'I Can't Believe I'm Having An Affair With The Publisher Of AVN'
This statement has been widely attributed to Chloe. At the time (fall of 1998) she was roommates with Ty Longley, now the publicist at Zane.
Ty's allegedly told people that Chloe came in the door one night and makes the pronouncement . A few weeks later, Chloe won some major awards from AVN.
Chloe and Ty deny this story. And I find it hard to believe that the AVN publisher would indulge in such a conflict of interest.
Then I surfed over to AVNGossip.com and found several press releases about Chloe at the top of the page. Here's an excerpt from site author Tod Hunter:
"She's won a slew of AVN Awards already, she's nominated for a bunch more this year, and she's finalizing a VCA contract for 2001. Veteran starlet Chloe is finalizing a contract with VCA. "We are working on a combination acting and directing contract," VCA PR rep Mischa told me eariler this afternoon. "Eight to ten pictures; We're still finalizing the deal.""
XXX says: "Why this deluge of Chloe press right now? Coincidental? Keep her happy, keep her mouth shut."
Dashing Nobleman Edmund Dantes-Ross Revolts Against Marquis De Fishbein
Gene Ross writes:
De Fishbein, a patron of the arts much like the fabled de Medicis, often called meetings among the poets and scribes, just when the food carts of Paris would cobble down the city streets. "But we are hungry," the scribes told Fishbein. "We're having a meeting," de Fishbein would retort sharply, often petting his dog in a way to suggest mockery of the cries of the famished.
And it was de Fishbein who once proclaimed that animals, particularly dogs, should be placed on the evolutionary scale ahead of humans.
It was a dashing nobleman in his employ, Edmund Dantes-Ross, believed to be a Corsican judging from his swarthy tan, who took exception to de Fishbein's practices.
It was Ross, a particular favorite among the ladies of the court, who reasoned that de Fishbein's extraordinary land holdings should be more equitably distributed among those, particularly the scribes, who assisted in acquiring them, often by brute toil, for the Grand Marquis.
Luke says: Like Steve Hirsch, Paul Fishbein's a big animal rights activist who donates money to that sacred cause (including such moderate groups as PETA).
Gene Ross is on a tear, so I might as well, choking in his dust, devote a few minutes to chronicling what's going on at www.GeneRossExtreme.com:
Gene opens today with a historical swoop about a certain Marquis de Fishbein who cuts off at the knees a certain Count Casimir de la Brioske (who is that?). "He owned a printing press, and thus commandeered court opinion in his favor via the distribution of weekly propaganda and statistics about sewers - often the concoction of de Fishbein's vivid imagination."
Because of his informational access to the high courts (Vivid, VCA and co), Fishbein gained great power.
This Fishbein once held his awards show at Caesars Palace which prepared a sumptious meal for those attending. This cost Fishbein and his business partner Stuart Franks a pretty penny and Fishbein, according to Ross, swore that such a loss would not reoccur. From now on, the peons could eat buffet.
Ross writes that the "AVN awards between 1997 and 1999 today were invalidated when it was discovered that AVN staffers were too busy during that period writing film scripts [The Money Shot] to pay any attention to business."
The three cosponsors for the January AVN Expo are paying $100,000 each for that privilege.
According to Gene Ross: Darren Roberts screwed up AVN's "Fetish" magazine by trying to make it too artsy fartsy. Ellen Thompson, now with LFP, hired talented people to write for and design the mag but they were paid months late, if at all.
Three summers ago at VSDA, Allen Shustack first told Thompson that she was going to edit this new magazine "that was the brainchild of him and Fishbein. It was news to Thompson who didn't hear anything from Fishbein until about two month's later when he told her she was going to get an extra $6,000, I believe it was, to write and edit it. Thompson often got paid late when Roberts would tell her they weren't making any money. Dark Lady got contracted for work and it took her a year and a half to get paid $700 of a grand total of $1200 by Shustack. Julie Strain had to wait a year to get paid."
From QuasarmanRants.com: In an interview with Luke F-rd, Gene Ross revealed that he had recommended me to assume the post he was soon to vacate at AVN. Not knowing how much of a wage one could actually earn writing about pornography I was curious to find out. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you look at it, I discovered that my salary requirements were too high and nothing materialized but I was flattered that Gene thought highly enough of my writing skills to warrant an interview with the boss. As most of you already know (I'm assuming that those of you who visit here do so after visiting GeneRossExtreme and Luke F-rd) Gene is now hellbent on comeuppance being exacted from his former employer of 14 years. Let's just suppose I actually took his old job. Yikes!!! I sent Gene the following email.
"I've always felt that you and I have mantained a cordial relationship. I never had any illusions that we were soul mates by any means but I was flattered that you recommended me to assume your post at AVN. However, in light of the disclosures appearing on your site recently I am wondering; Did you recommend me because you actually HATE me? Obviously I had no idea what I was getting into. Had the job worked out financially for me and should you succeed in your quest to make smoldering rubble of AVN, by extrapolation wouldn't I, you're friend, also be buried in that rubble unable to provide for my family and cats? Enlighten me. Though it may seem otherwise, I'm not a man who likes to make enemies. Even my feud with Zupko has been merely for entertainment purposes."
Gene Ross responded: "My respect for your abilities...plus the fact that you're the second funniest man in porn [next to Gene Ross] prompted my recommending you to AVN, knowing full well, of course, Paul Fishbein's track record...for getting it cheap and on the hoof. Thus, the likelihood of your getting the post was associated with the phenomenon of pigs flying. Now, had Fishbein actually been attacked by the pangs of good judgment and brought you on board, your exit strategy was provided for..."
Goddess writes Gene, asking why he stayed at AVN if working conditions were so awful there. Gene replies that he didn't have any other options until Rob Black came along. For the past two years or so, Gene's understood that he'd eventually work for Rob.
Ross says that once he got to California in 1991, all the 'promises' he'd received from Fishbein were broken, which told Gene it was time to go. But, Gene writes, no porner would take the chance on hiring him because they feared retribution from Fishbein.
"Former AVN staffer Ellen Thompson started out as Fishbein's secretary and was rebuked and verbally strafed almost on a daily basis. ...Fishbein, likewise, sent his Philadelphia office manager, Donna Magee, over the edge and she needed serious mental therapy as a result."
Ross writes that Thompson began job hunting but was ratted out by a pal of Paul's. "With the upshot, Fishbein put a kabosh on her job-seeking attempts and thus made her a slave to Fishbein's own personal reserve clause. The same thing happened with the present art director who got hired by Hustler, that is, until Fishbein got wind of it and killed that deal."
Tony Everready writes Gene about Bryn Pryor. Tony claims that he met Bryn Pryor in prison and that Bryn sought his protection from getting raped. In exchange, Pryor allegedly promised to nominate Everready for performer of the year. When Tony got out of jail, he found he was not nominated.
The black male porn star is Tony Eveready. I think Gene's alleged letter from "Everready" is satire.
Ross writes that Fishbein's served as a [paid?] consultant to Odyssey Group Video for nine years, and used to be roommates in Marina Del Rey with Howie Klein who owned the Ben Dover series. Perhaps Paul owns a piece of Odyssey Group Video, Ben Dover's first distributor?
Ben Dover received AVN's first Breakthrough Award. "[I]t wasn't a matter of awards fixing as much as awards-creating. Fishbein reached a crescendo of sleaze with that Breakthrough orchestration."
Luke Gets Mail
Ilike writes: Hey I just recently saw Lizzy Borden's Cocktail, a Extreme Associates production, basically it is forced bj and the girls is consistently filling up a cup which she drinks at the end. I found these to be really awesome, do you think you could help suggest some other movies like this? I didn't even know making these kind of movies was legal, apparently so, it really hit the spot for me and i was wondering if there was more out there. Thanks for your time, I hope I'm not annoying you, but I just had to ask, if possible I wouldn't mind if you just emailed me some names, thanks man.
Dudley Moore writes: Luke, I need to clarify Sunday's post on lesbians...I believe both butch dykes, ultra-femmes, are simply REFLECTING and MIRRORING the negative maternal/parental expectations for the sex of the child. They wanted and expected a boy, not a pathetic girl, and the girl child has unconsciously complied by internalizing her parents' sense of failure and reflecting back the desired caricature of "boy." Butch dykes, specifically, are simply mirroring their parents disappointment that they weren't born male by visually caricaturing a hard, cold, feelingless "masculinity". This is their best adaptive response to a profound psychic trauma inflicted by parents who rejected them because they were girls. This distorted mirroring process also explains lesbian "twinning"--i.e., lesbian couples who try to look alike in hair and dress.
Racism In Porn
Patrick Riley writes on RAME: I'm not the slightest bit interested in convicting any person of racism. I want to see the companies forced to accept/solicit a reasonable proportion of black girls whether they or their owners think blacks are inferior or not.
Let's follow your current line. You extract a statement that "I hate blacks and I'm never going to let one touch me" from a stupid porn bimbo. You put her name in the shame list on your website, vilify her in letters to AVN and in postings on this group, etc....and then what? If she's reasonably strong she says "f--- you, Mike" and goes on doing what she's been doing. You've changed nothing to your advantage and in fact you've pissed off a lot of guys who think girls should have the right to screw or not whoever they want.
Contrast the approach where you attack the company. Not only do few people have any sympathy for them, after all they are taking our money, but some will cave under the pressure and provide work for a series of black girls. Even if they don't you have a much stronger case lasting a much longer time (Girls retire; companies stay around for the long haul).
Mr Couch Potato Raincoater isn't angry at blacks; he just sees them as lower on the social spectrum than he is and women who would have sex with them as having no self-esteem whatsoever. You f--- a black male; you must be willing to f--- anyone.
He's angry at males who seem to be able to talk the girls into the cot (like Ed) even though he's ugly, has a small dick, etc (here follows the usual litany of reasons why Ed is slime except the right one: he's better at seducing the women than Mr. Couch Potato Raincoater). He's angry at the handsome guys (e.g., James Bonn) because they can attract the girls and Mr. CPR can't.
Parts????? What are you talking about? A typical Anabolic movie doesn't have parts other than "Vagina, anus, and mouth having a presentable life support system attached." Oh, and they have to do some fake moaning to pretend they're interested. No stretch there. Really don't even have to have intelligence above minimal brain stem functions.
The obvious is the lack of black girls in Anabolic/Diabolic/Napier/Max etc; the smoking gun for racism is proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christopher Alexander (and the others) considers all black females as inferior, something that's really unimportant if you want to increase the amount of work available to black girls.
What Is Porn?
Pat Riley writes on RAME: The big problem with "pornography" is that there is a significant minority who wish to pervert the regular meaning of the word to their own ends--it's a common enough practice among the politically correct these days--but although they might succeed in sowing confusion and even change the usage eventually the mob, the common people, will catch on and develop a new or modified definition themselves and the cycle will start again.
"Pornography" is really very simple and useful. It's "a work primarily intended to sexually arouse."
"Work" could be anything: a film, a play, a novel, a photo, a painting, a drawing, etc. The dictionary even gives examples.
"Primarily" is the main idea. Taken as a whole. It's general thrust.
"Intended to sexually arouse": The question would be by whom? I think the answer is obvious: by the author, or the director, or the creator. How do you tell if the item in question was "intended"? By external factors. How is it sold? Is it sold to raincoaters by a guy out of the back of a car: "Psst, this will really give you a hard on."? Or, is it sold in a medical bookstore among the full-of-big-words dissertations on how to treat heart attacks?
Most of the time this is obvious but in the case of "Senses" maybe there's some doubt. What did the director say at the time? How was it marketed? How did he and the producers promote the movie? With a wink and a nod or as a serious effort. As with most things, actions speak louder than words.
IMO, both "Senses" and "Basic Instinct" have plausible deniability. IOW the movies contain sufficient footage that could in no way be deemed as intended to sexually arouse and neither movie was marketed to a natural audience that was looking for something to sexually arouse them. You have to accept the word of the director/producer that sexual arousal was not the primary intent.
To go to the opposite extreme, there is little doubt that Hustler magazine is a pornographic work. It's sold to people who wish to be sexually aroused and for that specific purpose. There may be non-pornographic articles in any given issue but remember the "primarily".
Let's not confuse the "intended to sexually arouse" with the question of whether it did sexually arouse you or whatever group you're discussing. A dog grooming video may be sexually arousing to some (insert the usual Chessie Moore jokes) but is not intended by its makers or directors to be such hence, it's not pornographic. If you want to describe the work's effect on the viewer, the word to use is "erotic". If the dog grooming video gave you a stiffie it, to you, is erotic. If "Basic Instinct" gave you a stiffie, or gave 80% of the population a stiffie, it's erotic to you and to them. To the other 20% it's just a movie. If Max Hardcore gives you a stiffie, his movies, in addition to being pornographic because he intended to give you a stiffie, are erotic. To most of us however, Max's movies are pornographic but not erotic.
All this seems obvious and useful and relatively easy to understand however there are those who wish to pervert the simple use of these words usually because "pornographic" has a connotation of shameful, dirty, low class, ugly, giving into the base instincts, etc. Thus you have Candida Royale with her "Erotica for women" ("erotica" = a group or collection of those things erotic) which may or may not be actually erotic depending on the reaction of the viewer. Like the "Greatest story ever told" I'll make up my own mind about that, thank you very much. What she really produces, of which there can be no doubt, is pornography, just the same in intent as what Robert Black produces.
Chaim Amalek Is Very Wicked
Chaim writes: Your success with... notwithstanding your poor standard of living, proves my point: fame gets one laid by better looking women than just being a decent man will. That is why we are all rooting for you Luke, so that you will achieve such fame that those of us who knew you when, will be able to have sex with a better class of woman just by saying we know you.
There. Now isn't sex with a nice young gentile girl a whole lot better for your psyche than spending an evening with a true jewess? Isn't it better than hacking your way through a page of talmud? And what lessons do you learn from this?
Luke writes: You are very wicked. And the answer is yes on a temporal basis, but no on God's eternal basis.
Chaim replies: You are deluding yourself, even on your own terms. Judaism does not teach that men and women pair off in this world for the next. It recognizes the pull of the flesh in THIS world. You are looking for a mate with which to mate in THIS world, and have discovered (many times over, one suspects) that gentile women make better mates, if only for the moment. Is life not but a series of moments, strung together by time? Don't make it sound as though you were some holy priest looking for a "nun" (I do not mean to denigrate any faith here) to mate with in the hereafter.
You have hit upon physical truth. A man who denies physical truth is both at war with God's Plan and destined to be miserable. In rejecting the shiksa for possible selection as a mate, you are even worse than the homosexual who chooses to insert his penis into the rectum of another man (through which emerges waste products) than into the vagina of a woman (through which emerges all life). Why? The homosexual cannot help himself; you can.
Finally, AMALEK is very sensitive to accusations that he is very wicked. The teachings in the torah concerning those who happen to share his name are not unknown to him, and even alluding to them is as sure a call to hate crime as anything that can be found on such hateful web sites as that of the National Alliance. The Anti-Defamation League and the Department of Justice under Janet Reno will be kept apprised of this incitement to hate that you have sent me.
AVN Gossip
A former AVN writer says: "I read Ken Wood's account of AVN voting. I raised a similar question years ago with the Savannah (who debuted in 1990) nomination for Best New Starlet (1992). I know that I and everyone I talked to voted for Angela Summers that year. Strangely enough, Savannah won. It couldn't be that she was also under contract to Vivid?
"We only had a few writers in 1992. It didn't take much research. But everyone told me they voted for Angela Summers."
You've got to suspect that AVN publisher Paul Fishbein has a major share of Babenet because Paul and Jack Gallagher, Babenet operator, are best friends.
Fishbein invested in the Babenet - Rob Spallone shooting house RealPornWorld.com.
XXX: "I don't think VCA owner Russ Hampshire likes Paul. Paul sucks up to Russ but Russ's pretty dismissive of Paul."
Luke: "Russ once told me that Paul Fishbein has more integrity than anybody else in the business."
XXX: "I think it's always been an uneasy alliance between Russ and Paul. I've always heard that Russ was anti-Semitic [hated Jews]. I've heard that from more than a few people."
Luke: "I've heard that from tons of people too but I've never seen any hard evidence of it. I've spent a lot of time around Russ and I never sensed it. Russ's sales staff is all Jewish and Russ takes very good care of these guys.
"Hampshire is a rare major player in the biz who's not Jewish."
XXX: "It could be something as simple as that."
Luke: "Steve Hirsch and David James, the co-owners of Vivid, hate each other, right?"
XXX: "Right. It's a pretty uneasy relationship."
Luke: "I hear they don't even talk to each other."
XXX: "David James was the one who really got Vivid off the ground. David is the brain trust. He just doesn't get the press.
"Kevin Blatt's been having meetings at AVN. And wouldn't that make sense. His brother's (D$) porking Jennifer Rosenblatt, head of sales at AVN. Duh! Let's keep it in the family. And they're all Jewish."
Luke: "As a Jew, I take exception to that remark about porking. I understand the Darren - Jennifer relationship is very serious. They're in love and they're going to get married."
Kevin Blatt writes: "Luke, I was reading your site today and was shocked to learn I was having meetings with AVN. I visit AVN maybe once or twice a year but having regular meetings? No. I DO visit Jennifer when I am there as well as Paul. These meetings are social and not business related. I'll be making my announcement very soon about where I am going then the entire porn world will know what the deal is."
XXX: "Jennifer took a whole month off work to go off to Europe with Darren Blatt. Either you can't be that important so that you can leave the company for a month or you're getting special consideration.
"She gets all the perks with the trips to the different conventions. She goes to every show they've got, probably about eight to nine weeks of vacation time. Editorial people don't get that."
Anonymous writes : "Actually, she had 3 weeks of vacation time coming to her, not a month. She had been working weekends, travelling quite a bit for the company, this was some comp time to make up for that. She didn't go with Darren, she went with her best girlfriend from high school, a trip planned long before she met Darren. Darren joined them just for a couple of days on the spur of the moment.
"Princess? Work hard and you too shall get what you deserve. Jen works harder than most people in the biz and deserves all she gets. People don't see that, they only see what they want to see. Jealousy? Maybe, but those who know how hard she works know the real story. When all those other people at AVN walk out the door at 5:00 p.m. (most likely the people doing all the complaining) she's still there working. Works at home too. Weekends. Totally dedicated. Who cares about the "whining". If she gets what she wants from Paul, more power to her!"
Debbie Hargraves writes: "Concerning the issue of Jennifer Rosenblatt's trips to conventions, etc...she is not an editorial person. Please note that she is a salesperson who is selling a magazine. Salespeople attend conventions to sell...and, in Jennifer's case, she travels conventions to sell her magazine. In fact, she does a great job of it! Bravo for her! Jealous anyone?"
XXX: "Paul Fishbein had AVN report on the Edward Wedelstedt bust when it first went down, though only from the perspective of this is a witchhunt. Poor Eddie. Then the news came out that Eddie W had over two million dollars cash at his home when busted. This was not reported by AVN. Paul's put the kabosh on further investigation of this story. Eddie's a good friend of Paul's. The silence has grown deafening.
"Paul's a control freak. He has to control all his employees. He micro-manages.
"It's no secret to anyone at AVN that Paul is a philanderer. They all know it. To them, they're all amused how he goes into this whole denial thing. Paul's a liar like OJ. He can't keep his dick in his pants. And if it is a redhead, then he's particularly susceptible. He's just a sucker for redheads."
Clemenza writes Gene Ross: "Contact Lana Sands. Fishbein did her in his office when AVN was still at La Cienega and Venice. Chris Mann set the whole deal up. ALSO, Fishbein did Kylie Ireland at the East Coast Video Show one year."
Luke: "When Paul Fishbein looked me in the face and said that he'd never had sexual relations with a porn girl, I believed him."
XXX: "I know you believed him. You were seduced by Paul's good looks.
"One of the inside jokes at AVN was when you had your ethics ranking and you had Paul at the top of the list.
"AVN is a cesspool of corruption. I'd tell people, 'I have this dream that we are all going to come here one morning and find this place padlocked. And nobody disputed me on that.
"Ken Michaels often worries out loud about losing his job. He was offered many times the job of AVN managing editor. He always turned it down. He's a cowardly lion. He had the opportunity to make more money but he doesn't have enough confidence for the task. Even though he's as good as anybody over there. He's a good writer. Has a mind like a steel trap with a good recall of facts.
"All the writers at AVN are highly talented but they all have these strange quirks. Suzie MidAmerica is there for her second tour of duty. We had to let her go the first time because emotionally she couldn't deal with it. She'd literally sit under her desk in a fetal position when the going got tough.
"She's become an honorary member of the Arizona Mafia."
Luke: "Is Renee Johnson a part of it?"
XXX: "Nah. Once she got what she wanted, she tossed Ken aside like a sack of beans. He was good enough to go out with when she was a clerk. But once she attained such a lofty position (of running the AVN trade shows), forget about it.
"The AVN Christmas party was the coldest f---ing affair you've ever seen. It was like one half of the room hated the other half. It's a bunch of cliques."
Luke: "Who likes the VP Darren Roberts?"
XXX: "Ken Wood put it well. Everybody hated his guts. They all laugh about him behind his back."
Luke: "Who there likes Paul Fishbein?"
XXX: "That's the whole point. They don't and Paul knows it. You've got to treat people with some form of dignity. He doesn't. At some point in time, he has to let you know that you are a peon."
Luke: "Did Paul try to sell his operation to Larry Flynt Publications?"
XXX: "Yes, but LFP didn't want to buy. The financial house wasn't in order on the AVN side.
"Fishbein's been trying to get out of AVN for years because he wants to be a movie producer. Well, he fell flat on his face trying to get financing for his movie 'The Money Shot.' Gene Ross's Adult Video News was the prototype of The Money Shot.
"You should've pointed out to Ken Wood that Tod Hunter was back together with Sonja Redd at this year's GayVN Awards. Defend Tod's honor.
"I heard an interesting story from a hooker who was hired by a company owner. She came over and he put a gun to her head and forced her to have sex with an underage boy."
Luke's Shabbat Dinner
I attended a Jewish singles shabbat dinner Friday night at a local synagogue and ran into male porn performer Arnold Schwartzpecker. He'd won the raffle for a free dinner at the last Jewish singles coffee house meeting (the one I brough Kendra Jade and Rob Spallone to).
I ran into Yankel who was not happy with Kendra Jade's dismissive comments about that night.
Yankel: "She complained that everybody only wanted to talk to her about porn. Well, that's all they knew about her. She seemed happy then to talk about it. Now, after she said that, I've completely changed my view of her."
KendraJXXX: i did not mention porn once...the guy is b.s. and when it was brought up. i simply replied that it was not the time or place to speak about it. out of respect for being in YOUR environment."
Michael Caine Supports Pornography
From IMDB.com: Cockney actor Sir Michael Caine has come out in support of pornography. The 67-year-old Oscar winner believes there is no logic in banning the material. He reveals, "If someone says to me 'I'm banning stuff you shouldn't see' the logic doesn't follow through because I say 'Why?' and they say, 'Because it will corrupt you.'" His latest film, the salacious Quills (2000), sees him playing a doctor with a mission to tame sadist pornographer Marquis de Sade The film has already caused controversy and just missed getting an NC- 17 rating in the states. He adds, "The thing that strikes me is...I was watching some documentary about the history of pornography and one thing interested me: pornography was never censored until the working class were taught to read. Every university had its archives of filth, but they said, 'We're intellectuals, we can look at it, but if you let anyone else look at it they'll all start raping and pillaging.'
Sex.com Goes To Yishai Habari
Trevor writes: "Luke, I don't understand how Gary Kremen could hand over Sex.com to Yishai Habari, a grade A Middle Eastern crook behind the Crescent Publishing scam, instead of Ron Levi of Cybererotica. Levi didn't contribute $10,000 to Kremen for his lawsuit to regain the domain name Sex.com. Levi contributed over $150,000 and got Seth Warshavsky to put in about $40,000.
"Yishai made his name buying crap traffic for a flat rate of 3c a click. He knows nothing about measuring productivity."
Levi will be doing the online publishing for Club magazine, such as Clubonline.com.
Kremen's hiring a British Virgin Islands attorney Monday to freeze Cohen's assets. The BVI's laws are written to favor tax evaders, but Cohen's being pursued for fraud and theft and forgery.
An hour after last Monday's ruling, Cohen started transferring his assets, acting against court orders. But not before calling Kremen to say he was going to appeal. They he had new evidence. That Kremen was going to jail.
Cohen called Kremen back but Gary was repeatedly getting interrupted by friends, relatives and reporters and did not have time to talk to Stephen.
The next day (Tuesday), Cohen called Kremen to say that his two daughters were bummed out that they would have to move out of their big house. Have some mercy. Then Cohen offered six million dollars to Kremen to settle the case. Three days later, Cohen signed an affidavit that his networth was only $700,000.
Stephen Cohen might be very surprised to find out what civil suits can accomplish in the BVI.
It looks like it will be business as usual for RJB Telcom. Richard and Robert Botto are resilient ethical operators with long memories.
The FTC's case against them appears to have primarily consisted of consumers complaints about dialers and stuff the FTC trumped up. That the FTC is settling the case so quickly indicates the case was largely trumped up.
RJB have a great lawsuit if they decide to go after the guy from VISA who signed an affidavit about RJB's allegedly high chargeback ratios.
Katja Kean, Jessica Drake, Sylvia Saint, Zoe, Shay Sweet, Kamiko, Teens
Twelve Days Of Fishbein On Gene Ross
Gene Ross is going to town. He's planning "The Twelve Days Of Fishbein" on his site to coincide with the holiday season.
Goddess writes: "Shouldn't it be the EIGHT DAYS of Fishbein? After all, he *is* Jewish."
Gene writes: "Read about the Park Avenue Love Pad, and Fishbein's frequent flyer miles to New York City. Read about Fishbein's adventures in the world of professional wrestling and how a couple of irate customers actually took his offer of a free trip to Japan seriously! Read about the secret advertisers' rates list at AVN that gives selected video companies sweetheart deals! Read how Vivid was getting free back page advertising when Fishbein floated them for outrageous balances..." (Gene Ross)
Clemenza writes Gene Ross: "Step two in the journey. Contact Lana Sands. Fishbein did her in his office when AVN was still at La Cienega and Venice. Chris Mann set the whole deal up. ALSO, Fishbein did Kylie Ireland at the East Coast Video Show one year. Jenna Jameson knows all about that one, too, but she's keeping her mouth shut in exchange for the fix."
Yankel writes: "Fishbein would sell tickets to his own funeral and arrange for sponsors to underwrite the expense of it, if he could! however, gene ross is the worst kind of scum because he owes everything he has to avn and fishbein."
AVN Moonlighters
It's against AVN policy for employees to moonlight or freelance with other porn companies. But several employees have done so.
XXX: "Paul begrudges his people trying to make an extra buck as he pays them diddly squat. But Paul has his fingers in all sorts of businesses. Only Gene Ross got a somewhat decent deal, because Gene negotiated to move out here to Los Angeles (from Philadelphia)."
The wage scale for AVN writers is about $500 a week.
XXX says: "And they work like slaves because every couple of months, Fishbein will hold a meeting to say, 'We're losing money. Editorial's gotta do more. And if you don't hold up your end, I'm going to have to let people go.' That's how he cracks the whip. Putting the fear of God into them.
"Bryn Pryor however is doing pretty well (about $60,000). He walked into the managing editor's job, handed to him by Gene Ross. Mark Kulkis had quit out of the blue. Pryor negotiated well. He had Fishbein over a barrel.
"Paul consistently sells out the editorial staff. He dresses them down in public for doing things that he told them to do. Paul likes to dress people down in public. Just humiliate them. Gene was about to smack him on a couple of times.
"Darren Roberts owns pieces of the AVN pie and other operations. He's hauling in bucks from lots of different deals.
"AVN advertising head Jennifer Rosenblatt has a cushy deal. She hauls in commissions. She seems to get about eight weeks off a year. Everybody's resentful of her because she comes across at times as a whiner and complainer. If she's unhappy with Paul, she marches right into his office and cries and screams. She's Paul's little princess.
"Paul don't respect you unless you abuse him and Jennifer has it down to a fine art.
"I laugh at how you gave Paul Fishbein five stars for ethics. I laugh how you believe every word he tells you. Fishbein can't keep his pants on. He not only has Dick Miller (Richard Mailor) setting him up in Prague, he also has a connection in New York that sets him up. Paul made frequent trips to New York and visited a certain apartment which housed five to six women at any particular time.
"When Paul lived in Philadelphia, he kept various honeys in Los Angeles that he'd visit on his trips (such as Dick Miller's secretary at InTropics). While he was still married to his first wife.
"There's a conspiracy of silence going on at AVN. Lots of AVN employees and ex-employees know about the diverting of 401K funds. This is the coup d'grace that could put somebody in jail. Ken Wood, Gene Ross, Bryn Pryor, Ken Michaels, Mikey Ramone, Rebecca Gray, Renee Johnson, Juliette Loews, Darren Roberts, Roland Roth and Stacy Boyd all know about the diversions.
"Nikki Fritz of NikkiFritz.com runs AVNLive.com. Nikki's one of many beautiful women at AVN. She's rarely in the office. Paul employes more than his share of babes. There's open musing about it at the AVN office.
"People have complained to Paul about his secretary Lisa Love's lack of secretarial skills. And Paul's replied: 'Yeah, but she's beautiful.'
"Paul's been heard to say about his VP Darren Roberts: 'I wish I could get rid of Darren but I can't. I'm stuck with him now because he's my business partner.' Apparently Paul also realizes that Roberts is a moron but there's some reason why he can't get rid of him. Like Paul can't get rid of Bryn Pryor. I wonder why?
"Paul has also said about Juliette Lowes (head of the AVN internet division): 'I wish that I could get rid of her but I can't. I made her a business partner.'"
How did Darren and Juliette get made business partners?
XXX: "AVN made little effort to promote GeneRoss.com. And it is immoral of them to keep the domain from Gene, now that he's moved on. He should own his own name. Gene pushed Paul to give him an internet site from early 1998, when the HIV scandal broke.
"Gene couldn't squeeze equipment out of AVN. Gene worked with an out of date computer that repeatedly broke down. They'd never tell Gene how the site was doing, how much advertising it was raking in..."
Ian writes: "Hi Luke, You certainly have recruited a lot of people to dish the dirt on AVN. But why, if AVN is so inefficient, has no publication successfully challenged its monopoly in the porn industry? In capitalism, potential competition is what is supposed to keep businesses on their toes. And why, if those who run AVN have been so dishonest, have not public authorities indicated concern? It is, after all, their job. Finally, why, if your respondents are so indignant about AVN's morals, did they not speak up at the time they were employed by that company?"
Curious writes: Given the recent revelations about AVN hellish working conditions would you still consider employment there (NOT THAT THERE IS A CHANCE IN HELL THAT FISHBEIN WOULD EVER CONSIDER YOU NOW)?
Luke says: No. It would violate my ethics.
Sin City Gossip
Sin City Insider writes: "I hear you may be doing a magazine with Rob Black? Yes we are. This was started when mike blatt worked for David Sturman and his son john worked for rob. Since he left and went back to france a few months ago, David has started his magazine distribution situation again and will premiere with Extreme's magazine.
"Why did Nikki Fritz get fired from Sin City? She was let go not because of any lies on her resume but for other reasons, most not related to her performance. Basically, all the boys could not work around her without staring at her nipples so in order to preserve a business like atmosphere she was asked to go. She is probably better off at avn."
Luke says: Isn't that sexual discrimination to fire somebody for having great tits? Anyway, I heard from a Sin City source that she'd overstated her qualifications and that the job had overmatched her.
I hear that Mike Blatt has abandoned the magazine and moved to France.
Ken Woods Nominations List
Former AVN managing editor Ken Wood contributes his Nominations List for Paul Fishbein's Adult Video News operation:
1. Fraud. (Illegal diversion of 401(k) employee retirement account funds for improper uses. The fact that monies were "re-deposited" into accounts, acknowledged by a certain company "controller," doesn't change that fact that the original act was a federal crime. Sorry fellas.)
2. Tax evasion. (Corporate and individual. A freshman IRS investigator will wet him/herself when they're turned loose amidst a certain company's financial records, as well as its owner's. Can I hear somebody say "AUDIT"?)
3. Embezzlement. (California Penal Code Section 514) (Funds garnered from various operations, namely trade shows, then diverted to personal possession and not reported to state and federal agencies as income. Again, further possible tax evasion. Don't you guys have enough money already?)
4. Obstruction of justice. (Specifically the possible destruction of financial documents that could be used to prove criminal wrongdoing to law enforcement at the local and federal levels. Intensive investigative work by law enforcement agents will uncover whether documents are missing or altered, and thus adds one more layer to the criminal marble cake. Yum.)
5. Larceny. (Computers.)
6. Conspiracy to obstruct justice. (Trafficking in stolen property, namely computers. More to come on this one from the firm of Wood, Ross and Ford.)
7. A report detailing these and other alleged acts of impropriety which will soon be delivered to interested officials of the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
8. And finally, at the US Attorney's discretion and based on a probable pattern of criminal conduct which includes several financial crimes: Implementation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. RICO. I predict the feds will score a clean sweep in MY awards show and some individuals will be going away for a long time.
Have a nice day, Paul.
Luke says: It appears that AVN's about to take a big fall.
Mr Marcus writes: "You mean I've been paying full price and others are getting stolen computers, what the hell? I need the hook-up Luke, call you or should I call AVN? And ya'll think only black people are crooks?"
Luke: "Just blacks and Jews."
Bob Jones writes from the Deep South: Luke, Love what you're doing to AVN. Just love it! I just wish you'd go after the criminal activities of the industry's trailer park hicks as aggressively as you do those of its jews.
But, a couple of questions/comments on today's story: Ken does know that he's essentially turning himself in as an accomplice to all of this, doesn't he? I remember him talking about going to law school, but he hasn't gone yet. I really hope one of you bothered to get him in touch with a lawyer before this happened. On the other side of the same coin, I really hope you and Gene checked Ken's evidence to make sure he has a basis for what he's saying. I really, really, like it when corrupt and dishonest people get caught; I wouldn't like it if Paul had a libel suit against you. Lloyd's is going to start raising your premiums!
Rebecca Bardoux
Rebecca Bardoux writes Luke: "Luke, Do I understand that right? You have CFS? Back in 1995 I was diagnosed with CFS at that time there was nothing I could do. So, I have been suffering for that long. At any rate let me know, homeopathic works great for me. Unfortunately, within the last few months homeopathic therapy has gotten rid of all my problems but the main one. At this time it may be possible that all this is because of my breast implants. I have tons of information on CFS if you need it.
Rebecca Bardoux
P.S. Thanks for posting my e mail last week. After reading what Lynn wrote about you I feel we are alot alike.
Luke says: We are. What are you doing these days? Are you still dancing?
Rebecca replies: I can't dance I get too sick after or during, I had to stop everything. So, that is why I'm not active. Also, as you know a lot of people thinks there is no such thing, just me being lazy.
Being that CFS prays on your nervous system the industry is not a healthy place for me. I have become too emotional and sometimes I think I'm down right crazy.
Now I'm living...with my future husband. He is completely understanding about my condition. He is older and successful... So, I 'm very lucky to have him, I have no pressure and unconditional love 24/7.
Johnny Castano On Publisher Pat Reshen
Veteran photographer Johnny Castano writes: "LUKE IF PHOTOGRAPHERS WANT TO GET f---ED OVER BY A FAT PIG WHO PUTS OUT THE MAGAZINE // 40 AND 50S WHO KEEPS COLOR FOR 3 TO 5 YEARS AND NEVER GIVES CREDITS WORK WITH PAT THE PIG RAT SHEN."
Luke's View On Sexual Excitement
I read a good article by Daphne Merkin in the New York Times magazine Sunday.
"It is hostility -- the desire, overt or hidden, to harm another person -- that generates and enhances sexual excitement. The absence of hostility leads to sexual indifference and boredom.
"Humans are not a very loving species -- especially when they make love." (Dr Robert Stoller)
Quasarmanrants.com writes: "I am wondering however what relevance Luke F-rd can possibly have now that Gene, a much smarter and infinitely better connected journalist, has "taken the gloves off". Also, Gene has proven to be both a formidable enemy as well as a good friend depending on whether or not you are at the pointy end of his pen. Consequently there are people who trust Gene."
Jews Please Pray For Al Gore
Chaim Amalek writes: At this critical hour it is necessary for all Jewish persons to pray for the victory of Joseph Lieberman and Al Gore in our courts, where God works His will. I know that you join me in these prayers.
PS Are you interested in dating a 5'3" tall, 135 pound 30 year old woman with frizzy black hair who looks stereotypically jewish? This woman lawyer I know here wants me to fix her up, and she is not attracted to stereotypically jewish looking men - she wants a goy. You sound just like her type, except for the part of her wanting a man who can take care of her and the children she says she wants to have so that she no longer has to work to support herself by practicing law. And you would have to move to New York, or she would move to LA. Her parents (divorced) are each worth about ten million dollars, but are relatively young and in good health. Her uncle is a retired Hollywood big shot, one of the Gedolim ten - twenty years ago.
Luke says: No thank you.
Chaim: Why are you unwilling to let me fix you up with a professional jewish woman? This woman REALLY wants to find a husband, and other than the money issue, you are her type. (Seriously) I am more certain than ever before that your days as a jew are numbered; soon, you will be part of some eastern cult, your days of laying leather on your arms an embarrassing memory.
Does Luke Want To Live In A Garage The Rest Of His Life?
JMT writes: Luke, you putz, get Chaim to introduce you to the rich jew lawyeress with the rich parents immediately. Propose at the earliest credible opportunity, and insist that the two of you take up residence in a community property state. Make sure to intermingle your assets. This will probably be your last, best, and only chance. Don't blow it.
Pornographers Adopt Kids
I read on Netpond about this exciting program (http://www.netpond.com/msgboard/).
The Desperate Woman's Guide
Rumdar writes: Luke.. It is that time of year again when all of us will be shopping for gifts for our loved ones, coworkers and even people we can't stand. I know frugal Luke F-rd fans will want to give a worthy present while spending as few shekels as possible. May I suggest The Desperate Woman's Guide (website www.desperatewomansguide.com) co-authored by my pal Dr. Al Julian. For under 10 bucks Luke readers will be able give the gift of humor while putting a few bucks in Dr. Al's pocket. If he sells enough books he may have the cash to join me in Bangkok this year. Come on guys, learn from an expert the secret techniques desperate women everywhere are using on us.
Jennifer Stewart
George writes: Luke: Know you are very busy, but had a quick question if you have time. Was watching some old (maybe 10-12 years ago) flix at a batchelor party with some guys at work. Ran across one that had Christy Canyon and a real natural looking girl who I think was known as Jennifer Stewart. Peter North was in this one also. Then the same girl was in another flick with Sharon Kane, Jerry Butler and a male lead whose name escapes me. This one was about couples swapping (surprise). It was the same girl, but I missed the credits. Like I said real natural body, pretty face, not the siliconed-up blonde bimbo type. What ever happened to "Jennifer Stewart"??
Luke: Someone dropped a bunch of her videos on her parents doorstep and Jennifer subsequently dropped out of porn.