Luke has effectively been hacked since Sunday night. Word on the street says a powerful porner has hired a crack hacker to shut me down, no matter whose server I flee to.
Here are a few excerpts from the 1998 book The Animal in Hollywood, about mob enforcer Anthony Fiato, by John L. Smith. Pg. 124-125
"...Jimmy Coppola, the guy who picked up the cash. He was later stabbed and killed in prison. And all this came about because Harvey Ross [Harvey Rosenthal, longtime employee of VCA, video pirate, duper, died of cancer about 1995] got me [Fiato] to pressure Marty Krause [Los Angeles crime figure], who in turn went to Mike Esposito [longtime pornographer, owner of Gentleman's Video], who went over to his father Sal [who worked with the Anthony 'Tony Ducks' Corrallo crew out of Harlem, part of the NY based Lucchesse crime family] and then went to Walter [Stevens, veteran LA crime figure].
"Sal tried all kinds of things to get us to lay off. He called me up one day and said, 'Butchie Peraino says to say hello.' And then he asks, 'Is this coming from Mike [Rizzitello, veteran LA crime boss]?' Because if it is, they know where to go to get it stopped. I [Fiato] said, 'This is coming from me.' I know Butchie is with the Genovese people [NY Mafia family], but he's nothing to me. They were all in the porno business together. The Perainos had that Deep Throat movie. I told Sal, 'Well, say hello to Butchie for me and tell him to stay the hell out of my business.'
"But two years earlier I had had guys pressuring the Espositos. That was what set up the Red Morgan move. They threatened to go to everybody they knew. Sal Amarena, Jimmy Fratianno's old friend from San Francisco...
"In the middle of it, I back down... So when I figured they'd dropped their guard, I sent Fat Steve Munichiello and Carl Cataldo over to Mike Esposito's office. And they give him the beating of his life."
Former porn journalist (1978-88) Hart Williams writes:
So what's your point, Luke? Is porn in the business of selling heroin because a couple of junkies are in the biz? As usual, you would prefer to prove a pre-existing prejudice, rather than assay a field of information and come to a reasonable conclusion. I remember Sal and Mike shooting a Seka video a long time ago, and everyone on the set knew they had shadowy mob connections.
Why was this interesting?
A: Because of its very
uniqueness. Many had never seen such a thing in years in the biz. If
mob connections were rife, nobody would have given it a second thought.
Instead, it was THE buzz
for days.
B: Because no one on the set had any real knowledge of the "Mob" that the Espositos were rumored to be connected with (and, more importantly, DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW MORE). This was my first clue that the connection between porn and XXX was a lot more tenuous than was assumed as gospel by biased custardheads out in general society.
C: As usual, the connections are precisely what I said they were: money connections outside the experience of working porn people. Whether a movie is shot with Union Retirement Funds, with Senator Graham's campaign contributions, or with Mob Money, the effect is merely to rent the equipment, and neither Union Organizers, Senate Aides nor Mobsters are ever seen by the actual porn workers.
Rob Black by phone at 4:20PM, Tuesday, 12/29/98:
"Paul Fishbein has basically said that I was full of s--- about the whole wrestling schmazz… So today I brought my best friend [champion wrestler] Bubba Ray Dudley down to the AVN office. We videotaped the whole thing. We got into a big pissing match about the AVN awards… Bubba Ray explained to Paul that he was very upset that we [Extreme Associates] didn’t get these awards. And Mr. Fishbein seemed visibly distraught. The whole AVN staff was there. Bubba didn’t thrown anybody around. We thought about it. We took some pictures with Bubba putting his hands around Paul Fishbein’s neck and squeezing. Paul was visibly uncomfortable, putting his hand on Bubba Ray’s hands, to try to pull them off his neck. It was all in good fun. They didn’t believe me. They thought that because Gene Ross and I are friends that it was just BS publicity… Well, I did them one better. I brought one of the five-time tag team champions of the world into the AVN offices. As I’ve always told you Luke, I’m a man of my word. And by tomorrow night we'll have full transcripts…"
Rob yells over to Bubba (who seems to be in Rob’s office). "Bubba, you want to know something funny? Someone wrote Luke, saying that I was full of s--- and that the ECW wrestlers don’t like me. And they can’t wait to drop me on my head.
"Last week we appeared on ECW’s Queen’s Television."
From www.wrestlezone.com report on the taping: "…Big Sal E. Graziano and Big Guido came out with porn stars Tom Byron and Rob Black, as well as a blonde female [Extreme Contract girl Lizzy Borden]. Black is getting in the business, so they are going to put him with Graziano and it looks like Big Guido will do a bodyguard role."
Luke: "So you got rid of Stryc9. She was too much trouble?"
Rob: "Yeah. She’s no longer Stryc9 because I own that name. She’s Cherry or Sarah Martin. She was a pain in the ass and she needs to experience the real world… She was treated really good here. She was becoming a prima donna like Jasmine [St. Claire] and she doesn’t have that right yet. Jasmine and them have put in many years…"
AVN publisher Paul Fishbein: "Let's clear this up. What I said to Rob was what I wrote earlier. We wrote a ton about the wrestling stuff before it happened and it has been slow developing. I never thought he was full of s---. For marketing, talking about it will not get you a nomination for Best Campaign. But if it materializes (as it looks like it will) it will be a great coup for Extreme and he can market to the mainstream. Our cut-off date for awards is 10/31/98 and the wrestling thing wasn't happening yet.
"I liked Bubba and the whole thing was fine. It was just weird and uncomfortable. We were in an editorial meeting and Rob, Tom Byron, Bubba and a guy with a camera show up unannounced and I let them come in. But we were interrupted for 90 minutes when we had work to do. There wasn't even enough seats for these guys to sit down. It was weird and uncomfortable at first.....that's all. Mark Kernes wanted the pictures. Then it just became typical banter and Rob actually looked shocked when Bryn ripped into him....pro wrestling style.
"It was good that Rob heard it from other people on our staff, not just me. The pissing match really was like wrestling actually because it didn't feel real at all. Rob should put all this energy into his movies and forget this stupid crap. But in terms of publicity, I always believed Rob and I knew this was happening."
Black plans to print up anti-Vivid T-shirts for CES.
Jasmine St. Clair phoned 12/20/98: "My name has been trademarked for several years. And Justice Howard took photos of me for John T. Bone – Hellfire, Vortex, and a few of my movies. She then used my photos in calendars and postcards but I never signed a release. I only signed a release for these photos to be used for Metro boxcovers. Now she’s pushed it with me, using a picture of me on an album cover for a band called Doppelganger. My attorney has sent letters and we’re getting injunctions on those CDs. I just got paid $1000 to do the album cover for the Star Wars lounge collection… It’s not even a nice photo she sold them. But it’s trademark infringement. And she’s done this to lots of other [porn] girls… It’s time Justice Howard is taught a lesson. We used that photo for my first boxcover ever.
"I hope everything pans out for Kendra Jade. John manipulated her… I’d be upset too.
"I have a good feeling that Paul Fishbein shut down your site. You know who’s getting Best New Starlet this year…Alisha Klass... You know who’s getting Best Female Performer… Jill Kelly.
"The AVN Awards are corrupt… Remember when we [John Bone for Jasmine’s World Biggest Gangbang] got Best Selling Tape [in a tie with VCA’s Shock]. We had to fight tooth and nail for that. That tape sold double what Russ Hampshire gets… You know he always gets Best Selling Tape of the Year. You can tell it is a bought award. [In four of the last five years, VCA has won for Best Renting Tape of the year, and three of the last five for Best Selling tape. AVN publisher Paul Fishbein admits that the sales charts in particular are not particularly accurate.]
I hear that John Bone’s printer says he made up 33,000 boxes for World’s Biggest Gangbang 2 starring Jasmine St. Clair. I hear they called Russ Hampshire’s VCA printer about Shock, and found they only printed up 12,000. Yet both tied for award for Best Selling Tape.
www.avn.com ran this story on my site hacking:
For some in the porn industry, Luke F-rd and his Web sites were merely an annoyance. For others, including porn stars whose real identity he revealed or whose positive HIV status he disclosed, he was the scourge of the industry. Someone decided to fight back and Ford has been hacked. His two sites, l-keford.com and 4porn.net, are down and the company that hosted the sites has lost about $40,000 in revenues from damage done to its server.
Ironically, Ford doesn't
suspect this was a case of revenge by someone in the porn industry.
Instead, he thinks it is related to an interview he posted in early
December in which the subject
discussed important Hollywood executives and their sexual proclivities.
He thinks the hacker was dispatched by the mainstream entertainment
industry.
The script used by the hacker to take down Ford's sites also affected the other sites hosted by Voice Media, including five pay sites.
If the porn industry is rejoicing over Ford's misfortunes, it is not doing so to his face. Ford reportedly has received many inquiries as to when his sites will return. Soon, he replies. Meanwhile, he intends to hunt down the hacker.
Quasarman AKA Mike Mc writes: "Attention Producers and Directors or anyone that might entertain the thought of giving Terri Starr the time of day....
"Today I was having a lovely time shooting a fabulous feature for Metro/Cal Vista when my final girl of the day, TERRI STARR, arrived an hour late and whacked out of her mind on God knows what. This glassy eyed retard assured me through her slurred speech that she was "o.k to do the scene". The scene being an anal with Jake Steed. Not an easy task even for a seasoned sober actress. The set was lit, the makeup was done and the pretty girl pictures were taken. This would have been the first time in my 10 year career that my day was exactly on schedule. That is until this illicit substance gobbling zombie emerged from the bathroom after doing her "girlie thing" and announced without a hint of remorse that she was going home. When I informed her that by walking out she was costing me a great deal of time and money and that it was too late in the day to get a replacement because the permit expires at 10 o'clock, she flippantly replied "oh well". She then proceeded to mumble incoherently as she got dressed. We found not one but TWO empty bottles of generic brand Vodka in the makeup room. She peeled out of the driveway and I pray that she didn't run down a family of five as they were crossing PCH.
"By the time you read this I will be desperately trying to cram four scenes, hard and soft, into an already busy second day of shooting and the entire time I will be fantasizing about Terri Starr being bludgeoned by a fireplace poker. Please never hire this person. Won't you please help me to force Terri Starr into a life of fast food service, the only job she is even remotely qualified for."
Thursday afternoon, I talked to a crew member who told me about Terri Starr and what happened to her last night. "We did the pretty girl shots and she just walked off. Said, ‘I’m going home. Tell me where my clothes are. Point me in the right direction.’ Mike [Quasarman] went off. He was crazed. She screwed up the shoot.
She went to get dressed and we said, ‘call your husband to bring you home.’ Because she was really f---ed up [drunk on vodka]. She shouldn’t be driving. She wouldn’t listen. She took off.
"She followed me up the road [on Greyfox St? in Malibu]. I knew she was behind me. Oh no. I was talking on the phone and made a wrong turn. And she went on the right way. So fair enough, I realized I made a wrong turn, turned around and went back to the junction to find her pulling a 360 [degree turn] and going the wrong way. So she must’ve seen me going the wrong way and figured that was right. So I went home.
"I get here [shoot location in Malibu] this morning. And it turns out that she went up Kanaan Dume road…and she went over the edge into a gully. And she’s in the car, not hurt… In the bottom of this gully, calling out, ‘I’m a porn star. I’m a porn star. Help.’
"The boom guy was following her. He didn’t see her go over the edge, but he saw the skid marks. So he slowed down and heard her calling. ‘Help, I’m a porn star. Help me.’ So he got her out of the car at the bottom of the gully. There were five sheriff cars by that time… So I don’t know what happened to her. She had a lump on her head the size of an egg and she was telling everybody that she was a porn star."
The crew member who found Terri told Luke: "She said she didn’t want to do a scene with a black guy [Jake Steed]. I told her, ‘don’t even repeat that, just get out of here.’ And so she left. She was way tweaked…from drinking vodka. She got in the car and left. And I took a while, because I was wrapping some stuff. The director actually said, ‘I hope she wrecks.’ So I drove up Kanan Dume…and I see skid marks which went off a cliff. The skidmarks went past the oncoming traffic. And off the edge of the road. So I pulled up and I got out of my car and I heard… ‘Help me. Help.’ I recognized her voice. She had rolled down the side of an embankment…down about fifty feet. It was upside down…against a tree. She was seatbelted in… If that tree didn’t catch her… And if she had gone two feet further or two feet less, the car would’ve done a 25-foot drop and been crushed. It would’ve fallen 25 feet straight down… She was lucky to be alive, plus going across traffic. She could’ve hit someone easy.
"By this time, the sheriff’s had arrived and a rescue team… They got her and put her on the side of the road. She’s hysterical. And more people start crowding around her. And she goes, ‘I’m an adult film star. My face is ruined. Ohmigod, I will never work again. Ohmigod, I’m double booked for tomorrow. I’ll never be able to pay my rent.’ By the time we left, there were five Sheriffs [cars] and a Paramedic. And she’s telling them, ‘I need my cheerleading outfit in the trunk.’ And they said, ‘listen, I’m not going to risk my life trying to get a cheerleading outfit.’ They couldn’t believe it.
"We started looking closer, and we saw that she hit a coyote. The cops said to me, ‘it seems like she’s on something.’ I said, ‘I don’t know. All I know is that she is not working for the company because she did not fill out any paperwork.’ They were going to take her straight to jail because all she had was a golfball size lump under her eye. She’s trying to say her face was ruined but it wasn’t even cut. We talked them into taking her to the hospital, try to buy her some time.
"I kept calling John West, her husband. He showed up and he didn’t give a s--- about her. He was more pissed off about the car. He said, ‘look at the car man. I’m driving this piece of s--- van and she wrecks the good car.’
"I shot her about six weeks ago. She fell asleep during an anal scene. She’d done that GHB stuff that morning… Luckily we got 40 minutes of the anal scene and she passed out with this guy’s dick in her ass. We were about to call an ambulance. We were slapping her. She didn’t wake up for half an hour after that. So she’s definitely got problems."
Deep Throat (an anti-AVN, VCA, Vivid source) says:
Does the fact that Elegant Angel contract girl Roxanne Hall suddenly left the business and returned to England have anything to do with the widening investigation linking AVN publisher Paul Fishbein to several of the actresses in the adult business? Hall said at a party recently that Fishbein was having an affair with Chloe. Sources indicate that Hall was told to shut up and leave the country or risk being implicated. Sources also say that the strange sounds emanating from the publisher’s office these days are those of the midnight paper shredder at work.
[Luke: I've emailed Chloe about this and received no reply. Paul finds the charges ludicrous as do several folks who know Paul. Luke finds the charges ludicrous. Paul Fishbein is about the most highly respected person in porn. I've yet to uncover any hard evidence that his magazine and his awards show are fixed. I've never spoken to anyone (aside from Deep Throat) who told me that they KNEW Paul had had improper relations with porn girls. Why did Roxanne suddenly leave the business? My sources tell me that she fell in love with a fellow E.A. employee and got pregnant.]
A source: "Roxanne Hall tested "false" HIV around Labor Day of '95, just after doing a group sex scene at Max Steiner's place. She fired off an angry denial that was printed right away in AVN (same issue as the story). Strangely, this rumor never seemed to hurt her career, even though it has others. So, I've always had a bit of wonder about her (not her HIV status, just how she was able to pull this off). That and the fact that she's been able to continue working with her natural breasts, really make me wonder. Everyone else even rumored HIV instantly disappears (Kristen being the only other exception)."
A porner: "Roxie wants out... She's burned out... She's been in the biz quite awhile...done a lot of flicks. My guess her failed relationship with John Decker has more to do with this than anything. And her contract with elegant...I believe..is up at the end of the month...so what better time to leave? She can dance if she wants...something shez not really done professionally in a big way...but has from time to time been going to small -- out of the way stripclubs....to practice up on. she can make a lotta bread on the feature circuit. however.. I heard she wants to go back to school."
Deep Throat says that plans are in the works to release December 30th, a day that will live in AVN infamy, the "Clemenza Papers." They will be the single most damaging documents ever released in the adult business, Throat predicts. Throat also admitted that he was spokesman for a group that numbered at least a dozen individuals, but that Tessio, Clemenza and Barzini were the main principals who would choose to speak when the occasion warranted. Throat says there are significantly more women then men in the take-down enterprise aimed not only at AVN, but Vivid and VCA as well.
"Women tend to blab," said Throat, "especially secretaries. They know more of what’s going on on the inside than anyone."
Throat was amused that Tessio was Bill Margold. "Tessio said he was a FOXE fan, not a FOXE member. Tessio loves Margold because Margold has publicly stated that AVN is corrupt. We would value Margold as a great ally."
Throat says that from here on in, he wished to be referred to as Keyser Soze.
Clemenza writes: "Paul Fishbein’s big mouth is what gets him into a lot of trouble. We’ve compiled a dossier on Fishbein...
A porner: "Come on! Paul's the publisher of the premier magazine about the porn world. Why would it be even remotely surprising...much less scandalous...to find that he's had sex with people in this biz. i mean, this is a business about f---ing! so who the f--- really cares who f---s who."
Tessio writes: "The release of the Clemenza papers December 30th will all but spell the end of Paul Fishbein’s career. Fishbein still has time if he will accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior."
Keyser Soze: "Another story you won’t be reading about in the pages of AVN anytime soon details how Elegant Angel video has a backup plan for their $5 million lawsuit. Patrick Collins has already conceded the fact that he will lose big time in the courts and will allow the company to fold. Collins will take his operation to Brazil where he will head a company known as Foreplay with partner Stanley Miranda, an associate of Walter Gernert, Russ Hampshire’s silent business partner.
[Russ denies this. Russ says he owns VCA outright. Luke also finds this charge ludicrous. Pat Collins has long range plans for his company to stay in LA.]
"Collins however might have some problems once he enters the country...."
A porner: "Deep Throat has watched one too many movies! First of all, all we have to do is wait a couple of more weeks for this 'doomsday paper' to materialize (my guess it's a fabrication, or no big deal). And by the way, these f---ing jerkoffs are pissing me off ripping off the names of some of my heroes! (Clemenza, Tession...) They better be wops! oh....and isn't getting even more melodramatic that now he'z taken the nam Kaiser Soze? A fictional character who supposedly was (in the movie "the usual suspects") the most frightening underground figure ever!..This guy needs to curb his megalomania."
Kaiser Soza: "The fact that Zane Entertainment has bounced checks for significant amounts in recent weeks to SCSI Post and their conversion lab suggests that all might not be well internally, particularly when Zane announced that it was going to up its prices on its features and their Cherry Poppers series. GVA told Zane to go pound sand, and dropped their lines. Strong rumor has it that the company is going to file for bankruptcy a record third time. According to sources, there’s strong talk around the business that Chuck Zane is going to pull a Patrick Collins, by closing down in the United States and going to Germany."
A porner: "Zane (or anyone else in this business) bouncing checks....to editors no less.. gee there's a first! c'mon luke...bad checks are practically a way of life in this business. I wouldn't put too much emphasis on it...especially from a small company like Zane. I mean, if sin city, or vivid, or vca started bouncing checks (which they havent and dont) now there'd be a story to follow up on."
Kaiser: "Despite denials by Rob Black last week about a pending distribution deal with Max Hardcore, Luke’s informants tell him that he was right on the money with the story. ‘You blew it by letting the cat out of the bag too early,’ a source told Luke. ‘The deal was going to be a surprise announcement at CES and you put Rob in an embarrassing backup position by hitting him with it early. The deal is also going through because Legend is selling out Max Hardcore behind his back. It’s all part of the master plan to unite the rebels of the business under one roof against the condom companies. More companies are being talked to as we speak."
[Luke finds a Black - Harcore deal impossible to believe as Rob has sworn to Luke that he would never work with Max. Luke believes Black.]
AVN managing editor Mark Logan aka Bryn Pryor writes:
1: I did fire Rich C.
Leather. Without going into detail, we ran into a situation where one
of Rich's checks hadn't shown up due to an accounting error. Rich chose
to hold his reviews for the January
issue hostage until he was paid. Having been with the magazine for several
years, Rich should have realized that this was obviously an isolated
incident. Regardless, this was simply not an acceptable
means of negotiation. I can't have a writer working for me who chooses
to hold up production whenever he's unhappy. So, I cut Rich loose.
2: Nope. Never slept
with Mocha, either. (Again, if the offer were presented, the answer
would be different) When Mocha was a very new-to-the-business contract
girl for Video Team, I did her first
interview. After that, Chris Mann asked me to keep an eye on her during
VSDA, which was Mocha's first trade show. He wanted someone to make
sure everything went smoothly for her, so she & I hung around a
lot in Vegas. Mostly, we ate dinner a few times, and I watched her riding
the most freakish stroke of blind luck at blackjack I've ever witnessed.
But, unfortunately, that is the entire extent of our relations.
Now, in all fairness, I can certainly see how someone might make the assumption she and I were bangin' around in Vegas... I'm extremely flirtatious by nature, and Mocha is as well. In public, we were certainly acting like a couple having too much sex on a business trip when the boss ain't lookin', but sadly, that wasn't (and isn't) the case.
Y'know, this gossip thing isn't all it's cracked up to be. If things keep going at this pace, someday I'm going to look back on my life and wish that I had gotten HALF the tail people believe I got. What a depressing notion. If I'm going to be given credit for something "nefarious," I'd at least like to have the pleasure of DOING IT. *sigh*
Kendra Jade phoned Luke at 1:45 PM, 12/15/98. "Are you on John Bone’s payroll?"
Luke: "No."
Kendra: "Ok then, because if you were I’d be too scared to talk to you."
Jade, at home in Connecticut, burst into tears over the phone.
"John Bone repossessed my car. He put a lien on my apartment. The guy that I rent it from, Martin, is a good friend of John’s and the same person John rents his studio from. You know how John was supposed to pay my rent for the [free] shoot I did. He never did. John told Martin that he has the right to go in there and take all of my stuff because the rent wasn’t paid and John’s name is on the lease as well. So John is taking all my stuff because he claims that I owe him money. Even though I did all these shoots for him (3-4 in the last month) and he never paid anything.
"John has taken everything that I own. He’s cleared out my bank accounts because they were in John’s name and mine."
Luke: "How much money did he take from your bank account?"
Kendra: "God only knows. I have no idea. He called me this morning and he said: ‘You no longer have anything. You took all the press people that I introduced you to. You called Luke, Gene Ross and Mike Albo. And now you want to use those people against me. f--- you. I’ve taken everything that you own and you have nothing.’"
Kendra sobs over the phone. "I’m going to try to get on a plane tomorrow and get back out to LA and try to fix something. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.
"When I came out to LA, I didn’t have any credit. I didn’t have anything. So he [John Bone] co-signed with me on everything. A week ago he was telling me ‘you can still keep your car, even if you don’t work for me. I’m not going to f--- with you. I’m not going to do anything.’
"I didn’t trash him to anybody. I didn’t f--- him over. The problem was, Luke, he couldn’t give me enough work to pay my bills. Then when he did give me work, he f---ed me on the money anyway. So I need to find some way so that I can f---ing live.
"As time went by, I was just incurring more debt. So I had to get out [of Cream] so I could pay everything off. I guess now I don’t have to worry about it because he f---ed me on everything. I want everyone to be aware of how much of a f---ing miserable f---ing prick he is. They shouldn’t work for him because most of the time they won’t get paid, and if they do, most of the time they will get a bad check. He bounces checks on everybody. I stood by him through the whole thing. I worked for him at times when he had no money to pay anybody, I worked for him for nothing just so he could keep the company going. And then he f---s me. So right now I have no place to live, no car and no money. He is the biggest manipulator and liar I’ve ever met in my entire life.
"The f---ing Jerry Springer
thing. Was he entitled to any of that money? No. Did he do anything?
No. Did he f---ing sleep with Jerry? No. He [John Bone] was the one
who took all the money and do you know know what he did with all that
money ($350,000 from Jerry Springer)? He bought himself a car and he
bought me a car. He just had my car repossessed so he never bought me
anything.
"He pissed through all the Jerry Springer money because his company is broke again. Gene Ross is on his payroll. I was scared to call you because I didn’t know if you were too.
"I was in the office every single day. I know how much money he has. There were days when he couldn’t even pay his employees. He hasn’t paid my rent in two months."
Luke: "Doesn’t your cousin Donny work for John?"
Kendra: "While I’ve been gone, John has filled their heads with something… I talked to Shay [Cream employee]. She was my assistant and roadie [when Kendra danced on the road]. I’ve known her for seven years and she turned on me like that. I loved her like my f---ing sister…
"He’s left me with nothing but a pile of debt. He was the one who convinced me to move to LA in the first place. I was fine here [in Connecticut] and just flying out to shoot for him. I had an apartment and a car… And I gave it all up to go out there to work for him because he gave me a whole bunch of promises. I just hope that at 60 years old, when he looks in the mirror, he feels really good about himself. That he just f---ed a 21-year old girl for everything she had. [John is 51 years old.]
"He’s mad at me because I left. That I went to the people [Luke, Gene Ross, Mike Albo] that he had supposedly introduced me to and used it against him. If I left him, he wanted me to quit the business… But he’s left me with too much debt to just walk away.
"You know what John told me (before we got into a fight) about Kristen? That he had promised her a contract and all that because he wanted to piss off Matt Zane and because she knew lots of the young girls in the business and as soon as he got more girls, he was done with her.
"When John offered me the contract, I didn’t know anything about him. And I took it and I wish that I had been smarter."
Luke: "What about Zoe?"
Kendra: "I like Zoe. But she believes in John and that he will turn his business around. She’s the same person I was, in that I really believed in John. I believed everything he told me.
"He is very charming. He can make you believe anything he says. He can tell you the sky is pink and convince you that it is. Finally I got smart, that he was scamming me…
"When I go back to LA, I need to work immediately so that I can put a roof over my head."
Luke: "How sure are you that Gene Ross is on his payroll?"
Kendra: "Because I was in the office. I’d see Gene come in every Friday and get paid. I hate to say anything or even tread in that water because he’s another person [Gene Ross] who can f--- me really hard in the industry and I’m sure he will."
Gene Ross and John Bone deny the charges.
John at 4:20PM: "Kendra owes me $4000 for money I loaned her. She has not paid December rent on her house even though she has three girls who sublet from her and pay her rent. She told Martin that she’d pay the rent on the 12/22… Then she told Shay to rent a truck and that she was going to get all her stuff out and run, leaving me owing the landlord $1200 rent plus $800 in bad checks she wrote to D.W.P.. On top of this, I was paying for a leased car for her.
"Last Thursday she and her friends appeared drunk on the Howard Stern show. I ripped her a new asshole. On Friday, she and her stepmother Kelly Shambers went on a flurry to f--- me over. They called you, Gene Ross, Mike Albo and Peter Bond, with all kinds of terrible stories about me. I believe they were even threatening Gene to print all sorts of bad things about him.
"They called every enemy I have in the industry…Rob Black, Zane who wouldn’t take her call, and Charley Frey.
"Should I continue to guarantee the lease on her car and payments on her house for someone who’s f---ing me over? Her car has been returned to the lease company because I will no longer guarantee it and her landlord issued a three day pay or quit notice because he knew that she intended to run out.
"I called her mother, who she had me evict from her house a month ago, and asked her if I could send her Kendra’s stuff. She didn’t want anything to do with Kendra.
"She has one bank account at Pacific National Bank which has been overdrawn for three months. It’s not in my name and I didn’t guarantee it. They’re going after her for money she owes them.
"Jerry Springer paid me nothing. I had no legal transactions with Jerry Springer.
"Kendra’s never met Kristen. Kendra went berserk when I signed another girl. She threatened to punch her [Kristen] out.
"Every time someone has an argument with me, they always attack Gene Ross."
Macy: "We’ve been subletting from Kendra… I have receipts of money we’ve paid her. This is a screwed up situation and she’s really blown it for herself."
Shay: "I pay her $400 a month. And Macy and Michelle give her $200 a month. I have no idea of what is going on with her. It’s changed ten times today…"
Kendra’s uncle Donny works for John and he also believes that Kendra is giving John a bad shake.
Jade is a controversial young woman who’s alienated many of those she’s come into contact with in porno. I hear that she is now back with dance agent Charley Frey. She’s been phoning around the industry looking for a contract but no one has offered her one.
12/16 Update: Kendra phoned back to say that she is working things out with John Bone.
I talked to Gene Ross at 4 PM, 12/15/98.
Gene: "I’m talking with John [Bowen] today. He said, ‘isn’t it odd that anytime I get involved in a partnership that breaks up, somebody makes some godawful comments about you and that you have some interest in this company. Let’s follow the pattern.’
"I wrote an article this past summer about John’s partnership breakup with Charley Frey. Charley was not happy that I did the story. He confronted me at the VSDA show and said, ‘I thought we were friends.’ I said, ‘Charley, we are friends. I played it down the middle. You did make the quotes you said.’ Charley: ‘Yeah, but did you have to quote everything I said.’ Gene: ‘Well gee, Charley, I am a journalist.’
"Well, no sooner did all this happen than these stories about Gene Ross having a financial interest in Cream started hitting your website. So, I’m talking to John and asking him if he knew where these stories could be coming from? And he said, [Gene does a great imitation of John’s British accent] ‘Oh, it could possibly be Charley. This sounds like Charley’s work.’
"I asked him and he said, ‘oh no, Gene, it wasn’t me. I would never say anything like that.’ But he said it in a tone of voice that made me think ‘yeah, Charley, I’m sure you never did.’ Oh well, that’s water over the damn. Who gives a crap?
"Then, all of a sudden, last week, Kendra makes a complete fool of herself on the Howard Stern show. John goes berserk. They have words and one thing leads to another. Boom. That situation is over. I think John will tell you that she gave him the final excuse to let her go because he’s been talking about it with his people over there… He had said something about he was going to make a decision at the beginning of the year, take a look at where his company was going with contract girls… He was of the impression that Kendra wasn’t really moving tapes. That she had that Jerry Springer notoriety and that worked but after that, there was no magic.
"Now we find out that Kendra Jade is in Charley Frey’s camp. [Kendra’s stepmom] Kelly Jade called me last Friday. She’s trying to get a story done on Kendra. And all of a sudden, she’s telling me that I have a financial interest in Cream. It was something she heard. From who? She wouldn’t say. I said, you better be damn careful because now you’re bordering on libel.
"So the next thing I here is that Kelly and Charley Frey are in bed together on a business deal. Then you email me today that a tearful Kendra Jade told you that I’m on John’s payroll, and I’m over there every Friday afternoon picking up checks.
"You’ve got to understand Luke, that we have the secret desk here where people drop off bribes. [Sarcastic] Now why would I pick up something when I’ve made it easy for John to come here and stick the envelope in the secret desk?
"So anyway, this is absolutely nonsensical. Why is it every time that someone has a bone to pick with John Bone they say this about me? John says, ‘I don’t hide anything. I tell people I get blowjobs and whatever… So they can’t attack me. But you have the squeaky clean image so everybody tires to tarnish it.’"
[Luke: Charley Frey was not my primary source on the Gene Ross has a financial interest in John Bone story. I heard it from a couple of other porners in July, and I guess it is a story that has floated around. Charley and Jasmine have said that Bone planned to bring Gene Ross on board with Cream in the fall of 1998 and ‘f--- Paul Fishbein up the ass.’]
Luke: "Oh well. Kendra says that Jerry Springer paid $350,000 to John."
Gene: "I have no clue about that. The story I heard was that Kendra set up Jerry Springer… Kendra’s idea all along was to break Jasmine’s gangbang record… The Springer people contacted John and set up a meeting with Kendra…
"I never heard a dollar figure… I heard that a lot of people were going to get sued. Kendra wanted to be a tabloid superstar. She wanted to get on the Howard Stern show and she wanted to make a name for herself.
"Kendra sought a contract from Rob Black but he turned her down. Rob said to me [and Gene does a great imitation of how Rob speaks] ‘I couldn’t be involved doing this… Everything is cool with Jasmin. What am I going to do? Bring some whackdoodle into camp and drive Jasmin crazy… I don’t want to f--- with that.’"
Luke asks Gene to imitate Luke’s accent. Gene tries but it comes out sounding like John Bowen.
Gene: "I heard that Kendra got turned down by several other companies so she wasn’t the hot property she thought she was… Sure, she’s distraught now and lashing out. Understand, everything was in his name. That was his property. Logic dictates that if you are no longer under contract with somebody, that is no longer your property. Apparently, she wasn’t keeping her end of the bargain. She hoped to skip out on her rent."
Luke: "Why did Bill Caits leave AVN?"
Gene: "Bill is a very knowledgeable man about the industry but his reviews… We had problems time and again. He had a whole different assessment system from the AVN norm. We try to have a unified voice here. You should be able to take a video and give it to four different people and you should have no more of a differential than half a review point. One guy might see it as a 3, another as a 3.5."
Luke: "What’s the scoop with the Elegant Angel lawsuit that you guys are supposedly covering up?"
Gene: "Well, I’m in Patrick Collins’ back pocket. I go to Elegant Angel on Thursdays. I can’t make all the rounds on one day… I’m sorry I can’t give you more scandal… You keep repeating the same damn s---.
"There is so much creative energy in this business. If people used it to run their businesses and make good product rather than stabbing each other in the back and making these wild-ass accusations, we’d be better off."
www.unchain.com has a new nasty gossip column which rips into Chuck Martino. Later in the column, when it speaks about Chuck, Shay Sweet and the 12/98 AVN, it confuses Shay for ex-Sin City PR gal Lysa Stone who was misquoted by AVN's Ken Michaels.
Here's an excerpt from the latest www.unchain.com gossip; "It seems in this industry, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Every 2-year old whining "businessperson" in the adult industry doesn't like when someone says something "mean" about them. They act like f---ing babies. First it was "AVN only gave me 4.5 stars, not 5". Then it became "that mean man Luke F-rd said bad things about me". It's all a game of he said/she said. There are denials all around, some of the things said are true, some are not. Things are misquoted, things are implied. Now, it's become more fun since Luke F-rd joined the game. This guy is unbelieveable but some say a necessary evil in this business. Whatever you say, he'll print it. You can make up something totally ludicrous that is as false as the "moon is made of green cheese" and this dude will print it. Is that good, or bad? Well for free speech, it's good. For the quarrels, sqabbles and other general bulls---, it's tremendous. Let's make up some s--- about someone and put it on the net. Well we thought the rumor mill was bad before, but now it's an open f---ing forum. This AVN vs. everyone s--- is out of control.
"In defense of Luke F-rd, this guy, for all the self-admitted disdain he has for the adult industry, gets off on this. He's either a total pervert, a s--- stirrer, a sadist or he's going to f--- the entire porn industry and laugh his ass off. Either way, his constant obsession with "he said/she said" has made for some mighty interesting reading lately. It's got AVN on their toes, Rob Black sending these pussy-ass flowers, and Luke F-rd is laughing at his bringing the industry to it's knees. Whatever the outcome, people in this industry didn't trust each other before. Check out the climate now, it's a virtual battlefield. But little boys are into wargames, so this is perfect. Luke F-rd once said that the people in the porn industry are lost souls. I guess he's given them a purpose in life now."
Elegant Angel PR man David Luger writes:
* Director Patrick Collins and cameraman Michael Cates have completed production on Slutwoman (scheduled for a February release). This is star Roxanne Hall's final adult movie, as she recently announced her retirement from XXX, bringing to a close a spectacular career that has spanned four years and over 250 movies. In Slutwoman, Roxanne's featured in four of the five scenes. The premise has her playing a sex therapist who takes a "hands-on" approach when dealing with her patients.
* Patrick Collins plans to shoot more softcore scenes during '99 (Sodomania 26 and 27 each feature one softcore scene). In a December '98 article in L.A. Magazine about porn moguls, Collins said, "I think the [porn] industry is heading in a new direction, and I think people need someone to make that decision. The other studio heads can't do it - they're businessmen, they don't like porno. What I am is a pornophile. So what I'm going to do is shoot softcore, and it's going to be the most erotic sex people have ever seen. There will be orgasms, but you won't see them. Once I do softcore right, I can assure you that every other company in the Valley will try to do the same."
* Director Dale Jordan (D.J. Entertainment) is in the midst of shooting the first volume of Elegant Angel's new all-black line, Off Da' Hook (#1 is tentatively scheduled for an April release). Jordan is also shooting the Wet Spots and Bunghole Harlots lines.
* Director Dion Giarrusso (Thrillseeker Productions) is shooting two new lines: Back Door Pass (all-anal; #1 is scheduled for a February release) and Just f---ing and Sucking (#1 is tentatively scheduled for a March release). The latter will feature four blowjob scenes and four full sex scenes. Dale Jordan is co-director of the series. Also coming soon from Giarrusso is S.M.U.T. #11 (January release), shot in different hotel rooms in Atlantic City during the recent East Coast Video Convention.
* Director Craig Daze (Dazed Entertainment) is working on a new project best described as a music video intermixed with tease footage and ultra-raunchy sex action. More information to follow.
* Director Nicky Starks (Darkside Entertainment) is shooting three all-black lines: Sugarwalls, Bomb Ass Pussy, and It Don't Matter...Just Don't Bite It (blowjobs). Starks' movies emphasize fresh faces, women who are often doing sex scenes on a whim as opposed to a career decision. Starks finds a great deal of his female talent visiting strip clubs and simply meeting women in public places.
* Director David Luger's
(David Luger Productions) debut movie Rookie Cookies ranked #30 on the
December '98 AVN Top 60 Adult Bookstore Rentals & Sales Chart. At
24, Luger (whose background includes work as an adult magazine writer
and pro wrestling referee) is Elegant Angel's youngest director. The
emphasis of Rookie Cookies is new female performers in their
late teens/early '20s with natural bodies. The introduction to each
sex scene is shot in the point-of-view style, with the cameraman (Luger)
playing an active role in the action, reaching out to touch the naked
woman in front of him...and sometimes do more. Look for more volumes
of Rookie Cookies in 1999.
* Elegant Angel's new website www.elegantangel.com will debut in January. Look for an assortment of contests that bring fans inside the world of adult movies, plenty of never before seen photos from Elegant Angel movies, and behind-the-scenes stories from the sets of the latest productions.
* Elegant Angel will release Euro-Mania 1 in March. The movie was shot-on-location in Germany by a European director and features an all-European cast.
* The following stars will be signing for Elegant Angel at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: Candy Roxxx, Cheyenne Silver, Amber Michaels, Philysha Anne, Xtacee, and Sean Michaels. Visit us at booth #31854 in Sands Convention Center, Hall G.
* Elegant Angel received about 15 nominations for the 1999 AVN Awards.
Charley Frey says: "New porn starlet Kim Alexus (Phaedra Leary) has been diagnosed with HIV. She refuses to admit it... Some say she faked a DNA test. Watch out world."
Luke: All evidence I have on Kim Alexus points to the contrary.
After a ten year layoff, Jerome Tanner aka Jerry Tannenbaum, has returned to directing porn. He shot last week for Legend. He's been running a graphic arts business outside of porno.
E! Online says Traci Lords is suing Caballero for releasing her one legal US porn video - Traci, I Love You. Traci claims she had an agreement with Caballero that said they would stop marketing Traci, I Love You once she was out of the business for ten years. The ten years expired last year and Tracisays Caballero still markets that video and also in CD-Rom format.
Luke drove to the new Woodland Hills home of the mother of Metro's General Manager Greg Alves for the Michael Raven Sin City shoot Street Meat 3 Sunday.
At noon, I walk upstairs and into the day's first scene featuring J.J. Michaels and Chris Cannon taking on blonde Teri Star. Michael Raven operates the camera. Dave Stotts takes the stills. The character "Dave the Lighting Guy" in the movie Orgazmo is based on him. Trey Parker and Matt Stone followed him around on sets videotaping his every move. Keith, a regular member of Nic Cramer's crew, works as gaffer. Michael Jay serves as PA and fetches drinks.
The scene halts as Teri prepares for the anal with an enema. After fifteen minutes, shooting restarts. JJ Michaels lies on his back and Teri mounts him, gingerly sliding his curved dick into her anus. She's in the reverse cowgirl position, facing away from JJ. While bouncing on JJ's dick, she sucks off Chris.
Teri complains frequently about discomfort and repeatedly stops the scene. While she takes another potty break, JJ and Chris lie back on the bed stroking themselves. When I grab my camera for a picture, they jump apart, wanting no pictures of themselves naked if they're not pumping a girl.
JJ and Chris say they are not into "gay for pay." Gay performers get about $2000 per scene. JJ thought that was not enought to get ploughed in the ass let alone to suck a dick.
Teri complains about JJ's curved dick so she switches position and partner. On her knees on the bed, she takes Chris up her ass.
During a break, to recover his erection, Cannon eats out Teri while stroking himself. "I'm ready daddy," moans Teri. "Are you ready to f--- me?"
Raven instructs the boys to individually pump her till they're verging on orgasm, then to pop on her face. Teri asks them to not come in her eyes. They do as told.
Upon completion of the messy scene, the PA wipes the brown feces stains off the quilt.
Raven hands off the camera to portly redhead Ezra for the rest of the day.
Next scene is for Sin City's California Cocksuckers - 13-month veteran Inari Vachs blows Evan Stone and Pat "Bart" Myne. The muscular married blonde excells in high suction sloppy blow jobs. Pat and Evan enjoy themselves. After an hour, the scene wraps at two PM with a facial.
"Inari gives the best blow jobs," agree Martino and Stone. Chuck's tiny dog Pugsley follows him around all day.
Keith lights the bathroom for the (real life couple) Ian Daniels - Katie Gold anal, which wraps at 4:40 PM. The couple maneuver through tortuous positions around the bathtub.
Ian entered porn in 1991 through his girlfriend of the time Shelby Stevens, who now works as a make-up artist. They were together three years. Daniels upped his performing pace after their breakup, and now has 800 credits. He appears frequently in the 1998 MTV True Life documentary.
Katie Gold entered X in late 1996, turning in numerous lesbian scenes with her friend Shay Sweet. Katie began dating Ian in early 1997. Largely because of the HIV scare, Gold, a veteran of over 200 videos, decided to only work with Daniels and women.
At 5:30 PM, Gina Ryder moves into the bathroom, sits on the bidet and blows Chris Cannon and JJ Michaels. The day's final scene featured Marc Davis taking on Jill Kelly and Gina.
"Gina's cool," says producer Chuck Martino, "because she'll take the guy's cock out of the other girl's pussy and suck it. Gina's very cooperative.
"Yesterday we shot T.T. Boy with a new girl Samantha Wood. And Bart [Myne] took on a new girl from Georgia Delaney Daniels." Chuck says the 5'10 Delaney resembles a blond Tori Spelling. New girl Kelly O'Ryan was a no-show.
Texan rockn'roller Evan Stone has performed in porn for 18 months, appearing in 30 videos. The well-chiselled eight-year Chippendales dancer made his porn debut in a feature (Queen's Challenge) shot in Texas for Michael Raven (upon the invitation of his partner KC, who's married to Jade St. Clair). Stone did his first scene with Anna Malle and Nikki Sinn.
Stone has decided to leave his heavy metal rock band Gangbang in Dallas to live in LA now that he's working frequently in porno (six videos in last two weeks). "I brought the bass player out here. He loves California. He went home [Dallas] to sell his car and get rid of his girlfriend [before returning to LA]. And as soon as I close my recording studio [in Dallas] I'll be out here with that also. I've done sound score work for Ronnie Johnson aka Dino Ninn.
"The last three weekends, I've been working for Chippendales at Fourplay [a club?]. But we can't call it Chippendales because we dance nude."
J.B. serves as production manager. After quitting Metro six months ago, JB has worked freelance. He wants to leave porn. Last week he managed productions for Jerome Tanner and Nic Cramer (who shot two features in five days on 16mm film for Pleasure Productions, Stray Cats and Evil Eyes).
Upon not receiving the number of AVN nominations he believed his company deserved, Extreme Associates' Rob Black passed through shock, anger, depression and resignation within the span of a week.
"I am only going to play ball [with AVN] to the extent I have to," concluded Black last Wednesday. "I may advertise for the CES issue. I'm not going to be a supporter or a contributor [to AVN]. I am not going to play on the same ballpark. But that is the only trade magazine in this godforsaken business.
"I was up all night with Byron and Van... We talked until 4AM... What do you do? AVN has your balls in a bind. If you're not in there, it's as though you've vanished...
"VCA and Vivid each run about ten pages of ads an issue, at around $2000 a page. That's over half-a-million dollars a year. Extreme runs a page or two...
"Extreme will do other ways of marketing. We're hitting lots of mainstream magazines... I've got a big cable deal going down. And AVN will be phased out.
"I don't know if their awards are fixed but there are powers that be that prevent people from winning stuff. I won stuff last year because the powers that be [Hampshire, Fishbein, Hirsch] fell asleep. I was told for a fact that they weren't going to let that happen this year. Alex Sanders got the Breakthrough Award? We should've gotten that. Three guys break away and form their own company that's taking the industry by storm. Isn't that breaking through?
"Last night [Black met with Fishbein] it was like someone kicked me in the balls. The system is corrupt at the highest levels and there is nothing you can do unless you play the game. Unless you do your printing with Michael Warner and Great Western, do your duplication with Russ Hampshire and Trach Tech and your big ads every month with Paul at AVN. It's a boys club, an intricate system or cliche that controls you.
"Paul is best friends with Chris Mann at Video Team. He has dinners with Russ Hampshire and Stevie Hirsch... It's a cabal and they do not let outsiders in, unless their stuff is so overwhelmingly good, they have no choice. Like us and Evil Angel...who are bullies. They get the highest price [per tape, about $16 wholesale] for their product, and they bully people into taking a certain amount... You can't keep John Stagliano out.
"How can you be objective when you have two companies who give you over half a million dollars worth of advertising? When have you ever seen a VCA or Vivid movie get one star? When have you seen Vivid or VCA receive bad press [from AVN]? Six hundred thousand dollars a year buys a lot...
"There's nothing we can do. You have to play the game. Until another magazine comes along that has the heartbeat of our industry. But when AVN is the only thing going, you're f---ed. Bookstores really do buy after seeing ads.
"The only awards that are not corruptible are the XRCO Awards and Adam Film World Awards."
Exceptions@earthlink.net provides this synopsis of Jenna Jameson's appearance on the Howard Stern show:
(1) Jenna didn't like her existing implants (not "natural" enough), so she went for a new set. They're a bit bigger (which caused some consternation), but they seem to be okay. They're saline (uh-oh), and she got a package deal with the rest of the surgery (see below) for $10k (kinda cheap).
(2) She also got a chin implant, since she felt she "didn't have a chin."
(3) She had a little nose work done, but this was not discussed. You got the impression that it was minor, like a little bob or a thinning.
(4) She's been working out and "eating right", and is down to 103 lbs. This started after she read some comments in a magazine (or online) about her being fat. The consensus was she looked younger.
(5) She's neither dating nor banging Tommy Lee. He *has* been pursuing her, but she's been avoiding the issue. They've never done it, nor have they even kissed. She claims to have know him since she was 18, and is friends with Bobbi Brown. She considers him a friend, and a nice guy (which elicited some commentary to the effect of "Yeah, just ask Pam"). At least one report of Tommy and her being together is due to his chasing after her at an appearance in L.V.
(6) She's dating some ex-porno cameraman at the moment. No mention of wrestling guys or Brad Armstrong.
(7) She agreed to do a Dial-A-Date with guaranteed sex for the winner, only with a woman. She'll even do the girl in the studio.
(8) She's doing more movies, and the first will be an all-girl vignette thing. She will go back to b/g eventually, but she needs to get back into it slowly, or something like that.
(9) She's friendly with Nicole Bass, due to the wrestling connection.
Brad Williams adds: "I think her rumored wrestling manager career for the WWF won't happen due to pressure from USA network. "Val Venis," the wrestler whose gimmick is that he's a porn star and who Jenna was going to "manage," was on a talk-show the other night and he ripped Jenna Jameson..."
Houston occupied most of Stern's Saturday night TV show in CBS, giving the winner of Stern's dating contest a BJ.
I hear that Lenny Friedlander and his company New Beginnings essentially run the show now at CDI.
Opponents of breast jobs are glad to see that AVN has fired reviewer Randy Kaplan aka Rich C. Leather, a major supporter of augmentation who supposedly dated enhanced Randy Rage.
In the AVN 7/95, Leather wrote "the closer features the "newly fluffed" Brittany O'Connell and both her and her throw pillows are keepers". In a video review in AVN 1/96, he wrote, again about Brittany, "the now bosomy Brit is better than ever."
Deep Throat writes: "Deep Throat is a little upset with you [Luke], he is not happy that you left out three of the questions [to Paul Fishbein, overly personal ones that Luke could find no factual basis for]. He also told me that he cannot do all your leg work for you he feels you should have called Roxanne Hall to confirm or deny. You should have spoken to either Alyssa Klass or Seymour Butts and you certainly should have spoken to Jill Kelly. Clemenza is exploring the possibilty of having his own web site."
LT notes that "Jenna Jameson and Kylie Ireland won the AVN Award for "Best New Starlet" ('95 & '96) despite the fact that they both made one of their first appearances (if not first) in the same 1994 video (Randy West's Up & Cummers, I believe Vol. 10)."
Frank Towers appears on page 152 of the 1999 AVN Entertainment Guide, grabbing another man's bottom in the gay video West Hollywood Hope.
Sharon Mitchell's Adult Industry Medicine organization has lasted longer than her critics expected. One of the veteran porn star's main tasks these days is fundraising, to pay the bills for the $10,000 a month operation.