADT thread on Lockwood that has not been locked.
Von
Swine posts on ADT:
It's become apparent that the ideals of 'restricting' ones opinions
is becoming commonplace thesedays in/on adult message boards. No longer
is one free to rebuke others statements no matter how slanderous or
mis-informed, without running the risk of having said retort erased
completely, never having seen the light of day. I ask you fellow posters/ADT
bretheren, would you agree to such practice here on your beloved and
frequently contributed to public message board? I think not! For XXX
breeds one of the last domains of freedom and expression in our current
era, and we should not have this form of censorship! Do not expect
your voice, or opinion to be represented, or even displayed here after
your fingers toils since every single thing that you write/type, is
subject to anothers approval, regardless of validity. Communism works
in many places, but not where I reside. Not now, not ever. Free me
from these shackles if you can, by any means neccessary, so I can
live free and proud like America gives promise to.
Drew Black, owner of ADT, posts:
Moderators are volunteers. They are not paid employees. Often moderation
actions are taken simply to make their jobs easier. When a thread
starts like the Ponante/Whywood thing it's obvious that a s---storm-and-a-half
is brewing and those things tend to spread like cancer.
I find it entertaining that people have finally figured out that
they can pretty much post anything they want in WN & N cuz the moderator
of this forum is asleep at the wheel.
Thursday, March 8, 2007, I published these two satirical stories (some
of the time I labeled them as satire and some of the time I did not):
Kurt
Lockwood - American Sex Idol
LOS ANGELES, March 3 — Three of the leading candidates for Playboy
TV's American Sex Idol on Saturday denounced one of their industry’s
best-known commentators for using an antigay epithet on actor Kurt
Lockwood.
Speaking at the XBiz Political Action Conference before an overflow
crowd on Friday, Mr. Gram
Ponante said, “I was going to have a few comments on Kurt Lockwood,
but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’
so I — so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Lockwood.”
“Kurt was singled out for a personal attack because the porn blogging
establishment knows he poses the greatest threat to their power,”
said Sex Z Pictures owner Bo Kenney. “Since they have nothing real
to use against him, Ponante’s resorting to the classic right-wing
strategy of riling up hate to smear a progressive champion.”
Mr. Ponante, asked for a reaction to the criticism, said in an e-mail
message: “C’mon, it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting
that they are like Kurt Lockwood. That would be mean.”
Mags Drop Ponante Column After Lockwood Slur
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three magazines said this week they will drop
Gram Ponante's column after the conservative author referred to American
Sex Idol candidate Kurt Lockwood as a ``faggot.''
Adult Video News in Chatsworth, Hustler magazine in Beverly Hills
and Adam Film World in Los Angeles said they would stop running Ponante's
syndicated column because of the comment he made last week.
``We will not continue to publish the columns of someone who uses
people as a punch line to get a cheap laugh and who so freely uses
an offensive term to describe another human being,'' Hustler Editor
Bruce David wrote.
AVN's editorial board said it would halt the column following Ponante's
``crude characterization of Kurt Lockwood as a homosexual.''
Tod Hunter emails me:
I remember reading an autobiographical work, I believe Scoring by
Dan Greenberg but I wouldn't swear to it, in which the author said
that he was working at Playboy on editorial staff and they had a quandary.
At Playboy, everything is labeled: Humor, Memoir, Ribald Classic,
Pictorial. whatever. They had something satirical that was not typical
Playboy material but was going into the magazine as a humor piece
-- Girls of Amish Country with everybody in ankle-length dresses and
bonnets or something equally atypical -- and they were in a big debate
whether they should label it Satire or not. The author argued that
it shouldn't be labeled as Satire, part of the point was that they
were presenting it straight.
Bottom line: If you have to label something as "Satire," you aren't
doing it right.
Egoist's Version
Brian Scott emails:
Luke,
Love the new pic of you in the plaid shirt!
I am with Egoist Entertainment, the producer of "eXXXtra eXXXtra".
I was told some time ago, that life is not about what happens to
you, but how you deal with what happens to you and I wanted to thank
you and everyone on the cast and crew for the way they handled what
could have been a bad situation. I have not responded because I thought
this would all blow over, but it does not seem to be going anywhere
and I wanted to make sure that some of the facts are corrected.
Any issues between Kurt and Gram had nothing to do with Egoist Entertainment.
Any altercations took place outside before they entered the set. As
you can see from your video the altercation happened on the street,
not on the set. I wish you would have been able to come back at the
end of the day to see the amazing sex scene between Audrey Hollander
and Otto Bauer. After you left we went on to shot some great footage
with no issues whatsoever.
I have read that Gram wanted more of an apology from Jennifer James.
I want to know why Gram has not apologized to Jennifer? or to Me?
When Jennifer invited Gram to the set, he knew that Kurt was going
to be on set that day. If he had any idea there would be tension between
the two of them, he should have mentioned that to Jennifer or showed
up at a different time. It was Gram who could have put "eXXXtra eXXXtra"
in jeopardy.
Brian Scott
PS. The Satire is hilarious!
Willie emails:
Has Brian Scott ever had a real job? One where people who hold different
opinions have to learn to get along? Implying that Ponante is the
responsible party here insults the intelligence of everyone in the
room. He jeopardized a porno shoot? How, by attempting to show up
and publicize it? Brian, people in the real world often come into
contact with people they can't stand. But the vast majority of us
handle it without resorting to ripping off our clothes and physically
threatening people. You can put James Carville and DIck Morris in
the same room. You know they hate each other's beliefs to the point
of spitting, but strangely they maintain some type of composure. Just
quietly own up to the concept that you hired a self-admitted mentally
unstable performer to work, and he flipped his lid. Trying to throw
it back on someone else will only further the negativity generated
by this simultaneously hilarious and tragic event.
I do give Brian credit for a well-written, albeit misguided message,
a rarity in porn these days.
Bornyo
posts on XPT: "Now that's ridiculous. It's pretty clear from
all reports and from the video that Ponante had NO IDEA he was going
to be attacked. Truly, I'd bet that Gram wouldn't go to a Chuck E. Cheese
restaurant if he suspected two nine year olds might mix it up."
Conky posts:
Wow. That email is just... it's just stunning. I thought I was up
on the concept of denial. Until now. Gram should apologize? Yes, Gram
should apologize here and now for never, ever featuring one of their
products in anything he ever writes (except police statements) from
this point onwards. I'm still just plain amazed that there is no blame
here. No sense of shame. No one suggesting that this kind of behavior
should be seen as unacceptable in a so called civilized society. Gram,
I suggest you send them all Hallmark cards to apologize for your frankly
outrageous behavior. Picking fights with the talent before they're
even on set? Shame on you, sir!
Conky
posts:
It's pretty standard to have journalists from magazines or websites
on-set these days, along with a photog who shoots bts pics and posed
action shots for the layouts. If you think about it, it's pretty obvious
why sets are open to the adult press: with hundreds of new releases
a month, the best way to get coverage is an on-set report in a skin
mag or leading website. And it can make a huge difference at both
wholesale and retail time if the people you're trying to sell to are
aware your product exists in advance.
Assault on the Media
Gram
Ponante blogs:
If I were writing for the news departments of either of the trade
magazines I would frame this story, in descending level of importance,
thusly:
* Unethical business practices. The defendant (allegedly) verbally
threatened one employee and (definitely) physically assaulted an invited
guest. Despite this being witnessed by employees of the troubled movie
in question, the defendant was allowed to work.
* Assault on media. Yes, yes, I know: Is what is written on these
sites really news? Often enough not, but the difference between these
blog sites and other advertiser-supported publications is really a
matter of degrees rather than substance. These publications and blogs
are the only games in the business except every so often when the
L.A. Times or LA Weekly drops in.
* Trade publication writers: have you ever been sold out by your
management in favor of an advertiser?
* Is something not newsworthy unless it is written in a press release?
Porn publicists write most of the news in this business; editorial
departments are often reduced to copyediting.
* Media representatives sent home at the demand of the defendant
(Mike South speculates on why the director in question hasn't had
any work released in some time).
* Talents' views on media, particularly the idea that writers "take
potshots under cover"
* An ordinary fracas on a porn set (and yes, in that all parties
involved moved from the street to inside the building, and in that
the assault happened under the auspices of this troubled movie, it
was on the set).
LAPD Wants To Talk To Kurt
Gene Ross writes
on Adultfyi:
"This has gotten a little crazy," says James who was directing a
fight in downtown LA when a movie broke out. Basically there was a
shoving match involving Lockwood and journalist Ponante. And we're
saying shoving match because Ponante's, now, evidently, showing bruises
as evidence from the altercation.
"It's escalated to the point where the law has been brought in,"
James continues. "I thought this whole thing was silly and no big
deal but I got a call from the LAPD- she was a detective and very
nice," continues James. "She wanted details of the episode and said
assault and battery charges were going to be filed. She said Gram
had gone in and had spoken to the police dept. He had shown them pictures
of bruises and bruises on his chest which I find hard to believe considering
I was standing right there. It seems hard to believe that the little
shoving match could have caused anything that would have been noticeable."
In the shoving match, James said Lockwood pushed Ponante and Ponante
in turn threw coffee on Lockwood. "Things started coming off of Gram,
like his glasses- it was stupid," continues James. "Kurt's point was
that this guy had said bad things about him and he should have at
least said them to his face. This was one of those situations where
both people were at fault. You can't go around shoving people who
say bad things about you. In this business we all have targets on
our backs. On the other hand, to be able to say anything you want
against anybody, to insinuate and hide it in cute words and clever
analogies- that's really not fair, either. One should be responsible
for what one says."
Calvin
writes on XPT:
This may work at recess for a 2nd grader, but in the adult world
it does not excuse assault if your victim allegedly wrote bad things
about you. It just makes it premeditated assault.
What a radical political agenda. If the founding fathers had wanted
us to be able to write whatever we want with impunity, they surely
would have said something about it in the Bill or Rights or somewhere.
I don't know if it has ever been established that Gram actually
used the "F" word with reference to Kurt. But even if he did, Kurt
is, in this context, what he has always wanted to be: a public figure.
This means that it is only libel if it is known to be a falsehood.
One does not even need to prove that the printed claim is true, only
that it is consistent with their public persona.
Dragging everyone into court in order to prove whether one person
called the other a fag, and whether the other person was then justified
in assaulting them, complete with showings of "Put Your Finger in
my Ass #4" as evidence is just what porn needs to prove that it really
is the "adult" industry.
Conky
writes on XPT:
At least this goes to show that if you want to be part of a civilized
society, you have to follow society's rules. The insistence of so
many people on this production that it was all just nothing still
amazes me. Jennifer James has done herself absolutely no good whatsoever
in PR terms with her little speech to Gene. Claiming that Ponante
wants to write "whatever he wants with impunity" is just a load of
horse puckey. Gram simply doesn't feature gossip on his site. He's
one of the straightest, funniest writers in the industry. If James
had a clue about this business, she'd be aware of that. She would
also know that he's far more popular with most companies because of
that; he doesn't just print rumors or gossip. It's not his market.
And with Fleshbot, that's a far larger market than she perhaps realizes.
Regardless of the legal outcome, it's high time someone took a stand
and just said, "No! That is not acceptable behavior."
Full marks to Gram for not being cowed by a porn director and her
crew into silence. Jennifer, please remember your main professional
aim in life is male ejaculation. It's your buyers who are important,
and you court them through people like Gram, Luke, Gene and the wider
adult press like the web, skin mags etc.. Alienating them is just
a bad, bad idea.
In a perfect world, I'd like to see Fishbein's take on this (yes,
I know he's not universally popular, but...). If this industry is
ever to achieve public acceptability or shield itself from the government,
the perceived 'leaders' need to address this sort of behavior, drug
abuse and the crooks and hang them out to dry.
Gram
Ponante Files Assault Charge After On Set Altercation
“The police have decided not to pursue this and I’m content with
leaving it at that,” Lockwood told XBIZ. “It’s really hard to believe
everything you read and anyone who has been so overly concerned needs
to get a life. There are guys dying in Iraq and some people are worried
if I pushed Gram or not. It’s ridiculous.”