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Wednesday, December 13th, 2000

Extreme Hidell

Nice guy Brandon Iron has turned into Extreme director Alec James Hidell, who, writes Gene Ross, "is all for diminishing the stature of women and treating them like cheap, f---ing whores."

Hidell: "This industry needs somebody with a big cock blowing big loads on beautiful girls' faces to keep these girls in check cause they've got f---ing attitudes. All of them have attitudes. They think they're better than they are. They all believe they're f---ing actresses. I'm here to remind them that they're not. They're porn whores getting naked and sucking cock. They're debasing themselves and I'm going to help them do it.

Hidell: "You take out your measuring device which, in my case, is my cock. A ruler will do. You mjeasure to the back of their thoat and you go four inches beyond that. You have to be careful not to poke a hole in the back of their head. You're liable for that, for medical costs. Other than that, you push a girl past her limits. The tears start to flow. The vomit comes up and then it's fun and games from there.

Hidell: "We sink to new lows in volume 3, subtitled Human Toilets. Each girl is forced to wear a toilet seat around her neck as a necklace, reminding them that they're going to get abused for 10 to 15 agonizing, cruel minutes, the end of which, we fill the toilet with cum, then you flush it right down their pretty gullets." (From Gene Ross)

Extreme Jihad Against AVN

XXX says: Gene Ross's become the Messiah, exposing wrongdoing and corruption. Did you ever read the book Dune? Gene Ross has a jihad going, a holy war.

Gene must beware hanging around those retards too much at Extreme. The bravado is unbelievable. It's like, f--- everybody who doesn't agree. Gene's started using all this street language. That's not Gene Ross. Where's that coming from? That's never been his persona. Is he saying that he lived a lie for 15 years and he's really a guy who says 'f---' every three words? 'You're my bitch.'

Do Extremers take testosterone shots every day?

No matter how much you and Gene expose, porners don't care because it doesn't affect their income. Everybody understands how the business is done.

I see this Christ thing going on at Extreme. Rob Black is Jesus and Gene Ross is John the Baptist. Tom Zupko is a zealot. They're all zealots. They're weird.

Gene must be saying this stuff on the behest of his employer.

Extremers have become megalomaniacs. They feel that they can rule the world.

But this controversy has no effect on sales. It has no effect on production. It has no effect on anybody's livelihood. The moment it does there will be a big reaction. As long as it doesn't, nobody cares. Though it is interesting.

We're a selfish lot. If it don't affect me personally, I don't care. It may raise an eyebrow. But if it's not taking any bread off my table... If AVN's never done anything to me.

Luke says: I find it interesting how amoral porners tend to be. If something doesn't affect them personally, they don't care. I keep hearing this, often from people who like me. 'You've never hurt me so [I don't care how much you hurt others].' Pornography tends to morally confuse and desensensitize people.

XXX: It's not like they're attacking America or the flag.

Do Vivid and AVN and Wicked offer their employees 401K plans? I don't think so.

I hear people talking about Gene's new site. They'll say, oh, did you read that little thing on Gene. But they're laughing about it all. Nobody's appalled. They figure that everybody's got dirt. You can't work for somebody and not get dirt on them.

Gene keeps saying he has no personal gain in this. He's right. There is no personal gain.

Luke: I feel personal gain from this. I love it. It vindicates me.

XXX: This is such a small business. And it's not because there's a mafia, a few powerbrokers like Fishbein and Hirsch and Hampshire. They don't have s--- to say about anything. Especially on the production side. They've got nothing to say except for the people who work directly for them. They're whores. They'll do anything to make a buck. They could hate your guts but still buy your product as long as they can make money on it.

And you know what a bunch of retards shoot this stuff. The owners are scared of us. They think we're psychotic. They think we're all loose cannons.

You don't think Rob Spallone gets his way a lot because people are afraid of him. Because he's unpredictable. You don't know what he will do. He will sincerely say, I don't give a f---, and go after somebody. That's just the way Rob is. That's his instinctive reaction.

So the owners are careful how they exert their control and influence. If you piss off a Metro, GVA or IVD, and they don't take your product, they can really hurt you. But I've never seen them not taking anyone's product.

Luke: I do remember them making Jon Dough redo a boxcover because he used the word Jew on the boxcover and GVA wouldn't take it.

Lean Mean Legend

Jack and Bruce's Legend's probably making more money than anybody. They're a lean mean profit machine.

If you go to their place, there's nothing ritzy about it. Just a non descript industrial building they own, a real contrast to VCA's opulent headquarters. Jim Lane and Jerry Tanenbaum (features) shoot most of their shows.

I hear John Kenney aka Bo of LGI is lodging complaints with companies using Kendra Jade, who he claims is still his contract girl.

XXX writes: What does that tell you about his influence in the industry if every company simply ignores him?

Gigi Appleton's back in the Avalon office once a week after her migraine/ulcer problems.

I hear that Rob Black's on the cover of the January AVN.

Jim DiGiorgio says: "They're aren't many other businesses where you can show up to work with a bong in your pocket and everybody's f---ing.

"I've got ethics. I borrowed them from Roy Karch."

Michael Raven vs Nic Andrews

XXX: "I was on a set with directors Michael Raven and Nic Andrews. And they were talking about who got the most AVN Awards nominations. Raven said, 'I got 40 awards...'

Nic: 'How many movies did you do?'

Michael: '40.'

Nic: 'Well, I did two movies and got 40 awards.'

XXX: "Big deal. Michael Raven, you got a nice deal at Sin City. Keep your f---ing mouth shut and do your job and get your pay check.

"This isn't Hollywood. This isn't an Academy Award [as though those aren't corrupt]. You go to Hollywood and win an Academy award, that's worth millions of dollars to you. Because you'll get a lot of work. Not in this business."

Sin City director Michael Raven replies to XXX: "Who are you so angry at and why? Although you got close, your quotes are inaccurate. It might help if you would post the entire conversation in context or at least remove your cloak of anonymity and stop hiding behind handles like "XXX" and let us know who you really are. Until then, you can keep "your f---ing mouth shut..."

"Why do you feel it neccessary to comment on a conversation that wasn't any of your business? Sure, I would agree that the AVN's don't respresent a fraction of what the Oscars would, but if you look at the titles that were nominated it is still fair to say they are the top shows of the year and I count it as an honor to be recognized among them. You sound like an angry and bitter individual that can't stand to see anyone enjoy the fruits of their labor. And by the way, I can assure you that you know nothing about my deal."

Best New Starlet - Sure Shot To Dead End

Winning AVN's nomination for Best New Starlet is a sure shot to a dead end, say informed sources. Savannah won in 1992 and shot herself in 1994. Alex Jordan won and hung herself in her clothes closet in 1995. Jennifer Stewart won one year and disappeared soon after. Samantha Strong won and then totally self destructed and obliterated herself from the adult video scene. The curse of the Best New Starlet. Perhaps Paul Fishbein should make a movie on that theme.

Email Luke Your Questions About AVN

I have sources who, until recently, worked at Adult Video News and will probably take your questions if phrased appropriately. So send them in. Nothing is too esoteric. I welcome any question that could possibly put AVN in a bad light.

Paul Fishbein, Gene Ross and the AVN 401k Plan

Esad writes: "Dear Luke, For over two weeks now Gene Ross and others have taken AVN to task regarding alleged errors in their 401K program. I would like to pose the following questions to Michael G., Gene Ross, and Paul Fishidiot; If there was mishandling of the funds was it deliberately abused for personal gain or was it an accounting error that Fishidiot had nothing to do with as per his normal brilliant management style, and he is simply the victim of a bad bookeeper or shoddy accounting? I also wonder how many other adult companies even offer their employees the benefits of a 401k program as part of their employee package? Luke, these are questions legitimate questions that you should seek the answers too.. What does Vivid, VCA, Extreme, and other companies offer their employees? Did people like Gene Ross, and Michael Scumbag receive company sponsored 401k matchs or was it all of their own money in the pot? I personally believe that Fishidiot is as an employer is well ahead of most when it comes to providing for his staff, unfortunately he lacks the business skills at times to properly oversee his empire."

Gene Ross replies: "Until Esad comes forward with his real name, this person won't be acknowledged by me. I will not answer any of his questions.

"However, the contention about the 401K plan. Was it an accounting error? It was an accounting error that went on for three years according to Ken Michaels.

"And number two, originally, the 401K was sold to the [AVN] employees as matching contributions. That stopped. AVN hasn't been matching funds. Initially AVN was going to match you dollar for dollar, it didn't happen. It stopped after awhile.

"These are the things that the uninformed know nothing about. I still say that Esad is somebody on the inside at AVN. I think they're just throwing some blind errors in there to make it look like...

"Until Esad has the balls to come forth and be recognized under a real name, a name that is identifiable in the industry, this person has absolutely no credibility whatsoever in what they're saying. And all their comments should be taken as such.

"And don't give me a number such as John Smith. That don't mean s---. Unless you're a name that's recognized in the industry, sorry, but you have no credibility. And that goes for anybody who's an established or frequent emailer to any site. And that goes for some famous people that we see landing up on the sites, voicing their opinion. They are not part of the day to day goings on in this business. And all they know is what they read and what they hear from somebody else. Unless you see it first hand, you are not an established credible person. [Chaim, Godess, Curious, Lord Peter, Gene means you!]"

Sue writes Luke: "I tried at one point to email Gene, get in touch with Gene, after he kept serving as the misinformation mouthpiece of Stephen Cohen regarding the Kremen v. Cohen lawsuit, and he would NOT return my calls, or email me. Gene is serious that (to him) if you are not a name-brand person in the industry you have no credibility....this is an unfortunate attitude, one I'm glad you don't share."

Gene: "People can say that I am lying my ass off. I'm sorry. Everything that I'm reporting, I've seen first hand. From God's mouth to my ear. And I don't give a s--- if anybody believes what I have to say or not. There's no motive here. I'm simply writing what I've seen in the business."

Luke: "Everybody I talk to in the business believes that what you're writing about AVN is true."

Gene: "Of course because everybody in the business has seen it. I'm the first one to talk about it. And I'm not trying to be some kind of martyr here. But if I am going to write about my observations in the business, I no longer have to color them in pastel colors. It is or what it is. Here's what happened. Here's the conversation we had. Here's an instance that happened at the Cancun Conference or something. If you choose not to believe it, that's fine. I just happened to be the one who was there."

Luke: "Did you see Ken Michaels try to get out of accusing Rebecca Gray of writing 'The Kissing Game' on Tod Hunter site (AVNGossip.com)?"

Gene: "Just trying to see Ken Michaels get out of a pair of pants would be funny enough.

"As I said, everything that's going on on my site was either reported to me first hand or I saw first hand. I'm not going up there and making up s--- [like Luke does]. I'm not telling you about somebody getting blowjobs in the mens room when it didn't happen. I've got enough factual stuff, which is funny enough, to not have to go out there and make up s---. Though some people actually did believe that humorous bit I put up there about AVN employees receiving $5000 Christmas bonuses. Actually, some AVN freelancers emailed me wondering if it was true.

"What was the tip off? The accounting firm of Dooey, Cheetem and How? Duh!"

Luke: "Farrel Timlake was being facetious when he accused AVN of responsibility for Savannah's suicide?"

Gene: "Of course. Though he was actually reporting real things that happened at the table he was sitting at... But he was putting a facetious spin on the whole thing.

"According to the accounts [crack AVN writer] Ken Michaels offered me via his conversation with Roland Roth [AVN controller]... This had happened for three consecutive years. I'm sure it was 'mishandled.' The way it was reported via Ken Michaels, the money was used to pay bills. So that doesn't sound like mishandling to me.

"On one of my last couple of days at AVN, I had this conversation with Ken Michaels outside. He asked me if I had heard from Ken Wood. And I said no, but by the way, one of the last things that Ken Wood had mentioned to me was that you had told him all about this whole 401K business.

"And Ken Michaels picked up the conversation by coming in my office fifteen minutes later and he proceeded to tell me what it was all about. And yes, he did back up Ken Wood's account to me. Ken Wood said that he had also talked to Roland and there were a number of employees who knew there were irregularities.

"I had noticed on my own quarterly statement that money was dropping. I'm trying to figure, the market was strong. I'm seeing moneys not being there that should be there. So maybe it was an aberration and I never thought to ask. It just came up in a conversation one day. I started talking to Ken Wood, had anybody noticed this? And he replied, well, didn't you know? And then he proceeded to tell me what he knew. And I'm going, holy s---.

"And no sooner had Ken Wood left than I had a phone conversation with Susan Block, Paul's former office manager, who told me that other former AVN employees had noticed the same thing in their statements. Something didn't seem to be right.

"I'm not accusing anybody of anything. This is what was told me. I didn't get in a personal uproar where I confronted anybody over there. I just took it for what it was. This could have many different explanations but the way everybody was getting in an uproar over there, it seemed that this was the situation that needed to be looked into. I am not accusing anybody of wrongdoing. I never did on this site. I'm just saying this is what went down. People were saying this and it seemed to be the talk of the office."

Is There No Justice For The Black Man At AVN?

When a stud like Lexington Stelle, with his juicy juggernaut cock, is left out of the AVN nominations for Male Performer of the Year, it makes you question the integrity of such awards.

Could it be related to the lack of people of color on AVN's editorial staff? How can AVN be expected to tell the story of the darker skinned peoples when AVN has nobody who can empathize with oppression?

And how can blacks ever aspire to the top ranks of the pornography industry if they have no role models? All the big pornographers (Paul Fishbein, Steve Hirsch, David Sturman) are white Jews.

Friends, it is time we appeal to Janet Reno and the US Department of Justice to intervene and break up the systematic oppression of the black porner by his white, disproportionately Jewish, overlords.

Gene Ross says: "I had an interesting interview with Lexington Steele yesterday and Lexington Steele's of the opinion that he was greased out of the Performer of the Year nominations of the year this year because of his affiliations. He wouldn't come out and say "Anabolic" but it is Anabolic. Anabolic and AVN don't get along. And it is his heartfelt thought that that is what happened. That it is a political situation.

"He was very serious. He felt hurt. He said, 'Listen, if you assemble the top ten male performers in the world, I've got to be in the top five.' I've got nothing against the men who were nominated this year. They're all solid performers. It's just puzzling to him that he wasn't included, especially after he had won last year.

"You can look at it two ways. Was it a gross oversight? Perhaps. Or was it politics? Who knows?"

Chaim Amalek, friend to the black man, writes Luke: "Why not do a series of articles on the correlation between social/economic chaos and the availability of young women to do porn or engage in other forms of prostitution? You could be the porn version of Robert D. Kaplan of the Atlantic Monthly, who has written at length on the social chaos of our age (not from the angle of porn). This would give you an excuse to take an all-expense paid tour of the world in search for evidence of the interesting thesis set forth on your show last night. And I'll bet all the world's porners would welcome sending you off on such a mission.

"JEWS OF PORN! Did one of our own cost the fine gentleman Albert Gore II the office he was so exquisitely prepared to assume? Or did he help him in key states like Florida?"

Group Prayer Vigil For Peace And Justice

Fresh from reading AVNGossip.com, Chaim writes: JEWS! Pray for the welfare of our Golden Medina, The United States of America. And remember - Israel needs America a whole lot more than America needs Israel. --- l-keford

PS What will you do for me in exchange for my promising not to pump my output in the direction of Gene Ross or Quasarman or Lee Noga? Surrounded by jewish porners, these Gentiles are in dire need of an authentic jewish voice of liberal reason.

Luke replies: If you stay with me exclusively, I will pray for your soul and help you with your gemara.

Chaim replies: Unless "gemara" is sanskrit for "getting beautiful women to have carnal relations with one's self", that is not much of an offer.

PS What do you think of my new moniker "Matt Oldsmobile"? Not your father's porn journalism . . .

Samantha Sterlyng and the Jews

Samantha Sterlyng tells Gene Ross: "He [Jon Finberg] called my husband a redneck and my husband told him I'm going to beat your ass if you don't stop calling here. We've had enough of this. We're going to call the police on harassment charges. And Finberg's the one who actually brought up anything about being Jewish. He's like, are you going to call me a Jew? My husband said, are you Jewish? Well, yeah, you f---ing Jew if you want to call here and da-da-da...Finberg's the one who brought it up. I didn't actually know that he was Jewish. I had no clue. The only people that I knew who are Jewish are David Christopher and Mark Spiegler. Then Finberg went to the courthouse next day and filed charges against my husband for hate crimes, saying he threatened to kill him."

Lee Noga Joins Cybererotica

CyberErotica is proud to announce the formation of their new gay division which will be managed by the "outed" industry icon and now CE employee, Ms. Lee Noga. Program information and details to be released shortly. Lee's title is Vice President of Marketing - Gay Division and she can be reached at lee@ntcor.com - we're both happy and proud that Lee is now officially part of the CE Family :-)

Luke says: I heard Ron Levi tell Lee Noga a few months ago on our show that he wouldn't do gay product because he wasn't gay and he didn't know how to appeal to gays.

Lee Noga writes Curious: "Egads, I forgot to check my other email account [lol], I am a catholic and very "outed" lesbian on the net, and I dropped the Luke F-rd show 6 weeks ago or longer. I have been offered my own radio show...and will launch it after the first of the year. Luke and I are in 2 different worlds and cater to different audiences, my forte' is webmasters and his is.....who knows, but he is a decent man. I enjoyed Jenna Jameson on the air, she was a real doll. I am so glad you enjoyed that show. Having been around so many porn stars over the years [been publishing porn for 10 years up until recent], to me they are just down to earth people. I do want to get Jenna back on the air, she has come a long way on the web in the last few months. Thanks for the email [huggles], -Lee Noga"

Curious Spurns Luke's Desire For Exclusive Relationship

That wanton slut Curious aka Helpful aka Aghast has spurned my wishes for an exclusive monogamous relationship and has been contributing great material to QuasarmanRants.com (finding the Quaze more stimulating than I) such as the following:

Curious writes: Hi Q-Man, I am sure that all of your dozens of readers are dying to know more about the vivacious and stunning Mrs. Q. Where did you first meet her? How did she react to your unique career path? Have you ever taken her to a porn shoot? Does she ever get insecure about the long hours you spend around beautiful women of questionable morals? How does she handle socializing with Metro coworkers like Ron Jeremy and Houston? Thanks in advance. PS I am also "curious" as to how she disposes of her used undergarments and would she ever consider selling them (unwashed) to a loyal reader?

Girl at a crossroad writes.... Dear Quasarman, I'm a beautiful and intelligent, well adjusted 21 year old with a family life that makes the Cleavers look like the Bundys. I'm contemplating what I should do after I graduate Summa Cum Laude from college this year. I have been accepted to Harvard Law School, Yale Medical School, MIT, I've also been accepted to various post graduate programs specializing in Nuclear Physics and also, during my many years of modeling professionally for Vogue, Elle and Cosmo, have been offered a lucrative contract with Revlon cosmetics. I'm so confused because all those choices don't sound as promising and fulfulling as porn. The idea of winning the Nobel peace prize just doesn't cut it when I fantasize winning "best new starlet and best anal scene w/ foreign objects" awards. Oh wise Quasarman, what should I do? By the way........what is Ed Powers phone number? Suitcase Pimpless Diva

Curious writes Luke: Yes, it is true. I have been writing Mike Quasar behind your back and why not? I need another porn journalist in my life. Ever since Gene Ross came back into your life I have felt deeply neglected by you. It's always "Gene this" or "Gene that." Our relationship used to be so open and honest? What happened? *sniff*

ps Seen the cans on Mrs. Quasar? WOW!

Don't F-ck With RB

Yankel tells Luke: "I like you Luke. I know you mean well. I know you do your site for entertainment. But unlike Fishbein and Hirsch and all the other people who hate you, RB (Rich Botto of RJBT) is a different type of person."

Luke: "In what sense is RB a different type of person?"

Yankel: "RB's the kind of person who will knock your block off. Because he don't give a f---. You wouldn't want to bump into him at a trade show."

Luke: "He would punch me out?"

Yankel: "Who knows what he would do. But I know this. He's an Italian. And he's from New York. You know what I mean? That in itself would get me to not want to f--- with him."

RB writes Luke: "I find this exchange hilarious and yet accurate LOL"

Luke's anonymous source "Bob Jones," a purported law student, got a phone call Saturday morning from RB's lawyers. They'd somehow tracked him down.

Lawyer: "My clients are businessmen. They're not going to send somebody to your door... They simply don't want you to publish anything about RB or his company for five years."

What could be more reasonable than that?

By the way, dear reader, I don't have a retraction and apology for today's update. It doesn't feel right. Please Email Luke with one.

David Sturman - Luke's Top Visitor

According to my stats, the entity that visits my site most is Bay Management aka David Sturman's GVA West operation in San Francisco.

Is Luke Fair?

I've received numerous emails blasting me for favoring Gene Ross over Paul Fishbein in the current internet war.

It's true. I do favor Gene over Paul. Because Gene's my buddy and Paul's not.

I totally believe in fair play and I totally believe in posting all emails and perspectives that have merit and are not libelous. Sometimes in life, however, one must hold off on doing something good and important to do something else which, temporarily or permanently, is more important. I sometimes can't post certain emails in order to preserve my relationships with valued sources.

I've got a job to do - and that job is to unearth as much information about the adult industry as possible (because I think that will do more good than harm by warning people about who to watch out for). There is nobody in the industry I won't write about. There is nobody in the industry that I won't attack if the facts warrant it.

Sometimes, however, I have to make alliances and priorities. And Gene's both my ally and my priority.

Over the past two years, I've had a valued professional relationship with Gene Ross. I've had no relationship with Paul Fishbein. I've communicated with Gene regularly. I've not communicated with Paul.

Over the past two years, Gene's helped me regularly. Paul's done nothing for me (in the past 20 months).

So totally aside from my feelings, it is completely in my interest to favor Gene over Paul.

I can't be more open and honest. I've been doing this for years. Sometimes I've held off on things for months and years. I have few close relationships in porn, but those few do compromise me.

Also, I'm far more loathe to post anonymous emails than reports from people who put their real name behind what they say.

What About The Human Cost?

Frank writes: Luke, what about the human cost your war on AVN is causing? What about all the porners who have to be especially careful not to speak to you because your AVN assault has waxed too hot? What about all the AVNers who fear for their jobs and their reputations? What about their spouses and loved ones?

Luke Gets Mail

Michelle writes: Hi Luke---- I was wondering what Tony Tedeschi has been up to lately. I'm a HUGE fan of his and I don't find much printed about him. On his bio sheet, it says he is from New England. What state? How old is he? Girlfriend?(I'll apply for that!!) I have to say, your bio sheets on the actors/actresses are great! Even though I'm a woman, I'm a very big porn fan and I truly enjoy your website. Hopefully someday you'll be doing a bio on me!

Halitosis writes: Hi! One of my future brides - Tiffany Mynx, sent me a personal and intimate note last night. She wanted me to know about her new movie release featuring a couple of my other fiances. I wish all of them were in it, but(t) that much beauty could not be shown on one screen. My cardiologist would recommend only seeing a couple of them at a time.

Please say hello to Misty Rain (www.MistyRain.net), Tabitha Stevens (www.TabithaStevens.com), Stephanie Swift (www.RealSwift.com), precious Miss Alexandra Silk (www.AlexandraSilk.com and www.FallenAngelxxx.com), Rebecca Lord (www.RebeccaLord.com), Asia Carrera (www.AsiaCarrera.com), Lauren Montgomery (www.LaurenMontgomery.com), Jessica Drake and of course Tiffany (www.TiffanyMynx.com). I think that covers all of them.

The wedding cake is going to be several layers and of course you will be invited. I saw that lady that works for Wicked Video at the grocery store again. I think her name is Joy King. She promised me that she will say hello to Stephanie for me next time she sees her. Every time I go to one of the conventions and see Stephanie, Ms. King always seems to give me a key chain with the Wicked logo and then tells me Stephanie already has a boyfriend. I can't figure it out. Oh well.

JYF writes: Luke F-rd... I'm wondering if there are agents for porn stars. To be honest, I'm your garden variety of perverted fan of one porn star in particular. Her name is Bambi and she's this older Asian woman. I keep wanting to write her a fan letter. Actually, what I'd really like to do is marry her. Okay, I'm sick. But I'm also actually pretty sane. And I don't really need to marry her. But somewhere between the fan letter and the marriage, I thought maybe I could say hello to her. She makes older women very, very sexy.

Ian writes: Hi Luke, Gene writes: "When it comes to Wicked Pictures, Tod Hunter is a major practitioner of artful obsequiousness, so his attempts to curry favor would be thoroughly understandable."

That's a good one! Gene Ross spent years as an apparently loyal senior employee of AVN while aware of - and thus partly responsible for - company behaviour which, now that he has another job, he apparently regards as reprehensible ... And he is calling Tod Hunter artfully obsequious!

You say: "As the Talmud says, silence implies consent. By staying silent, Fishbein and AVN are implying that Gene and Ken's charges are true. After all, Gene and Ken had a first person view of almost everything they've stated."

You may be right about the truth of most of the charges being made against AVN and Mr Fishbein, though it's hardly world-shaking stuff. (I would expect ANY award-giving industry body to generate similar stories. After all, the main objective is not fairness but industry promotion.) However, you're quite wrong to say that silence implies acceptance of the truth of the charges. It's a well-known ploy of the yellow press to make casual allegations against individuals in order to goad them into replying. The reply, then, can itself be replied to, with the justification that it is the accused who has opened up the debate. Celebrities rarely answer printed lies, because answering them creates a story which otherwise would die for lack of nourishment.

Falling Prostrate At Luke's Cyberfeet

Listen to Luke F-rd Live. Tonight's first guest was Gene Ross who gave the lowdown on The Money Shot. Then I talked to Lew Payne from the adult link site PersianKitty.com. Then we spent 40 minutes with Dr. Al Julian who wrote "The Desperate Woman's Dating Secrets." Then I spent the last 40 minutes with Metro director QuasarmanRants.com.

James DiGiorgio was not with us. He was shooting a movie.

Librarian writes: "I listened to your show Tuesday night and was interested in Gene Ross' story about The Money Shot in regards to Richard Ladd, and the suggestion that he was related to Alan Ladd. However, further research only confused the subject. Although Alan Ladd had two sons, both of whom are very much involved in the movie business, their names are Alan and David. A search of the Variety and Hollywood Reporter databases turned up only one mention of a Richard Ladd, an investment banker. You might ask Mr. Ross for further clarification."

Mr. Ross replies: "Once again, people aren't listening. I never suggested that Richard Ladd was Alan Ladd Jr.'s brother. He said, 'I'm Richard Ladd, of Alan Ladd Jr. Productions.' I looked to see if there was a family resemblance and this guy Richard did bear a resemblance to Alan Ladd Sr., the actor. So one could jump to the conclusion that he was a brother but we have since found out that he wasn't. So I don't know what Richard's exact relationship is to Alan Ladd Jr.. Any discussions between Richard Ladd and Bryn Pryor after that Caesars meeting fell through the cracks. Nothing happened. Hence, AVN picked up the ball and started trying to get its own deal going through Paul Fishbein."

Lynne L-patin writes Luke:

May I have your copy of "Desperate Women's Dating Secrets" when you are done with it? I want to see if I am "desperate" or not. What a jerk. That nice man on the chat was so right -- there's a correlation between economic degradation and feigned passion in women. Anyone who goes to Cuba or Thailand thinking those women are having sex because they like it is confused at the very least.

[Rumdar writes: I hate to ask the obvious but what was Lynne's reason for renting out her sphincter all those years?]

I so enjoyed hearing your guests Mike McCormick and Quasarman talk about you. As you know, you are one of my favorite subjects. Thanks for having on Gene Ross.

What AVN needed was sex standards and moral standards, both office ethics and fair reviews, and in a in a timely fashion...more like Billboard than advertiser butt-kissing, and more like healthy sex than anal perversion... And writing standards wouldn't have hurt, either.

There is always room for a competitive trade magazine that offers current, honest information and sells tape, but....printing magazines for a limited audience may be a losing proposition these days. The internet is ideal for rapid dissemination of knowledge in a cost effective fashion. Is everyone who buys wholesale video tape linked into it yet?

Advertising in Adult Video News never sold any more tapes than made up the cost of the ads, but it did win friends, if not necessarily awards.

You did great. In some places you were awkward, but you fielded some difficult moments beautifully. You will get better, too. I am so happy. I am so honored to be your friend. Thank you.

P.S.: Please forgive me falling prostrate at your cyberfeet before your resplendency as I listened....I don't know what it is, but it sure is appealing. Maybe the accent?

Rumdar writes: Great Dr. Al interview tonight. I may be biased but I thought the show rocked. If you could question Dr. Al somewhere his wife wouldn't be listening. Say from some den of sin in downtown Havana. You would have had a much different interview. Perhaps that can be arranged.

Troubling Emails

Monday morning I received a troubling email from hairmaster@ignmail.com. It outlined a series of charges against various porn journalists and associates.

Rumdar writes: "It could be a CIA hatched plot to destabilize porn. Be careful."

I initially declined to publish more than this paragraph of the email. I replied to the email sender that while I appreciated the insights, I would not be publishing the rest of the email right now. I was too busy going after AVN.

Hairmaster replied, sending the email to Quasarman and everybody at AVN: "Hey all. Thought you'd like to see the REST of my e-mail that f---in' mutt Puke Ford refused to run (Check out his lame-ass response). Please circulate it amongst your friends, cause I sure as f--- plan to."

On QuasarmanRants.com, Mike writes: "This person makes some pretty serious allegations about the conduct and credibility of another well known industry journalist and had apparently sent the same email to Luke F-rd who also refused to publish it. When Luke F-rd declines to publish unsubstantiated allegations you know it has to be beyond scandalous.

"The writer feels that Luke and the subject of the nasty email are in cahoots with one another and that Luke would lose a valuable ally should he choose to expose it's contents to the world. Whether or not this is true I have no idea. I also have no idea if anything in the rest of the email is true either. The moral quandry comes into play because if I did publish it I'd have content for weeks generated in it's wake. People would be clicking on my site like cyber-tap dancers. The question is, do I really want that kind of attention? I think the answer is no, so I'll leave it to the other industry web guys out there to pick the earth worms out of the dirt."

Luke says: So I talked to Gene Ross Tuesday morning and we decided to run these excerpts from the controversial email:

Hairmaster writes:

Luke, Much as I've enjoyed the last few weeks of AVN-trashing, it's getting tired (Paul Fishbein is corrupt and his staff are a bunch of hopeless losers; big news). So, in the interest of Interest, I've decided to wage my own one-man war against the biggest loser EVER to work at AVN, and the only man more hated by the adult industry than Fishbein: Gene Stormin' Halitosis Ross.

Now, I realize that it's possible you won't print this since you seem to have become Ross' personal butt-boy lately, but maybe you've got some balls left, like you had in the old days. Let's find out. (By the way, Luke, the dirt I'm about to dish took maybe 12 hours to dig up. If you want to have some real fun, look into old Geno's past. It's hysterical)

The best part about reading these rantings from Ross has been how he paints himself, and his other personal butt-boy Ken Wood, as total saints in their history with the most boring magazine on the planet. And since rumor has it that Fishbein has threatened to fire any AVN staffer who responds to you, and you seem to be too interested in quaffing Gene's choad lately to ask any real questions, no one's likely to call them on it. So I thought I would, just because I hate Ross, have for years, and it seems like fun.

Let the carnival of darkness that is Ross's life in porn be told. If you're man enough to print it. Gals, be aware that Geno has a collection of tapes from his encounters. Be sure to check all the cubby holes and potted plants for hidden cameras.

But enough on Gene's charisma. Let's talk business. And for every time Fishbein f---ed Gene over the years, Gene has f---ed Fishbein right back. One of the reasons Gene was so pissed over Sexpose folding is that he was trying to do a deal with Ted Liebowitz to start a competing magazine behind Fishbein's back. When Sexpose went under, that deal fell through. Maybe the reason Fishbein reneged on his ownership deal with Ross is that he knew he couldn't trust the cocksucker.

Gene was making almost 100 grand a year at AVN PLUS Fishbein paid for his car PLUS Fishbein paid for Gene's s---box apartment PLUS Gene got big Christmas bonuses PLUS he didn't have to DO ANYTHING.

That's right. That was the last straw for little Gene, and that's why he has such a hard-on for Bryn Pryor is that Paul hired Pryor to replace Gene. Ross kept his title, but didn't have anything to do with running the magazine, and everybody in the industry knows it. Until they put up geneross.com to compete with you, Fishbein didn't know what to do with Gene. Ross had no idea what was going on at AVN. He just wrote his little gossip column and kept to himself. Hell, Rebecca Grey's been gone from the magazine since October, and Ross didn't even know until someone told him last week. That's how in touch he was.

Bryn Pryor was a f--- up too, in that everyone who dealt with the magazine hated him. He used to tell company owners to f--- off on the phone, and he got in a fist-fight with Matt Zane at the XRCO Awards. No one really knows why Fishbein kept Pryor around. I've heard he got Paul pussy, but that seems stupid. It was probably the stolen computers deal, or maybe the movie they were supposed to be working on that Ross now claims was stolen from him. Fishbein finally kicked Pryor out of the job when Jeff Steward called Paul's partner, Stewart Franks, and threatened to pull all of Legend's ads unless they got rid of Pryor. Pryor also asked to take over Gene's column when he left, but they wouldn't let him do it, afraid that he would be too abrasive.

As for Money Shot; which Gene keeps whining about being stolen, the WGA (Writers Guild of America) registration lists six creators [including Ross]. The real story seems to be that Ross was also trying to get Ted Liebowitz to finance this, and couldn't come through. Then he hooked up with some producer who wanted to buy the idea, and cut them all out. When he got outvoted by the other five, he backed out and lost interest. They were thrilled because they didn't want to deal with his hack writing anyway, but they kept going to him for approval. He hasn't given any of them the time of day since they went to Fishbein, but now that they're finally doing it as a stupid-ass internet.

Luke says: Gene Ross will reply to these charges this afternoon at 4PM on Luke F-rd Live on www.webmasterlive.com. I talked to him briefly this morning.

Gene: "As John Bowen has said on many occasions, it is so easy for people to hide behind a cloak of anonymity. And make all kinds of charges.

"As for videotaping women with secret cameras, that is nonsense. That's some nonsense charge levelled at me two years ago on your site.

"I paid for my apartment, and if AVN is declaring that as a business expense, then we have an IRS violation. I was not making $100,000 a year. I did have a company car. I said that I had negotiated a deal to come to California.

"Remember, I've always stressed - it [unhappiness with AVN] was never over money. I did not get big Christmas bonuses.

"Money is the last thing I will beat somebody up on. I will always take the high road. I will never argue with anybody about money. I never have and never will."

"Paul did not hire Pryor. I hired Bryn Pryor.

"If AVN kept me on with such a lavish salary and nothing to do, it must've been a payoff. They were paying me to keep my mouth shut.

"Yeah, I wrote my gossip column and kept to myself. But doesn't that contradict the previous statement that I had nothing to do? I was focused on working over there. I did not have time for interoffice gossip. All these other people did. Rebecca Gray being gone from the magazine since October. That's bulls---."

Today Gene publishes on his site GeneRossExtreme:

El Zorro writes: "Watch out my amigo, commandante Fishbein is hatching a plot of a diversionary nature. There will be a string of anonymous emails detailing how you allegedly sailed through AVN on a cush salary and did nothing; and how you were in bed with Ted Leibowitz to do a magazine with him."

Gene sez: "If I was sailing at AVN, that then suggests that I must have had something on somebody and was being paid to keep my yap shut. As far as Leibowitz is concerned my last contact with the gentleman was a couple of years ago at dinner when he asked me if 'Fishbein was still banging the Mexican broad.' I understand Paul was very upset that that cat got let out of the bag.

"And let's keep one thing in perspective, shall we, all the detractors have are broadside comments to make lacking wit and texture. My stories include substance with all the details, times, places, etc., not to mention written with panache, style and grace. Something seriously lacking at AVN. Frankly, who's more believable?"

Ross quotes from AVN publisher Paul Fishbein's 1997 letter to Alex Katz of In-X-Cess: "I am deeply offended by your petulant, childlike behavior and your inability to do business like a man. And you have no guts....you are lucky you are in the pornography business, because it is a business of fools," Fishbein goes on to write. "Only in this industry can the most wretched, dishonest, and illiterate make money."

Ross writes: "Fishbein then details the letter with three pages of self-aggrandizement, boasting his integrity, etc., obviously detaching himself from the refuse of the 'dishonest' that he is forced to do business with.

"Think about those comments next time you get an ad solicitation. By the way, Fishbein had me do a grandiose axe job on Katz for geneross.com." (From Gene Ross)

Farrell Timlake writes Gene: "Did AVN put a hit out on Savannah? Was there a conspiracy to make her look lame during the show? I can only imagine that since no one expected me to show up at the last minute, that table was for Savannah to sit at by herself. As the event was being taped, I can only assume she was being made to appear ostracized in some fashion. Was AVN part of a conspiracy to belittle this tragic and fragile person hiding behind the false protections of bitchiness? Even if it was not a hit, could those gestures have contributed to her depression and pushed her to the final resolution?"

JRob writes: It occurs to me that, because AVN magazine reports on what might be a somewhat "outside the lines" industry, and wants to expand its sales market, the old saying that no publicity is bad publicity might very well apply here.

Fishbein could be laughing his ass off while looking at the Gene Ross / Luke F-rd articles because the advertiser in him only sees:

". . . . AVN . . . . . . . . . . . AVN . . . . . . . . .AVN . . . . . . AVN . . . . . . AVN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AVN . . . . . . . . . . . .AVN."

I never heard of Adult Video News until the name came to my attention on your site some time ago.

Esad vs Gene Ross

Esad writes: dear luke, gene ross really has me upset now! i went from being Paul Fishbein, to Bryn from AVN, and now i think he just described me as something that is a cross between Ron Jeremy and Mark Kernes on his website. God, that makes me think about fishbein's first wife again!

Here is quick Gene Ross Quiz: What is the accurate number of hookers that Gene Ross turned away in one two hour period due to the escort services "money back if not delighted policy" in Las Vegas at CES a few years ago?

A- none, Fishbein doesn't pay well enough to buy pussy!

B- none, the problem was that they kept sending "girls" over!

C- three, the first two were really quite awful!

D- none, he finally gave up on the hookers and nailed Samantha Strong

Esad writes: dear luke, the answer to yesterday's gene ross quiz was officially the letter C. Gene would argue that the correct answer was A, and anyone who saw Gene leaving Samantha Strong's hotel room about 4:00am would argue that the correct answer was D. An exhausted Gene Ross finally nailed the third hooker even though he later admitted that he wasn't that thrilled with her either! esad

Listen to Luke talk to Gene

Gene tells Luke: "Oh God. Then I am a stud. If I nailed three girls in one evening, then I am quite the stud. I already told you about Samantha Strong. I never went to her room. Randy Spears went there that night.

"I wrote an article about the hookers, etc, in Exposed a few years ago.

"I never had congress with Samantha Strong though I would've loved to have had."

Luke: "Oh God would I have loved Samantha Strong."

Gene: "Samantha Strong in her prime. Ohmigod!"

Luke: "Totally hot."

Gene: "I'm going to continue to write hooker stories at Rob Black's suggestion."

Luke: "Lucky John Bone. He got to nail Samantha."

Gene: "Oh God. What a piece of ass."

Luke: "She's got such a sweet face."

Gene: "I'm talking about Samantha when she first came into the business. She was physically my type of woman. She had the big ass and the strong legs. And then the industry started playing with her head and started f---ing with her, 'Oh, you're too fat. You're too this and too that.' But Samantha, when she won Best New Starlet, oh f--- yeah. In a heartbeat. In a f---ing hearbeat.

"In fact I had even written a story in AVN about she had invited me to her room one time during one of the CES things. I'm going to write stories about the unrequited assignations I never had. One time Victoria Paris said 'I want to get together with you.' During the VSDA show.

"As a result of having had too much sun, I got the symptoms of swamp fever or malaria. This one afternoon, I'm having the sweats and the chills. This is the first time I've gotten sick in my adult life. I've never missed a day of work due to being sick. Ever. That's like a f---ing Lou Gehrig streak. Technically, my streak was still in tact because I got sick during the convention.

"So I told Paul, oh man, I can't even stand on my feet. I'm going back to my hotel room. So I go back to the Tropicana and I am freezing. And of course it is 107 degrees in Vegas and I'm shivering. I turn the heat on in the room. I got it into the 90s. And I lay in bed and decide to sweat the whole thing out the rest of the night. So about 12:30AM, I get this knock at my door. I go to the door and who is it but Victoria Paris. She wanted to play. And here I am as sick as dog and I've got to turn away a gorgeous piece of ass like Victoria Paris.

"That's typical of my luck. I wrote about the Samantha Strong story and how I was supposed to go up to her room. And something came up at the last minute. And I never went. And it happened to be that very same night that her and Randy Spears had a knock down, dragged out... And hote security had to come. And I thought to myself, Oh Christ, it would've been hysterical. I would've gone there at the same time that Spears walked in the door. And it would've been a threeway that would've been priceless to had on video."

Luke: "I can't believe that John Bowen got to nail her."

Gene: "He's gotten to nail a whole bunch of women in this business. Sonofabitch."

LT writes: Ask Gene about the editorial policy regarding breast implants. At one time Gene made some strong negative remarks about breast implants in his gossip column, likewise some other reviewers, most notably Mark Kernes. But, suddenly, there was an editorial in 1995 by Gene on how AVN "would not be reviewing the female performers" and the negative comments about boob jobs ceased. The only negative comment after was one slid in by Mark Kernes about Nikki Randall, and it was quite mild in comparison. Strangely, Rich C. Leather's comments praising women that got boob jobs were allowed in. And even more interestingly, Leather's praise was heaped on women who I happen to know were very, very unhappy about even winding up with boob jobs. I believe it was Gene who lauded Nicole London for suing her cosmetic surgeon after his botch on her breasts, commenting that going after the porn biz resident "Dr. Frankenstein" was "long overdue" and adding that other women might join in. Why the sudden change? Word from above? Complaints from the big ad buying companies? I'd love to hear what Gene and other former AVNers have to say about this. Also you might ask Gene about charges that Fishbein had dalliances with redheaded porn starlets...and who they were.

l-keford.com Ruined

Rumdar writes: "Perhaps ruin is too strong a word. However, Luke.com is on a trajectory not unlike that of today's stock market. Going sideways with frequents dips and valleys..... the occasional upper. Sure, call me a curmudgeon. A sentimental geezer if you will. But I remember the "good old days" of errrrrrrr! 1999. The column then was a lively mixture of crypto intellectual dialogue and sleaze. A decline began with (what I would call) your webmaster period. Paragraph upon paragraph of information on people 99% of Lukers do not know nor give two s---s about. And now you have become Gene Ross' gunbearer in an Intifada against someone named Fishbein. It is time to get back to basics. My suggestion would be to get busy and publish your second book. Perhaps co-reseached with Young Weissblott. Dig into the archives and give us. The Best Of Luke F-rd.com....1997-1999. Ah! The Golden Years."

Chaim Amalek writes: The important thing is for you to become successful in terms that confer important social (i.e., sexual and monetary) benefits on those of us who know you. All the rest is mere commentary.

PS I feel Rum's pain. The problem is that you are writing for at least three very dissimilar audiences: geeky webmasters, sensitive liberal intellectuals, and those who I understand are known as "raincoaters." Who can appeal to all three at once? Two out of three is the max. I realize the first group is paying your bills of late, but Jesus H. Christ, they are a boring, humorless lot. In the old days you had regular contributions from that Peter Christian guy, the Tough Jewish Chick, muslims, and all sorts of other characters giving you their two cents on the issues of the day, and usually not porn. And all the weird stories you carried! They helped make l-keford.com a must-read among the literary elite. (Who can forget the tragic death of that Tibor guy at the Hamburg zoo?)

Nowadays you give us pissing matches among millionaire web geeks about who has the most eyeballs (isn't two the max?) and who is cheating whom in business. Remember Gresham's law of porn sites Luke - dull prose chases out the interesting stuff. PPPPPPPPS

Regarding that NY Times article, I want to help you land this baby. Tell the author that the story involves the following themes:

1. the growing tendency of Americans to select their faith, rather than be bound by what they learned as children.

2. the search for community

3. the rise of the internet as a means of creating a community from scratch - really hit this one

4. all the jewish issues that you already have (I assume) articulated.

Be smart about this. A story in the New York Times Sunday magazine is worth 500 times what your stint on E! got you...

Dan Parisi

Donna writes: Dear Luke, I was wondering if you know anything about the guy who owns WhiteHouse.com, Dan Parisi of NJ. He also owns a bunch of domain names with the word SUCK in them (microsoftsucks.com, bestbuysucks.com, etc). He had a legal battle with Madonna and her Empire over Madonna.com...last I heard Madonna won. But the WHOIS database still lists him as the registrant, and the page went from porn site to text-only-page about the fight for the name, to Page Not Found. I figure that since you have a little article about Madonna listed with the female porn stars' bios on your site AND you are a flaming homosexual, you must know a little somethin somethin about what's going on with miss thing. Come on Luke drop some knowledge on me.

Luke's New Synagogue

Luke talked with his friend Sharon about their spiritual Reform synagogue Rodef Shalom (pursuers of peace) which they now attend less frequently as they explore the richness of Orthodox Judaism.

Luke: "I just had a thought about why we've made so few friends at Rodef Shalom and consequently are experimenting with traditional shuls.

"Rodef's composed of people obsessed with spirituality. Spirituality is about individuals relationship to the infinite. Community is not built on individuals spirituality. It's built on mitvahs [divine commandments]. It's built on rituals which tie people together. There are far more rituals in Orthodoxy. Thus Orthodox Jews are more bound together than Reform Jews.

"Organized religion means community. It means interacting with other people in an organized manner and building something concrete. Spirituality is individuals meditating and relating to the infinite. Rodef Shalom is a temple of self obsessed people."

Sharon: "Totally. That's right. And that's why it is so transient. Soul seekers, truth seekers, hop from place to place and try something out for a while. Then they move on so their soul is touched in a different way, so they keep growing. I feel like I've outgrown it. Now I need a new mentor.

"Most of the congregation is psychologists and social workers. And they say psychologists are the craziest people of all. Just like dieticians tend to be people with eating disorders. You tend to go towards things that interest you. That you have a personal relationship with."

Luke: "Good thing that doesn't apply to me. I have no personal relationship with pornography."

Sharon: "That's a full story on its own."

Luke: "There's a guy, David Daniels, in my Beth Torah Daf Yomi class (which studies a page of Talmud every day) from Rodef Shalom. He's a psychiatrist and a life long Reform Jew. And he's been a friend of mine for three years, since I started attending Rodef. I've been very open with him. I've told him about my website and that I write on the sex industry. He was warm and accepting and interested.

"Then three months ago, after a 30 month absence, I returned to Beth Torah, a modern Orthodox shul in the Pico - Robertson neighborhood. I'd stopped going there because a member of the shul had publicly criticized me for having pornographic advertising on my website.

"So I return nervously to Beth Torah and, what a relief, there's David in the class. And I greet him and go to shake his hand, and he ignores me. Ten days later he explains that he felt terrible about his reaction. That he'd talked it over with a friend who'd told him to tell me what was going on inside him that caused that reaction.

"He'd seen my website l-keford.com and been so appalled that he felt uncomfortable with me. But he felt bad because he saw how warmly the Orthodox rabbi greeted me and how friendly all the Orthodox Jews in the shiur (class) were towards me."

Sharon giggles: "That's because they don't know about l-keford.com."

Luke: "I think some of them do. And as long as I don't make a public issue of it in the shul, they will still accept me. David's a shrink. He deals with sick twisted people for a living."

Sharon: "Right. If anything, he should embrace you and try to help you."

Luke: "And he's a Reform Jew. Reform has no standards. And he was..."

Sharon: "Making judgments."

Luke: "Didn't want to shake my hand. Humiliated me publicly. And he was from the bloody temple I've been going to for three years, every Saturday morning. We've broken bread together over lunch many times. What a f---."

Sharon: "There can be a haughtiness or a spiritual snobbery... And that translates into action. He's more haughty, as an ignorant Reform Jew, than the Orthodox, who are more learned."

Luke: "I encounter that disparagement from Orthodox Jews too. But I respect it more. They've earned the right."

Sharon: "Right. You know and respect their value system."

Luke: "I remember having dinner with the Kleins. And their 15 year old daughter, Shaira, who goes to YULA girls school (Orthodox yeshiva for girls), told me in the middle of a discussion that she was on a higher madrega (spiritual level) than me."

Sharon: "She probably is."

Luke: "Well, yes. But I still found it offputting from a 15-year old. And she said it totally seriously."

Sharon: "I think that some people are just totally flipped out by pornography and some people aren't. And it has nothing to do with religious affiliation. I know women friends who have healthy active sex lives who are totally disgusted by pornography and others who don't really bat an eye.

"I was exposed in a positive way, not a negative way, when I was very little. So to me, it is a normal part of sexuality."

Luke: "How were you exposed to pornography, at an early age, in a positive way?"

Sharon: "I found Debbie Does Dallas in my parent's room. It was softer porn. I was in seventh grade."

Luke's known several women whose first exposure to porn was to Debbie Does Dallas in their parent's room, around age 13.

Luke: "And you watched it? What did you experience when you watched it?"

Sharon: "Turned on, turned on. And it was in my parents room. It's not like they divorced or had an unhealthy relationship. Or at least I did not see the unhealthy part until I grew older. I thought they were the ideal. So, it was something they had, and it was fine.

"It's not like I was a kid looking in a newsstand and the parent had a sharp reaction to them. And from then on, the kid thought of porn as shameful."