Monday, December 7, 1998

VCA's Jane Hamilton shoots all week "Still Insatiable," starring Marilyn Chambers.

Luke F-rd caused consternation at AVN Monday by walking in for a 1PM interview with its powerful publisher and editor Paul Fishbein, who is one of Luke's two favorite persons in the industry
along with VCA's Russ Hampshire.

The internet's DeTorquemada was accompanied by Peter Gilstrap, a New Times columnist who's doing an article on yours truly.

Before meeting with Paul, I got to wander up and down the AVN hallways, peeking in the corners to see if Mark Kernes and company were copping any seedy blowjobs from vulnerable porn chicks eager for "Fresh Off The Bus" coverage. Instead I saw Mark hard at work at his computer behind a desk full of papers. The poor guy must've died when he saw me walking by.

I guess the 45-minute orgy break for AVN employees concludes at 12:30 PM, so I saw no wild scenes of Gene Ross swinging from vines in the tropical garden. The company overflows with good looking chicks, but hoping to improve on my professional image, I dared not ask any of them to pose for candid Luke F-rd photography.

Paul's pretty blond assistant Lisa Love ushered me into his palatial office shortly before 1PM as Fishbein finished off a series of important calls of earthshattering significance for the future of porno. I wandered around his office, looking at his pop music CD collection, Woody Allen posters and his photos, including one of a 15-year old Paul with wrestler George "The Animal" Steel. Fishbein published an award winning magazine when he was a teenager.

Over the next 90 minutes Paul delayed calls from such powerhouses as his mother and internet honcho Ted Liebowitz so that he could deal with hard charging Luke F-rd who was out to prove his journalistic macho infront of fellow scribe (who Luke talked to for the first time and met for the first time Monday) Peter Gilstrap (from New Times Los Angeles).

Fishbein offered to do the interview on his couch, but Luke figured that he'd be too intimidated at such intimacy with greatness that he chose to sit humbly in front of Fishbein's desk. Paul provided Peter and I with Snapple Lemonades. The AVN mentch recycles the glasses bottles.

Shortly before 8 AM Friday, Paul E-mailed me: "I saw your site today. I am so sick of these people complaining, whining, etc. that if you're interested, I would do an in-depth interview with you about the awards, Max Hardcore, Robert Black, the Mike Albo "feud," the awards being "rigged" or "bought" and all this other s---. I'll show you how the awards process is done and tell you the true stories about these people.

"I have one demand that you must meet, however. I want it printed in full, unedited, my words as I say them to you. No juxtaposing, changing sequence, or editing. The whole thing."

No problem. Shortly after one PM, Monday, Luke's Sony TCM-323 $20 black tape recorder clicked on and the Sultan of Smut, shrugging off the flu, spoke on the record.

Paul: "The reason that I said that I would do this complete and uncut [interview] is that I have been critical of you in the past. I don't read your site that much. Once in a while I check things out when people tell me to. I think that it is incumbent upon you to do proper research to do journalism that is correct and to talk to people... I'm critical of you not talking to all your sources. We [AVN] used to get in trouble [for publishing] hearsay and gossip. We'd talk to one party. And the people were correct.

"I think things get printed out of context... So if you print part of what I say, then I have to correct it. It's like the Premiere article."

Luke: "Tell me about the Premiere article."

Paul: "David Foster Wallice for some reason has it in...either for me, AVN, the porn industry, sex, women... I'm not sure what his problem is...but I didn't know that they were doing this piece. I don't have any problem with that piece except one... You read the corrections in the December issue [of Premiere?]?

"It's what we were talking about. If you want to review it [AVN Awards] and say it is the s---tiest thing you ever saw in your life, I don't have a problem with it. You want to say it is stupid, I don't have a problem with it. You want to say the entertainment is stupid, I don't have a problem with it. But if you're going to make an assumption that the awards are rigged and you're going to talk to Max Hardcore and other people who may have a burn... And you want to have sources that were using fake names.

"We found out that the sources that he used were composites of people he talked to. There wasn't any actual two sources [smut scribes called Harold Hecuba and Dick Filth in the 9/98 Premiere article]. But they were composites of different people. He didn't have the guts to put his name on it [article credited to "Willem deGroot" and "Matt Rundlet", fake names]... I don't have a problem with any of it because a lot of people have burns against us given the opportunity. [But] When they make that assumption in the magazine and don't talk to us... Because the reality of it is, if you ask are the awards fixed, I say, 'come into my office...'"

Paul rises dramatically, goes to a cupboard, picks up a huge stack of papers and drops them on his desk.

Paul: "I will now hand you all the ballots from last year signed by every critic. This is who they voted for. If you want to know how they are compiled? Sit down and I will show you how. You can compile them yourself. And everyone of them is signed by the reviewer. If you want to call any of these guys to see if they really voted that way, go ahead. Here's your answer to your question you didn't ask. I'm being dramatic, like we're on television. But you two are free to check it out...then I will show you what we're doing this year. We're doing electronic ballots. We just did the gay show Friday night.

"Ask me the question. Let me answer it. If you're not happy, write what you want.

"So I got really pissed off about it [the 9/98 Premiere article] and called the editor immediately. He took my call. He was very gracious. And I said 'I have some problems.' He said 'put it in a letter.' So I thought about it and called my libel attorney. And they said, 'it is potentially libelous but it would be a hard case to prove. If you want to spend the money, we'll go ahead and spend it. But I think you're better off demanding a retraction.'

"So we got corrections and we got my letter printed. Partially, they didn't print the whole letter. We had to put it on our web site.

"Again, I don't mind being criticized. I've been doing this for 16 years. I've been sitting here taking criticism from people. That doesn't bother me at all. In the position that we've placed ourselves, obviously we're going to get criticized...as a supposed authority... But this was a cheap shot."

Luke: "What role did [HEVG editor] Mike Albo play in that?"

Paul: "Well, I've been told that Mike was seen talking to the reporter [David Foster Wallice]. We printed on our web site that Mike [was an important source for Wallice]. Then we immediately retracted. It was a whole big thing. I don't want to get into it. Albo and I are actually fine. With all the rips he takes at me in Hustler and with all the really strange phone call messages that I get, I actually like the guy. He's like a cartoon character. He's like the wrestling manager he played Nude World Order for which he got nominated for Best Non-Sex Performance.

"I was told that he was one of the sources. We retracted it. Then my editor swore that Albo was seen talking to David Foster Wallice and put sort of a sarcastic retraction... Then we took that one of as well. Albo told me that Evan Wright [formerly of Hustler now with IEG] was one of the sources [for the Premiere article].

"Do I think that Albo spoke to the guy? I think he might've spoken to the guy. Do I think that he was one of those characters [Dick Filth and Harold Hecuba]. No because I subsequently found out that those characters that he [Wallice] was quoting were composites.

"So maybe Albo spoke to him, maybe he didn't. I tend to believe him [Mike Albo] because he went so ballistic. We were burned and we were looking for who was responsible."

Luke: "Was there any one industry journalist [yes, Evan Wright]..."

Paul: "Not that we know of. He just talked to different people and put together what he wanted. I think it's a work of fiction. You're a Pulitzer Prize winning author and you don't use your real name?"

Luke: "It was a really funny article but sloppy. Like my web site."

Paul: "It was really entertaining... It was well written. But when you're getting into factual stuff, when you're attempting to hurt someone's reputation... Get your facts right. Ask the question and don't dump it off on 'we spoke to Ellen Thompson (who works for me [Paul]) and if she had told us, we would've put that in.' She didn't even know that it was Premiere doing an article. It was just people she was talking to. She had no clue that this was for an article."

Luke: "Does AVN deal in hot [stolen] trophies [as alleged by the Premiere article]?"

Paul laughs. "When I met Gene Ross, he started working for me part time while he ran a trophy business with his family. It's a family trophy business in Philadelphia. Because Gene works for us, we get the stuff [AVN trophies] wholesale. That was the funniest thing of all. Insane... Trophies are not that expensive."

Luke: "You don't buy them from the Mafia?"

Paul: "I don't know any Mafia people unfortunately. Let me put it this way, I don't know any people who are Mafia who say they are Mafia. I am sure that I know Mafia."

Luke: "Did Max Hardcore threaten to punch you out last year after the AVN Awards?"

Paul: "He hit me up backstage after the awards. He got in my face about this close [Paul gestures about an inch between finger and thumb]. [Max:] 'I f---ing come...'

"And I'm paraphrasing because I know that this is going to end up in print. [Max:] 'I f---ing support you guys. I'm here year after year and I don't win s---. Who the f--- is John Leslie? Who the f--- is Rob Black? Who are these f---ing guys? I'm here all the time. I'm Max Hardcore...' On and on and on, in my face, and I'm screaming for security because I'm thinking that we're going to rumble. And he never struck me as a violent guy."

Luke: "He hadn't done this to you before?"

Paul: "No. I said to him, 'what do you want me to do? Fix it?' And he said, 'yeah, fix it.' Which is like Max proudly wearing on his sleeve the cover of LA Weekly even though the article was about HIV. And proud that he was in the Premiere article where they ripped the s--- out of him. Any publicity is good publicity. I don't care how I win, just make me win.

"Believe in your product, whatever, but we don't fix the awards. Until that point he advertised a lot and there would've been good reason for us to fix the awards to make him happy. The reality is that there is so much product, no matter how good his product is, it's not against Max that he didn't win. It's just that you're reviewing 6-8,000 features a year [Luke thought there were only 1500-2000 new releases a year, about 200 of them "features," and the rest compilations]. If you get nominated for anything you should be proud of yourself because less than one half of one percent of all the product out there... You should say 'Christ, with all the stuff that's out there, hey, they recognized me.' But it's not good enough for a guy like that, which is fine. If he'd won, he'd won. I don't know if that would've been less controversial than Robert Black winning.

"The Max thing... We should talk about this because I want to say some things on the record that I can't say in my own magazine because it looks like sour grapes. This is a guy who somehow thinks that he's the world's greatest filmmaker. His stuff sells well. He has a lot of fans out there. A lot of the people who work for AVN really like his stuff a lot. He gets a lot of good reviews and he gets high on the charts, not for any reason except that distributors and retailers report that his stuff does well... I don't tell my reviewers what to write.

"I don't buy into the rape fantasy. I don't like that stuff. So I've never liked his stuff that much. I did review a Max tape this year and gave it a good review because it was a great scene with Marilyn Star because she was giving it right back to him. Long after he accosted me back stage.

"He requested that we don't review his stuff. I got his tapes anyway [from Legend] so they were still reviewed. He requested that he doesn't get mentioned in the magazine. My attitude is - if you're putting product out on this market, you're getting reviewed whether you like it or not. Besides it's good press... But he feels that he's above the press. He doesn't need AVN. That's fine. He probably doesn't. I don't care.

"There was a ton of Max stuff on the pre-nominations for different categories. These pre-noms come from recommendations from staff that see videos... Or, if a reviewer gives a cue in his review... So we come up with a huge list of pre-nominations. This year it took us about eleven days for a staff of ten to whittle those down to get real nominations.

"We sent about three letters out to every producer and distributor saying we need you to send us one copy of anything you'd like us to consider in any awards category. And even if you think we have the tape, send it, because we don't keep the review tapes... We let our reviewers keep them, we give them out as freebies to retailer when they subscribe. We give them to friends... And we ask for multiple copies when it is nominated.

"He [Max] didn't send anything in. He refused. So though we had all these pre-nominations, we couldn't look at anything. So, we felt that because 99% of the companies had sent their stuff in, we weren't going to go begging Max to send us one copy of everything so we could look at the stuff. So, there wasn't enough votes to nominate him in any category. So, at the end of the nominations, noting that this was controversial, I said to my staff, 'don't you think we should go look at the Max stuff... in particular this one Marilyn Star scene that I was really pushing to get nominated for most outrageous sex scene. My staff said 'it is not an outrageous sex scene... Just verbal play between the two of them... Max did not have a good year. His stuff has gone down. And besides, screw him. He didn't submit anything for nominations, he doesn't want to be nominated. Why are we going out of our way for him.' And I honestly believed that we should've gotten the tapes and looked at the stuff on the pre-nom lists, and my staff to a man said 'f--- it.' So we let it go.

"I believe that if he had sent the tapes in he would've been nominated for Best Gonzo series, for some sex scenes...but we can't nominate him unless we can sit in this room and look at them.

"A movie comes in on the pre-nom list. If the majority of the people [AVN reviewers] have already seen it and said it is a great movie, then you don't have to sit here and watch it. It gets nominated. If there's something on the pre-nom list that only one or two people have seen and they're pushing for the nomination, then we have to watch it. We usually have too many [nominations] in everything. I'd like to get it down to five but it's impossible. You have to get it down to anywhere between five and fifteen.

"If there are fifteen sex scenes nominated you can bet that we had to watch 150 sex scenes to get down to that number. We sat here for 11 days...Nights. Weekends. That's what the whole outside world doesn't understand. We really do our job, we really work. That's why I wanted to do this interview, to say to those people who are upset about nominations, 'we watched them. With a group of people, we watched the stuff. We don't just make it up.'

"Now that the nominations are done, we have 40-45 people who will vote in the various categories. When the results come out it is real. We think that we hit it. Maybe we missed some things. It's subjective anyway."

Luke: "Is there a list of the people who vote?"

Paul: "Yeah, it's everybody who you see in the magazine plus we opened up the academy this year for industry professionals who can vote. We have about 20 directors voting for the Best Director award. We have about five people who wrote music voting for Best Music... We have about six art directors voting for packaging and some marketing people voting for marketing awards.... And a bunch of actors and actresses voting for those awards. Editors voting for the editor awards. All industry workers...They're not voting in every category, just in there category... And if you're nominated, you can't vote for yourself. You can only pick one winner [as opposed to the countdown formula used in previous years, politically known as the Australian ballot]. We'll close the voting for the winners December 28th."

Luke: "Any changes in the process after the Rob Black thing?"

Paul: "Ahh, Rob Black. Another good subject. Thank you for reminding me. I know that the word on the street is that because Rob Black won, I was going to make sure that Rob Black did not win again. I've heard this. Now, I don't know where this kind of s--- comes from.

"Number one, I like Rob Black. I've told Rob to his face that I generally don't like his movies though he has done some that I've really liked a lot, like The Cellar Dweller for which he won Best Comedy. Rob's a talented guy but I don't like the content of his movies any more than I like Max's. I took a lot of heat for Rob Black last year. And I knew it before we went to Vegas. And if there was ever a time to fix the AVN Awards, it was then. Because I knew what was going to happen.

"In my heart of hearts, I believed that John Leslie and John Stagliano did some of their best work last year. Either of those guys could've won Best Director. Rob's talented but I don't think that Miscreants deserved the [Best Director - Video] award that it got. Paul Fishbein has only one vote. This staff voted him for Best Director.

"I knew that I was going to get all kinds of heat. And I did. And I stood up to the heat and said 'this is how the voting goes.' The changes that we made - allowing industry people to vote - is not the result of Rob Black... It was just a result of me getting tired of hearing people complain... Not just Rob Black. But every category. I'm sick of hearing people complain so I made a general decision to open up the voting some more. And I got rid of some reviewers in the past year who I thought did a bad job reviewing and whose voting showed that they weren't really watching the movies. But the people who voted for Rob Black are still working here."

Luke: "So you didn't fire a bunch of people who voted for Rob Black?"

Paul: "Absolutely not. You see how things get... You have conversations with people.... They take things out of context... And when word passes through, something that they never even said gets known to be fact. Like "the awards are fixed" fallacy. If you say it enough, it must be true. If enough people say it to each other, 'it's fixed, it's fixed,' it must be true.

"Rob's company got a a ton of nominations this year. Extreme Associates, a first year company, got a ton."

Luke: "So your pro-condom stance doesn't affect the balloting?"

Paul: "My pro-condom stance is a personal stance. AVN's stance is personal choice."

Luke: "There seems to be a lot of pro-condom stuff aside from the stuff you write."

Paul: "There was before the HIV thing happened. I wrote a column before the whole HIV outbreak about how I watched a bunch of movies with condoms in and I didn't think that the condoms affected the sex scenes at all for me. Then the HIV thing happened. I'm pro personal choice. If people want to make movies with condoms, I'm all for it and I'm going to help promote that because I think it is a healthy portrayal and I think it is a good thing. If people want to make movies without condoms, we're going to review their movies and do the articles just like we do otherwise. I'm a pro-active safe sex person.

"I believe that the industry talent should be protected. A lot of them are too young and too unknowing and get put into positions where they're forced to make decisions that they wouldn't normally make... Needing money, pressure from producers, things like that. And I wish that the industry had a clearer conscience in terms of allowing these performers make choices... And don't get blacklisted because they want to use condoms.

"Condom people think that I'm under pressure from the non-condom people to support what they're [non-condom] doing. The non-condom people think that I'm under pressure from the condom people to support what they're doing. I get calls from both saying that you're favoring the other side. Which is it?"

Luke: "AVN seems pro-condom."

Paul: "Look at the movies nominated. It's all non-condom stuff. No one here is making a judgement. Our staff is all safe sex, pro personal choice people.

"The only thing that I find loathsome is the marketing of the non-condoms... Five people got sick [HIV positive] this year that could die from this. Come on! You don't have to market 'it's all anal and all non-condom.' That's not how you market it. If you believe in your product, and your product does not have condoms, fine. But market your product. Be a good filmmaker. To me, it's a cheap shot.

"My staff is objective. If you read the content of the magazine, there is nothing negative towards non-condom companies. You have to read the pages of the magazine which a lot of people don't, just like they don't watch their own movies."

Luke: "I put up on the net 'Email me questions to ask Paul Fishbein.' This guy likes to ask inflammatory questions."

I hand Paul this post by Torris: "Ask him why AVN has become a VD magazine instead of being about porn movies. And ask him how come if they're all so concerned about performer health that bareback is taboo but facials are ok? Or ask him how he thinks that people for one minute believe that his taking bareback ads is free speech when in fact it undercuts entirely his "advertorial" preaching about the irresponsibility of bareback aficionados. Ask him if indeed the price of his sellout is the cost of a full page ad. Ask him if he's willing to put his money where his mouth is and ban bareback ads in future issues out of a sense of performer wellbeing that he's so concerned about. Of course Luke, you're a wuss so I don't expect you to ask him any of these hard hitting questions."

Paul: "A VD magazine... Because our readership is mostly store owners doesn't mean that we ignore the amount of talent who reads our magazines. We thought it was important to inform the performers about STDs.

"I never said anything about 'bareback is taboo but facials are ok.' We never said anything about that. You're full of s---. We're for choice, ok?

"There's no advertorial preaching... People have opinions. We print all opinions... Just because we ran the Chuck Zane editorial... This guy is a joke.

"'The price of my sell-out?' You try to sit here, pal, for 16 years, taking the heat of any entire industry and trying to do a job of objectively covering an industry for 16 years when you're dealing with a bunch of people who don't look at their own product and only care about themselves and don't have a clue as to what's going on in the industry. There's no sellout here. Because I'm an entrepreneur and because I'm a capitalist with a for-profit business does not make me a sellout... It just makes me a capitalist which is part of what this country is built upon. And the First Amendment. No, I will not ban bareback ads in the future. I don't censor...

"Yeah, you're right. I'm all for the money, pal.

"There are a lot of these guys out there that just sit at home and take their shots. Who is he? Just a fan?"

Luke: "He's a guy in Utah who writes the most outrageous things on the internet. He's entertaining. "

Paul: "That's what the internet is."

Luke: "Here's one from Mike South?"

Paul: "Is this one going to print because he said something nice about me."

Mike wrote: "I like to be direct but in all honesty (and I am NOT sucking up) Paul has always been 100% straight up with me, professional as well and I wish Paul and AVN the best.

"You might ask him how he expects to deal with the immediacy of the internet. Publishing has built in delays in timely information like new video reviews.

"Also what does he see as "the Future" of porn ? Is it DVD?

"Finally would Paul say that Luke F-rd is good for porn? I have put forth the argument many times that you are, because you are good training, someday the Steve Hirsch's, Gene Ross's, Russ Hampshires and Paul Fishbeins of the world are gonna have to deal with someone like Mike Wallace who would make them beg to have you.....No offense..."

Paul: "We're dealing with the immediacy of the internet with out web site. I suppose that we will pretty soon put the magazine out [more quickly]... I've got some plans that I can't talk about yet. Some pretty good stuff is going on. Pretty soon it will be evident what we're doing.

"DVD is one aspect of the future of porn. When DVD becomes recordable, people will start replacing their VCRs. But until then, I think it's a film buff format although I'm totally into it. I think the future of porn might be when they can download movies through the internet to sources like WebTV. When you have good full motion video, the consumer will be able to go to web sites and pay per view and download them to their TV. Electronic distribution is the future as well as fiber optics through your phone lines... You'll be able to dial up through your phone and pick any movie you want. So I think that the future of the adult industry is content. If you own content, you'll always make money, no matter what the technology is.

"Would I say that Luke F-rd is good for porn?"

Peter Gilstrap wakes up while Paul pauses.

Paul: "You're good for the industry if you do your research. That's why I'm talking to you. I implore to you to not print rumor and innuendo and that you talk to the people involved... Make sure you have a complete story, and check your sources before you put it up there because a lot of people feel hurt by you. You have a bad reputation amongst some of the more reputable people in the business. And guys like Russ and Steve and Rob who are talking to you, feel that if you do your research correctly you could be good for the industry."

Fishbein moves on to this Email from LT: "Ask him why AVN accepted an anti-racism ad, but why an anti-implant ad was rejected for "content"?

"Then ask his personal feelings on breast implants in porn. And ask if he realizes that are quite a few porn starlets that would NOT have gotten breast implants, and preferred not to, except they couldn't get work."

Fishbein: "Ad rejected for content. I don't know what he's talking about. We never reject ads for content. I'm not an editor, I'm a publisher. I don't know that we've ever rejected an ad for content. If there's hardcore penetration we cover it... A few things have slipped in...

"I'm not into the girls with big fake tits. I like natural girls. A lot of girls who I thought would never get implants, like Tyffany Mynx and Missy, sexy cute girls with good careers, apparently they say that on the dance circuit you need to do it to make real money. I don't know. There are a lot of natural girls who seem to be doing fine.

"We're shooting our own covers now. And one cover we're doing next year is the naturals. We're going to celebrate natural tits and put five or six girls topless on the cover and do a whole article teaching stores that you can actually market natural breasts as a genre now because there's been such a backlash against the tit jobs. I'm all for that.

"There are some girls, I guess, who need it. They had a baby and are sagging real bad. And an implant can help, as long as it is not ridiculous. But these girls with the ridiculous fake-looking tits where they can't even keep their backs up. It's not sexy. Of course, if you ask David Christopher he'll tell you it's the sexiest thing on earth."

Paul then demonstrates the new electronic internet style of voting. He punches up the URL. "Everybody's who's voting gets this web address... You click on the category you want to vote on... You log in with your name and password..."

Paul shows me the gay results. "It seemed like everybody had a good time [at the AVN Gay Awards Friday night]. I watched the ten best gay videos...

"Here, I click on this and you can see who voted for Man Watcher [Best Gay Video] which garnered 259 votes [on the old ten point scale]. The runner-up Ryker's Revenge got 255."

You can see the scores by all the reviewers/voters.

Paul only voted for Best Packaging in the gay awards. "I can't really judge gay video because I'm straight... But I wanted to see production value...

"I usually keep these [paper records of the voting] on file for about a year... It would've been nice if Max, instead of accosting me back stage, had just come looked at the voting. And then he can see, 'it looks like these guys liked me. They gave me this many points. So I didn't win. Maybe I could do better next year.' But if you want to be a brat about it."

Luke: "Are you troubled by Max's videos?"

Paul: "No... I'll tell you what pisses me off the most. He saw me at the East Coast Video Show and pulled me aside. He sat down at my booth and said 'I'd like to respectfully request that you don't write about me or review my movies anymore.' I went on to explain to him that we don't do that and got into an entire philosophical conversation with him where I said to him, 'I would go to court and defend your First Amendment right to put out the kind of material you put out even though I personally I don't like, which is why I don't review your movies. I would not review something that I know I am predisposed not to like. I'm not into the rape fantasy thing. I'm not into putting a dick into a girl's ass and her going 'ouch it hurts,' and him going, 'good you f---ing cunt.' It's not my thing. As long as no one is really being hurt, and as long as these are really consenting adults performing in these movies, I would go to court and stand up for him.' And as I'm having this conversation with him, he gets up and says 'I have to go.' I say, 'we're in the middle of a conversation.' He goes, 'ahh, we'll finish it another time and walks away.' So, on top of everything else, I thought it was f---ing rude. So I've ceased caring about him and how he feels though I'd still defend his rights... And it will still appear on our charts as long as it continues to sell. Whether it will be reviewed or not... I haven't decided how to handle that yet."

Luke: "Is there more bellyaching [about the awards] than other years?"

Paul: "Less. See, the people that bellyache don't watch this stuff. Most of the people who own companies don't even watch their own stuff. A producer who will remain nameless last year made a big film. He hadn't made a film in a long time. He spent a ton of money and got a ton of nominations. Talking to him on the phone, I congratulated him on all his nominations and he says, 'ahh, maybe I should watch that.' It was HIS movie. He expects us to have 40 people watch his movie and he doesn't even watch his own movie. I don't think he complained when it didn't win, but there are people who lose and say, 'I should've won," but they never watched the movies. They complain about losing but they never watch what the other people are doing. What is that? They feel they have some divine right to win.

"Don't you want to ask me about VCA and Vivid lining my pockets and winning everything?"

Luke: "Oh yeah."

Paul: "I took a quick look at the results of the major awards the last five years. VCA has won one major award in the last five years and Vivid has won two. But if you're looking at who's lining my pockets it has to be Evil Angel because Evil Angel has been the big winner over the last five years because they've won more awards than anybody else. So why isn't anybody saying that?"

Luke: "Because they don't carry as many ads."

Paul: "But if Evil Angel doesn't advertise as much yet they win more awards, what's wrong with that equation [that advertising dollars spent equal AVN awards]?"

Luke: "Many people on the bareback end think that AVN, Vivid and VCA are a trinity that wants to keep porn politically correct and socially acceptable, and that you, Russ and Steve dominate the industry... You shape AVN to fulfill their agenda."

Paul: "What's their agenda?"

Luke: "To maximize their profits."

Paul: "Everybody wants to maximize their profits. The best selling stuff on the marketplace, Evil Angel, Elegant Angel, Annabolic, Ed Powers... Even if that was their agenda, they can't keep those people down. Each company has its own marketing concept. Vivid's concept is to make porn mainstream acceptable. They go for beautiful women and the fashion look. VCA goes for big videos. Big productions. Spend a lot of money. The gonzo people have their own marketing concept. John Stagliano does his own thing. Everybody does his own thing. AVN is not sucking up to anyone agenda. These [AVN's critics that I am parroting] are people who have their own agenda. They are not reading the magazine. The people who are complaining are not creative enough to make good enough stuff that gets the praise we give big VCA movies, Evil Angel, Rocco Siffredi, Elegant Angel's good releases, Rob Black's company just got two Editor's Choices in the December AVN...
What is that all about? The people who review the movies review them. Because we're pro-condom conceptually does not mean that we are anti the companies that are non-condom. We're still writing about them. We're still going on their sets. This is a fallacy that is being perpetuated by a few people pushing their sour grapes agenda. Elegant Angel won big awards before they ever advertised. Patrick Collins of Elegant Angel will tell you that 'I know for a fact [that the AVN Awards are legit]. I never did that much advertising and you guys showered me with awards.' He says that to me. But I don't need poster boys [to vouch for AVN's integrity]. It was nice of Russ [Hampshire] to say what he said on your web site on Friday. He wasn't either pissed or happy about his nominations. He doesn't even talk to me about it. If he wins he wins, if he doesn't, he doesn't. Russ has known me for 16 years. It's [allegation that the AVN Awards are fixed] is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"A lot of these people who've said this about us have come and gone. When I started AVN, VCA is the only company still in existence owned by the original people. Every other company that was here when AVN started is either out of business or has new owners. VCX, Arrow sold. Command Video defunct. Western Visuals. I've outlasted all of them. You don't succeed in business if you're corrupt. Nobody has ever nailed us on being corrupt. They may say it... It's just hearsay. Nobody has ever been able to come and prove that there is some agenda here... That it is fixed. That we stack the awards... Because I can show you a history of awards that are diverse.

"The ballots have been open for inspection for seven years. I've had people come in here...read the ballots, counted...and said, 'yup, you're right.' I'm doing this interview because I'm sick of it. You don't see me writing about it in AVN. I just ignore it.

Someone faxed Luke the following questions for Paul:

Can you honestly say that, in all the years of the award show, that every award has been on the straight up and up?

Paul: "Yes. I'll swear on my life, my dog's lives and my family..."

Nothing has ever been fixed? The balloting has never been altered to favor someone or some company?

Paul categorically states that no AVN award has ever been fixed. That they are all on the up and up.

Would you like to take a lie detector test on that? What if I could arrange one, would you submit to one?

Paul: "Yes... But you know what, I'm not going to subject myself to that."

Has any company or any producer ever tried to intimidate you into changing an award?

Paul: "No. YES. Rand Capp who ran Vidco for Reuben Sturman tried to intimidate me. Around 1988. He said that he knew for a fact that a certain person was going to win and if that person won, he knew it was fake and he was going to expose me. And he was wrong. That person didn't win. But he tried to intimidate me."

A lot of industry veterans claim that the Savannah Best New Starlet award was rigged, that the critics positively hated her, but she won anyway because she was a Vivid girl?

Paul: "It wasn't rigged. All the critics didn't hate her."

When she accepted the award, Savannah told the crowd they could all go kiss her ass. Is that what being a Best New Starlet is all about?

Paul: "I'm sorry, it's not my fault. What am I supposed to do, get into these girls heads and tell them what to do and say?"

The Premier magazine article pretty much came out and said that the awards were fixed but could never really support their claim. In last year’s awards program you listed all of the AVN voters. Your name is mentioned along with that of Thomas McMahon yet it’s a fairly known fact in the industry, often stated by Bill Margold, that you and McMahon are one in the same. Does that mean you voted twice? Or are you just padding the program to make it look like there’s more voters involved than the small number there actually are?

Paul: "I just voted once. You can look at the ballots and see that. I've never hidden the fact that I write under the pseudonym Thomas McMahon. But I voted once.

"I haven't used that that name for a long time... When I was writing a lot of reviews, I felt that it was too many. I was filling in. So I used the pseudonym, for good and bad reviews. Ellen Thompsen was listed twice, once as Ellen and once as Ida Slapter (for fetish), but she got one ballot also."

Luke: "So there is a real person for every ballot?"

Paul: "Absolutely."

You have gone on record to say that if any of your employees are involved in "conflict of interest" situations that they would be fired, yet you own video stores that are in a position to buy and negotiate for product that you tout in your magazine. What’s with that?

Paul: "I don't think that's a conflict of interest. If I was producing movies and selling them into the marketplace and using AVN to advertise those movies, that would be unfair competition. But to own a retail outlet where we sell to the consumer..."

Luke: "How many video stores do you own?"

Paul: "I'm a partner (one of four guys from Philadelphia) in six stores on the East Coast."

Paul and his friend Stuart own AVN on a 50-50 basis.

Luke: "What happens to all those multiple copies of videos you solicit for awards nominations? Don’t they in fact go to your stores? Isn’t that a conflict?"

Paul: "No, they do not go to my stores. In the past I have called companies and asked if they wanted them returned. They'd say yes or no. What we really do with the tapes is give them away. Every summer we do a poll in the magazine where we ask retailers to respond... We get about 4-5,000. We tell them if they fill out this form, which allows us our second class postage, that we will give them a free tape. Where do you think we get the free tapes from? We allow reviewers to keep them and I've got some people that I send them to."

Luke: "Do you own any stores with Steve Hirsch of Vivid?"

Paul: "No, I owned two store with him and Michael Warner that I sold my interest in three-and-a-half years ago because of potential conflict of interest. I was in that for about a year-and-a-half."

Luke: "Do you and Steve Hirsch have any business partnerships?"

Paul: "No. But for these people asking these questions, I'm personal friends with a lot of people in this business. I have a lot of personal friends. A bunch of whom don't win awards, by the way. Christian Mann, one of my closest friends, owns Video Team. He never wins anything. So, yeah, if you consider being friends with people conflict of interest, then yeah, you've found conflict of interest. Because I don't know how you can work in an industry and not have personal friends when you've been doing it for 16 years."

AVN once shared a building with Odyssey. Didn’t you view that as a conflict?

Paul: "No. From 1991-96 we sub-leased space from them. Did I help them, yes, absolutely."

Through my sources at Odyssey I understand you were a consultant on their various product lines and were constantly in meetings with Bob Tremont. Wasn’t that a conflict?

Paul: "I helped them. I advised them when they asked my opinion. It would be a conflict if I only did it for them but I do it for any of my customers who ask me. I've helped them make deals. I've put producers together with distributors. I've looked at product and told people whether I think it is good and whether they should distribute it or not. I looked at Private before Odyssey bought it. I thought they should buy it. I looked at their amateur videos and told them what I thought was good and what wasn't. What I thought they should buy and shouldn't buy. But I've done that for scores of people... Tons of producers and distributors. So if that is a conflict of interest, I admit to it here and now. I don't think that helping people who are your customers, and then you don't review their product, then that is a conflict of interest.

"I don't get paid to do these deals. I get paid by them supporting me, by advertising in AVN. If you're not at advertiser, I don't think I could find the time to help you. Do you know almost every week I get five phone calls from people, 'hey, I'm looking for an art director... An editor.' I championed Todd Burgendahl, John Friendly and got them some work. I got Chloe an interview with VCA. I got Shane to Odyssey Group. I've been doing this for years. I have lots of connections. I can put people together and help them out. Somebody will have to explain to me why that is a problem."

Didn’t you and Tremont publish some kind of newspaper called Exposed that failed? That’s a business relationship. Wasn’t that a conflict?

Paul: "About 1991. Six issues. At the time he wasn't producing that much video. I didn't think it was a conflict."

Did you have a financial interest in Odyssey?

Paul: "No, but I've been hearing that for a long time. Lots of people have said that. They've done so well over the past seven years that I wish I had. How's that? Just kidding."

Weren’t you instrumental in swinging a deal that brought them Private?

Paul: "They asked me to look at it and I unequivocally said yes, you should do this."

Howie Klein of Caballero was a roommate of yours at one time and the story is that you hooked him up with the Ben Dover series to get him started again. Isn’t that some kind of conflict?

Paul: "I had nothing to do with that. I did not hook him up with Ben Dover. He was a roommate after he left Caballero."

Ben Dover got a very controversial breakthrough award. Most of the industry thought that one was a joke. Isn’t that a conflict?

Paul: "I don't understand why that one was controversial."

You’ve had a business partnership with Ted Liebowitz.

Paul: "We were partners in Sexpose. Where's the conflict of interest there?"

Your magazine reviews web sites. Ted Liebowitz has an internet company. Isn't that a conflict?

Paul: "When we had the internet awards in October, Ted Liebowitz's company got nothing. If we're favoring a company, why did he get shut out? Is this all one person [who's written the questions?]

Luke: "I really don't know..."

Paul: "I don't consider these nasty questions. You've got good information so I'm wondering where it is coming from?

Luke: "They want to be anonymous."

Paul: "The thing I find interesting about such people who want to be anonymous when they are asking such ball breaking questions, is that they are a pussy and they won't put their face in the question. People should have the balls to get out there and say 'I'm the one saying that.' Whoever it is [feeding Luke these questions] has good information and might have an agenda..."

Given your position to make or break people or businesses, isn’t just being in a partnership with anyone in the adult business, considered a conflict?

Paul: "I don't believe that I am in a position to make or break somebody's business. Let's look at some of the successful companies that I don't do business with like Annabolic, who's not an advertiser of mine. For years, Mike Rubinstein's IVC. They didn't need AVN to be successful. Maybe we can help make companies but I don't know where we can break them. Distributors buy product based on price a lot of time. We can say the worst things about videos but if it is cheap enough, distributors will buy it.

"Do I think just being in business with people is a conflict? Yes. Which is why I did not do another magazine with Bob Tremont. Which is why I sold my interest in the store... Which is why I did one movie (1995's Smells Like Sex) as a promotional piece for AVN and I realized that I couldn't produce movies... By the way, that movie was not eligible for awards and was not reviewed by AVN. We let Hustler review it and ran their review."

You’ve had a video business that went under.

Paul: "A mainstream video manufacturing business called Dusty Woods Entertainment which bought Japanese professional wrestling... Yeah [it went under - around 1987-88]. We put out about 15 tapes... But I was too ambitious for my own good."

Your Exposed deal with Tremont went under. Your deal with Liebowitz and the magazine Sexpose went under. The story involving Michael Jordan and Kylie Ireland was designed to blow Sexpose off the magazine racks but that blew up in your face. You tried taking AVN to the newsstand twice and failed miserably both times. You’ve handpicked trusted assistants like Yoram Dohan who put together deals behind your back.

Paul: "Somebody is way on the inside on this stuff."

His replacements quit AVN over policy matters with you. Would you be willing to say that you’re a lousy businessman, a lousy judge of character, impossible to get along with and really got lucky with AVN?

Paul: "I am a bad businessman when it comes to newsstand publishing because I did fail on newsstands. With Exposed, Expose, and AVN twice. We tried to do it with the Meese Commission in 1986. We tried to put a clean magazine about adult on the newsstand and we lost about $200,00 and almost went out of business because of that. The second time I [AVN in the early '90s] went on the newsstand, I did it very carefully and didn't lose that much. I realized that I was underfinanced... And the deal with Ted Liebowitz. He didn't want to put up any more money and neither did I. So we folded it. But given those circumstances, being underfinanced, I was a failure in newsstand publishing. I've been very successful as a retailer. And AVN is successful. Yet I had a video company that failed and I've done some other things that failed and I've probably had about ten failures and two successes."

Luke: "Didn't Yoram Dohan try to put together deals behind your back?"

Paul: "I found that out at the very end. For about a year and a half he was very good. In the last six months he got a little greedy and wanted a piece of the business, just because he felt like he deserved it. And when I wouldn't do that, he did some things behind my back but he didn't hurt me too badly. And I fired him... And that makes me a bad judge of character. He was married to a friend of mine. He was a good salesman. Everybody spoke highly of him. I took a shot with him. He did a good job for a long time.

"The guy (Howard Portman) who replaced him was a friend of mine who really didn't like... It wasn't a policy conflict. Somebody who is giving you information worked here. And it was just that I didn't like his style and he didn't like my style... And we're still friends. Now it's Darren Roberts. He's an incredible employee."

Luke: "Are you impossible to get along with?"

Paul: "To this person I am. Obviously. Whoever is writing this question. You'd have to ask the other 35 people working here. Is that all one person?"

Luke: "One person gave me these questions but I don't know how many people he may have gotten them from."

Paul: "It's somebody who knows me. That series of questions. Who knew what happened in Philadelphia, knew about the Ted Leibowitz deal, knew about the Bob Tremont deal... None of which I ever hit. Knew about the stores and knew about Yoram and Howard... That's somebody who either worked here or who knows me very well."

Luke: "Ok, these are really nasty questions."

Paul: "Oh, you mean those weren't?"

Speaking of Sexpose, it was all over the industry that you were sleeping with Kylie Ireland, that’s how she got the editor’s title?

Paul: "Ok, next. This is ridiculous."

The word on the street is that AVN through some really bad deals is financially over extended and that you’ve been actively peddling the company for some time. In fact you tried making a deal with Hustler a while ago and that Hustler turned you down. What happened there?

Paul: "Let me put it to you this way. We're [AVN] a profitable company. I've made some bad deals that have overextended us. We're actually fine. And I've had three or four inquiries come my way about buying the magazine. None of them have panned out but that's not that I'm actively soliciting somebody to buy it. It's that deals have come my way that haven't worked out for one reason or another. Everybody is for sale... It's just that I'm not actively looking for a buyer.

"We talked to Hustler but we didn't try to make a deal."

Luke: "Did you ask Russ Hampshire to buy AVN?"

Paul: "Absolutely not."

You’re second in command Darren Roberts is a former VCA employee and my sources over there tell me that Roberts was handpicked by someone over at VCA for you, which suggests that Roberts’ true function at AVN is to serve as the VCA caretaker and errand boy and look out for their interests.

Paul: "That is one of the most ridiculous of all that you've said because Darren is not involved in the publishing of AVN. He's involved in the internet business and the fetish magazine, which is successful, for that critic. When Howard left, I was looking for somebody. And Marianne at VCA said, 'do you know Darren who works here? He'd be really good.'

"Darren was working for their internet company Babenet. So I called his boss Jack Gallagher and asked for permission to talk to Darren."

Roberts has sold you a bill of goods on a lot of deals that have lost you money, true or false?

Paul: "Not true."

Roberts’ wife Allison heads up a video company which is owned by VCA? Is that a conflict?

Paul: "Allison ran Excel Films at VCA but she no longer works there. They got lousy reviews... She quit a couple of months ago. And she's started her own company."

Your wife Kimberly Wilson is an employee of VCA, isn’t that a conflict?

Paul: "She runs the cable. Somebody that knows me is giving you all this s---. So I should put my personal life on hold too?"

Wasn’t she Russ’s girlfriend at one time?

Paul and Russ say absolutely not. "That's a f---ing asshole who said that."

You check in with Russ Hampshire before you make any important decisions? If you are financially independent of him, other than his advertising with you, why do you find it necessary to do that?

Paul: "Don't you know what I'm going to say when you ask me these questions."

The same goes for Steve Hirsch, does it not? You confer with him on just about every issue?

Paul: "Every day. I call him when I get in in the morning and ask him what kind of ratings we should give his movies."

You never run stories critical of Vivid. Why wasn’t Steve Hirsch’s domestic problems fair game in your magazine? You aired the whole story about Chuck Martino and his girlfriend. Why do you treat Hirsch with kid gloves? Are you afraid of him?

Paul: "Ahh... First of all, because Chuck Martino and the girlfriend came to us with the story. We didn't go soliciting the story. Steve Hirsch's domestic problems were not of much interest to my readership. I'm not out to hurt anybody."

Luke: "Really? Chuck is still bitter about it."

Paul: "Is he? He didn't say anything to me. She came to us and then we called him."

Luke: "He says Kulkis pursued the story."

Kulkis now runs the Hustler video division.

Hirsch gets blow jobs from all his contract girls. Why doesn’t that story get written? [Steve won't comment on his personal life.]

Paul: "I don't know that that is true."

Luke: "What if a business owner..."

Paul: "A lot of them are. Should I run a column as to who we know are getting blowjobs. How about the producers who abuse the girls and force them to have sex with them to get parts? We are doing a piece on sexual harassment in a couple of issues.

Do you get blow jobs from porn girls?

Paul: "No."

Luke: "You don't date porn girls?"

Paul: "No, I am married. When I was single? No."

Luke: "Have you ever had a sexual relationship with a porn girl?"

Paul: "Why are we talking about this? Why is this part of this interview? Why does anybody want to know about my personal life. The answer is no and I don't want to talk about it. Did you ask Russ those questions? And Rob Black?"

Luke: "Yes."

Paul: "And what did Russ say? Leave my personal life out of it, right?"

Luke: "Yes, he thought it was a legit question and he said absolutely never."

Paul: "It's not... The whole world thinks that this business and this office is one big orgy."

Luke: "Ok, give me the denial and we'll move on."

Paul: "If you spent a couple of weeks here and saw what was going on, you would realize that it is just a business. Girls do come in here. They come to talk to editors and to drop off tapes, to say hello or whatever."

Luke: "I think it is a legitimate question to ask. If I were in your position, I would find it very tempting to have sex with porn girls."

Paul: "Then, if you are in that position, if you have a substantial position as a journalist, then you lose your credibility. Because anything you say good about that person is not because they really did a good job but because they're having sex with you."

Roxanne Hall at a recent industry party complained to people that Chloe gets all the breaks because she’s "sleeping with Paul Fishbein." Were you aware of that comment?

Paul: "Chloe is friends with a lot of people with here at the office. I've never heard that comment. I don't know Roxanne Hall. I guess every girl that ever got good press, I slept with."

Word on the street has it that Alisha Klass has been sleeping with you. Is that payback for all the great reviews Seymore gets?

Paul: "Yeah, well, she's a really sweet girl and really pretty. She's been here a bunch of times but no... Oh, she got a cover, I see."

Paul thought these personal questions ludicrous, ridiculous and obnoxious. He alternated between shrugging them off and categorically denying any truth to them.

Luke: "Would it bother you if your journalists were sleeping with porno girls?"

Paul: "Yeah. And I'd have to deal with it.

"...So far you've mentioned us having improper relationships with almost every company... So as long as we have one improper relationship with every company, then that's ok because it's a level playing field. You haven't mentioned that Gene Ross is friends with Gabor and John Bowen. And of course you had that bad story about Gene owning part of John's company..."

People in the adult industry have been very critical of the way that VSDA has handled the adult business and the summer trade shows. And AVN has made a big splash about how it was going to take over and start running the trade show for the adult business. Yet in your December issue, in bold print, you announce a deal with Advanstar to run the show. Advanstar is the very same company that has been running the VSDA show all along which everybody complains about.

Paul: "That's not true. Adventstar made a deal with VSDA prior to last year's show but too late to be involved in the marketing of last summer's VSDA show. We pulled out... We were forced to do this trade show...because other people were going to do a trade show, people who we felt were not qualified to do a show. And then in planning the show, Advenstar, who we worked with on the East Coast Video Show, came to us and said, 'how can we work together?' And my answer was, after a lot of negotiation, we would work with them on the show if we could maintain the policies that we wanted to maintain. So that the adult show, the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo is $8 per square foot of exhibit space, cheaper than the VSDA. It won't have that expensive fee for someone who just wants to come into the show. In addition to that, any VSDA members who have badges, can still come into our show for free. We're making it adult friendly because we're controlling the adult policies."

My sources tell me that both you and Roberts profited handsomely by making that deal, that Roberts pocketed about $60,000, you even more? Would your answer hold up under an IRS audit?

Paul: "For the tape, I'm shaking my head in disbelief. Now we're getting into people making s--- up. The deal is based on how much we sell. We got no money upfront."

I hear that you’ve told a number of people about your intention to leave the adult business and go into movie producing? In ‘99 and letting Roberts run the show? Are you seeking to make some quick cash deals such as the one with Advanstar?

Paul: "Have I said that I'd like to produce movies. Yes. I've been saying that since I was in college. I've been too busy trying to grow a business. There is no way that I am financially set enough to leave in 1999."

Paul says about AVN's gossip column, "we've toned it way down. It was wrong and I admit that."

I talked to Fishbein 12/8 at 9:30AM:

Paul: "I did the interview because, after a while, you get sick of being bashed. But you have sources... I think I have figured out who... You've got to consider your source. You talk about there are people out to get me... And people who want to put AVN down... I know that AVN is extremely well respected by the entire retail community which is the purpose of the magazine. It's well respected within the distribution community and its well respected by most of the producers and talent. There are going to be producers, distributors, companies and talent who feel that they are not getting a fair shake. And of course they are going to have something to say negative about us. People don't tend to look at themselves. They tend to blame. And if they don't get on the charts, they tend to blame us for not putting them on the charts, even though the distributors and retailers aren't mentioning their titles. If they don't get good reviews, they think that we don't like them. Nobody will ever understand the concept of doing something objectively. They only feel that they are getting burned and hurt. When you talk to people and you hear this stuff... I don't know. I talk to a million people and I seem to get overwhelmingly negative commentary on the internet. The reality is, the people you are talking to are few and far between. And you, when you come to me with all those questions yesterday, obviously I want to answer them all. Because if that's what people are saying, I want to face it straight up. But you have to consider the agenda that some people might have when they're talking to you."

IMarcuskillus: "Did Paul take it as well as it appeared ? [Yes.] He gaged a few times but appeared to handle it.

"Well, to his credit Paul Fishbein took it in the ass like an Anal Queen. Sometimes I feel that men in the porn business are too brutal with these girls but to see fishbein take it in the ass like that from Luke was redeeming, temporarilly. Now,who in the f--- thinks that Mike Wallace is packing a bigger gun than Luke. Wallace's dick would have gone limp, then his heart would have given out. Now, given Fishbein's no Liza Harper but if you like to see them grudgingly take it up the butt (as i do), this was a good one. As a plus Luke, Torris, and an unnamed source tried a triple penetration and discovered there was no third orifice and to my amazement Mike South (The southern gentleman he be) showed up to give paul the complementary reach around. This was little consolation given the lubeless (ala rocco) anal assault that ensued.

This encounter ended with Paul Fishbein gaping like Tami Ann and a tunnel shot that would make the boys at Extreme envious. In closing I'll tell you this was hot action, Luke went right to the cornhole from the door. The still unnamed source on the front end had Paul gagging on sevral occasions but Fishbein handled it almost as well as Bianca Trump,max hardcore tried getting in on the scene but Paul said, no short dicked, semibald, ugly, pale, real or fake child molesters or surgical/prostectic instruments. Real men, real meat was the order. This scene gets one of my highest ratings 4 1/2 buckshot to the head. Paul Fishbein's star has risen considerably and he appears to have staying power seldom seen in anal queens. Luke F-rd has now come to sit on that lonely plateau that was exclusivly occupied by Rog T Pipe (in this reviewer's opinion), he can get the wood and shoot on que."

***

Luke arrived at the AIM office at noon Monday to see a friend of mine from an Orthodox synagogue. Shock. "Levi [Luke's Hebrew name], what are you doing here?" he asked. "I suppose you could ask what am I doing here?"

I got a hug from buxom blonde phlebotomist Stephanie Rand who said that because she's already met Mick Jagger and David Bowie, the number one person on her list now is Dennis Prager, my hero.

Sharon Mitchell had a nose job a month ago which is still a tad swollen and sore. She won't take pain medication like codeine because of her past addictions to drugs. "I don't want to tempt the monster that's been dormant for three years."

Salena Coleman is gone from AIM, replaced by a tall middle-aged chap David. Maggie Knowles operates AIM's internet site and helps out.

Brock Leigh, husband of Heavenly Leigh replies to Quasarman: "First off to Quasarman for the word calling I know better and am sorry for that.I have a lage farm in Ohio that I run from here in LA my grandfather left it to me when he passed away.I also help with Heavens web site and was doing some scenes but have given that up I have all the respect in the world for the guys in porn its allot harder then it looks.
"Now back to poor little Gina [Ryder]. I have gotten allot of calls in the past few days and most thanking me for saying something about all of this.I have though gotten a few that had less good things to say.So here is what I have to say on all of this.There are allot of nice women in this business that are very smart and have more then just porn to live on sweet heart so when you say "dumb bitch"about them you better be able to back it up.Well after what you did to your husband( who by the way is a nice guy I talked to him once on a set)you are going to find out after porn eats you up and spits you out you are going to be all alone.You gave your husband up for porn?When your life as a "PORN STAR" is over what are you going to do??You may have some people in the palm of your hand but who is "f---ING WHO" the people you are talking about are no body and when you are done with porn they will be done with you.And little girl what do you think you are doing, you to are giving up your "cunt".You see allot of the women in porn have allot more going for them then porn they have degrees they have businesses what are you going to have.Becarefull what you say because these "dumb bitchs" are out there and a few that have called me are not to happy with that statement.One of those "dumb bitchs" is my wife and she has more brains then you.She has a web site that is going great and a degree from Northwestern collage so when she is done she will not have to work at Buger King to make money.What do you think you will do make porn movies for years I would say maybe one more year and you will be done.You will never be a Nina Hartely or a Sharne Cane or the other great PORN women in this business that have been here for years and made porn what it is today.Maybe you need to talk to one of them to get your head back on your shoulders.Remember you have to work with these "dumb bitches" so becarefull what you say!!!!!!
I agree porn is about politics, but f---ing for free to how did you say it" how easy it is when you f--- the right people and I will f--- who I have to just to beat out the next girl"makes you more then a porn star!!!!!And stardom please you f--- for a living its a job the women that have made a name for them selves do more then just porn.You will never be a house hold name please grow up you need to get the STARS out of your eyes.Who ever or what ever is your "scapegoat" you better get it out because the s--- is slidding towards you fast!!!!!!"

Torris found this in his local paper: "Two Oklahoma bookstore clerks were arrested and charged last month for selling the general circulation adult magazine Penthouse... About a year ago Penthouse and another adult magazine, Hustler, independently changed their editorial policies and crossed what had long been considered the unspoken line separating "soft porn" from "hard core". Both magazines now show explicit photographs of sexual pentration, historically what law enforcement authories look for in determining whether material is "obscene" under state and local laws. In Tulsa
Oklahoma police bought an issue of Penthouse and determined it included photos that are obscene under state law, which defines obscene as sexual acts that are "normal or perverted, actual or
simulated". Two newstand clerks were charged and could face up to 15 years in prison or $25,000 in fines if conviced. Huster publisher has offered to pay all the clerks legal costs."

Marwan Elkojjee writes from Syndey, Australia: "I have been reading the news about Tricia Deveroux , Brooke Ashley, Kimberly Jade and Marc Goldberg (Wallice ). It's incredible news , I must say, everyone in Sydney ( Australia ) I speak to is just shocked at all this. The first we heard was on 1 December 1998. In everything we have read ( l-keford and AVN sites ) there has been no mention as to how Marc Wallice contracted the Virus..??
Also that doctor/fan [Steven York] of Tricia Deveroux is a little suspicious. He comes on to the scene as a Professional ( Doctor ) and a Fan , it seems a little weird!!!
"I have worked in the Adult industry ( Wholesale / importing ) in the past , mainly in sales and a brief stint at production . The few videos that had been shot here required strict testing of the actors/actresses. They had to take 4 different HIV tests one of which had to be less than 10 day's old prior to working The test co-ordinater would be present at three of the four tests , so there is no way you could sustitute . They also have to take a VDRL test for all STDs' and a test for HEP A , B , and C..and a final general health check..The videos were marketed in Europe as they were not suitable for the US market ( Scenes of urination)...NO-ONE caught HIV!!!!"

Unchain has been updated. Its new gossip column, written by "Pussycat" (who's that?), says: "I don't believe in icky gossip. I'd rather my porn-slut fans worship their godesses than wallow in their misery. A journalist with integrity, I won't last long! That other gossip porn website always has some pretty juicy stuff that you feel so bad reading but you do it anyway. I know he [Luke F-rd] reads me too so, hi to my sweet, evil gossipmonger friend! I'll never scoop you, cuz you're the Man and you're more evil than me anyway."

Lysa Stone writes:

Producers Toshi and Julie Gold, in conjunction with the Number One XXX Superstar Jill Kelly,
are pleased to announce the formation of

JILL ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

The most loved and world renowned XXX Superstar Jill Kelly will produce, direct and perform in her new series from Jill Entertainment, PERFECT PINK

Jill takes PERFECT PINK on the road, all over America to find the freshest, sweetest young faces and bodies never before seen on video. Move over old-style video producers, here comes Jill to steal the thunder (and all your pretty girls too).

Jill Kelly and her girls will take on all sorts of cummers, featuring Anals, DP's, Interracial encounters, and more searing sex shot on cable quality video. We're bringing you the finest, high-quality productions on video, all beautifully filmed. With Jill behind the camera, anything can happen (and probably will). The first volume will be available in JANUARY, with one per month to come after that. 1999 is Jill Kelly's year so join in on this year's beautiful girl event.