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AVN Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight With $300, Paul Fishbein launched the porn trade magazine Adult Video News in 1984. Within a decade it became known as the industry's Bible. First Amendment attorney Clyde DeWitt calls AVN "the glue that binds the industry together." But former AVN editors Gene Ross and Ken Wood say that AVN's oft quoted statistics are invented and some awards are fixed. Lawyer Dan Ackman, writing for Forbes.com 5/25/01, calls AVN's claim that Americans spent just over $4 billion to buy and rent adult videos in the year 2000 "baseless and wildly inflated." Writes Ackman: "How Adult Video News gets this number is not clear. We asked Adult Video News' managing editor, Mike Ramone. "I don't know the exact methodology," he said, "It's a pie chart." Asked to break the figure down into sales versus rentals, a standard practice among those who cover the video industry, he said he didn't think it was available and suggested we call the editor-in-chief, who didn't return our calls." Ackman shows that there is no chance that the adult video business had revenues of even $2 billion in the year 2000. AVN's annual awards show in Las Vegas receives about as much hype as its statistics but the awards are on a similar level of credibility, according to folks like Ross and Wood who for years helped assemble them. AVN operates the industry's main trade shows (from the yearly AVN Expo, to the twice yearly IA2000 internet & phone sex convention to the consumer oriented Erotica LA) as well as its primary sources of information (several magazines and websites such as AVN.com, InsideAdult.com, AVNOnLine.com). AVN publishes widely quoted statistics on the industry, including lists of best sellers. In January each year, AVN hosts an awards show that recognizes achievements that range from Best Anal Sex Scene to Best Non-Sex Performance. AVN caught up with the internet in 1999, taking over the IA2000 trade show as well as its monthly magazine which was renamed AVNOnLine. Filled with lucrative ads, it goes out free to everybody who matters in the online industry. Industry insiders say AVN's magazines are primarily influential for their arresting ads rather than their purported journalism. Financed largely by his boyhood buddy Stuart Franks, a Philadelphia publisher and silent partner, Fishbein may be the most powerful man in porn. Fishbein has long been suspected of doing secret deals with pornographers that compromise his ability to operate an impartial industry magazine. In late 1999, I reported that Fishbein was about to invest in a secret deal with producer Rob Spalloner, and pornographer Russ Hampshire of Babenet to create a shooting house (Realpornworld.com) that broadcast live over the internet. Paul insisted to his business partners that the deal be kept secret, because once it was made public, it would damage his credibility. When I made the deal public and Fishbein was flooded with calls from pornographers inquiring about the conflict of interest inherent in doing such secret financial deals with companies you supposedly cover "journalistically." News of Fishbein's deal with Babenet made me and many other observers give credence to gossip floating around porno for years - that AVN is but a front for Fishbein and friends to line their pockets by making lucrative secret deals with porners, possibly in exchange for positive news coverage, ratings and awards. Paul and AVN have numerous close ties with VCA and Vivid. Paul is married to Kimberly Wilson, head of VCA's cable TV sales. Paul recruited his Vice President, Darren Roberts, from Babenet (which is intimately tied with VCA). Darren was married to Allison Roberts, who used to live with VCA co-founder Walter Gernert. AVN's extensive internet operations are piped to the world through VCA-Babenet servers. As for Vivid, Paul was in a business partnership (an adult bookstore in 1995) with Vivid owner Steve Hirsch. Fishbein, Hampshire and Hirsch are good friends. According to former AVN managing editor Ken Wood, Hirsch often finds out about coming AVN reviews of his product before the magazine's managing editor does. In 1998, Fishbein partnered with phone sex millionaire Ted Leibowitz to publish a monthly sex magazine called Sexpose aimed at consumers. To send the magazine flying off the shelves, Fishbein ran an expensive two part expose of Kylie Ireland's affair with basketball star Michael Jordan, a married man. Sexpose folded in May 1998. A few months later, when I confronted Fishbein with allegations about his own affairs with Ireland and other sex workers, Paul took offence at the questions. He claimed to have never had sexual relations with any porn stars. He said he was a married man who didn't fool around. Over the years, there have been numerous reports to the contrary. The lead figure on AVN's editorial side, Gene Ross, quit AVN in a surprise move in October of 2000. Over the next few weeks, Ross described in detail various forms of AVN corruption. Gene recalls a January morning in 1990 when he got a frantic call from Fishbein at his hotel room at the Tropicana. Gene Ross writes: "Fishbein said it was urgent that we meet the following morning, the day of the AVN awards. We met at the Tropicana breakfast buffet and Fishbein proceeded to tell me that our winner in the Best Video category [back in those days I knew the winners ahead of time] was "an embarrassment" judging by the feedback he was getting from his advertisers about its inclusion in the nominations' list. Fishbein said he was going to change it. Ironically, the title of the feature was "The Bitter End". It was a release from Coast to Coast Video and was subtitled Cheeks 2. It was a period piece feature co-written by Jace Rocker and Britt Morgan. It was subsequently replaced on the winners list as Best Video by another period piece feature, Beauty and the Beast 2 from VCA." Pornographer "Frank" writes Luke 11/28/00: "Regarding the "AVN Hall of Fame" induction of Earl Miller. What does he have to do with the adult video industry? He's been a nudie photographer for a long time, big deal. I heard Paul Fishbein has a piece of the "Earl Miller Collection" website that has its banners all over AVN and the Tod Hunter sites. Definite conflict of interest. I also heard he's part of an online video content deal with Rodney Moore- I wonder if Rodney's reviews have improved and how many awards he'll win this year." On November 21, 2000, AVN's former managing editor (he quit AVN 6/99) Ken Wood gave Gene Ross a candid interview. Wood said that his number one job, as instructed by publisher Paul Fishbein, was to better the magazine's relationships with various companies that had come to hate AVN during the administrations of previous managing editors Mark Kulkis and Bryn Pryor aka Mark Logan. According to Wood, AVN's advertisers feel that because they spend money on the magazine, they have the right to tell AVN "journalists" what to write. And the more money they spend, the more influence pornographers feel they should have over AVN's content. Paul Fishbein appears to have given up on AVN, says Wood. Ken tried to reinvigorate the magazine but Fishbein opposed his every attempt. It seemed to Wood that 75% of the magazine's content was "makeup work to mend fences with people we had pissed off for one reason or another. It was reactive, not proactive." Wood says that AVN publisher Paul Fishbein had him snoop through employee emails to try to find out my sources at AVN. Wood paints the picture of a poisonous atmosphere at AVN. A company presided over by a suspicious and out of touch publisher who lied to and manipulated his employees and cowered before advertisers. Ken says that AVN vice-president Darren Roberts operates as Paul's "in-house spy" who monitors the email of AVN employees. Roberts left his wife Allison in early 1999 for Fishbein's beautiful blonde bisexual secretary Lisa Love. "Paul Fishbein," Wood told Ross, "has got to be the most enigmatic person I've ever met. It seems that people who treat him like shit, get his respect. He goes out of his way to please them to do everything for them. People who try to make him happy, such as people who work for him, get treated like shit. I never understood that. It's almost like the battered girlfriend syndrome where they gravitate towards guys who abuse them. Bryn Pryor treated Paul like shit and he got absolutely what he wanted. Gene: "[W]ere you asked to look at emails?" Wood: "Yes, I was... It was always implicit as an offhand suggestion because he was concerned about people leaking information to Luke F-rd... The person he usually went to for that kind of thing was Darren Roberts who was number two. I know for a fact that he checks everyone's email there... But I know that Darren Roberts is his in-house spy. He goes into peoples' computers. He was going into my computer the day before I left. He couldn't find anything. "When people accused me of reading their email and things like that, I'm not going to confirm or deny it, all I will say is if I did anything that was questionable, it was with the knowledge and consent of my boss, Paul Fishbein. "Maybe I agreed with what they were doing but there were two people in particular who communicated with Luke F-rd and I never said anything about it. "I remember the year I was in the nominations' meetings, I was struck at how arbitrary the whole thing was. I would say 80% of the tapes never got ked at. We never looked at the footage in the meetings and the tapes that we did watch, most people weren't even looking at the TV. I could tell because certain editors liked certain people, certain performers; certain people didn't like others and that's how they made their vote, really... And here's the funniest thing. When I first came to AVN, people, fellow editors, told me that all the rumors I read on Luke F-rd was all bullshit. And I sort of accepted that because these people seemed trustworthy. But the more time I spent at AVN, the more I learned a a lot of the rumors had truth to them, and that drove me nuts. That was eventually why I left. "...[T]he administration of AVN was content to put out an inferior product. and I didn't want any part of that. Besides, there's too many ethically-challenged people there to keep my interest." (From Gene Ross) On 11/29/00, I interviewed Ken Wood via email: >* Did you see or suspect any criminal activity at AVN while you were there? Ken: Yes, I believe I did. >* Any ties to organized crime or money laundering? Ken: Yes, to the first. I believe there were. >* What do you know about Paul's business partner in Philly? How active is >he? As far as I know, Stuart Franks is a legitimate professional printer, and to my knowledge has no direct involvement in any illegal activity. He's primarily active during the trade shows. >* Did AVN suppress any important news stories? In my belief, quite often. >* Were you ever instructed to slant your coverage, either negative or >positive? Yes, I believe I was. >* What about Paul Fishbein and those women of easy virtue in Prague? Any >truth to the story from Chris English? I don't know who Chris English is or what his story is, but I was aware of Paul taking several trips to the Bohemian hamlet with friends. >* How much pull did advertisers have with editorial content? How did they >exercise their pull? What was communicated to you from the business end of >the AVN operation? I believe they had much more "pull" than was appropriate for a supposedly neutral magazine. Influence was always exercised through Paul Fishbein's office directly. When people didn't get what they wanted through Bryn Pryor and subsequently through me, they went to Paul and he ordered us to do things a certain way as a result. >* Did Paul's close friendship with Steve Hirsch influence editorial content >and reviews? In my belief, absolutely. If a particular Vivid release didn't get a favorable review from and AVN freelancer or editor, it would get reviewed by somebody who, in the publisher's opinion, would give it a better review. >* Did Paul's friendships in general influence editorial or reviews? Not so much as his business relationships. >* Does Paul do secret deals with various porn companies? Does he have >financial interests in other porn companies? No comment. >* How many companies does Paul have a financial interest in? If I could count that high, I'd have Alan Greenspan's job. >* Paul seems particularly close with VCA? To my knowledge, Paul hates Russell Hampshire. I think I remember something about some anti-Semitic conspiracy in porn that Russell was supposedly party to. I didn't buy it. I just think Russell refused to kiss Paul's ass and Paul always knew that Russell was more powerful than he. Two ingredients for a healthy hateful relationship. Ken Wood tells Gene Ross: "When people say that Darren was supposed to be this plant by Russ Hampshire to control AVN and VCA's interests, I always shook my head and said to think Russ Hampshire would even want to employ such a seemingly retarded moron who fails every business venture he goes into, doesn't make sense to me. In fact, I heard a rumor, and I believe this more closely than the others, that Russ cleverly recommended him to Paul as a means of getting rid of him. "Every single person in editorial hated his guts and didn't want to deal with him unless absolutely necessary. "It is my belief that several awards over the years have been fixed to suit certain political purposes of the publisher. However I have no evidence to support that claim. It's just my belief. And I had certain reasons to believe that. At the 2000 AVN Awards in Vegas, after the first six were presented, several editors and I exchanged glances, like, what's going on here. None of us voted for that. I was so fed up, I got up from my table, went over to where Bryn Pryor was sitting. I looked right across the table at him and mouthed the words, 'this is f---in' fixed.' He sort of smiled and shook his head slowly, as if to say, 'what, our awards show fixed?' I just walked away. "All I can say is that with certain awards, the editors and I would be flabbergasted. If the entire editorial staff pretty much unanimously voted for something other than what won, that means every freelancer and then some would have to have voted for the one video that won. The chances that every freelancer is going to vote for that video and none of the editors is damn near impossible. That's like a Hail Mary situation. "I suggested [to AVN publisher Paul Fishbein] that it would be a good idea for her [Jenna Jameson] to be on AVN's January 2000 cover. I thought in my wild editorial imagination, if you're going to have a Millennium cover, you should have the biggest adult star of all time on it. Jenna said she would love to do it but wasn't sure that Paul would go for it. I asked her why. She said, 'Paul's been kinda pissed at me for a couple of years.' I said what for? She said, 'Well, one time he picked myself and a friend up In New York to drive us down to ECVS. We were all going to drive down together. Paul was apparently insulted because we didn't talk to him enough on the drive down.' I looked at her, you got to be kidding me. She said, no, 'he hasn't talked to me for a long time because he felt slighted by myself and my friends because we didn't talk to him.' I said, look, I'll try and lobby for you to get on the cover because I think that would make a good cover. When it came time to talk to Paul, about it, I brought it up. He said, no, absolutely not. I put forward my case like I did to Jenna and he said, no, absolutely not. 'She treated me like shit a couple of years back.' I said, ECVS? He said, ah-hah. I said, look, let's be professionals about this. Considering who can be on that cover, who better than, blah.blah.blah. He said, 'f--- Jenna Jameson!' And that was the final word on the subject. I walked out. I remember his facial expression. That was one of the five golden, platinum, diamond moments with Paul that I remember clearly. He was quite vehement, quite angry about it." (From Gene Ross) Gene Ross writes 11/00: "It was at the summer VSDA Show, the first one to be held in Los Angeles, that AVN publisher Paul Fishbein approached me on the convention floor. "I have a hot scoop for your gossip column, but you didn't hear it from me," Fishbein said conspiratorially and he proceeded to relay how Vivid was letting Tyler go because her ass-ets were evidently too copious for personal tastes. I reported such in my pre-Internet gossip column in AVN, carefully crafting tact in my words. Tact or no tact, however, Steve Hirsch went f---in' ballistic and called Fishbein who proceeded to sell me out by telling Hirsch he had no idea where I got such a notion about Tyler. And, over the next couple of days, damage control ensued with Fishbein publicly dressing me down in front of AVN employees for my journalistic indiscretions. The final make-good arrangement came when both an upset Tyler and boyfriend Bobby Vitale came into my office escorted by Fishbein and I had to apologize to her both verbally and by way of an interview." Paul Fishbein appeared on the Howard Stern Show October 27, 2000. "The porno industry has been accused of being run by the mob. Why hasn't the mob just beaten you up and taken over your magazine," Stern wanted to know. "There is no mob," said Fishbein. "I've never seen the mob in 18 years of doing AVN. Never." Stern asked Fishbein if he was in the mob. "You've never been approached about someone buying your magazine from you?" Stern asked. "I've been approached by someone buying the magazine but they weren't in the mob," Fishbein said. Luke says: That's an interesting thing for Fishbein to say. In January of 1997, while at CES with Gene Ross and Mark Kernes and company, Fishbein came across a story (probably in the local Las Vegas paper) about the trial of Kenneth Guarino and Metro Home Video for working with the Gambino crime family. Fishbein thought it important that AVN also cover the story which Kernes eventually did, appearing in either the March or April 1997 issue. Metro Home Video eventually pled guilty to working with the Mafia family. When AVN's coverage arrived, Metro owner Kenneth Guarino threw a fit and called a Paul Fishbein. Fishbein, who'd originally been red hot to publish the story, publicly dressed down Kernes and Ross for running the story he, Paul, originally ordered. So, in other words, Paul knows very well that organized crime and the Mafia plays a role in porn. Metro Home Video sponsored (for about $75,000) the first AVN Expo in July 1999. Zane Entertainment seems to have received special treatment from Fishbein. Gene Ross says: On Wednesday June 23, 1999, the following email went from Paul Fishbein to Bert Levesque then of Zane: "Yes, we watches them all and it was a pretty goo bunch. You can keep sending the stufdf to my attention personal and confidential. I'm looking out for you guys. Paul" Ken Woods Nominations List Luke F-rd asks Ken: What was going down with the company's 401k retirement-savings fund accounts for employees? Wood: "This is interesting. I wasn't there long enough to take part in the program. You have to work there for at least two years or something like that. I found out from a member of the AVN staff [Ken Michaels] about some irregularities in the employees' account. What I mean by that is the employees would get a regular statement of their account which I believe was handled by Paul Fishbein's brother-in-law. They noticed that over time the amounts that were supposed to be deposited automatically in their accounts became less and less. There were irregularities there. When I pressed for details, the person I talked to, said apparently Paul Fishbein had either taken money out of the accounts or had neglected to put the appropriate funds into their accounts so that he could pay off some bills. Of course this enraged me because I thought this is a guy who, pretty much common knowledge, is a millionaire. If he needed money to pay bills why couldn't he take it from his own funds instead of, in a sense, stealing, allegedly, from employees' retirement accounts." Former AVN managing editor Ken Wood contributes (12/00) his Nominations List for Paul Fishbein's Adult Video News operation: 1. Fraud. (Illegal diversion of 401(k) employee retirement account funds for improper uses. The fact that monies were "re-deposited" into accounts, acknowledged by a certain company "controller," doesn't change that fact that the original act was a federal crime. Sorry fellas.) 2. Tax evasion. (Corporate and individual. A freshman IRS investigator will wet him/herself when they're turned loose amidst a certain company's financial records, as well as its owner's. Can I hear somebody say "AUDIT"?) 3. Embezzlement. (California Penal Code Section 514) (Funds garnered from various operations, namely trade shows, then diverted to personal possession and not reported to state and federal agencies as income. Again, further possible tax evasion. Don't you guys have enough money already?) 4. Obstruction of justice. (Specifically the possible destruction of financial documents that could be used to prove criminal wrongdoing to law enforcement at the local and federal levels. Intensive investigative work by law enforcement agents will uncover whether documents are missing or altered, and thus adds one more layer to the criminal marble cake. Yum.) 5. Larceny. (Computers.) 6. Conspiracy to obstruct justice. (Trafficking in stolen property, namely computers. More to come on this one from the firm of Wood, Ross and Ford.) 7. A report detailing these and other alleged acts of impropriety which will soon be delivered to interested officials of the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. 8. And finally, at the US Attorney's discretion and based on a probable pattern of criminal conduct which includes several financial crimes: Implementation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. RICO. I predict the feds will score a clean sweep in MY awards show and some individuals will be going away for a long time. Gene Ross interviewed Susan Block, Paul Fishbein's former office manager. Block says she learned from Cherise, former AVN receptionist, that there were problems with the company's 401K plan. Block says: "Because Cherise said she tried to get her money out three times. And she's being told that the account's open and like redeposits are being made or something, but the amount of money she feels that should be in there is not. There's enough robbing Peter to pay Paul that goes on. We know the kind of shit that he [Paul?] always did and everything, but that's not right. "He's [Paul?] gone through how many people in accounting? I'm beginning to wonder if he doesn't go through them regularly so they don't find out too much what's going on. When they learn a lot where the body's are buried, all of a sudden they're not working there any more. It's very strange. Does he still have that damned weasel [Darren Roberts] running everything over there. God, that is like to me the single worst taint-association of a lifetime. Because ever since that guy's come along, it seems like everything started going downhill really fast." An ex-AVN employee tells Luke in early December, 2000: XXX writes: "I laugh at how you gave Paul Fishbein five stars for ethics. I laugh how you believe every word he tells you. Fishbein can't keep his pants on. He not only has Dick Miller (Richard Mailor) setting him up in Prague, he also has a connection in New York that sets him up. Paul made frequent trips to New York and visited a certain apartment which housed five to six women at any particular time. "When Paul lived in Philadelphia, he kept various honeys in Los Angeles that he'd visit on his trips (such as Dick Miller's secretary at InTropics). While he was still married to his first wife. "There's a conspiracy of silence going on at AVN. Lots of AVN employees and ex-employees know about the diverting of 401K funds. This is the coup d'grace that could put somebody in jail. Ken Wood, Gene Ross, Bryn Pryor, Ken Michaels, Mikey Ramone, Rebecca Gray, Renee Johnson, Juliette Loews, Darren Roberts, Roland Roth and Stacy Boyd all know about the diversions. "Nikki Fritz of NikkiFritz.com runs AVNLive.com. Nikki's one of many beautiful women at AVN. She's rarely in the office. Paul employes more than his share of babes. There's open musing about it at the AVN office. "People have complained to Paul about his secretary Lisa Love's lack of secretarial skills. And Paul's replied: 'Yeah, but she's beautiful.' "Paul's been heard to say about his VP Darren Roberts: 'I wish I could get rid of Darren but I can't. I'm stuck with him now because he's my business partner.' Apparently Paul also realizes that Roberts is a moron but there's some reason why he can't get rid of him. Like Paul can't get rid of Bryn Pryor. I wonder why? "Paul has also said about Juliette Lowes (head of the AVN internet division): 'I wish that I could get rid of her but I can't. I made her a business partner.'" An ex-AVN employee tells Luke 12/00: "I thought that the Extreme video "Miscreants" had won for Best Video Feature (1998). But no. It had only won for Best Director. Miscreants had won for Best Director and Paul changed the award to go to Buddha. And Bryn Pryor dressed him down privately about it later on. "Paul shopped around a change of vote on the convention floor. He'd tell people, 'You voted for Miscreants. This is an embarrassment. Do you want to change your vote?' People told him no. Guess what? Buddha won it anyway. "What AVN always stood for is now being revealed as a sham." AVN Staffer Rebecca Gray Wrote Vivid Movie Seven Deadly Sins AVN journalist and critic Rebecca Gray, the woman behind the 6/00 removal of former AVN managing editor Ken Wood, wrote the award winning Vivid movie "The Seven Deadly Sins." The film, directed by Ren Savant, won ten awards at the January 1999 AVN show. Clemenza writes Gene Ross: "The fact that Bryn Pryor originally reviewed the movie [giving it a 10 out of 10 rating and Editor's Choice] isn't surprising, considering the fact, his little gal pal Rebecca Gray wrote the script under the name Eugenie Brown. About two years ago, Gray wrote an article for Fetish that wasn't used. She signed her name to that as Eugenie Brown. Fast forward to the 2000 AVN Awards. Seven Deadly Sins won for script and the cowriter's name was Eugenie Brown. Coincidence? I don't think so. Talk about your fixes." Paul Fishbein has loudly proclaimed in past controversies of this nature that AVN staffers are not allowed to write porn scripts or direct porn movies to avoid a conflict of interest. Seven Deadly Sins won about ten awards from AVN in January, including for Best Screenplay. Gene Ross writes 12/00: "Rebecca Gray Wrote "Kissing Game" for Wicked Pictures and Reviewed Her Own Movie For AVN. "[T]he stench of Rebecca Gray's vagina is all over this year's AVN Awards. In light of recent revelations that Gray co-wrote the multi-award winning Seven Deadly Sins for Vivid and the fact that Gray continues to write scripts for Wicked, both Wicked and Vivid films should thus be considered ineligible." Bruno writes Gene: "Kernes was 'allegedly' wined and dined by Ray Pistol and supplied with entertainment of the female persuasion - this in exchange for coming out to Vegas, and doing an on-the-set piece and later lauding Goddaughter 5 in a review. Divine Brown winning a Best Screenplay nod? Wasn't that the hooker that sucked off Hugh Grant? And isn't she Ray Pistol's girlfriend? How cozy. And that's not all, Kernes is in deep with Seymore Butts. Why do you think Kernes is so pro-Butts in his write-ups of the Sunshine decision? Talk to Chuck Martino. Seymore has a smooth way of patching up the bodywork in Kernes' dented 401K. You bet. If this is all true, the stench of Mark Kernes' ball cheese is all over Goddaughter 5, a movie that's actually worse than Godfather 3." Goddaughter 5 got nominated by AVN for Best Video, Best Director [Bud Lee], Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Group Sex Scene, Best Overall Marketing Campaign and Best Screenplay. According to Gene Ross and other sources, AVN's much vaunted statistics about the porn industry are essentially made up. Gene writes: "Fishbein had a very clever way to obtain email lists which he then sold to a marketing firm for big bucks. Under the guise of creating another bogus annual retailer survey, Fishbein wanted it rewritten in a way where the questions in the survey wouldn't matter. Not that it ever did. It was fluff to support his wily purposes - to get the retailers' email addresses. The survey said if you give your email address you'll get a free subscription to AVN. The whole point was he was going to sell tens of thousands of email addresses to an Internet marketing firm. Of course not telling people that is very unethical, like that would matter to the commandante. Basically, retailers, if you're getting lots of spam mail these days, thank Fishbein. But that's okay. Fishbein made out." |