AVN's Gene Ross Resorts to Blackmail?
Gene Ross, of www.geneross.com, in response to this site's airing of charges against him, has apparently tracked down a police report and extensive background check on Luke, revealing his secret and deceitful double life as Leonarto August. And unless Luke eases up on his investigation of him, Ross threatens to unmask Luke for the no-goodnik he really is.
Who is Leonarto August? That's the American name of my Israeli roommate between March 1995 and May 1996.
At 5:30 PM, Thursday, Gene sent this email to Luke: "Leonarto, I didn't realize I've touched such a nerve. Methinks you are trying to create diversionary tactics to hide something. What's that S Beverly Drive address all about? How can somebody use your SS# number without you knowing anything about it? You know that's illegal. Why did you make so many moves over a three year period? What were you doing in Orlando for the brief period of time in 1994? Why does you driver's license list you as a blond? You're not a blond. Isn't that similar to the Marc Wallice thing about being 49 and female? I could go on..."
At 1:07 AM, Wednesday morning, Luke received this email:
Subject:
I think you might...
Date:
Wed, 7 Apr 1999 01:09:12 EDT
From:
DGPinc@aol.com
To:
luke@lukeisback.com
...be f---ing with the wrong crew.
Dossier Search
Reference: LUKE CAREY FORD
Report Compiled on April 6, 1999 at 10:32PM
LUKE CAREY FORD
DOB: 5/28/1966
SS#:xxx Was issued in xxx in xxx
Other Records/Names linked by social security number
AUGUST, LEONARTO SS#: xxx
Addresses Linked to
Subject...
FLORIDA DRIVER'S LICENSExxx
Driver License : xxx
Class : E - REGULAR OPERATOR LICENSE
Social Security : xxx
Restrictions : NO RESTRICTIONS
Ratings : No Additional Ratings
DOB : 5/28/1966 First Issue : xxx
Expires On : xxx
Height : 6'01" Race : White
Hair: Blond Eyes: Hazel Sex : MALE
Addresses Reported:xxxx
Convictions:xxx [Two traffic tickets, one for running a red light and one for speeding. Luke has never spent time in jail.]
Relatives (* - denotes address match with Subject)
Report then lists several names, addresses, Social Security numbers and phone numbers of Luke's relatives.
From www.geneross.com Thursday evening: "Perhaps feeling the extreme pressure of geneross.com, Luke F-rd is grasping at one last straw with a so-called "expose" of Ross in which Kendra Jade is supposed to say that she saw Ross taking bribes from John T. Bone every Friday. Ford's also going to run with a story claiming that Paul Thomas of Vivid said the best way to get a good rating from Ross was to supply him with hookers. Thomas was still in Budapest when Ross called him Thursday to verify if he talked to either Ford or Buck Adams who's supposed to be the source of the quote. According to Ford, Adams is saying he supplied Ross with sexual favors. Ross e-mailed Ford Thursday and said he was quite capable of getting his own hookers and sexual favors, thank you.
"Attempts were made to reach Jade Thursday afternoon. Jade was sick in bed but did say she hadn't talked to Ford since last December when she made those allegations in an attempt to get back at John T. Bone. Jade has since publically stated that she made the whole story up. Ford never ran a retraction.
"I don't think she's responsible in any way shape or form for what Ford's now saying," said Bone. "Luke F-rd is an unmitigated liar."
Luke: Even if Kendra Jade retracts her statements to me in early December, 1998, that she saw first hand John Bone of Cream Entertainment pay Gene Ross cash every Friday, Luke does not back off pursuing these allegations. Kendra eventually settled her problems with John Bone, and it would be in her interest to retract the allegations. Luke has heard similar ones from several sources, none of whom, however, want to go on the record. Luke does not know if the allegations are true and Luke has no proof that they are. Luke believes them worthy of investigation.
That Gene would attempt to blackmail me through background checks and threatening to reveal personal information makes Luke suspect that many of the charges Luke's outlined against Ross have significant validity.
Luke's heard about a pattern of corrupt behavior on the part of his competitor Gene Ross, such as receiving sexual favors from porn stars and hookers in exchange for positive reviews and press from AVN. Luke's heard that Cream contract girl Cassidy has been coerced into giving Gene sexual favors. Luke does not know if these charges are true. Luke has no proof for them. Porners generally fear talking about Ross on the record because of his power at AVN.
On Friday afternoon, 10/30/98, after 4PM, Luke sat around at Star World Modeling with Rob Spallone, Buck Adams and some other porners.... Buck Adams and Rob were talking about AVN's VP of Editorial Operations Gene Ross whom Rob had slammed that week on my site.
As the sun set, moving time into the sacred Sabbath, Luke could no longer tape record or work. He sat around and listened to Rob and Buck talk about Ross. Buck Adams said that he'd been long frustrated with his AVN reviews. Then one day, Vivid's Paul Thomas told him that if he wanted good reviews, he needed "to shoot Gene a hooker" once in a while.
I think Buck then either said he'd procured a sexual favor for Gene with a woman, or heard from a woman who'd done Gene a sexual favor (sent by a porn video company to raise its AVN reviews). Buck relayed a graphic and detailed story that the woman had told him about her meeting Gene in his hotel room.
Is there truth beneath these charges? Luke finds them credible because most everything else Buck said that afternoon that I heard has checked out, and that Buck relayed this in front of about half a dozen people. His manner was one of forthright honesty.
Rob Spallone phoned up Thursday afternoon screaming, "I'm going to drive you to the desert and put you in a f---ing hole. How dare you mention my name about stuff that has nothing to do with nothing anymore!"
Gene Ross responds Thursday morning: "Every one of my 710 conquests was generated on my own. Now, do you want me to call Buck Adams and Paul Thomas and get them to say that these are more fabrications. I'm working on the Rob Black story right now, thank you."
Luke's heard that Gene Ross wrote the script for Cream Entertainment's Too Hot For Porno 2. Gene denies this. He writes: "No... I was on the set hanging around...Bowen promised me shrimp fried rice...can't pass that up."
Luke does not know if Too Hot even had a script.
Luke does know that Ross (as of late 1998) does not review videos from either Cream or Extreme Associates because of Ross's friendship with John Bone and Rob Black. This move by AVN came partly in response to my airing charges that Gene Ross had a "financial interest" in John's company Cream. AVN publisher Paul Fishbein denounced the charges as reckless, and said that if they were true, he'd fire Gene. Gene and John dismiss the charges as nonsense.
Since Bryn Pryor aka Mark Logan has taken over as AVN's managing editor, and particularly since Gene shifted his concentration to his website www.geneross.com, Ross has had little influence over AVN reviews.
Obviously Luke is a competitor with www.geneross.com and to some extent with AVN. At times Luke has aired charges that were neither unfounded nor reckless.
If Luke F-rd or Gene Ross took bribes from porn companies, would it matter? Would it matter equally? If Luke or Gene had sex with porn girls, would it matter? What if porn companies procured sexual favors for us? What if we wrote scripts for porn companies? Give Luke the Scoop!
JD replies: "Considering how much you've [Luke] complained lately about not getting laid, probably. But given how contrary you are, you'd probably just come down all the harder on whoever it was you had sex with. As for Ross -- Does he even enjoy sex? You wouldn't know it from his writing."
Luke thinks that it would matter more if Gene committed such deeds because he represents the industry's trade magazine Adult Video News while Luke only represents himself.
Luke's relationships with some of his sources (such as Rob Spallone, James DiGiorgio, Mike Ross) compromise his reporting on them (Luke does not rate them on his Ethics Rankings). Do Gene's friendships with such folks as John Bone and Rob Black compromise his reporting on them? Luke believes so. It's no accident that they consistently get friendly coverage from their buddy Gene. Just as it is no accident that the industry generally gets more friendly coverage from Adult Video News than from consumer magazines like Screw or Hustler Erotic Video Guide, let alone disinterested outsiders like the Los Angeles Times.
Even if these charges (either against Luke or Gene) were true, would they matter? Luke has had some sort of sexual relations with several porn girls, all of whom he's written about on this site. Luke constantly exchanges favors with porners, burying one story to get a better one. Luke has received hundreds of dollars in gifts from Rob Spallone, and such gifts from VCA's Russ Hampshire as a prime ticket to the 1999 AVN Awards as well as a pass to CES. Luke's received several hundred dollars worth of AVN back issues as a gift from AVN publisher Paul Fishbein though Luke and Paul, contrary to rumors, have never had sex.
Gene Shills, Shelle Sucks
From www.geneross.com: "Shelle Pearson has been named sales manager for the Cream Entertainment Group. According to John T. Bone, "Shelle had a really good morning. Between what she's doing in sales and what's coming in over the FAX in repeats, she said it was a really good day to be on commission. It's nice to have good news in view of what's been going on this week. She's getting incredible reaction from the customers. They seem to like the idea of a girl doing the selling. We're getting somewhere between a 5 and a 10% increase in numbers. People who were ordering 80 are ordering 90. That's what I'm noticing.""
Gene forgets to mention one integral part of Pearson's job description - sex with John Bone.
From www.geneross.com:
Luke F-rd Runs to Mommy; Has Rodger Jacobs Do His Dirty Work For Him
In a desperate attempt to elicit either sympathy or evade certain potentially incriminating issues, Luke F-rd is crying on his site that Gene Ross is resorting to "blackmail." Consequently, Ford took it upon himself to reveal certain background information about himself that has been made available to Ross via the "Ford Dossier." Ford did this, presumably, as a preemptive strike, thinking that he may have taken wind out of Ross' sails, with the belief that Ross was going to release the information and wage some major offensive.
Ross was not. April Fool, sucker.
However, what Ford's sudden attack of petulant conscience has done, is raise serious credibility issues about his own character.
Ford, the man, who takes rapier glee in revealing aliases of the porn stars, stands to have some vital personal information about his own background opened like a gaping sore. Could it be potentially damaging? Who knows? Ford's quick reactions indicate that might have something to hide behind that Australian accent.
Ford writes on his site: "That Gene would attempt to blackmail me through background checks...makes Luke suspect that many of the charges Luke outlines have certain validity." "Validity" is an amusing word to be occupying space anywhere on Ford's website, no doubt.
Ford, at the moment, is attempting to conduct a vain, cut-and-paste sex/bribery scandal against Ross, claiming that industry women have been "coerced" into having sex with Ross, a stone cold love machine, for whatever apparent motives, presumably better ratings. And that directors like Bucks Adams and Paul Thomas have supplied women to that end. [Isn't this considered libel?]
Adams merely supplies helicopters and machine guns; and Thomas supplies profound anecdotes about himself.
Ford ran parts of exactly the same libelous story last year when Ross began attacking him in editorials. What Ford's doing is dusting off old urban legends and trying to put new, libelous, spins on them by now saying that Ross is on the take from Extreme Associates, simply because Ross attempted to give a balanced view of the bizarre distortions about the company that have been plaguing Ford's site all this week.
Ford, by the way, has slipped, erringly along the way, and revealed Mike South as one of his Extreme sources. What South knows about Extreme could be put on the head of a pin prick, and, Ford, usually in one way or another, gives up his sources, making him an increasingly prohibitive news risk. This may have South seriously considering future scoops to the Fordster. South has been contacted for comment.
At the end of the day, none of these things amount to a hill of beans. The question is why is Ford engaging in e-mail wrestling? Several reasons are apparent.
1. Ford is totally threatened by the Gene Ross site. If you examine Ford's site, it has become a gallery of musings by others, none of whom are players or pundits in the industry, nor have anything to do with the day-to-day operations of the industry. Smart industry people do not talk to Ford. The negative equation, subsequently, leaves Ford with all conjecture, rumor, no substance or value to carry on to his site. Whatever Ford's been running of value of late, he blatantly steals off the Gene Ross site, as his boldfaced lifting of the entire Rob Black interviews run this week on the Ross site. If there really were enforcement of such a thing as Internet copyright infringement laws, Ford would be left with a blank.
2. Ford, sensing that Ross received the Ford Dossier, and, feeling extremely threatened by what it might ultimately reveal, began to wage war as a smoke screen.
3. Luke F-rd knows that Ross reads Tarot cards which gives him an incredible edge over Ford. Ford's birth sign reveals that he's particularly vulnerable to psychic attack, and he's running scared. [By the way, Luke, a crystal reading reveals that you're covering up a dark secret for a family member.]
Let's make one thing very clear. Gene Ross did NOT initiate a background check on Luke. It was handed to him on a silver platter.
Someone out there hates Ford's guts, evidenced by the note to Ross accompanying the dossier: "Gene - PLEASE post this on your site! Trust me. He'll be gone from the web in a few days." Why would this person go to the trouble of submitting such a dossier with the promise of dire consequences for Ford? Ford has certainly reacted vigorously to it, even getting his James Carvillesque buddy, Rodger Jacobs, aka Martin Brimmer, to deflect bullets on his behalf:
Dear Gene,
You know, several years ago a former roommate of mine used my SSN to obtain credit with Pacific Bell. I didn't learn about it until recently, similar to Luke's situation with his former roommate Leonarto August, who fraudulently appropriated Mr. Ford's SSN. You questioned how Luke could have been ignorant of the fact that this had happened, implying something ominous. SSN's are stolen every day. Luke is neither Leonarto August nor a criminal for being ignorant of the fact that this so called friend betrayed his trust. The e-mail that you sent to Luke, which he posted on his website this evening smacks of breathless desperation to me. If you wish to imply that Luke F-rd is pretending to be someone other than who he is that is one thing and I anxiously await future reports, however to suggest that Luke, and whatever phantom story you are chasing here, is analogous to the Marc Wallice situation is outrageous, and dare I suggest, a step down into Luke's own gutter.
Luke may not be the credible journalist that either you or I purport to be but it seems to me that he must have struck a nerve in one way, shape or form for you to resort to such childish and unprofessional behavior. What the hell is the deal with this "dossier" about Luke? You know and I know that Luke's true name is Luke Carey Ford and he was born in Curri Curri, New South Wales on 5/28/66. If you have any information to disprove this fact or to otherwise insinuate that your brother in trade journalism is anyone other than who he claims to be then lay your cards on the table or back away from the game. As for Kendra Jade's assertions to Luke that she witnessed you accepting monetary favors from John T. Bone, allegations that she later retracted, it is not Luke's responsibility to publish a retraction if Kendra or any other source for that matter was admittedly using Luke as an instrument of revenge.
With my sincerest respect, Rodger Jacobs
Both Jacobs and Ford have missed the boat completely. For one thing, Ford is not my "brother" in trade journalism. He's a pretender to the throne of journalism. It's positively alright for Ford to attack the industry, but, now, the shoe seems to be on the other foot. Ford can live by the sword, he can now die by the sword. It was Ford who instigated the assault. Ford posted his story yesterday afternoon BEFORE Ross e-mailed him. And Ford had called AVN publisher Paul Fishbein warning him that an expose on Gene Ross was coming. Under the circumstances, Ross has every right to defend himself against lies which Ford admits on his site he can't prove.
My e-mail to Ford was also meant to serve as an object lesson to Ford. His driver's license states that he has blond hair. Ford's hair is dark. A driver's license is considered a legal document. This legal document, obviously, contains erroneous information. Marc Wallice's HIV test also posted wrong information. Is it just possible that a clerical mistake was made, thereby, pointing an accusing finger at Wallice? Neither Ford, Wallice's executioner, nor Jacobs, Ford's apologist, got the point. Jacobs calls it "outrageous" that I would make such a connection, Wallice and Ford. And supporting the man who vilifies the industry, isn't, Rodg?
Jacob's defensive gestures also beg the question about Leonarto August. Who is Leonarto August? Ford claims August is an Israeli. Really? With that name? Ford, who is such an expert on ethnicity, should be able to explain that one with a straight face.
And Ford, who cries poverty, seems to be able to maintain another address - in Beverly Hills - besides the one he declares on La Cienega Boulevard. Doesn't this raise some questions, Rodg? On the subject of libel, for Jacobs to say that Luke's "not responsible," for printing retractions to libelous accusations placed on his site is irresponsible, spawned from, either total f---ing stupidity, or blind allegiance to a friend who's leading him down the garden path just as Ford is doing with Kendra Jade - cultivating her friendship in exchange for whatever shards of information he can suck out of her brain to get back at John T. Bone.
Those attacked on Ford's site in the past have refrained, so far, from trying to sue him thinking that Ford doesn't have a pot to piss in. Au contraire. Ford's on the verge of developing what's being touted as a "mega-website," and has been discussing the matter with investors over the past few months. Except, Ford's got a big mouth, and the information is leaking like pus. Ford, a trust fund baby, will be ripe for the pickings very shortly. I just hope that his financial backers can withstand the jolt of litigations that are sure to come.
Gloria Leonard writes: "I think it's time to investigate whether or not Luke F-rd is a bona fide American citizen or is he here on some transient Australian visa, which of course, could mean booting his skinny ass back to the outback. I think it's sort of sad that both your sites are succumbing to a form of "website wrestling." Normally, I would say, "May the best man win," but this one's a no-brainer, Gene, for if nothing else, you are in fact, a real MAN, while Little Luke is nothing more than a pathetic little peon, a poseur, and a porno-parasite. His contribution to this industry, if you want to call it that, is rife with a mean-spiritedness not seen since Linda Lovelace accused everyone else for her own behavior, which included having sex with a German shepherd - it makes sense that both of them appeared on the same TV show recently, which more appropriately should have been titled "Dog Files."
Quasarman writes: " Hi Gene: This is Mike a.k.a , Quasarman, writing to you today because according to Luke F-rd's sight, a positive video review can be acquired simply by providing you with sexual favors. I just wanted to let you know that though I do have 6 porcelain veneers in my mouth and a few fillings, I can still perform top notch fellatio. If you would please see to it that my latest video being released by Metro entitled "Stop, My Ass is on Fire" receives at least a four "A " review in next month's AVN, I promise to drive to your house at any hour of the day or night and service you orally until you ask me to leave.
Sincerely, Quasarman. [Just in case it isn't painfully obvious I am being sarcastic. Feel free to post to your site however if you feel it will help illustrate the absurdity currently taking place on Luke's site.]
Gene Ross writes: "Sorry, Quasarman, can't use your services, I'm hetero. But Luke F-rd, who openly entertains sexual fantasies about attorney Jeffrey Douglas, might. By the way, didn't Ford fraudulently introduce you last year as a "source" of bribery accusations against me? Bite hard with those porcelain veneers, my friend.
Hustler's grand vizier, Mike Albo, has this to say: "Marc Medoff does some freelance work for me, but in his capacity over at Arrow, he had some issues with Luke's appearance on the Fox Files. So he called him up and Medoff mentions that thing about the pitchers & catchers on Ford's site. Medoff, baiting Luke, asked him if Mike Albo was really gay? Luke says, 'Everything I write about him is true.'
"First of all, I'm not pretty enough to be gay. Second of all, I swear to God, if I run into this guy, I'm going to end up going to f---ing jail."
Scotty Schwartz writes: "Gene, Upon reading Luke F-rd's site on Tues, April 6th I have this to say. First of all, I have never gone to his site, I was given a copy of the gossip by my good friends at VCA. I, to be honest with you think his site for the most part is not what's happening in the biz, it's a negative slant on the industry as a hole and there's more imaginary quotes in there than you can pull out of a presidential "I didn't do it" speech.
Here's the meat of my response. When I responded about Regan Senter discussing World Modeling, I was in no way bad rapping Mr. South or his business. I believe that everyone is responsible for their own actions. Mr. Austin and Mr. Gunches were responsible not Mr. South. Mr. South to my knowledge did not know that any wrong doings were going on. I have a firm belief in Mr. South, and World Modeling as I know they do things the right way, and that Mr. Senter does not. Those former employee's were let go, I believe because Mr. South found out what they were doing and they were immediately dismissed. Ford now says that I fear for my life??? This puzzles me.. Exactly who have I said that to? No one is the answer. Mr. Ford has the imagination of Willy Wonka and since I was refered to as "a little midget." [I guess that would make me an umpa lumpa.]
As for responding to someone only known as "one porner" who said ".....that I was going to be feeling this one" exactly who would that be? I didn't speak about anyone except Mr. Austin and Mr. Gunches, neither of whom I'd be afraid of in any way, shape or form. Mr. Ross, I have had good relations with Mr. South and World Modeling for the past 12 years and plan to continue to do so. My comments were not meant in anyway to harm World Modeling, I was just setting the record straight, and responding to Mr. Senter's comments concerning myself and World Modeling. World Modeling is truly the only real, honest and upstanding agency that the industry has!!!
Thank you, Scott Schwartz
ps. I am sure Mr. Ford
will reprint this for his site, I just hope that he doesn't take me
out of context as I have saved this letter for my files. If he wishes
to get any other info from me, please tell him to contact my PR department,
which would be www.geneross.com.
