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April 25, 1999

Another Kendra Jade - John Bowen Scam

Most observers regard Kendra Jade's appearance on Howard Stern Tuesday as a publicity stunt for www.duro2000.com. Stinkfist writes on RAME: "I think this was an act to advertise those damn pills, they're not lovers, and Kendra is one of the plainest, skankiest, white trash looking
actresses I've ever seen. Speaking of Stern, she actually f---ed that
nerd Gangie who's on his show, what a bimbo."

Kendra, who recently got online, replies: "You do not even know me. Who are you to judge me? Regardless of what you think of me or of what I do, I think your comments are totally inappropriate and uncalled for. Why do you feel the need to attack me personally? You sound like a very angry person. I can take constructive criticism but the name calling is just plain childish." (RAME)

Stinkfist: "If you were more ladylike and didn't dress trashy and didn't use too much makeup, and didn't lie to people, and didn't set up people in hotel rooms [Jerry Springer], I would have fonder feelings for you." (RAME)

Sally Layd Update

Ex-porn star Sally Layd writes to me:

I recently had the unpleasant experience of stumbling across your website. I have been retired from the adult industry for one year now, my stage name is Sally Layd. I don't appreciate the comments regarding Dallas and her credit cards, the evening this incident took place Ms. D'Amour was on not one but three types of narcotics and was contemplating suicide over being dumped by her former plastic surgeon, "Dr. Jeffrey Isenberg". When I left her apt I only did so because she had retained another babysitter whom she said was her massage therapist. I was only at her apt. in the first place because of her condition. All other details that you describe in your report are false other than the fact that I did have a biker boyfriend at the time whom I was having problems with, but none of which concerned Dallas.

Secondly the report regarding the leather goods is quite true but with an explanation. When I was asked to do the Florida Night Moves show I was told it would be a money making trip. Especially at the club 2001 where we were all scheduled to appear to showcase. When we arrived at the club there were at least 100 house girls there working when we were told we would be the only girls there performing. The place was a madhouse and we left the club approximately 1 hour after we arrived totally disgusted and didn't make s---. Not to mention that they worked our ass off doing signings, they had us scheduled at three clubs a day and did not even provide meals. One party of girls and guys at a particular signing were arrested for indecent exposure as well. They were totally unorganized and they had the nerve at the last minute when I was scheduled to present an award at the show to change their minds and decide to have me perform and that's where the leather comes in. I did a Dom show for them with a slave at their request and since I had no knowledge that I was going to be doing such ahead of time they gave me some items to use for the show and your damn right I kept them. They definitely brought me down there under false pretences and I was going home with no cash period, I earned whatever I took, believe me. I guess I'm just trying to set the record straight since the one you have portrayed of me is so f---ed. I'm glad to be away from the business, I was never appreciated for my hard work and every time I was nominated for an award that I deserved I never got it. If you are not in a particular click in this business and if you don't suck up then you never get s---, so I never got s---. I am pursuing my other career as a recording engineer with my husband Michael who is also an engineer. We are opening our own studio in June in Los Angeles, I've never been happier or more successful in my life. Thank God I got out when I did, the adult industry is falling apart and nobody means anything to anyone except for a $ sign.

Melissa Hill Update

Patrick Riley writes on the rec.arts.movies.erotica newsgroup:

Watching Wet Spots #7 (Elegant Angel) last night and who appears but Melissa Hill. Isn't this a step down? Wasn't she a VVW person with a possible future like Juli Ashton <gag>? Most of this series is definite raincoater material although her scene in #7 uses condoms and has no anals, DP's, A2M's or spitting.

However, the interesting factor from the POV of keeping up with the private lives and breeding (as in producing infants) of the porn community is her body deterioration. Loss of belly muscle tone and her tits have becomes smaller and flabbier. They probably aren't really smaller, it's just that the rest of her upper body has become fatter.

The cameraguy asks her about her "vacation" of 18 months from the industry but gleans no useful information. He does keep well away from her belly though and she herself uses every opportunity to lie on her front, only at the end doing RC where she leans back which has the effect of tensioning the belly muscles and disguising any flab.

So has she produced a rug rat, or is this just "fast ageing"?

Rodger Jacobs Bats For LFP

Full of righteous indignation for Larry Flynt Publications, a major source of his income, Rodger Jacobs aka Martin Brimmer writes: "Luke: Your insinuation that LFP reviewers exchange good critiques for "drugs, cash, and VCR's" is incredulous and off the mark by leaps and bounds even by your standards.

"Of all of the publications that I have clacked away at a keyboard for Magna Publications (Swank and Genesis magazines, among others) and Flynt Publications are the only ones who maintain a high degree of integrity and objectivity from their feature stories right down to their video reviews. If you want further proof of this pick up a copy of Hustler or HEVG and flip through the reviews --- overall they dish out more bad notices than good and when they slam a film or video they slam that f---er HARD! And this is not done to engender your fabled "drugs, cash, and VCR's" for favorable reviews; it's just that there's so much lazily-produced and directed crap in this glutted marketplace and HEVG's critics know s--- when they see it.

"At least once every few months I get a phone call from a producer or director who is frothing at the mouth, furious about a bad review their product received in Hustler or HEVG (since these friends are aware that I sometimes freelance for LFP they want to know if there's anything I can do about it, such as identifying the true name behind the critic's pseudonym, which I would never do even if I did know).

"This myth about payola for good reviews has got to stop. YOU try reviewing 15 to 20 titles a month and tell me if you don't start noticing right damn quick, my friend, that a lot of the titles hitting the streets every month are pure, unadulterated garbage. Want to know why movies from VCA, Vivid, and Wicked generally rank high with most critics and magazines? Your guess might be envelopes stuffed full of cash or VCR's and DVD players with little baggies of crank attached to them. The truth of the matter is that the aforementioned companies produce product that is both erotic and pleasing to the eye --- gee, isn't that what porno is supposed to be all about?"

...........................................................

Mintball wrote this letter to Fox Files:

Dear Fox (aka the 4th place tv network)

Your report on the porno industry sucked!

You blame the porno industry for suicides and drug addiction, but do you blame the mainstream movie industry for all of the suicides and drug addictions there? Of course not. And as a matter of fact, there are more suicides and drug addicts in mainstream Hollywood than in porno Hollywood.

Did you even watch a current porno movie or two before doing your report? Of course not.

You can't even afford a studio. Your reporters walk around Grand Central Station with the homeless people in between reports.

Next time you do a report on the porno industry, get in touch with Nina Hartley and Eden Rae first, and check out the moderated worldwide Usenet newsgroup:

news:rec.arts.movies.erotica

The moral of the story is simple. If you don't have something nice to say about the porno industry, don't say anything at all.

I've always believed that the people who worked for Fox News were total and complete idiots who were rejected and/or fired by the other tv networks, and by doing this report you confirmed my (and many other peoples) beliefs.

You should all be ashamed of yourselves for airing such garbage. Here's a fact for you from CBS This Morning:  29 percent of all the frequent renters and viewers of porno movies are female.

ET (Entertainment Tonight) hit an all time low when they interviewed Luke F-rd for a few seconds, but you really took the cake by letting him go on and on. He's not half as smart as he sounds. He'll bash porno movies in the day, and masturbate to them at night.

Linda Lovelace was full of BS too. She was not beaten and forced to do sex acts on the set of "Deep Throat". Do you know that a few years before "Deep Throat" she screwed a dog on film?

Screw Viagra. Just give me an Eden Rae scene.

Porn For The People Opines on Ford vs. Ross

Johnny Denim, at www.unchain.com, writes in his latest column about the war between Luke F-rd and Gene Ross. Here's an excerpt:

For as long as I've been online Luke F-rd has been the main porn gossip guy. His exploits are nearly at Al Goldstein levels of infamy and excellence... Gene Ross launched [through AVN and a VCA server in early March] a Luke F-rd-type website and has since attempted a smear campaign against Ford. Luke isn't innocent either, writing nonstop Ross-bashing inch-and-a-half high headlines days in a row. The war has gotten to a point where even those inside the industry are taking sides. Luke's most visible contacts are leaving him left, right and center. Rob Black has long since turned his back on him... Everyone connected with John T. Bone won't speak to him and even Kendra Jade has specifically told him to not speak to her... [T]he Blacks of the world... have walked out on him [Luke] for being honest about their affairs. Luke took the entire low end of the industry to the next level with this kind of writing and now he's getting s--- on... As we go higher up the ladder in the industry we find that Luke's contacts at places like Sin City and Wicked are strong as ever while Ross is in danger of being fired by AVN.

Isn't it ironic that Rob Black was quoted on Luke's site as telling Luke quite poignantly that "... the minute that Luke makes a dime at AVN he's sold out!" Now he's buddies with Gene Ross a longtime writer for AVN, kinda sad isn't it?

It doesn't end there for AVN, in Luke's most recent report he reports allegations of widespread corruption at Adult Video News. He sites the use of porn actresses as hookers to gain influence as well as AVN Awards. He even went as far as to name names. I am now beginning to realize that we are on the brink of all of the major adult publications going to war before the summer begins and here's what all of this means for the industry:

Tape sales should initially go straight up and then plummet. This is because you cannot buy this kind of publicity. Anyone who is involved in this war early and is making movies will sell well at first. Now they will drop since the people involved at the moment are mostly in the low end and don't sell Wicked type numbers to begin with and are mostly very low quality. Also tape sales will drop even farther as the people get sick of the whole matter. At the heart of this war at the moment is the ill-fated Gene Ross flick from Sin City called Nude World Order. This movie was reportedly written by Gene Ross [who then wrote AVN's On The Set piece]. Sin City might get sucked into the fallout of this war. This would be very significant by anyone's standards. Another thing that could happen is a full scale war involving AVN, Luke, Adam Film World, Adult Stars Magazine and Hustler. This could take years and cost millions of porn scribe's lives. What will most likely happen is several reporters in the industry will jump from place to place for a while since publications will be paying top dollar to get the upper hand in the battle for survival. Afterwards the losers in the war will not be able to work in the industry for obvious reasons.

Here's what all of this means to you the fans:

At first you will be treated to some very entertaining gossip and some very creative and equally cruel articles from Luke F-rd and Gene Ross. I am certain that the industry will respond to this by making more then a few movies about this very war and you will get to see some neat recreations of the goings on behind the scenes of the war. This may turn you off after a while since this war will dominate the net and possibly the magazines for a while to come. If this happens to you just stick to www.unchain.com for the real story. "Make Love, (Literally) Not War!" is what I say!

AVN Threatens Luke The Scoop

Porn trade magazine Adult Video News has used its lawyers at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP (an intellectual property firm with branch offices around the US including Century City and in Hungary) to threaten Luke F-rd.

Suite 1800
2029 Century Park East
Los Angeles, CA 90067-3086

Deborah Drooz, Esq.

April 19, 1999

Mr. Luke Carey Ford
264 South La Cienega Blvd. #1417
Beverly Hills, CA, 90211

Re: Internet Posting, 4/14/99

Dear Mr. Ford:

This office represents Adult Video News magazine ("AVN"), its publisher Paul Fishbein, and journalist, Gene Ross. Our clients have advised us that you are the creator and operator of the website known as "l-keford.com" and have exclusive control over its contents. It is also our understanding that, on a daily basis for the past year, you have used that website to disseminate a gossip sheet that focuses on the adult entertainment industry. This letter concerns your 4/14/99 posting to that website, hereinafter, the "Posting."

The Posting's headline reads "AVN's Gene Ross Is Corrupt." The text of the Posting purports to describe specific corrupt acts and practices that were allegedly engaged in by Mr. Ross and implicitly sanctioned by Mr. Fishbein and AVN. Virtually without exception, these accusations are pure fabrication, and appear to have been published with the sole objective of destroying my clients' reputations.

Of the multifarious falsehoods in the Posting, five are particularly damaging and offensive. The first of these is the unfounded accusation that AVN "accommodated" Metro Home Video's request to have its "girls" "present at the January 1999 AVN Awards" in order to prevent Metro from pulling its advertising. The Posting goes on to allege that AVN gave Metro "better [ostensibly undeserved] ratings and rankings" on its bestseller and rental charts in order to secure Metro's advertising dollars.

The gist of these aspersions is that AVN permits its business operations to influence the contents of the magazine. Simply stated, the Posting falsely asserts that good ratings and rankings can be bought. This is, without a doubt, the most heinous and damaging charge that can be leveled against any publication. That you were willing to disseminate such an accusation on the basis of apparently unsubstantiated tips from anonymous sources clearly demonstrates that you publish with reckless disregard for the truth.

Another of the Posting's particularly damaging falsehoods is that journalist Gene Ross "corrupts reviews in exchange for kickbacks." Here again, the language of the Posting is designed to gull readers into the belief that AVN's reviews are for sale. Nothing could be farther from the truth. AVN has never permitted its editorial content to be influenced by financial considerations and has always had zero tolerance for any journalist who would accept kickbacks or engage in graft of any kind. Your utter lack of factual support this charge is especially apparent given that Mr. Ross has not been in charge of assigning reviews for over a year and therefore is in no position to take kickbacks if he he were so inclined - which he most decidedly is not.

The false claim that actor/director Alex Sanders garnered AVN's "breakthrough" award by providing Mr. Ross with prostitutes is another of the Posting's more contemptible libels. As you must surely know,l Mr. Sanders was chosen as an award recipient by 12 individuals and not by Mr. Ross alone. Mr. Ross has neither the power nor the authority to exchange the award for sexual favors. This highly offensive charge constitutes not only an unsubstantiated attack on Mr. Ross' integrity but also a vicious assault on AVN's credibility in the industry.

Like the preceding excerpts from the Posting, the charge that Mr. Ross accepted money from John Bowen for some "illicit purpose" and then threatened to destroy the career of an alleged witness to the transaction is pure fiction. Neither the alleged illicit payments nor the alleged threats ever took place.

In light of the foregoing, Mr. Ross and Mr. Fishbein, in his own capacity and on behalf of AVN, hereby demand that you retract and apologize for each and every falsehood referred to hereinabove without delay. Although we do not believe that you are entitled to avail yourself of the protections set forth in California Civil Code Section 48(a), that Code Section provides some guidance regarding the nature of an effective retraction. Pursuant to 48(a), the retraction must be made no later than twenty-one (21) days of the date on which the demand therefore is received. In other words, any retracted published by you must appear on your website at the same time of day as the original Posting and that it appear no later than twenty-one (21) days after you have received this letter. Moreover, your retraction must be complete, unequivocal, and published in a manner that is substantially as conspicuous as the original Posting.

Demand is further made that you cease and desist in the publication in the above-referenced defamatory statements concerning our clients - regardless of whether such publication is made by means of Internet transmission or otherwise. Be forewarned that your failure to comply with the foregoing demands will result in my clients' immediate exercise of their legal rights and remedies against you.

c: Mr. Paul Fishbein
    Barry B. Langberg, Esq.

Luke replies: I would happily "retract and apologize for each and every falsehood referred to hereinabove without delay" if provided with some strong evidence for so doing. A nicely-typed letter from some lawyer who wouldn't know a double anal from a transvestite hooker does not constitute proof. It's very sweet that porn and corruption expert, Deborah Drooz Esq., assures me that my accusations are "pure fabrication." How the hell would Deb know if Gene Ross got hookers in exchange for good reviews, or took bribes from John Bone? Because Gene and Paul said he didn't?

I'm sorry that AVN found my remarks "damaging and offensive," but until I get some stronger evidence, I don't plan on retracting anything. Meanwhile, my cutting investigation into porn corruption continues. Once Gene Ross is irrefutably shown to be corrupt, expect the crooks that he protects to become similarly exposed.

AVN publisher Paul Fishbein should be thanking me for pointing out the corruption engaged in by his chief journalist. Fishbein says that Ross was warned back in Philadelphia (around 1987-89) that he could no longer create movies and write and sell scripts while working for AVN. He would have to choose. Ross stayed on at AVN, but has continued selling scripts, including to Jim Holliday at Plush in 1994.

Fishbein should also know that the major source of detailed stories about how various AVN awards over the year were changed at the last minute for political and financial reasons is Gene Ross. Ross has told various people in the industry how Paul would frequently buckle into advertisers' pressure.  Through other sources, Gene Ross was a major source of my December exposes of AVN. Sources tell me that Gene Ross has taken credit for Rob Black's success at the 1998 AVN Awards (over the wishes of Paul Fishbein, Vivid, VCA and other major AVN advertisers) through Gene's pull with other AVN reviewers.

Much of the corruption at AVN is endemic to most close-knit organizations. They tend to think similarly and present a united front to outsider criticism. For instance, Paul and Gene say that all AVN writers believe that porners should use condoms in their sex scenes, and that condoms do not significantly detract from a scene's sexual heat. This is a bold and minority view among porn viewers, but at AVN this minority view rules 100%. Paul and Gene have created a magazine in their own image and attract writers who share most of their cherished views.

Advertising takes up 90% of the AVN magazine. As a trade magazine, it's primary purpose is to promote and justify its group. Thus its editorial stance more closely resembles a church newsletter than a news journal.

Fred writes:

Section 48a Libel--Demand for Correction as Condition Precedent to
Action Against Newspaper

1. In any action for damages for the publication of a libel in a newspaper, or of a slander by radio broadcast, plaintiff shall recover no more than special damages unless a correction be demanded and not published or broadcast, as hereinafter provided. Plaintiff shall serve upon the publisher, at the place of publication or broadcaster at the place of broadcast, a written notice specifying the statements claimed to be libelous and demanding that the same be corrected. Said notice and demand must be served within 20 days after knowledge of the publicatin of broadcast of the statements claimed to be libelous.

2. If a correction be demanded within said period and be not published
or boadcast in substantially as conspicuous a manner in said newspaper
or on said broadcasting as were the statements claimed to be libelous, in a regular issue thereof published or broadcast within three weeks after such service, plaintiff, if he pleads and proves such notice, demand and failure to correct, and if his cause of action be maintained, may recover general, special and exemplary damages; provided that no exemplary damages may be recovered unless the plaintiff shall prove that defendant made the publication or broadcast with actual malice and then only in the discretion of the court or jury, and actual malice shall not be inferred or presumed from the publication or broadcast.

3. A correction published or broadcast in substantially as conspicuous
a manner in said newspaper or on said broadcasting station as the statements claimed in the complaint to be libelous, prior to receipt of
a demand therefor, shall be of the same force and effect as though such
correction had been published or broadcast within three weeks after a
demand therefor.

4. As used herein, the terms, "general damages," "special damages,"
"exemplary damages" and "actual malice" are defined as follows:

(a) "General damages" are damages for loss of reputation, shame,
mortification and hurt feelings;
(b) "Special damages" are damages which may in the discretion of the court or jury be recovered in addition to general and special damages for the sake of example and by way of punishing a defendant who has made the publication or broadcast with actual malice;
(c) "Actual malice" is that state of mind arising from hatrid or ill will toward the plaintiff; provided, however that such a state of mind occassioned by a good faith belief on the part of the defendant in the truth of the libelous publication or broadcast at the time it is published or broadcast shall not constitute actual malice.

--------------------------
You may want to read civil code section 44 to 48.5. They pertain to libel and slander. If you go to a county law library, you will want either West's California Codes Annotated or Deerings California Codes Annotated. (West's is a huge collection of statutes in a set of blue volumes. Deerings is a huge collection of statutes in brown volumes. Remember--you want the civil code. It is different from the code of civil proceedure.) The term "Annotated" means that these volumes contain brief annotations concerning court cases that have construed these statutes. It will give you an idea as to how courts actually construe this stuff.

If litigation should occur between you and AVN, you will have the right to take depositions. This means that you can force various and sundry AVN people to answer your questions under oath. You can ask them any question that is likely to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. You can have the deposition videotaped (although that is a bit expensive.) Your depositions need not be confined to AVN--you can depose any party who you think has relevant evidence pertaining to the lawsuit. (The lawyers on the other side will no doubt try to put the deposition transcripts under a protective order.)