The Seattle Weekly profiles IEG owner Seth Warshavsky: "Last fall, a year after they began dating, she obtained a one-year restraining order against Warshavsky. Sunawin Andrews, 25, an attractive, shapely, auburn-haired woman known by the name Leasi and employed by Warshavsky, claims he choked her during a limousine ride in Las Vegas last fall and has physically attacked her in front of her 6-year-old child. In court papers, Andrews claims Warshavsky has been "stalking her home"--an apartment on First Avenue--has threatened to kill himself, and "to have my baby's father killed." (A male friend of Andrews, Patrick McKenna, says he has repeatedly been threatened by Warshavsky and has moved to another residence "because I have a real fear of what Mr. Warshavsky or his agents might do.")"
After pressure from this site, John Bowen took an HIV test Wednesday at noon at the North Hollywood clinic. Luke's sweetie and co-star Kendra Jade (Too Hot For Porno 2) spoke Thursday about the John Bowen Controversy: "Kristen [former Cream contract girl and director of Kandid Kristen] is absolutely correct that if John had HIV, we would know it, because I would have it. John does not need to f--- her as long as he has me. I'm the best f--- he's ever had. She better watch her ass when she brings me into it because I will see her out at the clubs. I am so tired of her running her mouth. She's like another Jasmin, the bitch from hell. The reason we didn't get along is that Kristen thinks she is the top number one girl. But Zoe and I are the top girls.
"As far as John trying to rape them, that's ridiculous."
Luke: "Have you ever seen John Bowen try to rape anyone?"
Kendra: "No. I'm at the office all the time. That's ridiculous. He doesn't need to rape anybody. He has plenty of girls who will f--- him because they want to. If he was going to rape somebody, it wouldn't be some skanky bitch like Raven McCall or Kristen."
Cream Entertainment's Mike Barbella writes on the John Bowen Controversy: "there seems to be a whole lot of missinformation that is getting to you [Luke] via a dumb young cunt named kristen i would like to clarrify any rediculios information you might have heard concerning me rapping some siad porn star mallina i have never f---ed her nor have i ever raped her however i did kick her out of a party we were having due to the fact that she would not f--- any one so quite the contrarry she did not f--- any one there for she was asked to leave this story may have been told to you by dammian michaels howwever he was not thare and that dumb young imiture cunt kristen was so that is the base of this recockulios rummer she seems to be on a role with rape this week maybee she has had some problems latly but she realy needs to grow up and maybee realize she is to imiture for porno ....thanx mike barbella cream ent."
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office (Deputy DA Yokelson) and the Van Nuys Police Department (Detective Escoto) are investigating charges that Marc Wallice performed sex while knowing he was HIV positive. And Brooke Ashley's lawsuit is likely to expand its targets to include Wallice's agent Jim South, as well as the Free Speech Coalition and its sub group Protecting Adult Welfare which took charge of the industry's AIDS policy last Spring.
The X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) Awards are tonight in Century City.
www.talkingblue.com has updated its site and contains a good article on the Houston gangbang by John Douglas. Luke initially dismissed the site as a shallow shill for the industry but over the past months he's been impressed by its increasingly hard-hitting approach, honesty, genuine scoops and sharp humor.
John Douglas writes to Luke: "You make it awfully hard for a guy to truly dislike you when you offer up such compliments (assuming of course that it wasn't sarcasm) and are so on top of things that you are probably the first person to ever recognize when we update our site.
"As much as it pains me, I have to admit that I have fallen in line and, of recent, become one of those thousands of web-surfers who stop by l-keford.com on a daily basis. My parents would be ashamed if they knew.
"Thank you for the many hours of entertainment and anguish that you and your site provide.
"Shamefully, John Douglas of www.talkingblue.com "
Jean Marc Roc writes:
"Ed Powers has tried to screw up my humble efforts at documenting REAL
Asian sexuality. There is a somewhat hastly done summery on my homemade
web site http://www.asiaerotica.com/edsanass.html or if you can take
going in
from the beginning ..., http://www.asiaerotica.com . Because of his
machinations during his tenure at Sin City, a lot of people were denied
the
fruit of my labours."
A new site named after the Editorial VP of Adult Video News and administered by AVN is full of porn gossip: www.geneross.com. All but one of the pages is essentially empty, including www.geneross.com/editor.html which reads: "Your editors Message here, maybe bio etc. Here is text lots of text fill it in with text lots and lots of text Come up with some better text than Luke's."
At the top of Gene's news page is the heading "Nothing is off the record," perhaps reflecting one of Luke's dubious contributions to porn journalism.
A whois search (www.internic.net) reveals that the servers for www.geneross.com are NS1.VCAPIX.COM, meaning they are part of porn's second biggest production company, Russ Hampshire's VCA (which owns and houses large sections of www.babenet.com run by Jack Gallagher).
Director James DiGiorgio: "I took a look at Ross's site and, admittedly, bookmarked it. I was amused to see that, not only is Gene blatantly attempting to steal your thunder, but he's also emulating your practice of eliciting comments from only one side of a story.
"An example: Gene prints that Martino spoke with legal counsel about suing me for comments made on your site. Apparently, Gene contacted Martino and obtained a quote from him. In true-to-Luke fashion, Gene neglected to call me. Another example: Gene reported the "summit" meeting between Rob Spallone and Jim South. Gene then quotes South, but no words from Rob are indicated..
"I'm thinking that maybe someone could start a porn-biz expose web site by simply printing all the stories you and gene run, and then contacting the OTHER parties, and publish what they have to say. In that way, all those interested in reading about the shenanigans of the jiz-biz would have to hit on all three sites to have their appetite for porn gossip satisfied."
A source: "Don't worry about Gene Ross...especially if you talk about the real negatives in porn, because I can guarantee Ross' will be pro-industry and wrestling BS. Just keep pursuing the angles that he won't touch (like breast implants) and you'll do fine. And if you can't find folks willing to point out some bad stuff about Jim South, you really aren't looking very hard! :-)
"Which, BTW, Luke...try
to keep out of the wrestling stuff, it brings the credibility of your
site down :-) It's one thing to post both sides of a disagreement, it's
another to post both sides of a "fake"
disagreement.
"I DARE Gene "Nature Boy" Ross to post on his site about boob jobs, especially BEFORE they happen...I guarantee he'll wimp out on that. That info he keeps in his locked drawer (next to his booze) and sits on it until afterwards. Ain't gonna happen, you ain't gonna see him put anything like that on his site. He won't have the balls to name surgeons or any of the behind the scenes deals that lead to a particular starlet getting a "tit job". And he definitely ain't gonna mention anything negative in any area, particular the plastic surgery. Well, he will, but only of his "enemies", he'll cover the asses of those doing the real wrongs. It should be Gene "The Asshole Shield" Ross.
"His site will be to push BS and John Bone...excuse me, same thing. Same kind of fluff that you can find dozens of places. Hey Paul, if you want AVN to have any credibility, can his ass!"
Gene Ross responds that virtually all of the writers of AVN prefer natural breasts. He thinks many boob jobs are repulsive and Gene believes that it is deplorable to coerce girls into getting breast jobs. "What's great about porno of the '70s and '80s is the great variety of body shapes and breasts. Variety is what it is all about."
This new site (www.geneross.com) will come near the top of my agenda Thursday morning when I meet with my therapist, an Orthodox Jew, who like many, perhaps most of my friends, wants me to get out of writing on porn. What need will there be for my site when there are an increasing number of other sites covering the porn industry?
I believe that God gave me talents and that, in the final analysis, I must use them for God. Though troubled by my own choice of subject matter over the past few years, I think that by holding a mirror up to a facet of life that has not been deeply covered, I've made a contribution to something beyond my own pockets and need for recognition.
That I cover porn does not in my mind legitimate porn, though many keen observers do believe that I am legitimating porn. I'm troubled that many porners believe that because porn is legal it is legitimate. Legality must never be confused with morality, though it inevitably will be in the consciences of the masses who want to do little more than get through life satisfying their own desires.
It was legal in Nazi Germany to slaughter Jews, but that did not make it right. It is legal to gossip about your friend, but that does not make it right. It is legal to commit adultery but that does not make it right.
But precisely because so many people have such a low ethical bar as to consider all that is legal moral, I am not a libertarian. Society must encourage those forces that uplift (such as religion, heterosexual marriage) and discourage those that degrade (rock music, porn, drugs, promiscuity). I oppose the legalization of drugs and I am ambivalent about the legalization of pornography and prostitution. I do support decriminalizing both activities but I do not want to make them legitimate. I do not regard porn as just another form of entertainment; it is considerably different and more dangerous.
Many of my friends, at times, express interest in getting into porn (usually as producers). I refuse to assist them. I don't want the people I love getting into this dirty business.
These lines stung from my latest profile (Village Voice): "He's an archetypal Net creation— a bottom feeder who has inserted himself into the higher ends of the food chain." It stings when I hear myself referred to as a gossip columnist, as the guy who dishes the dirt on the porn industry. These references hurt because I recognize in them truth.
Gossip (dishing needless and destructive personal details) is wrong. Giving personal information about others that may act to warn the unwary is fine. I do both but aim for the latter.
For the immediate future, I see my site as more hard-hitting than www.geneross.com. I see myself as the most skeptical and hard-hitting of anyone writing fulltime on porn. I would not be able to sleep at night if I thought that the primary focus of my work was to promote or legitimate smut. I think most people would be better off reading Shakespeare than any writing about the world of X, but if folks want to read about porn, then I invite them here.
The Village Voice asked me: "What is to be learned from all this porn?"
Luke: "I read my introduction
to my book now and I shudder. . . . I wrote it with the belief that
this [book] will give us insight into the dark niches of human sexuality
and that there is plenty for people who aren't interested in porn. I
now retract that. . . . I've come to the sobering conclusion that what
most people think about the porn industry is basically correct and they
don't need to learn any more. It's a slimy, sleazy industry of people
being manipulated by frequently nasty people. . . . It's something you
would want to keep your daughter or your sister or anyone you cared
about far away
from."
I went to the movie Hilary and Jackie Wednesday afternoon and it left me in tears. Hilary's losing struggle with MS reminded me of my own years in the wilderness of CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). I regard classical music as a sublime art, leagues above pop music and oceans beyond pornography. One of these days I hope that I too can write something that will have anything close to the lasting power of any of the classical pieces performed in Hilary and Jackie.
And I hope that you, dear reader, will nourish your soul more frequently with material that uplifts and deepens (such as Mozart, Shakespeare, marriage, religion) rather than that which degrades (pornography, most of Hollywood, pop culture, tattoos, strip clubs, drugs). Choose life.
"I set before you this day a choice between life and death. Choose life." (Torah)
Ted S. writes: "My wife
and I enjoy pornography. Nearly every weekend we will watch something
directed by Paul Thomas, Brad Armstrong, Candida Royalle (her favorite),
Veronica Hart, Marc Doucel, or any other film that contains a semblance
of production value or plot. It's taken some
time to work that into our relationship, (been together 9 years/ married
5) but it is wonderful now.
"This is not too say
that there is not anything wrong with the porn industry. On the contrary,
it seems to be a very destructive "work environment" indeed. This is
why I write you... If getting out is
right for you, then you must... But, if by chance you are not convinced,
then I say, please stay!
"You are evidentially not a hormone-overloaded pervert obsessed with porn stars. Your website is not a tool of titillation. Your material is informative; bringing the people in the industry to light for the public to see. HIV status and mis-treatment of women is extremely important! Continuing in your endeavors may only strengthen the moral barometer that you may represent to them. Really, what the hell am I talking about? I wouldn't know. I have seen plenty of porn, and am intimately familiar with the business of producing a film (a "regular" film) and I read the village voice profile yesterday, and I have kept up with your site prior....but...
"I could be wrong...
But, it seems to me, referring to GeneRoss.com, and "what's the point
continuing when others..." His site seems to imitate your style, but
it's simply not as good. I'm nearly convinced that it could never be
as good. Why? Does he feel the same way as you? Is he
grappling with the morality of his position in the industry? I wouldn't
assume so. That is why you are the perfect man to do what you do! It
seems so ridiculously perfect that you be the person to deliver the
goods. Especially, exposing the wrong doings, I can't emphasize this
point enough. (For if the industry were ever to crumble... If freedom
of speech was challenged.... If porn were to go "underground" -- which
recognize is unlikely... The men out there reliant on this outlet would
most likely seek it elsewhere, most likely to the detriment of women.
The world needs adult films. And I believe adult films benefit from
your reporting.)"
FSC (the industry trade group, the Free Speech Coalition) President Gloria Leonard writes: "Luke, stinging testimony or not, the Village Voice is right - you are providing a forum for nothing but gossip since journalism requires research, vetting and thoughtfulness. You sound as though you are having a major attack of regret and recrimination, all quite justifiable in my book. Do you believe you have helped more than you have hurt? While there is an occasional ray of wit and intelligence, for the most part, your site is dedicated to stirring s--- and perhaps, some of it has splashed onto your smug, sanctimonious, holier-than-thou bearing. While there are certainly elements of "slimy, sleazy people" in this business, I assure you there are an equal number (if not more) in the so-called mainstream Hollywood arenas of movies, recording, TV, etc.
"And who died and made
you the Morality Monitor? It is up to every
individual to decide for themselves what path to choose in life and
not for
you to judge us. I consider my life's choices just as valid as the next
guy's, providing that I am willing to take responsibility for my actions.
Perhaps you need an atheist or Buddhist for a shrink and not someone
from
the ranks of organized religion, who's principal message is usually
rife
with repentance and punishment. Amen!"
Videographer Quasarman writes:
My dearest Luke, what on earth has happened to you? You sound like a man with a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other desperately trying to decide which to follow. I must admit it that it is more than just a little hypocritical to decry the evils of porn when you yourself recieved oral favors documented on video. You yourself once tried your hand at being a smut producer and from what I've witnessed, you yourself don't seem terribly unhappy when you are present on someone's set watching the shenanigans unfold. In spite of all that, you seem like a nice guy.
Certainly one must make a distinction between what is legal and what is moral but equating the production of videotaped sex acts with the Holocaust is a bit extreme Luke and serves to trivialize the suffering of millions of people. Jews didn't choose to march into the death camps, they were forced against their will and I don't see any SS guards escorting prospective new starletts into Jim South's office with bayonettes in their backs. The day I see women and men forced onto sets and forced to perform is the day I will agree with your argument. Morality should be a personal issue Luke and therefore it is what is legal that is of true importance. Mass morality is dangerous and destructive. It is on moral grounds that certain people want to take away a woman's right to choose. It is on moral grounds that certain people want homosexuals to disasppear by any means necessary and it is on moral grounds that certain people want to take away just about every inaliable right that we hold so dear in this country.
You mention that you are not a Libertarian and as you know, I am and so I'll leave with a statement that you might want to ponder "We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose". What could be more moral than that?