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Laurie Holmes

Porn's biggest male star, John Holmes, died of AIDS March 13th, 1988. He claimed to have screwed 14,000 women on and off-screen (the real number was no more than 3000).

Starring in 2500 flicks, John Holmes performed sex with two generations of porn stars - from Seka and Marilyn Chambers to Ginger Lynn and the Italian member of Parliament Ciccolina (Little Chubby). He's the only man to rank among porn's biggest stars.

In his 1998 autobiography, edited by his widow Laurie, John portrays his friend and manager of 20 years, Bill Amerson, as an evil man. Bill supposedly introduced John to cocaine.

John first performed in California Valley Girls, where he does one scene. He sits on a couch while six girls work on his penis. The movie was directed by Bill Margold, who introduced Laurie Rose to John during the 12/82 making of the video Marathon in San Francisco.

"I can't wait to get that man up my ass," said Laurie. She did off-camera before they even did a scene.

 

"I was stuck in a hospital bed in the second half of the movie," remembers Margold. "Laurie and John have sex on top of me and Drea.

"John had just gotten out of jail. He showed me his legs which were full of pencil marks. He said that he'd been stabbed a lot with pencils while in jail.

"Laurie was part of the hole-in-the-wall gang which lived on the second floor of 6912 Hollywood Boulevard. Photographer Sam Menning, who moved in in 1973, ran the [porn] studio with a whole bunch of faceless nameless men and Laurie.

"Ed Nash owned the building. On the first floor he operated the Polynesian style nightclub THE SEVEN SEAS.

"They were known as the hole in the wall gang because they had taken one office on the second floor, then, as they expanded, they simply knocked down walls. They began by knocking holes in the walls, then kept going through. They kept all these animals. There was an earthquake. Place fell into a state of disrepair by 1985.

"Laurie lived in one of the rooms around 1981. She was everybody's adopted sister."

Laurie Rose was 19 years of age. An anal queen, she used the porn name Misty Dawn. She came from a small town outside Vegas. She looked like Dawn Schiller.

Sporting a vivid Caesarian scar, Misty appeared in such flicks as Aerobisex Girls, Desire and Nasty Nurses.

John and Laurie began dating - smoking freebase cocaine and having sex. They watched videos. They went to swap meets and yard sales on weekends.

Holmes insisted Laurie quit porn. They worried about contracting AIDS.

"If I'm going to take a chance," said John, "that's enough."

At the January 1983 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Al Goldstein ran into John signing autographs for Reuben Sturman's Caballero.

"You're gaining weight, Goldstein," said Holmes. "You should be on the same diet I'm on, the cocaine diet."

Al stared at the emaciated porn star, remembering Gloria Leonard's remark that he seemed "all cock." He asked John where was the signature diamond ring he wore in most of his films.

"Gone," said John, "with the rest of it. Up my nose in a couple of toots."

"So this whole thing was coke, John?"

Holmes looked away hurt as Goldstein remembered a quote from Bruce Jay Friedman, "Don't let that little frankfurter run your life."

By March of 1983, Laurie had moved in with John at Amerson's house. Now a counselor to drug addicts who include prominent porn queens, Bill still wears a diamond ring on his pinkie finger.

Later in 1983, John made a homosexual porno, The Private Pleasures of John C. Holmes, where he performed anal sex on gay star Joey Yale, who died soon afterwards of AIDS.

After serving a couple of years in jail, crime kingpin Eddie Nash was released early for good behavior. John worried but Eddie did nothing to him. His fortune destroyed by drugs and legal expenses, Nash started anew. At night, he took business classes at a local college.

In 1985, Amerson left VCX to start his own porn production company, Penguin Productions. He gave John a junior partnership in the company. Penguin made 15 videos in six months, most starring John.

In 1985, Laurie, John, Bill Amerson and his wife tested HIV negative. "Bill and I tried to organize an AIDS testing program within the business," writes John in his autobiography. "Our goal was to form an organization that would require current AIDS test results on every actor, male or female, we hired for a film. …When the time came to take action, the other performers surprisingly refused. No, they said to testing, believing that to make it mandatory was in violation of their civil rights."

John and Bill tested again in 1986. "The doctor told us he had good news and bad news," says Amerson. "Then he looked at me and said, 'You're all right.' John turned white. The doctor told him that just because he was HIV-positive didn't mean he would get AIDS, and that if he'd stop smoking and drinking and drugging up, he could live another 20 years.

"John had a death wish. He went up to six packs of cigarettes a day and two quarts of scotch instead of one, and began using more drugs than ever."

Laurie Rose suspects that the US government gave John AIDS. "John and Bill went to Washington DC right around the time John would have contracted AIDS," she writes in Porn King. "It was also during the time that Edward Meese and his "Meese Commission" were on a crusade to shut down the porn industry. I remember hearing that Meese showed President Reagan some porn movies at the White House, one of which I was in. Then along came John and Bill and a few others to fight… John even met one of Reagen's Secret Service men. Could it be that John Holmes was injected or somehow given a strain of the AIDS virus? Maybe it was the United States Government, not God, making an example of John to underscore the "horror" of pornography."

Though HIV positive, Holmes kept doing porn, including The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empress starring Ilona "Ciccolina" Staller, a future member of the Italian parliament.

"He just figured that if they don't get it from me, or if they don't already have it, they're going to end up with it anyway," says Laurie. "He just figured that everybody in the business was going to die of AIDS anyway." (WADD)

Amerson later accused John of stealing $200,000. John lost his health insurance.

Pain dominated John's last two years. Bill Amerson and Laurie set up the John Holmes Relief Fund. Donors included Gloria Leonard, Annie Sprinkle, Suze Randall, Ron Vogel and Caballero Productions.

John married Laurie Rose at the Little Chapel of the Flower in Las Vegas in 1987. He called Bill. "I think I'm married. I'm all fucked up. I'm not sure, but I've got a ring, Laurie's with me and I think we're married."

John beat Laurie regularly.

As his health declined, he checked into the VA hospital. Lange visited him for the last time. Laurie was in the room. "It was one of the greatest performances of his life," she says. "John would lean over slowly to stub out his cigarette, then start to answer the question, then become incoherent. He didn't tell them anything." (Playboy 3/98)

"It was a performance for sure," said Lange, "as if the cameras were rolling. It was typical John, full of shit." (Ibid)

Sean Amerson says that Laurie prevented any of the Amersons from visiting John in the hospital.

On March 13, 1988, John Holmes died in peace with Laurie beside him. "His eyes were open," says Laurie, "and it looked like he had looked up to Death and said, 'Here I am.' It was the most peaceful look I ever saw in my life. I tried to shut his eyes like in the movies, but they wouldn't stay shut.

"He wanted me to view his body and make sure that the parts were there. He didn't want his dick to end up in a jar. I viewed his body naked, and then I watched them put the lid on the box and put it in the oven. We scattered his ashes over the ocean." (RS)

"In the morning [after John's death] there was a phone call on my machine from Laurie," says Denise Amerson, Bill's daughter. 'Your godfather died last night and you did not even care enough to go see him.' Then she hung up. That's how I found out that he died.

"John had wanted to be buried and he wasn't. He was cremated. I guess she [Laurie] took it upon herself to make that choice. And that's what she did, before we had a chance to say goodbye to him." (WADD)

A week later Amerson paid for a memorial service at Forest Lawn Cemetary in Los Angeles. Out of the 52 friends invited (Laurie not among them), 50 showed.

John had become increasingly reclusive through the 1980s. "It doesn't pay to have friends," he'd say. "Friends will get you killed." (Playboy 3/98)

Six months later, on September 8, 1988, Diles and Nash were charged with the murders on Wonderland Avenue but acquitted.

"No one dies of AIDS per se," notes Pat Riley on RAME. "AIDS is not a disease, it's a syndrome: Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Officially a person is classified as having AIDS when they meet certain criteria established by the Center for Disease Control.

"Even though the actual cause of death may be cancer, the death certificate will state (nowadays, reporting was lax in the early stages to spare the family) that the person died of ......(insert name of specific disease) while suffering from...AIDS. From a non-medical viewpoint it's correct to say "Holmes died of AIDS".

"Before his death, Holmes complicated matters by saying he suffered from intestinal cancer presumably to be able to work and in particular to do the Italian movies with Cicciolina.

"Where Holmes picked up HIV is subject to conjecture. It's unlikiely he got it on the set of a heterosexual movie because (1) transmission from female to male is very unlikely and (2) none of the females he screwed have died or are reportedly ill. His last wife, Misty Dawn, is alive despite having had anal sex with him on film. His homosexual appearances on video have always had him as the top so these are also unlikely however they do indicate a frame of mind where in his private life he may have bottomed. Drug use is a likely factor too."

How did John catch HIV? "I had a feeling that he was probably shooting [up]," says Kitten Natividad.

Mark Wahlberg aka Marky Mark plays Holmes in Boogie Nights - a movie loosely based on John's life.

"He starts out as a young, gullible guy," says Mark about his character, "a wonderful person. He has this gigantic penis and everyone just wants to use him. He becomes a porn star and begins to believe the bullshit which everyone is feeding him. He gets strung out drugs and burns out. Looking back, he realizes that his porn success was the one good thing he had in his life."

John Holmes serves as the inspiration for Mark's character, but the story is not meant to be taken as a literal account of his life. "It's based on a lot of stuff that John did, but it's not supposed to be John Holmes. The characters talk about John degrading women, beating up women, like it's not cool...and then we turn round and do the same thing."

M.K. Hutcheon writes that "two props are pivotal to Mark's character. The hair extensions are a pain to deal with, the prosthetic penis is surprisingly easy."

Boogie Nights depicts the porn film industry in the 1970s and follows Mark's character's descent into excess and ruin.

Porn veterans agree that Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 film Boogie Nights presents an unfairly negative view of the industry. Paul's movie compresses about 15 years of change into seven and concentrates on many of porn's worst parts: exploitation of children, widespread use of drugs, Mafia influence, the low intelligence and sloppy moral character of many of its participants, and its occasional falls into violence.

While most everything shown in Boogie Nights occurred frequently in porn in the '70s and '80s, the movie focuses on the negative.

Boogie Nights sloppily recreates the '70s, showing, for instance, widespread use of platform shows when they had been out of fashion for years. Eight track stereo and the Shaft look in mens wear were similarly out of date. "From the very first shot this crappy movie demonstrated how lazy the filmmaker was going to be when it came to veracity." (R. Geoff Baker)

"I didn't care enough about the characters to find it heartbreaking," writes Larry Rosenhein on the internet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.current-films. "But I do find it depressing to spend so much time with such dim people…. It's commonplace to make films about dim or dysfunctional people, about hoodlums and avaricious white collar goons. It's the equivalent of "good copy"… What I'd like to see are some films about smart, well-intentioned people who have conflicting interests…"

Among the porn veterans appearing in Boogie were Nina Hartley, Veronica Hart, Tony Tedeschi, Summer Cummings, Skye Blue, and Little Cinderella.

Porn veteran and pro-porn idealogue Juliet Anderson says, "It's one of the most awful movies I've ever seen in my life. I feel like I've been assaulted."

"There were a lot of people doing drugs," Wesley Emerson told the San Francisco Chronicle, "but it had nothing to do with the porn industry -- it had to do with the world at large. I'm not defending it, but drugs were rampant."

Juliet hated the movie's depiction of pornographers as "losers and weirdos who couldn't make it any other way -- which is totally untrue. The vast majority of people I knew behind and in front of the camera had regular lives.

"They have the man who shoots his wife, the pedophile, the token black guy, the underage guy, the drugs, the violence. Every cliche. I'm surprised they didn't bring in bestiality."

Emerson: "It's about America. Pornography just happened to be the vehicle in which it's carried; it's a secondary factor. That's the whole trick." (San Francisco Chronicle, 10-23-97)

"Neither "The People vs. Larry Flynt" nor Boogie Nights honestly deals with the real-life porn industry," writes Camille Paglia, "which they condescendingly show as overrun by dimwitted buffoons. Neither movie comes close to capturing the sizzle of outlaw sexuality...

"Far from pornography becoming mainstream, popular culture is showing less and less ability to create and sustain an erotic charge…

"The best pornography depends on a strict sense of social limits and norms, which the picture or story violates…"(Salon magazine)

Sources say that Laurie Holmes, John's widow, remains addicted to drugs and abusive men. She works as a stripper.

Journalist Hart Williams worked in the porn industry from 1978-88. He hated Boogie Nights and Craig Vetter's 3-98 article in Playboy. Vetter supposedly earned $5K for 5K words. Hart writes on RAME:

One of the first things I learned in Hollywood pornoland was that PLAYBOY had a dark and sleazy side that was only exacerbated by their snobbery vis a vis porn.

Porn is an onion, and the deeper you peel away the layers, the more is revealed. Vetter barely scraped the skin, and seems to feel he got the "inside dope."

Who did Vetter think he was, venturing into a secretive and arcane world and thinking that a couple of phone calls would clear things up? And people wonder that "the media" gets so much fouled up! Dollar to a donut that the LAPD moonlighters' book is excerpted as PLAYBOY's "Real Crime" feature within the next few months.

[Vetter wrote in his first sentence that John Holmes "wasn't too bright."]

When I was selling scripts in the heady days of the mid-80s, I remember selling John a script called "Lust In America" (still available at Excalibur). John said to me (as he filled out his American Express application) "Wait a minute. This is Clair Booth Luce's 'The Women.'" Now, at that subliterate time, I think I might have counted the number of people in Hollywood, per se, who'd have picked up on that (masked as it was) on the fingers of one hand and had plenty left.

His conversation, as we digressed into the play, was sparkling, and, yes, brilliant. He might have made a cracker-jack drama critic. Holmes was well-read, charming and evidently smart enough (by Vetter's own words) to outwit two of LAPD's finest on his death bed.

Amerson's truthfulness in this matter [John's supposed theft of $200K] has been a subject of some speculation in many industry circles for a long time.

My sources have alleged that Mr. Amerson's charge of embezzlement against the Holmes' may be self-serving -- if, as some suggest, the money was NOT entirely Mr. Amerson's, but was borrowed from other sources -- and point to the extreme poverty of John and his wife in Holmes' last days.

It seems to me that for $190K, it is odd that Holmes was forced to rely on the free services of the VA Hospital for medical treatment.

…Bad math. Poor research. Pedestrian writing. Unsubstantiated stereotypes. Unreliable witnesses. Focus on one event in a man's life to the exclusion of most of the rest of it (except that which conveniently backs up one's thesis).

The Tawdry Tale of Johnny Wadd

By Matthew Beer San Francisco Examiner, Friday, May 7, 1999

WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT THIS MAN'S AWFUL LIFE? IT'S LIKE inviting Willy Loman to be the keynote speaker at a salesman's convention. Friday, the tawdry "Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes" will make its debut at the Roxie Cinema, a premier event for this weekend's San Francisco Sex Worker Film & Video Festival. Though a "buzz" entry on the film festival circuit (Sundance, South By Southwest), "Wadd" seems a strange entry, even for an event that purports to celebrate men and women who work in what is called "the sex service industry." He [Holmes] pimped his underage girlfriend. He burned away his savings and his wife's assets on a vicious coke addiction. He ratted out four of his pals to organized crime figures. He purposefully engaged in unprotected sex in European porn productions after he was infected with the AIDS virus. Holmes's is a compelling story. But in "Wadd," the narrative is drawn out by an endless string of commentators. Paley can't seem to leave anything on the cutting-room floor. In the process, the director delivers a documentary that is too long by half. Considering the subject matter, it's a painful, unnecessary trudge. By the time "Wadd" ends with Holmes' death, you're left with a sense that the porn industry is just one giant army of Willy Lomans, joylessly driving around Southern California from one film set to the next, dropping their clothes in resignation, hoping to get it over fast so they can make their next drug buy.

11/4/99

Laurie Holmes Sues VCA, Bill Amerson

John Holmes' widow Laurie Holmes had legal papers served today on VCA Pictures and Bill Amerson for defamation of character.

Amerson and Holmes, perhaps the two persons closest to the legendary late porn star, have feuded for over 14 years. They despise each other. Amerson now works as a drug counselor and helped Sharon Mitchell start AIM (Adult Industry Medicine), which Laurie Holmes passionately supports.

In the summer of 1998, Laurie released the abysmal book "Porn King," the supposed autobiography of John Holmes.

Laurie lives with HIV positive Tony Montana who's been pimping her out the past eight months. Aside from flippping tricks, she's recently reentered porno.

When Laurie first saw a rough cut of the documentary, she flipped while watching a scene when Amerson talks about her flipping tricks. Laurie said she would sue if that scene was retained in the documentary. It was and she did.

In the documentary Wadd, Amerson says: "Laurie was known as the buttfucking queen of the porn industry... She said that she really wanted to meet John and that she wanted all of that in her ass... John was amused but didn't think it was going to happen. So off camera they did that and it did happen. She fell in love with John... He had no respect for her whatsoever.

"She was a hooker. While she was making a movie, during the breaks, she'd get dressed... She always dressed as a little girl because she knew that she could make more money from men if she looked younger. She'd go hitchhike around the blocks and turn tricks in the car and come back in time for the scene.

"John asked if she could move in and be his housekeeper and maid and do all those things. There were times in the summer when I would hear voices from the bedroom saying, 'Bill, Bill,' and John was out swimming in the pool. And she would be lying there naked in the bedroom, tied up, and John had had an orgasm all over her face and walked off. That's how much John loved her.

"John tried to run over her with the car twice in the driveway. She had insurance. He wanted to collect the insurance money.

"John liked her because she was nasty. She would do anything. Anything."

Amerson's son: "She was like a gnat, bugging around all the time and trying to get in the middle of things. And John was really harsh to her."

Las Vegas Review-Journal Article on Laurie and John Holmes.

VCA owner Russ Hampshire is on another of his lengthy vacations in Hawaii. Stephanie Ross is trying to get hold of him.

Luke: I doubt that Laurie has a prayer to win this suit. And this will severely curtail, if not end, her video career.

About three years ago, when there was a complex sexual interaction that some have called rape between T.T. Boy and one of Russ's employees. Hampshire, after offering T.T. Boy the opportunity to enter rape counseling, then effectively blackballed T.T. Boy. T.T. Boy has barely worked for the big boys (Vivid, VCA, Wicked, Metro) since. Folks like Hampshire, Hirsch and Jim South can effectively end people's careers in porn. It was Hampshire who effectively got me banned from 4320 Van Nuys Blvd (headquarters for Jim South's World Modeling and Bill Margold's PAW) in June, 1998. Hampshire has banned all his employees from speaking to me.

I do not hold the least ill will towards Russ for these moves. He's been upfront and honest with me. We have not spoken since May, and only that once in the last nine months.

When Paul Fishbein flirted (December of 1998) with hiring me, he went to Hampshire and Hirsch for advice.

To give an idea of how delusional Laurie is, check out these sentences she wrote for "Porn King":

Laurie suspects that the US government gave John AIDS. "John and Bill went to Washington DC right around the time John would have contracted AIDS," she writes in Porn King. "It was also during the time that Edward Meese and his "Meese Commission" were on a crusade to shut down the porn industry. I remember hearing that Meese showed President Reagan some porn movies at the White House, one of which I was in. Then along came John and Bill and a few others to fight… John even met one of Reagen's Secret Service men. Could it be that John Holmes was injected or somehow given a strain of the AIDS virus? Maybe it was the United States Government, not God, making an example of John to underscore the "horror" of pornography."

In the VCA documentary Wadd, Laurie expresses no qualms about John having sex with people while knowing he was HIV positive, and not informing his partners. "He just figured that if they don't get it from me, or if they don't already have it, they're going to end up with it anyway," says Laurie. "He just figured that everybody in the business was going to die of AIDS anyway."

Amused in Modesto writes: "Hmmmm. So Laurie Holmes, the porn actress (a woman who performs sexual acts, for money, while on film), feels defamed because she was accused of being a hooker (a woman who performs sexual acts, for money, while not on film). I'm no legal scholar, but I think I know how Judge Judy would rule."

11/11/99

From GeneRoss.com: Laurie Holmes would not comment, but Gary Frischer, who is Holmes' manager, had a few things to say regarding a New York Post story which appeared earlier this week. The Post story stated that Holmes, widow of the late John Holmes is suing Holmes' one-time best friend, Bill Amerson, over statements he made in a documentary.

In "Wadd: The Life and Times of John Holmes," Amerson claims Laurie once worked as a hooker. "She would go out and hitch-hike around the block and turn tricks in the cars," Amerson was quoted as saying. Laurie, a/k/a "Misty Dawn," according to The Post, denies having ever been a prostitute and is seeking unspecified damages. Holmes filed the suit in the Superior Court of the State of California.

VCA Labs which funded the documentary is also named in the suit.

Frischer: "Laurie did file a lawsuit. The most important thing to understand about this lawsuit is that in this film Bill Amerson accuses and convicts Laurie of committing a crime. In the state of California you can't do that."

Holmes is being represented by high-powered celebrity attorney Greg Smith, who had this to say. "It's a slander per se," according to Smith. "It's not based on Laurie's chastity which is probably questionable. But it is based on the fact that if you accuse someone of a crime, and prostitution is a crime in California; if you don't have a conviction for that crime, that's slander per se. Damages are presumed. We don't have to go into the kind of damages or pain and suffering; they're presumed. It's presumed that her reputation was injured. It's a slam-dunk case."

As an attorney, Smith was prominently involved in the LA police corruption scandal.

According to the Holmes' suit, on or about August, 1998, Amerson allegedly said: "She [Laurie Holmes] was a hooker. She would get dressed, and she always dressed as a little girl because she knew that she could make more money from men if she looked younger. She would go out and hitch-hike around the blocks and turn tricks in the car." Amerson's comments were made on-camera in the Holmes' documentary which was subsequently shown to theater audiences throughout the United States.

Holmes' lawsuit says she never committed the crime of prostitution, and, as a result of the false statement, Holmes, among other things, has "suffered injury to her reputation in a sum according to proof." According to the suit, VCA was also named because it had re-published Amerson's statements with "reckless disregard for the truth".

VCA's Russ Hampshire was out of town and could not be reached for comment. [All of the above from GeneRoss.com]

Luke talked to Bill Amerson at 5PM.

Luke: "I think she's suing me too for saying she's a hooker."

Bill: "She is a hooker. I know 25 people who will say so. So you're safe there.

"I can tell you about her kids being taken away. Her drug habit. I can tell you about the ex-boyfriend she lived with in Alberqurque who will testify to her drug habit and to her working as a nude dancer. I know at least 15 guys who will testify to her being a hooker. My ex-wife knows she was a hooker because she [Laurie] used to live with us and she'd get dressed and go out and turn tricks and she would say, 'I've got a john to see, I will be back pretty soon.'

"She can do what she wants. As you know, anybody can sue.

"She has two kids. Her mother and father took one away from her, alleging she was an unfit mother. And one the court took away from her for being an unfit mother. Two different fathers. She didn't know who the father of the first one was..."

Bill: "If she wants to go through all of this, that's fine. If she wants some character defamation, I can do that. I know all about this bitch. She lived with us a long time. She worked for me."

Luke: "What did she do?"

Bill: "She was our secretary and then she became the office manager."

The 1989 Rolling Stone article says Laurie and John Holmes stole $200,000 from Bill Amerson.

Bill: "I'm ready to... I was about to say, 'I'm ready to stick it up her ass," but she'd like that. Can't use that line."

Luke: "I thought you guys were friends at one point. What happened?"

Bill: "Yeah, I think so. It was that she used John and married John without him knowing about it. That she got him loaded and went to Vegas. I got a phone call from him in Vegas. 'I think I got married. I don't know. I took 50 dimes.' He had a lot of insurance money going and she wanted it. She told people that. So that pissed me off. And that she's been using his name all this time for her own gain. She's a loser. You know that. She's got an IQ of room temperature. And she could never make a living on her own so she's using John's death to make a living.

"I'm going to speak tonight on addictive personalities, men getting off of welfare and getting back into society, and rehabilitation of the whole person instead of just the drug and alcohol thing.

"Laurie's a conniving cunt and I don't use that word 'conniving' too often. I use 'cunt' a lot."

Laurie Holmes Sues Luke

12/14/99: Laurie Holmes, who's suing Bill Amerson, VCA and Luke F-rd for calling her a hooker, is listed as available at the Bunny Ranch for sexual services in the December AVN.

While many people have threatened to sue Luke, this is the first time someone has filed a case against him.

Luke: Can anyone tell me about the attornies representing Laurie Holmes? They must be real scumbags to take a case like this.

The attornies representing Holmes are Park, Smith, Chang & Lim LLP, at 3435 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 2920 Los Angeles, CA 90010 (213) 386-5595, fax (213) 384-7110. Laurie Holmes suit has been filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, at 111 North Hill St, LA. The case number is BC221609.

Monty writes: Hey Luke, Just thought you might want to know that prostitution at the Bunny Ranch is not a crime and is irrelevant to the case at hand. So someone finally is busting your chops. Is a woman finally going to take you down?

From Gene Ross: Park Smith & Lim LLP, attornies representing Laurie Holmes, the widow of the late adult performer John Holmes, have filed a lawsuit against both Luke F-rd and Ford's Internet provider Fantastic On Line.

The suit which was filed December 14 in the Superior Court of the State of California contends that Ford on November 11, 1999 "republished on his World Wide Web site the following description originally uttered by William Amerson" concerning Holmes and that Ford did so "with knowledge of their falsity."

Amerson is quoted, or rather re-quoted by Ford as saying, "She [Laurie Holmes] was a hooker. While she was making a movie, during the breaks, she'll get dressed...She always dressed as a little girl because she knew that she could make more money from men if she looked younger. She'd go hitchhike around the blocks and turn tricks in the car and come back iun time for the scene."

The entire hooker controversy stems from an article which first appeared in the New York Post stating that Laurie Homes was suing Amerson, John Holmes' one time best friend. Amerson said basically the same things about Laurie Holmes in the documentary "Wadd: The Life and Times of John Holmes." Holmes has denied ever being a prostitute and subsequently brought suit against Amerson, director Wes Emerson and VCA Labs among others.

Holmes also filed that suit in the Superior Court of the State of California. Gary Frischer, one of Holmes' attornies said at the time: "The most important thing to understand about this [the Amerson] lawsuit is that in this film Bill Amerson accuses and convicts Laurie of committing a crime. In the state of California you can't do that." Frischer said this is considered slander per se.

"It is based on the fact that if you accuse someone of a crime, and prostitution is a crime in California; if you don't have a conviction for that crime, that's slander per se. Damages are presumed. We don't have to go into the kind of damages or pain and suffering; they're presumed. It's presumed that her reputation was injured. It's a slam-dunk case."

Fantastic On Line's role in the December 14 suit is stated: "On or about the same time [November 11], and at various times thereafter, Fantastic sponsored Ford's website and allowed it to remain online and open to the public via the Internet. The suit goes on to say that on November 15, Holmes' attornies sent Fantastic a letter asserting that the statements about Holmes were wholly false and demanded that Ford and Fantastic remove "the defamatory statements" from Ford's website.

"Ford reprinted the demand letter of plaintiff on his World Wide Web site on November 15, 1999, but did not remove the "defamatory statements" from his web site, the suit contends. The Ford suit states that Amerson's words were "slanderous per se" because they charge [Holmes] with the crime of prostitution in violation of California Civil Code section 46 [1].

"The words uttered were false because [Holmes] has never committed the crime of prostitution," the Ford suit states. According to the Ford suit, "as a proximate result of this false statement," [Holmes] has suffered injury to her reputation, business, trade, profession and occupation. The suit also contends that Ford published the quotes with "malice and oppression" in that he "willfully and intentionally published" false statements "solely for the purpose of causing [Holmes] ridicule, embarrassment and disdain in the community."

The suit cites Fantastic On Line with malice and oppression and reckless disregard for the truth after a cease and desist request. The suit also charges Fantastic with oppression, fraud or malice persuant to California Civil Code section 3294. The suit asks for exemplary and punitive damages according to proof in a number of areas including loss of earnings, damages to reputation, business, trade, profession, occupation and court costs.

Optimistic in Modesto writes: Transcript of the world's shortest court trial: Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury may I present exhibit "A". Laurie Holmes in her performance as a "fluff" girl at the Houston 500 Gang Bang. Case dismissed.

XXX writes: This is damn funny. And you slandered her how?

hook·er2 (hkr) n. 1.Slang. A prostitute pros·ti·tute (prst-tt, -tyt) n. 1.One who solicits and accepts payment for sex acts. 2.One who sells one's abilities, talent, or name for an unworthy purpose.

Here's a great defense. Prove she's a "hooker". Get all the movie producers up on the stands and ask them if they paid her money to perform in any movies. Bam. Not slander!

Frank writes: Luke, Once again you miss the whole point. The issue of the suit is not about the chastity of Laurie Holmes. She's a porn actress, big deal. It's not a crime in California. The issue is your complete disregard for the motives behind Mr. Amerson's statements and the truth or falsity of the accusations he makes against her. He accuses her of committing the crime of prostitution in California, for which she has never been arrested or convicted. This is "slander per se" and is actionable. Further, re-publication of the slanderous statements by a person who knowingly and maliciously does so is also slander per se. You re-published Mr. Amerson's statements, giving him more audience, knowing Amerson was being sued for it, and disregarded information that the accusations were false. This is malice. She doesn't even have to prove actual damages, they're "presumed". You even confess in your writings to being a "rumor monger". Laurie gets points just for having a great case against you. See: http://lawschool.mtcibs.com/class/emanuel/torts/epc-tort-chapter17.htm Get a lawyer Luke, you're owned.

Porner writes: These are the times I wish I had gone to law school (almost did it....). Frankly though, being an upstanding pornographer (oxymoron?) is better than being a sleazy lawyer. Or a hooker.

01/27/00

Here are highlights of my suit from Laurie Holmes. She is represented by Gregory W. Smith (SBN 134385) of Park Smith & Lim, LLP at 3435 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 2920, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. 213-386-5595.

7. On or about November 11, 1999, FORD republished on his World Wide Web site the following description originally uttered by William Amerson of and concerning the Plaintiff [Laurie Holmes] with knowledge of their falsity: "She was a hooker. While she was making a movie, during the breaks, she'd get dressed... She always dressed as a little girl because she knew that she could make more money from men if she looked younger. She'd go hitchhike around the blocks and turn tricks in the car and come back in time for the scene."

8. FORD published the above-quoted statement concerning the Plaintiff in connection with an on-line piece written by him about Plaintiff's defamation lawsuit against William Amerson, who uttered the statement originally.

9. On or about the same time, and at various times thereafter, FANTASTIC sponsored FORD's Web site and allowed it to remain online and open to the public via the Internet.

10. On November 15, 1999, Plaintiff sent to FANTASTIC by facsimilie a letter asserting that the statements about Plaintiff were wholly false, and demanding that FORD and FANTASTIC remove the defamatory statements from their World Wide Web site. FORD reprinted the demand letter of Plaintiff on his World Wide Web site on November 15, 1999, but did not remove the defamatory statements from his Web site.

11. The above-quoted words were slanderous per se because they charge Plaintiff with the crime of prostitution in violation of California Civil Code section 46 (1).

12. The words uttered were false because Plaintiff has never committed the crime of prostitution.

13. As a proximate result of this false statement, plaintiff has suffered injury to her reputation in a sum according to proof.

14. As a further proximate result of FORD's publication, Plaintiff has suffered injury to her business, trade, profession, and occupation in a sum according to proof.

15. The above-described words were published by FORD with malice and oppression in that FORD willfully and intentionally published the above-referenced false statements, solely for hte purpose of causing Plaintiff ridicule, embarrassment, and disdain in the community. FORD's conduct thus warrants the assessment of punitive damages.

16. The above-described words were published by FANTASTIC with malice and oppression in that FANTASTIC published the above-referenced statements with reckless disregard for the truth after a request by Plaintiff that FANTASTIC cease.

17. The aforesaid acts of FANTASTIC directed towards Plaintiff were carried out by managerial employees, officers and directors, and were directed and ratified by Defendants, and each of them, with a conscious disregard of Plaintiff's rights and with the intent to vex, injure, and annoy Plaintiff, such as to constitute oppression, fraud or malice pursuant to California Civil Code section 3294, entitling Plaintiff to punitive damages in a sum which is an amount appropriate to punish and set an example of said Defendants.

5/20/00

John Holmes' friend Eddie Nash has been arrested for the 1981 "Four on the Floor" Laurel Canyon murders.

From Saturday's LA Times:

The indictment accuses Nash of bribing a juror in his 1990 trial in the Laurel Canyon murders, which ended in a mistrial when the panel deadlocked 11 to 1 for conviction.

He was also accused of trying to bribe witnesses in a civil case filed against him by his lawyers over nonpayment of legal fees.

His arrest culminated a four-year investigation by the FBI, the IRS, the California attorney general's office and the Los Angeles Police Department's organized crime and vice division.

According to the indictments, from 1975-1992 Nash and his associates dealt large amounts of heroin, cocaine and marijuana out of various Hollywood nightclubs he owned, including the Seven Seas, the Starwood, the Odyssey, Ali Baba's and the Kit Kat Club. In the course of carrying out their criminal enterprise, the government said, they engaged in murder, violence, intimidation, bribery and money laundering.

Five of Nash's associates, including two now dead, were named as unindicted co-conspirators:

* Hovsep Mikaelian, also known as Joe McLean, 49, of North Hollywood, accused of supervising the storage, distribution and sale of illicit drugs for Nash. Mikaelian is serving a 14-year federal prison term on a 1997 conviction for narcotics trafficking, wire fraud and tax evasion.

* Mikaelian's brother, Hrant, 45, also of North Hollywood, accused in the indictment of drug trafficking, wire fraud and money laundering. He pleaded guilty last year in an unrelated international money laundering case and is to be sentenced later this year.

* Harry Diramarian, 58, of Pasadena, an accountant who worked for Nash and the Mikaelians. He was alleged to have been involved in the drug ring's money laundering and bribery activities. Diramarian is awaiting sentencing in an unrelated $600,000 tax evasion scheme.

* Gregory DeWitt Diles, Nash's 300-pound bodyguard, who was described in the indictment as a participant in the Laurel Canyon murders. He died in 1995.

* John Curtis Holmes, a pornographic film star, accused in the indictment of trafficking drugs and taking part in the killings. Holmes was tried in the slayings in 1982 and was acquitted. He died in 1988 of AIDS complications.

Luke: Various porners I've talked to over the years believed that Eddie Nash had ordered the murders. Some believed that Holmes took part in them. Few expressed much regret over the deaths of the drug dealers.

Eddie's son was an investor in Lynne L-patin's shortlived Casino Productions which made the recent Dave Hardman movie which Lynne just sold to Cinderella Productions.

Lynne writes: Eddie's son was never an investor with Casino Productions. Cool guy, though. Some of Eddie's friends helped Bruce and I out a whole lot at the end, there, but I know nothing from 1981 (I was going to school on the east coast) or 1990. It's now Casino Veterinary Hospital.

I'd like to express some regret for the potential incarceration of Eddie Nash, because I have a hard time staying mad for ten years. He's an older guy, and needs to be plea bargained into something appropriate to who he is in 2000, not 1980 (twenty years ago). Your semantics are off. He has not been arrested for the murders. He has been arrested for bribing a juror from the murder trial.

8/21/00

Laurie Holmes Seeks To Drop Lawsuit

Plaintiff Laurie Holmes, a porn star and widow of the late John Holmes, has sought through her attorneys to drop her lawsuits against VCA Labs, Bill Amerson, Cass Paley and Luke F-rd in return for confidentiality and the defendants agreeing not to sue her for frivolous litigation.

The defendants have agreed to not sue Holmes for frivolous litigation (very difficult to win) but I have not agreed to the confidentiality clause (without a $25,000 payment).

Here are the facts on the case as it pertains to me:

Luke F-rd, operates and publishes an Internet web site www.lukeford.com. The site is a tabloid-style media site that reports on the pornography industry. The site has discussions with adult film actors, actresses, directors, other publishers and publishes comments from the public (i.e., people can email Mr. Ford who may then re-publish such comments on the site).

On November 11, 1999, Luke F-rd published an article on his web site within which he re-published statements made by a Mr. Bill Amerson concerning the plaintiff, Laurie Holmes. Mr. Amerson's statements originally appeared in a documentary entitled "Wadd: The Life and Times of John Holmes." Ford states in his article that Amerson said that "`She would go out and hitch-hike around the block and turn tricks in the cars,' Amerson was quoted as saying." Ford goes on to write that "Laurie, a/k/a "Misty Dawn," according to the [New York] Post, denies having ever been a prostitute and is seeking unspecified damages." Thereafter, Ford includes a number of statements and/or emails from others, and includes his discussion with Amerson concerning the suit filed against Amerson. While both Amerson and Ford use the term "hooker" and/or terms "flipping tricks" throughout the discussion, the only time the term "prostitute" is used is as set forth above in the New York Post article.

On November 15, 1999, Laurie Holmes faxed a demand letter to Fantastic Online asserting that the statements were false and demanding to have the statements removed. Mr. Ford did not remove the statements but did publish the letter on his site. Holmes alleges damages to reputation.

WITNESS DEPOSITIONS

1. Alvin Goldstein

Mr. Alvin Goldstein is the publisher of Screw magazine and producer of a New York cable access show entitled "Midnight Blue." Goldstein is 64 years old and resides in Florida, New York, Amsterdam, Holland and maintains an apartment in West Hollywood. Mr. Goldstein's deposition consisted of questioning regarding his sexual interactions with the plaintiff Laurie Holmes, in return for money. Goldstein clearly did not take the deposition seriously. He consistently made jokes intertwined the same with his responses. Furthermore, he consistently used offensive language, inappropriate gestures and overall deplorable conduct. Goldstein essentially said that he paid any woman who had sexual interaction with him.

Mr. Goldstein testified that he met Laurie Holmes approximately two years ago on the set a film entitled something like "Hot Wheels and High Heels." Ron Jeremy was the director of the film. Laurie Holmes was one of the actresses. It was at some point during the making of this video that Goldstein told Laurie Holmes that he would like to perform oral sex on her and take her to dinner. He denies that there was any discussion about money at this point in time. About six months after that, Goldstein performed oral sex on Ms. Holmes and Ms. Holmes performed oral sex on Goldstein.

This first incident occurred at his Hollywood apartment after about five minutes of conversation. Prior to Laurie Holmes' arrival, his apartment, he had placed $200 in an open and obvious place in the room. Following the sexual interaction, Goldstein said something like "Oh, that's for you" -- pointing in the direction of the money. The money was apparently taken by Ms. Holmes. Thereafter, Goldstein and Holmes went to Spago's for dinner.

Four to eight weeks following the initial incident, another sexual encounter occurred at Goldstein's West Hollywood apartment. Thereafter he cannot recall whether he had sex with her two or three times. Ultimately, he learned that a man in Laurie's life had aids and he no longer wanted to run the risk. In follow-up questioning, Goldstein admits to never having sex with Ms. Holmes without paying her. She never refused the money nor asked what it was for.

The last time Goldstein has seen Ms. Holmes was socially within the last six months. However, no sexual interaction took place. This was at a party that Ron Jeremy or Mark Carrier invited Goldstein to. Goldstein says that he has never discussed Laurie Holmes' case against Bill Amerson or VCA Labs. However, he does recall speaking to Cass Paley. However, he was unable to convey any details of the conversation. He also may have discussed this case with Al Jeremy and Dennis Hof. Goldstein describes Hof as a pimp. He runs or owns several whore houses in Nevada. Goldstein stated that Laurie Holmes worked at the Bunny Ranch because Dennis Hof featured porno people there.

Goldstein denies having a prior conversation with defense counsel Arash Homampour (counsel for VCA Labs and Bill Amerson) wherein Goldstein said that he had sex with Ms. Laurie Holmes in exchange for money. He says he may have said that and won't deny it but he does not recall specifically. Money crossed hands. He states that he does not believe that she would have sex with him had he not taken care of her (i.e., in exchange for money).

Goldstein admitted to knowing plaintiff's counsel, Greg Smith. Goldstein refers to him as "Greg." He met him approximately one year ago through friends of Goldstein. Goldstein admits to discussing the case with Greg some several months ago. However, Goldstein was evasive on what they discussed. He says that he knows Greg but does not listen to him. Goldstein goes on to admit that he had dinner with plaintiff's counsel two nights prior to his deposition. He again denies that the case was discussed. Finally, Goldstein admits to having smoked marijuana at some point the night before his deposition. He is also taking some prescription medication.

Regarding the film in question, Goldstein saw the film at the Egyptian Theatre at its premiere. He does not remember whether Laurie Holmes was present at that screening. Goldstein goes on to say that he has interviewed Ms. Holmes on his TV Show, "Midnight Blue," and interviewed in his Screw magazine. Goldstein has no knowledge of Ms. Holmes being a fluff girl. In fact, he does not believe they exist anymore due to these video as opposed to frame shots. In the final analysis, Goldstein stated that he believes that nothing would have happened if money had not been part of the relationship between himself and Laurie Holmes.

2. Shaun Michele Sedivec

Shaun Sedivec is a 47 year old former adult film actress. She began making adult films at the end of 1979 and continued in this profession until approximately 1983. Thereafter, she continued doing phone sex. Sedivec first met Laurie Holmes in approximately 1980 or 1981 while doing "loops" (a short couple of sex scenes that are put in machines and sex shops). Sedivec testified that Laurie Holmes would generally dress up like a little girl during such filmings. At that point in time, Laurie Holmes would probably be 18 or 19. However, she looked like she was 12. Ms. Sedivec testified that Laurie Holmes would perform sex during this loop. To get an earlier scene so she could leave and do whatever else she needed to do. Laurie Holmes would show up for the loop filmings and go into another room with the man filming the videos. Soon thereafter the man would come back sweaty and she would come out and get to do her scenes first.

Sedivec testified that she worked on approximately 15 to 20 movies with Ms. Holmes between 1981 through 1983. Sedivec testified that most of these films were done in California. Sedivec testified that there were several times during filming of movies that Laurie Holmes would come back to a shoot or a hotel where the actresses were saying and brag about how easy it was for her to make money with her little specialty (i.e., portraying a very young person). The last she recalls Laurie Holmes turning tricks during the breaks of at least five movies. However, Sedivec does not recall any titles other than "California Girl" and something like "The Insides of Misty Dawn." Sedivec would say that Laurie would brag and say "look how easy it is for this, you can make $500 for this - for an hour." "It's so stupid. These men are so stupid and it's so easy." Sedivec recalls at least twice that Laurie Holmes showed her money that she had made. She recalls most of these times during the time that Sedivec lived at Bill Amerson's house.

Sedivec repeated that Laurie Holmes, while living at Amerson's house, would tell her how it easy it was to make the money for putting on the dress and doing what she did. Sedivec also stated that Laurie Holmes was addicted to drugs, in particular, cocaine. Sedivec said everyone in the industry at that time had access to cocaine. The producers would often say "do a line, it will make you perform better." John Holmes was very addicted to cocaine and always had some in his dressing rooms. Accordingly, Sedivec assumed that Laurie Holmes was in there using the drugs as well. Sedivec did observe Laurie Holmes taking cocaine on at least two occasions.

Sedivec admits to having taken cocaine during the time she was making movies, between 1979 through 1983. The last time she consumed cocaine was approximately 16 years ago. Sedivec also worked for VCA Labs and Bill Amerson. She worked for VCA Labs approximately 20 to 25 times and Bill Amerson approximately 10 to 12 times. Sedivec at one time also lived with Cass Pale