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Paul Fishbein's AVN Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight 11/23/00 AVN Gossip Many readers of l-keford.com are unaware that AVNOnline's Stacy Boyd (now at SexTracker) was former AVN managing editor Bryn Pryor's girlfriend. That's how she came to work at AVN. And then Stacy ended up dating AVN journalist Ken Michaels (a tall overweight young man who writes cleverly). Ken also dated Renee Johnson, who runs the AVN industry conventions. Renee Johnson brought a sexual harassment suit against the former AVN managing editor Bryn Pryor. And to stave her off, Bryn had to attend anger management classes. Renee received a cushy job at AVN along with a company car. Is Bryn Pryor still employed at AVN? That's the weird thing which prompted the announcement of Ken Wood as managing editor because Bryn was going to take a hiatus to produce the mainstream movie for Paul Fishbein, "The Money Shot." But one financial deal after another fell through. Fishbein could never get the financial backing for it. Right now they plan to air a bunch of vignettes on their internet site AVNlive.com. Bryn will direct. Because he's not full time making a movie (written by Rebecca Grey), Bryn needs work at AVN. So Paul placed him in charge of DVDs. Then when Stacy Boyd left the online magazine, Bryn was going to take charge of that. But now I hear that Rebecca Grey will operate AVNOnLine. Bryn Pryor and Ken Wood hated each other. But the new man on the AVN block, Mikey Ramone, fits right in with Bryn. He's a Bryn Pryor crony. Ramone, like Pryor, is deeply steeped in the bondage underworld. Ramone worked manfully in both the Houston and Jasmin St. Claire gangbangs. Ken Michaels Rebutts Gossip AVNOnline Technical Editor (of the magazine, not the website) Ken Michaels writes: Holy shit! Four-and-a-half years of laboring in relative obscurity at AVN/AVN Online, and now I'm a hot topic. Regarding the following "AVN Gossip" items, I feel I have to put in my two cents. As for the rest, if I didn't comment on it here, I don't know about it: "Many readers of l-keford.com are unaware that Stacy Boyd was Bryn Pryor's girlfriend. That's how she came to work at AVN." Stacy did indeed find out about the job at AVN Online (then ia2000) through Bryn -- but Paul and Darren interviewed and hired her. Just wanted to clarify; if your source is questioning whether Stacy could do the job, I think any reasonable person would agree that AVN Online came a long way in the two years that Stacy ran the magazine. "And then Stacy ended up dating Ken Michaels (a tall overweight young man who writes cleverly) who also dated Renee Johnson, who runs the AVN industry conventions." I've known Stacy since June of 1998. She is one of my closest friends, but we never "dated" in the traditional sense; as for the boundaries of what constitutes our friendship, that's no one's business but our own. Essentially, it's the same situation with Renee -- also, I met Renee after she started working at AVN; the implication that she was hired as a result of knowing me is -- I was going to say "off base" -- but it's more than that; it's just flat wrong. Also, while "overweight" is an apt (some would say "kind") description of my appearance, I don't think that a height of 5'10" (in shoes, fer chrissakes) qualifies me as "tall" -- but thanks anyway. "Renee Johnson brought a sexual harassment suit against the former AVN managing editor Bryn Pryor. And to stave her off, Bryn had to attend anger management classes. Renee received a cushy job at AVN along with a company car." Renee and Bryn got into an argument a couple of years back over I don't remember what, and yes, Renee was very upset, but she didn't file a sexual harassment suit -- there was nothing sexual about their argument; in fact, she never filed a suit of any kind (I don't know about the anger management classes). Also, Renee was already coordinating special events and promotions at that time. When AVN bought ia2000, she was the logical choice to run the show. As for the car -- whether AVN or TCI pays for it, or she pays for it out of her salary, the money all comes from the same place, so what's the difference? "Just to let you know, dear reader, what sort of character I am, a few weeks ago, I gave Stacy some gossip about myself and asked her not to publicize it. She honored that agreement." True. I don't know if the situation for you has changed Luke, but at the time it sounded like it could have landed you in some pretty hot water. Stacy told me about it, and we briefly discussed whether to tell Gene, who was still working here at the time. We decided the right thing to do was e-mail you to ask if we could let Gene know; you replied something along the lines of "please don't." So we didn't. Gene later found out about the item through his own sources; I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure he also chose not to run anything about it on his site. "So am I a skunk for gossiping about her now?" I think you know the answer to that. "Renee Johnson, by the way, refused me a press credential to the first AVN Expo in July of 1999." True, but I'm told you managed to wrangle your way in anyhow (I wasn't there); if memory serves, you were rewarded for your efforts with a punch in the gut by Mark Starr and picture of Gene strangling you. "Awesome writes Luke: 'Hey mullethead -- FYI, that arrogent loser Ken Michaels NEVER dated Stacy Boyd OR Renee Johnson.'" "Loser" -- certainly an argument could me made for that assertion. "Arrogent" (SIC) -- ask around. I may have been a dick to a few people here and there, but I THINK anyone who actually knows me would say that I'm basically a nice guy. I'm guessing one of three things: I REALLY WAS being a dick the one time I met this guy (I have no clue who he is); he's pissed off about something I wrote in one of the magazines (if it was AVN, dude, get over it -- I haven't written for them in over two years); or, he has me (Ken Michaels) confused with someone else -- Ken Wood, perhaps (though I never thought of Ken as arrogant). As for the rest, see my comments above. "Awesome (cont'd): 'Your misinformation doesn't surprise me in the least, because if the facts were straight it just wouldn't be l-keford.com! Have you moved out of your parents garage yet?? Happy Hanukah you jew bastard." At least he's generous with the insults. "Luke: I'm told that Ken's a buddy of Bryn's..." True. "...and a member of the Arizona Mafia." I guess. "Arizona Mafia" is a clever in-joke coined by Tod Hunter and adopted by some of the staffers here at the offices (and, as Bryn himself has said, not an entirely inaccurate description of our clique -- but no, there are no ties to organized crime -- do you think I'd be driving a 13-year-old car with 145,000 miles on it if I were a made man? Oooohh, wait -- it's the perfect cover! God I love conspiracy theories. No, I MEAN it.) Anyway, "Arizona Mafia" refers to a handful of employees at AVN (including me) who moved out here from Arizona, and some friends of ours who have work(ed) at the magazines. Whatever machinations may or may not have occurred regarding the "Arizona Mafia" and Ken Wood's departure from AVN, I wasn't privy to them -- I saw the ugliness on both sides of the issue (and there ARE two sides to the whole story, but I won't get in to specifics because, like I said, I only know what I observed). I told some of the parties involved (Ken included) what I thought about the situation, and I tried to give Ken some advice during the whole thing. He and I were on speaking terms when he left. "...now I hear that Rebecca Grey will operate AVNOnLine." That would be news to me. She freelances for AVN; at most, I'd bet she would freelance for Online. She's very busy with theatre and shooting "The Money Shot." Guess we'll see. "Bryn Pryor and Ken Wood hated each other." I can't speak for either man, but recently, through a mutual friend, Ken had relayed to Bryn and some others here that he had long ago "moved on" with his life. He had been angry, but had gotten past it, and wished the best for everyone. Now, who knows. Sure doesn't sound like he's moving on. "...the new man on the AVN block, Mikey Ramone, fits right in with Bryn. He's a Bryn Pryor crony." Anyone who knows Mike Ramone knows that he is NO ONE'S "crony." "Ramone worked manfully in both the Houston and Jasmin St. Claire gangbangs." And we still give him shit for it whenever we can. Hell's Coming To Breakfast For AVN Dear reader, make no mistake. Adult Video News is in crisis today thanks to the revelations on my site and on Gene Ross. And dear reader, you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm going to recapture the excitement I had in December of 1998, before I got hacked and knocked off the air for almost three weeks. It was interesting to see how AVN would handle today's serious allegations. I've emailed AVN publisher Paul Fishbein numerous times since yesterday and he's yet to reply. I've had virtually no communication with him for almost two years. AVN has replied to the allegations in a cryptic manner. See its site www.AVNGossip.com. Here's an excerpt: [Tod Hunter writes:] About an hour ago, Mark Kernes walked into my cubicle and borrowed my copy of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. I just got an e-mail from Mark a few minutes ago: From: Mark Kernes To Gossip Columnists Everywhere: Words to live by: "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you." - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche Luke says: Trust Mark Kernes to turn to an atheist for wisdom. For as the Psalmist says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." If Mark was a more religious guy, he wouldn't be as depressed by the Holy Days. Jews and Gentiles, from Chaim Amalek and myself, please make a gut yontif. From AVNGossip.com: The Luke F-rd Chronicles [Tod Hunter write] In which Luke asks me about stuff Ken Wood said on Gene Ross's site, and I don't answer the questions. Those of you who aren't Luke, Ken, Gene or me can scroll down to the next bit while we talk to each other. Hey Tod: Do you have any comment on Ken Wood's remarks about you? No. Do you date industry performers? Is this against AVN rules? Does AVN have a policy here? That's none of your business, and I will not answer that question. Not to my knowledge. Not to my knowledge. Luke says: To the best of my knowledge, Tod's hit on several members of the esteemed adult film industry, as have I. That Stacey Boyd [she helped run AVN's internet operations] is a real cutie patutie. But she's left AVN. Tod's personal life is none of my business. I'm just curious about AVN's policy towards fraternization. Publisher Paul Fishbein often upholds his operation as an example of journalistic probity which I find amusing. If AVN didn't pretend to run an upstanding journalistic operation, there would be no point to my inquiries. In my heart of hearts, do I think AVN is any more corrupt or unethical than I am? No. Luke writes Tod: Dear Tod: I was reading your site this afternoon and I think that you are way too intelligent to be in the adult industry. You've always treated me courteously. Sorry to have to ask about your private life. I don't think that I will ever go after you in the way I've gone after Paul Fishbein and Gene Ross. I don't know one person in the industry who dislikes you. Your website has a nice understated touch. I read it every day. Regarding Mark Kernes comment: "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you." Luke says: Those are very perceptive words. I've often found myself doing things in the pursuit of gossip that are monsterous, and more heinous than the shenanigans I've written about. Still, AVN has some serious questions to face and can't avoid them through quotations. Hell's coming to breakfast for AVN. I had AVN by the balls in early December 1998 when I got hacked, my sources got bought off and I lost all momentum. Now I may be recapturing it. AVN's Bryn Pryor Takes His Show On The Road Ken Wood writes Gene Ross: "Was on my way to work this morning and passed a Cal Tran crew on the side of the road. Made me think of Bryn [Pryor] and my respect for Bryn's commitments to freeway beautification. Tell Luke F-rd I'll be glad to speak to him but all in due time." Luke interprets: I think Ken is hinting that Bryn Pryor (former AVN managing editor) has been serving time by picking up trash along the freeway. Serving time for what? Porn Insider writes Gene Ross: "Just got done reading your interview with former AVN managing editor Ken Wood. That is some good stuff. I'm hoping there's lots more. After reading that I can see how Ken really got f---ed over. I'd like to see more of your thoughts. You're pretty much staying on the outside, but you were asking Ken all the right questions though I wanted to hear your views on the subject. You must know, you've got to know why Paul leaves Bryn there. I've had discussions with Paul with him saying, 'You're right, I need to get rid of him [Pryor], but I can't do it right now I've got to get rid of other people.' And a week later, Ken was gone." I wish I understood this f---in' power Bryn has. It's very frustrating. Why bother calling AVN to bitch, Paul just ignores it. And what's this Arizona Mafia? Was that a legit thing?" Ken Wood told Gene that in February, 2000: "Bryn Pryor was preparing to direct a mainstream movie called Money Shot basically based on AVN. He thought they were going to start shooting the next month, March. It turns out there were delays and that didn't happen." Luke says: As I hear it, the delays relate to Pryor's conviction for trafficking in stolen computers. Ken Wood told Gene: "It was basically the circle of people around Bryn Pryor, his clique, if you will. They never really accepted me or accepted me as an authority figure - the Arizona Mafia which was a term used by several people at the magazine. That's always confused me because their leader, Bryn Pryor, appointed me. I always thought that I had been set up for failure by this group..." Wood: "It was at some point about two months into my tenure that I figured out that Bryn was still effectively calling the shots. Rebecca Gray was the technical editor at the time and when she didn't necessarily agree with something that I was doing, I found out that she was going behind my back to complain to Bryn. Since Bryn was not officially part of the chain of command, this struck me as odd. She would go behind my back to Bryn and Bryn would go to Paul Fishbein and it seemed like everybody was involved in decision making except me. In my mind, I was the one person who was trying to do what was best for the magazine and was being met with resistance every step along the way up to Paul's office. "I always had a grudging respect for Bryn because he seemed to get things done in Paul's office. If anybody had a problem or wanted something to get done, they knew who they could go to. They knew that Bryn could get the job done. People from different departments in the magazine would come to him to get things done because as soon as he held the wielded the saber, things got done." (Gene Ross) Luke says: I hear that Bryn Pryor (Mark Logan) bought a bunch of stolen computers for Adult Video News. That's getting things done. I hear that Paul Fishbein proclaimed that he did not know they were stolen. Byrn Pryor took the fall for it. He subsequently served time in jail, spending many of his weekends there. He served one day a week (usually a Wednesday or a Thursday) on CalTrans, picking up trash beside the highway. AVN's Technical Editor of the time, Rebecca Grey, wrote numerous letters on Bryn's behalf, pleading for clemency. John says: "Paul Fishbein can lie straight to your face without flinching. He's very good at it. He'll do something, then start calling people and giving them totally different stories. He's a pro at playing people off against each other." In December of 1998, AVN critics told me: "Paul’s the cause of his own problems. He doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut. Now it’s coming back to haunt him. What makes this whole mess really funny is that he is getting sucker punched by Darren Roberts. It’s the whole Yoram thing all over again. Roberts is setting himself up for the takeover. Roberts is a slick little shit and by the time he is through with Fishbein, Fishbein will be begging for Yoram to f--- him in the ass again. Fishbein will never know what hit him... Managing editor Bryn Pryor [Mark Logan] has been out to get him, trying to make him look bad. Ask about [Pryor's relationship with] Chloe. Isn’t f---ing a porn star a conflict of interest for a managing editor? Fishbein said it is." Pryor denied having an intimate relationship with Chloe. Read the full story here. Luke says: In case anyone hasn't noticed, I enjoy bashing AVN. I don't pretend to be impartial. I do try to be fair, generally, but I don't pretend to not have an emotional investment here. For various reasons, I really enjoy bashing AVN and Vivid, and to various extents, production companies Sin City, VCA and Metro. I don't enjoy bashing AVN because I think it is a particularly vicious place and because I think AVN publisher Paul Fishbein is a bad man. I enjoy bashing AVN primarily because they are number one at what they do and I enjoy taking on the big guys. That's why I am always most cruel to the most powerful people. I'm far nastier to Paul Fishbein, Steve Hirsch (Vivid), Russ Hampshire (VCA), David Sturman (Sin City, GVA West), Eddie Wedelstedt (Goalie) and Jim South (World Modeling) than I am to any porn star. While it is morally problematic to be cruel to non-evil people, at least it is morally superior for me to express my vicious impulses on Fishbein, Hirsch and company than on helpless porn stars. When I bash Paul Fishbein and company, I pick on people who can defend themselves and hurt me. I would very much like to work for Paul Fishbein. It has always been him who has chosen to not hire me. He has never made me an offer to work for him and he has always turned me down when I've asked to work for him. I have a problem dealing with authority and by going after Fishbein and company, I am working out my ambivalent and troubled feelings... In Defense Of Tod Hunter Lysa Stone of Astral Ocean writes about AVNGossip.com operator Tod Hunter: Hi Luke. You know my rule, I'm silent about things unless they concern Astral but here I have to bark a bit. You're right, Tod Hunter is well-respected and liked by everyone who knows him. You and I have talked about him before and it's evident you respect him as well. I think its interesting and a bit childish that his personal life is brought up here. It has no effect on his ability to do his job. He's very objective when it comes to separating personal from professional. He is truly one of my closest friends in or out of the industry; he will review one of Astral's videos and give it 2 stars. No measure of friendship can make him give that tape a higher rating - it's a bad tape, he reviews it that way, best friends or not. If I were Paul, I would certainly give no credence to the fact that Tod may or may not be dating a starlet. Furthermore, he can date whomever he wants. He is extremely discreet and guarded about the women he dates. If anyone knows his personal life, it's because they're looking hard and making assumptions at best. "Dating" Sonja, if that's what you could call his friendship with her, is hardly a transgression of professionalism. I would think that dating a starlet would be much more appropriate than a married executive dating someone from his own office. If Tod "hits" on people in the industry, it certainly is his right, much as it is the right of the "hit-ee" to say no. Or yes. I cannot in any way see his manor being offensive in asking a woman out. If anything, he's old-fashioned and respectful towards the women he is interested in. Ken Wood, Tod was good to you during your tumultuous tenure at AVN. I realize you went through a lot of bad stuff over there but bringing Tod into this was pretty disrespectful and rather unnecessary. AVN Employees Convicted Of Having Sex, But Not With The Magazine Ashley Kennedy writes: "You mean people that work for AVN have SEX? With other real-live human beings? How dare they! I'm going to have to speak to my pastor about this posthaste, because I'm a woman with high moral standards (or is that a high woman with standard morals...). As for the "crisis at AVN today", well, I really hadn't noticed. Thanks for the update, and Happy Thanksgiving. from the dildo-infested cubicle of Ashley "The Fearless" Kennedy" Luke Sherlock Ford inquires: "Do you work for AVN?" Ashley responds: "Yes. I'm a blissfully new and almost anonymous associate editor, and I adore my talented and hard-working fellow employees. Why? Looking for a title for your posting? Shouldn't you be basting a turkey or something, Luke?" Luke: "I'm vegetarian. Are you Jewish? Have we met? Are you hot looking?' Ashley replies: "Oy vey! Jewish? What are you meshugeneh? No, I'm a born-again pagan from New Orleans (not Philly, so get over the whole nepotism conspiracy thing). No we have not met, although I'll see you in Vegas, whether I like it or not, I'm sure. I used to be a vegetarian, but after three years I realized that Doritos and Crown Royal weren't really part of a healthy diet. Any other questions? My great-grandmother's maiden name was Delph, I'm a Virgo, I surf, and I hate Country and Western. Does that cover everything? I have to get back to work now. Happy Holidays." Luke: "Can I come to your house for Thanksgiving, Ashley? All my family is in Australia and I don't have any friends." Ashley replies: "I don't think I can trust you unattended with my turkey." 11/27/00 Tod Hunter Sets Up His Own Email Account From AVNGossip.com, Tod Hunter writes: "I've set up a separate e-mail account at todhunterathome@hotmail.com. Anybody who wants to get in touch with me without passing through the AVN servers is welcome to contact me there. I'm not saying that my e-mail is being monitored - personally, I don't know and I don't care; I'm an open book - but we all know that it can happen and you may not share my laissez-faire attitude. As the name implies, I won't even ACCESS it from the office, so don't expect a prompt reply. Off-the-record requests will be honored, as well as hold-this-until-this-date requests. Haven't made up my mind whether to use blind items or not, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Luke: This is an interesting reaction to last week's revelation that AVN VP Darren Roberts, on publisher Paul Fishbein's request, has been snooping through employee's emails, checking to see who might be giving Luke F-rd scoop. Perhaps porn sources will now be loathe to contact AVNers via email. So as a precaution, Tod Hunter's setting up his own private account, as should any AVNer wanting privacy in their email communications. It had long been whispered by AVNers that Roberts was snooping through employee's computers, but this allegation only came to light last week with Gene Ross's startling interview with Ken Wood, former AVN managing editor. Paul "Captain Queeg" Fishbein I hear that over the last five days Adult Video News publisher Paul Fishbein has resembled the Captain Queeg character in the Herman Wouk novel "The Caine Mutiny." On my site and Gene Ross, we've released evidence that Fishbein, through his VP Darren Roberts, monitors their employees email to see who might be giving me scoop. Gene Ross will be my special guest on Luke F-rd Live Tuesday afternoon. I've revealed that former AVN managing editor Bryn Pryor (Mark Logan) was arrested and convicted in the Spring of 1999 for possession of stolen computers that Pryor brought into the AVN offices. Pryor served jail time as well as picked up trash beside highways for CalTrans as punishment. This has been the best bashing I've given AVN since last December when I revealed Paul Fishbein's secret investment with Rob Spallone and Russ Hampshire's Babenet in an internet porn shooting house which ended up making no money. I've heard that a problem was technical ineptitude with Babenet, whose servers frequently crashed when talkshow host Howard Stern plugged the site realpornworld.com. AVN's websites are hosted by Babenet. VCA owner Russell Hampshire has a considerable financial interest in Babenet. AVN's Vice President Darren Roberts came to AVN from Babenet. And he's VCA man at AVN say sources, making sure that Fishbein and company operate according to Hampshire's wishes. Walter says: Luke, I get a kick out of your Mary Poppins portrayal of AVN publisher Paul Fishbein. Fishbein was just going insane last December when you broke his secret investment with Babenet story. Just bouncing off the walls. AVN writer Ken Michaels is revising history. Ken started dating Renee Johnson (then a clerk) when AVN moved to the office in Van Nuys in 1996. Then in 1998, Renee Johnson threatened a sexual harassment suit against the AVN managing editor of the time Bryn Pryor. So in exchange for her dropping the suit, Pryor went to anger management classes and Renee got this cushy job of ostensibly running the conventions for AVN as well as a company car. They gave it to her to keep her happy and away from bringing suit. Ken Michaels says it wasn't a sexual harassment suit. He's full of it. Of course it was. Whether he called her a dumb cunt bitch whore or whatever... It certainly wasn't that Bryn was trying to get in her pants. That convention division of AVN is one of those divisions of Paul Fishbein's empire (he's got more companies than I have fingers and toes) where you really don't know what the hell is going on. Avanstar effectively runs the conventions. They just bought AVN's name. Lysa Stone wrote in defense of Tod Hunter. Well, yeah, but it comes down to this. Tod used his influence at AVN to nominate his girlfriend Sonja Redd for Best New Starlet when nobody else at AVN thought she deserved this. But Tod ramrodded that through. It's fine for AVNers to date porn stars but don't use your influence to get them nominations and awards. Keep your two cents out of their f---ing careers. December is going to be a fun month leading up to the AVN Awards. We'll have plenty of bombshells. Paul Fishbein should've bribed Gene Ross to stay home. Before Paul hired Darren Roberts, major webmasters warned people, watch out for Darren Roberts. He's a slimy operator. And it is vibe that people get upon meeting him. You should see this Wired magazine cover from two years ago. A Norman Rockwell style painting of a town meeting. And the guy on the cover looks exactly like Darren Roberts with that same open-jawed blank stare. Of course Roberts affair with Fishbein's secretary Lisa Love is ongoing. Of course it is disruptive. People are left with the sense that certain people at AVN hold on to their jobs because of certain "influences." And she's not the only one there because of that. If you only saw the X-rated video Adult Video Nudes, written by Gene Ross for AVN's tenth anniversary. Tony Tedeschi plays Paul Fishbein. Now, Fishbein's stipulation for making the movie was 'I don't want my character to have sex.' So Tedeschi has a non-sex role. But throughout the movie, whenever things get tense, he's rolling these weighted steel balls together in his right hand, like Bogart does in The Caine Mutiny. And everybody who saw that movie and knew Paul, said that Tedeschi had Fishbein down to a T. His mannerisms and everything. From AVN.com: The Money Shot, a mainstream video series being produced for release in Websites like ifilm.com, Always i, Icebox.com, MediaTrip and AVN Live, is looking for adult performers to play themselves in cameo roles. The series is a dark comedy about the business side of the adult business being produced by AVN's Paul Fishbein. The various Websites that are carrying the series get millions of visitors each month, and we have high hopes of taking the series to another level - either as a film or half-hour series for cable. All actors get copy, credit, meals, tons of great exposure & deferred pay. Performers interested in appearing in the series should contact Bryn Pryor at 818.718.5788, xt. 152 or e-mail bryn@carbonbasedfilms.com for more info. I Am Curious Yellow Goddess writes: Please explain why this "AVN in trouble" thing is giving you such a woody? You've often said how you admire Paul Fishbein, so why are you relishing the problems he's having as of late? I don't understand what your motivation is. And skip that psychological b.s. What's the *real* deal? Luke replies: I do like Paul and I do relish the problems he's been having and will have in the coming weeks. Because it is a big story. Adult Video News (AVN) is probably the most powerful force in the adult industry. Nobody has ever been able to nail them before. I think I've come closest. The story intrinsically gets me excited. And its personal too, because they've always refused to hire me in any capacity. Ian writes: Have I got this right? AVN is in deep trouble because some of the senior staff may have accepted, even sought, sexual favours from prospective employees and attractive members of the porn community? Surely that's half the fun of working in the industry! If I ever wanted to work in the porn industry it would be partly for the prospect of earning and getting such favours. Unfortunately, I can only fantasise about it, but I'd never criticize anybody who was presented with the chances I never had for taking advantage of them. There's also other gossip about the office politics of AVN, which just sounds like the kind of things one would learn about any large corporation from disgruntled employees (of which there's never a shortage.) Where's the scandal? Of course, I may have missed it by misreading your reports. Goddess writes: Hmmm, I gotta agree with Ian on this one, Luke. What's the big deal? It's porn, not matters of national security. I know there's a lot of money generated by the porn biz, and maybe it's just a reflection of my cynicism, but I'd be more shocked to find out they *weren't* accepting sexual favors at AVN. Another question I have for you, though, is that if you really believe the mag is corrupt, why are you insulted they won't hire you? Luke: I don't believe AVN is any more corrupt than I am. I'd like some easy money. I hear the porn industry is worth billions. I want some. And AVN pays reliably and has great connections with the industry. And it would be such a challenge to work for them, such a dramatic shift for me. It would be a great pro wrestling move. I Am Curious Yellow Part Deux Goddess writes: Luke, wasn't Gene responsible for doing a lot of the hiring at AVN while he worked there? And if so, why aren't you resentful of Gene the way you are Paul? Luke says: I've resented Gene in the past and I've taken it out on him on this site. But for the last 18 months, and for most of the last 27 months, Gene and I have made a separate peace. In other words, for two years, Gene's been my friend and Paul hasn't. Gene's taken my phone calls and emails, while Paul hasn't. Gene's talked to me while Paul hasn't. During this time I've bashed Gene as hard as Paul. Yet Gene's shrugged it off while Paul's hated me. Paul has more passionately sought to encourage porners not to speak to me. Gene's my peer. He's treated me fairly. We've slugged it out. Paul operates on another dimension. He's perhaps porn's most powerful man. High journalistic principles on my part, no? Chaim Amalek writes about Gene Ross and Paul Fishbein: I have never and likely will never meet or communicate with either of these gentle men; hence, my picture of them comes entirely through your words. You seem to portray the former as a Man's Man; the latter as a short, lawyer-wielding weasel. Of course, you have also taken great pains to inform us that the former is a sturdy gentile with "whipcord thighs", the latter a short but clever rich jew. Are you not being a tad antisemitic here, Luke? Accurate or not, your characterizations play into certain anti-semitic stereotypes that have vexed my people for many years. Please take greater care not to serve those interests that do not serve our interests. Revisionist History Ken Michaels, AVN Online Technical Editor, writes Luke: I can't believe what is obviously such a carefully calculated attack is already showing cracks. One example from today's postings: "...in 1998, Renee Johnson threatened a sexual harassment suit..." So now it's "threatened" a law suit? Funny, last time she had "brought" a law suit -- "brought" in this context usually taken to mean "filed." What next, she "won" a law suit? Also, Ken Wood says the quote you and Gene attribute to him about "Freeway Beautification" didn't come from him. So... who's revising history? Regardless, I stand by what I wrote -- what about the word "clarify" does your source ("Paul Fishbein should've bribed Gene Ross to stay" at AVN -- are you confirming Gene as your source?) not understand? If the subtleties of the English language escape any of you, next time I can use small words. Speaking of clarification: I AM NOT Randy Kaplan, aka Rich C. Leather. One fat bearded guy who works for AVN looks like the next, I guess. Have a nice day, everybody -- even you, Luke, and your source -- Gene, or whoever. 11/28/00 No Dirt On AVN Randy Kaplan aka Rich C. Leather writes Luke: I have been informed that once again you have mentioned me on your website, apparently in relation to recent events at AVN. I cannot imagine why; I have had no connection with AVN for some time, although I remain very proud of my association with AVN. I was told that you are associating me with Ken Michaels in some fashion. After I left the direct employ of AVN, I continued as a freelance writer for them for several years ending in 1998, with the courtesy titles of Senior Reviewer and Business Editor. During that time, Ken Michaels came to work at AVN. I think of him as a friend, but we barely know each other, did not really work together, and I don't know what possible connection you are making between us. As I have stated in numerous venues on numerous occasions, and to you personally on at least one occasion, I cannot really furnish any "dirt" on AVN, because although I was part of and privy to a fair bit of the internal workings of AVN for some three and a half years, I did not see any dirt to report. Also, as I have stated on numerous occasions, the frequent accusations leveled at AVN in regard to improprieties regarding the AVN Awards, to the best of my knowledge, during and before my time at AVN, are completely false. My colleagues and I worked very hard to make the Awards honest, comprehensive, and worthy of note. I remain proud of that work, too. I consider most everyone I knew at AVN to be my friends. The major exceptions are Yoram Dahan and Bryn Pryor. Dahan's unethical actions at AVN are a matter of public knowledge. I would not make a blanket statement that any enemy of Paul Fishbein's is an enemy of mine, but my emotions are certainly inclined that way, and in the case of Dahan, it is accurate. Bryn Pryor I simply do not like and do not trust. Pryor fired me from AVN, but that is not the source of my dislike, because Dahan, Scott Stein, and Mark Kulkis also attempted to fire me. I cconsider Mark Kulkis a good friend, and I have great respect for Scott Stein, who has accomplished quite a bit in his post-AVN career. I know virtually nothing of the internal workings of AVN over the last several years. I do not know Ken Wood. I barely know Darren Roberts. I consider myself a good friend of Paul Fishbein, Gene Ross, Tod Hunter, and Mark Kernes. I think they are all honorable men. I don't have anything bad to say about any of them. If any of them have come to a point where they have bad things to say about each other, I am saddened by that. I continue to revile you, Mr. Ford, as a contemptible human being. I
would appreciate it if you would refrain from mentioning me on your website.
Goddess writes Luke: You made this statement on your site yesterday: "December is going to be a fun month leading up to the AVN Awards. We'll have plenty of bombshells." Who is the "we" you are referring to, Luke? 11/29/00 Paul Fishbein's Conflicts Of Interest Frank writes: Hello Luke, Just wanted to comment on 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 Fischbein 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. Ron Miller On Tera Patrick Show Ron Miller, founder of Erotica LA, appeared on the Tera Patrick Show last night but he would not say anything nasty about AVN. Adult Video News has hated Miller in the past and there was no love lost between them. But a few weeks ago Miller sold Erotica LA To AVN. Darren Roberts and Bryn Pryor hated Miller and tried (in the fall of 1999) to get Gene Ross to do a hatchet job on him. This was after AVN dropped from sponsoring the Erotica LA Halloween Ball because of a financial dispute. For months afterwards at AVN, whenever you heard the name "Ron Miller," you'd always hear the word "thief" used in the same sentence. Gene Ross sez: "Somebody then better advise Mr. Miller that both Bryn Pryor and Darren Roberts approached me last year about doing an editorial "hatchet job" on Miller with Roberts calling Miller "a thief". For the record, I never did the piece even though Pryor insisted I "was the guy who could do it." Hey, it's a good thing they didn't do the hatchet job in light of present circumstances." THE AVN 4 write Luke: "from inside AVN...it's not that hard to get another e-mail account...let's just tell you Luke, that AVN is about to go down the tubes...we've got taped and written proof of bribery and threats..." Retired porn star Rebecca Bardoux writes: Luke, Hi, Luke hope all is well! I just got done reading the nominees for the AVN Awards, and it has really put a downer on my day. Looking at the Hall of Fame Inductees I see a few of the girls that I came in with, or slightly before. Now, I was just wondering what makes one eligible for getting into the Hall of Fame. I guess for the years I never got any awards and a lot of nom's, it would be great just to be in the Hall of Fame. Maybe, I was a bigger performer in my head then in reality. This will not make any difference in respect to my career, as I am no longer doing movies, or dancing. In fact I'll be getting married soon to a wonderful man that has had nothing to do with the business. I still feel bad about this, Not that I did the movies to get in to the Hall of Fame, but I enjoyed what I did, and so did my fans, and during my time I was always professional and well liked, and all directors knew I would always give my best with a great attitude. You can be honest Luke as well as your readers, do I have a reason to be hurt. Wayne writes: Dear Luke: I vacationed with Becky and a bunch of other guests in Mexico a couple of years ago and she is one nice classy lady!!! Her job was sort of a one like a cruise directors does co ordinating events I sort of lost track of her due circumstances beyond my control. Could you forward this message to her!!! CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR UPCOMING MARRIAGE AVN Nominations Steph **** from AdultDvdTalk.com writes: Generally, I don't like to publicize my opinions on the adult video industry because every time I do someone threatens to sue me or accuses me of slander. But when I saw the AVN award nominations this morning I was flabbergasted. I cannot judge any of the video or star nominations, as I don't watch VHS tapes. I can, however, comment on the DVD nominations. Consumers often joke about AVN reviewers not actually watching the movies they review. But shouldn't the most promoted awards in the industry be taken more seriously? AVN nominated Diva X: Brittany for Best Interactive DVD. I couldn't get most of the segments of the DVD to work (and I have two different players for testing purposes.) A consumer reviewer describes this disc as 'poor, sloppy and rushed', going on to say that 'the execution is flawed' when discussing the interactive portion of the disc. He was being nice. Now let's move on to the nominations for Best Classic DVD. AVN nominated NuTech's Debbie Does Dallas. Maybe they should include some kind of criteria for these nominations. Yes, Debbie Does Dallas is a great movie. The DVD, however, does not do the movie justice. The audio is horrendous. One reviewer commented, "Most of the movie sounds like it was recorded in the shower." The DVD has no extras whatsoever. Ironically, AVN also nominated The Dinner Party for Best Classic DVD. The irony is that Adam and Eve is remastering this disc due to problems with the original. To quote an Adam and Eve representative (as posted on the Adult DVD Talk forum), "The current DVD does not do the title justice. Ultimate fans have been asking for a new DVD for quite some time." A reviewer says, "It's criminal: A featureless DVD with a really poor transfer of one of the best adult films of the 1990s.... It's so bad that I actually stopped and recalibrated my home theater system to make sure there wasn't something wrong with my equipment!" Most consumers express this sentiment with more colorful language. I realize it's difficult to wade through thousands of movies to make these nominations. But there are people working very hard on their DVDs. They deserve to be rewarded. Maybe the DVD nominations are not as important as the video categories? Hopefully, someone just made a few typos. Gene Ross sez: "In a nominations' list that's distinguished by its record number of typos, the biggest one AVN made was by putting one person in charge of sorting out the DVDs. The people in that industry are getting royally f---ed in the fast shuffle." Luke says: Isn't the person in charge of DVDs Bryn Pryor aka Mark Logan? Adult Video News Publisher Paul Fishbein Answers The Tough Questions Luke says: Evidence is mounting from various sources that the following stories are not to be discounted. Here are some highlights from my December 7, 1998 interview with AVN publisher Paul Fishbein: Luke asks: Speaking of Sexpose, it was all over the industry that you
were sleeping with Kylie Ireland, that’s how she got the editor’s
title? Franky tells Luke: You need to hammer on these allegations. It will drive Fishbein nuts. He loves to present that upstanding mask. But put a few wines into him and he will spill all. He loves to confess. He's confessed to cheating on his first wife, to having an affair with Dick Miller's (Richard Mailer's) secretary at the time at Intropics Video. Remember that Dick Miller is the Prague pimp these days. Fishbein loves to stay with Dick Miller in Prague. That whole thing with Chris English and Chuck Zane was right on the nose. It's an understood that Dick Miller offers an open invitation to anyone in the vicinity of Prague to come stay with him and sample the goodies. This was whole area for fruitful discussion between Paul, Darren Roberts and Hal Roseman of Rose Travel in Philadelphia, which lines up all the travel for AVN. The three traveled to Prague, right after Cannes, to visit Dick Miller. And they were openly talking about what was going to go down, and it wasn't study of sacred text, let me tell you. Paul Fishbein was seen openly groping Sky, a Vivid girl at the time, at the casinos at the January 1999 CES. Paul was hanging out with his business partner Stuart Franks. A few weeks later, Paul told a journalist about Sky, "She's to be discounted. You can't trust her. She's crazy." Luke: "Does Paul like to take girls to the Airtel Hotel?" Franky replies: Let's put it this way. They were observed driving off somewhere and the Airtel, of course, is the local rendezvous point for a lot of the industry muckety mucks who want their little break in the day. You asked yesterday what is it that Bryn Pryor could have on Paul Fishbein. After all, it appears that Pryor took the fall for bringing stolen computers into AVN. Pryor spent jail time. Why would Fishbein keep him on the payroll unless there was some secret deal? Bryn and Paul are good buddies. Bryn introduced Chloe to Paul. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some videotape of this whole thing. So there are two points of job security for Pryor - Chloe and computers. Lloyd says: Extreme did extremely well in the AVN nominations. Did Rob Black's black rose bullying tactics have some kind of an effect? Luke talked his deep throat Ken. Ken: I hope you're just calling to say hi, because I have no dirt. Luke: I just wanted to say hi. And by the way, did Paul Fishbein ever get together with Jill Kelly? Ken: No. In fact there was a misunderstanding between the two of them that they did not like each other. He thought she didn't like him and she thought he didn't like her. Luke: Oh, how convenient. What a great story. Ken: They're barely friendly. They don't even know each other. To be perfectly honest with you, I don't think Paul has had any affairs with porn girls. He's almost never been single. I don't think he likes porn girls. He likes smart girls. If he did have affairs with porn girls, it would surprise me majorly. I've seen Paul with Chloe and I did not get any sense that they had ever hooked up. I just saw two friendly people. As for Bryn and Chloe, yeah, they did get together. Chloe thinks Paul Fishbein is nice but she also thinks he's kinda square. Paul is too vanilla for Chloe. Bryn Pryor is certainly not vanilla. He's deeply twisted. Pryor (Mark Logan) has these yearly orgies with these invitation cards that look like a wedding invitation. Luke: "Did Shane ever have a fling with Paul Fishbein?" Ken: No. Luke: "Were you ever aware of Paul pursuing Shane?" Ken: I plead the Fifth. Luke: "What about Paul and Taylor Hayes?" Ken: I plead the Fifth. I do know that according to the Clinton standards of what sex is, there has been no sexual activity between Paul and Taylor and Paul and Shane. I guarantee that. Even Bill Clinton could say there was no anything. I found this interesting interview with Sky aka Skylar Chase. She talks about having lunch with Shane and AVN publisher Paul Fishbein. Here's an excerpt from the interview: Do people tell you that you remind them of Shane? Sky: There is more than a slight resemblance. Yes, a lot of people tell us that. We had lunch the other day with Paul Fishbein, the publisher of AVN, and he was telling us that I remind him a lot of Shane. It's funny, because Shane and I have spent a lot of time together, but not enough to develop the same personality. Before I knew Shane my friend JR Carrington said, "Oh my god, you remind me of my friend Shane." So Billy Glide took me to meet Shane at Taylor Wayne's birthday party. She hasn't been able to get rid of me since. What are you going to do after your contract expires? Are you going to stick with Shane or go for the cash featuring on the road? Sky: I think with Shane this could last a long time. I would totally love to feature. One idea that was brought up by Paul was that after a year me and Shane would feature together. Ken Wood Suspects AVN Has Ties To Organized Crime I did this email interview 11/29/00 with former Adult Video News managing editor Ken Wood (and I suspect the IRS is reading this): >* Did you see or suspect any criminal activity at AVN while you were there? Ken: Yes, I believe I did. I have no evidence to support that claim. >* Any ties to organized crime or money laundering? Ken: Yes, to the first. I believe there were. I have no evidence to support that claim. >* 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. I cannot support that claim with direct evidence. >* Were you ever instructed to slant your coverage, either negative or >positive? Yes, I believe I was. Again, I can't support that. >* Did Paul Fishbein have sex with any porn stars? Not to my knowledge. Not any specific porn stars, at least. >* Did any AVNers boff any porners? Did you? I have never had a sexual relationship with anybody in the porn industry. The only one that I would have even considered f---ing still works at AVN. As for other AVN staff, I always heard rumors, but you know how those are. So I can't say that they did for sure. >* 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. This was my observation, and I have no direct evidence to support it. >* 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. >* What was the morale like at AVN? Pathetic. I was ordered by Paul and Darren Roberts to "do something" about editorial morale when I took over. I suggested no-brainer solutions like raises and private office space to begin with, both of which were quickly and uncerimoniously rejected. I pissed them off when I took the entire editorial staff to lunch at The Olive Garden in Chatsworth without permission. I had nine or ten friends for about 60 minutes. It took weeks to get reimbursed, by the way. >* What were the major cliches? Pass. >* How could a magazine with so many journalists and so much money, in such >an interesting industry, be so boring? A stock car on the track in Daytona isn't very interesting when you have it in neutral. >* Did you see any evidence of OC in porno? You're talking to somebody who comes from a legal family. Evidence is too strong a word. >* How did Bryn Pryor treat Paul like shit? Verbal abuse, mainly. Telling him how he should run his company. Actually, in retrospect, Bryn was right 90% of the time. It was just his style that I found tasteless. >* Have you ever seen Paul Fishbein tell a lie? I believe I have. >* Who were the two people who communicated with me at AVN? Oh, come now, you don't REALLY expect me to answer that, do you? >* What do you think of the AVN Awards? Read generossextreme.com Arch Stanton writes on RAME: "I can't help remembering a few years
back when FishFace deployed a few troops here on rame to denounce and
fight Luke F-rd and to defend the legitimacy of the The Day Vivid Fired Nikki Tyler Gene Ross writes: "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." Luke says: To the best of my knowledge, Steve Hirsch used to boff Nikki Tyler behind Bobby Vitale's back. Gene Ross On Luke F-rd Live Gene Ross spent the first hour with us. (Listen to the show) He said that AVN publisher Paul Fishbein had promised him (back in Philadelphia around 1991) a percentage ownership in AVN which Gene never received. Gene: "Mark Kernes is an intelligent guy who has no idea what a deadline is. The most exasperating thing in dealing with him is to get him to turn something in on time. Mark Kernes just does not understand what a calendar is." Luke: "Do you think he's qualified to be AVN's legal analyst?" Gene: "Being a court reporter [Mark's former profession] doesn't exactly qualify you to be a legal analyst." Jim: "But he wears suspenders." Gene: "He's got the Clarence Darrow look going." Luke: "I was blown away by Mark Kernes analysis of the Seymore Butts vs Sunshine case. He thought Seymore Butts won it while everybody else thought that Sunshine won it." Gene: "I had some out and out arguments with Kernes over that. We both read the same opinion. I had minimal legal training, but it seemed clear from the judge's ruling that Sunshine won. So we had him interview Seymore's attorney and I interviewed Sunshine's attorney. And if you'd compared the comments of both, you'd be confused too." Jim: "Is Seymore Butts [Adam Glasser] allowed to continue being Seymore Butts?" Gene: "No. Sunshine put the name in commerce, therefore they own the name." Luke: "Is it a common practice at Adult Video News to use stolen property?" Gene: "Well, if you can get it at a good price. "If Bryn Pryor worked on CalTrans [as a prisoner picking up trash beside freeways], he's in good company. Tom Byron, Bobby Hollander, Marc Wallice all worked for CalTrans." Luke: "Why would Paul Fishbein keep Bryn Pryor on his employment, after that conviction for dealing in stolen property, unless Pryor had taken a fall for higherups at AVN?" Gene: "Now you're thinking like Columbo [TV detective]." Gene: "There was a rumor that Darren Roberts, when he came to work at AVN, said he was going to eliminate my job. Paul denied it. This was a story told to me by Paul's former office manager." Luke: "Did you get the sense there that Roberts was out to get you?" Gene: "Nobody gets me. I deal with such things one of two ways. I either deal with it intellectually or physically." Jim: "Do you own a piece of AVN?" Gene: "No, although I was promised it. But my discussions with Paul Fishbein about it, we seem to have different recollections. "I was promised a piece of it when we were still in Philadelphia and that was one of the inducements to come out here [Los Angeles]. When such was not forthcoming, Paul dutifully told me that I had misunderstood what the whole conversation was about." Luke: "What do you think the likelihood is that you misunderstood?" Gene: "Zero. Because as sure as hell I am not going to leave a whole life behind to move out to California over a vague recollection, over semantics." Jim: "Was it a handshake deal?" Gene: "Not in a physical handshake. It was an agreement in principle." Luke: "How many times did you bring this up to Paul?" Gene: "I only had to do it once and the point was made quite clear to me that I was mistaken. I am not the type of person who whines or complains. I solve the problem on either a physical or intellectual plane. To me, living well is the best revenge and I'm living pretty well over here." 11/30/00 AVN Intrigue - Rebecca Gray's Plot To Fire Ken Wood Luke talked to Gene Ross Thursday afternoon about Adult Video News. Listen here. Ken Wood started worked at AVN in February of 1999. A year later, he took over as managing editor of the magazine and immediately ran into opposition from the "Arizona Mafia," a clique of staffers (Rebecca Gray, Mikey Ramone, Ken Michaels?) loyal to former managing editor Bryn Pryor. Here's a copy of a June 8th letter from Rebecca Gray to AVN publisher Paul Fishbein. Ken Wood found the letter (and the plot to fire him) and immediately resigned. Rebecca writes Paul (I've cribbed from Gene Ross where you can get the full scoop): I am exceedingly disturbed that you were willing to write off the majority of your staff as suffering from some kind of collective insanity when so many of us came to you and complained about Ken Wood; but as soon as you caught a whiff of trouble at your front door, well, THEN you saw the necessity of acting. Shame on you. Due to this and so many other reasons- not least among them my passing familiarity with your history of trusting bad people and then getting screwed by them- I need from you the following votes of confidence. 1. You are a savvy businessman, but you are no manager. The sooner you are relieved of this duty the better it will be for your magazine - which is, I feel it's time someone informed you, teetering on the edge of internal collapse. Ellen [Thompson] was the first to go. Paul, Gene is NOT loyal. My god, your naivete is actually somewhat inspiring. You really will believe the best of people, no matter what. This is part of the reason I like you so much, I know; but I'm still INCREDIBLY frustrated by it. Don't take this with a grain of salt. Don't think you know something I don't. If anything, it's the other way around. Gene is SCARED. His FEAR will keep him here forever - NOT HIS LOYALTY. It's fine if you want to ask of him that he take over company liaisoning during his interim period; but if he requires anything of the internal system, he will have to go through me. THERE WILL BE NO SCREAMING DOWN THE HALL, no temper tantrums, no reigns of terror. I mean it. On pain of my leaving- instantly- there will be NO HYSTERIA from either of you. Any issue either have you with editorial you will take up with me and I will deal with accordingly. 2. I will be in charge of the first round of interviews for the managing editor position. Paul, I'm sorry, but I don't trust you with this. You are, as has been borne out many times before, NO JUDGE OF PEOPLE. You trust everyone. And you are too far out of the loop here to understand the politics and intricacies of working in this office. Let me conduct the initial interviews. I will bring you qualified choices...from there, you can make the decision. But in my opinion, you are not capable of doing this on your own, with any degree of efficiency or good judgment. I am. 3. I will fire Michael [Ken Wood]. I will fire him on Friday, June 30, as discussed, after I have received all of this month's writing from him. I will come in early so it's just him and me, and I will help him box and move out. I'm sure he will want to talk to you. We will have to make arrangements to change locks and codes. I can set this up with Elaine starting June 26. It is the only option. I'm sure by now Michael has duplicate keys, and I've wondered if he's able to access our servers from home. We should make sure this is not possible, and change what we have to do if it is. Paul, if I leave it to you, it will never get done. Let me do this....this could be so simple. It's nothing to get excited about. It's easy. If you continue to contaminate it with all of your doubt and double-thinking, I can promise you more trouble. Let me do this. Everything will be fine." Judge Gene Ross sez: "Let's put things in perspective, shall we. I WAS a loyal employee of 14 years with AVN, that is, UNTIL I saw this letter of Gray's, which, taken for what it is, stands as a rather unblemished, narcissistic, paranoid, delusional, undistilled portrayal of arrogance completely out of check- an employee capable of talking down to their employer, treating them like an enfeebled child who's practically incapable of wiping their own ass. But that's the spineless entity AVN has become and those that practice subjugating behavior there thrive among the flora and fauna of its hypocrisy. Sadly, it's not the magazine I remember. "Unfortunately, I can only blame myself that a Rebecca Gray or others of her status exist in any life form. She's a struggling, over-the-hill SAG actress and was screaming bloody hell that Ona Zee had f---ed her for $500 on a script when I took pity and allowed her to smell the aroma of an actual paycheck. My mistake. The broadsides she takes against me are obviously my reward. It's also obvious, even to an idiot, that there was a well thought-out plan to eliminate Ken Wood which was going to take place over a span of 22 days, a cold, calculated f----you blueprint, that suggests if AVN is capable of devious means on this level, imagine what it can do on a broader one. "Wood's only crime in my estimation was that he was my protege, and the spirited assassination attempt against him was also a symbolic one against me. What makes this even more galling is that the day I resigned, when I brought this email to Paul Fishbein's attention as one of my reasons for leaving, he played dumb, as he generally does, and denied its existence- that is until my command of the facts of its contents forced his hand. "Rebecca's out of here," he told me. "Considering her comments, why, as a measure of support for me didn't you just fire her ass back in June when you first got this letter," I asked him. Hemming and hawing, Fishbein assured me he was "dealing" with it. Dealing with it in the sense that Gray, of all people, has a starring role in the Fishbein-backed Internet "movie" The Money Shot, an idea, which, by the way, was lifted from under my nose by Gray and her cronies. But that's another story to be told in the painful, December days of hell that are certainly to follow." (Gene Ross) Troublemaker writes Gene Ross: "Read your comments to Steph **** about AVN's DVD nominations, and, considering the fact that Bryn Pryor and Legend are at war, it's not surprising to see that Legend didn't get one crummy nomination." Insider writes Gene Ross: "Regarding Ken Wood's account of Paul Fishbein saying, 'f--- Jenna Jameson' and how it's going to stack up to Jameson's emceeing the AVN Show - here's how it's going down. The fix is in. This being Jameson's last movie, Fishbein and AVN are going to let her go out with a blaze of glory by letting her win the Best Actress award and letting Dream Quest snag a couple of statues. Is Fishbein going to put Jameson in front of thousands of people where she can be potentially embarrassed by losing? I don't think so. Even Fishbein ain't that dumb. This is by way of saying you won't hear comments from Jameson. Even she knows enough to keep her big yap shut." (Gene Ross) Luke to Gene: "Who's Rebecca Gray?" Gene: "She's an assistant editor at AVN who I hired in 1998 as a proof reader and eventually she assumed more responsibilities and became a writer, blah, blah, blah. My understanding is that after Ken quit, Rebecca was going to leave AVN. She took over temporarily as managing editor until Mikey Ramone took that over. Then she said she was leaving but she's never left." Luke: "Is she an essential cog at AVN?" Gene: "Rebecca is as essential a cog as wings on a pig. "As soon as Ken Wood discovered this email, he called me at home on a Saturday to come over to AVN. In fact, we were going to a Rob Black wrestling event. "He showed me the email and of course I saw red. And Ken says, 'I'm quitting.' I'm going to offer my resignation on Monday." Luke: "How did Ken find the email?" Gene: "Good question. You might have to ask him that one. He's a smart guy. And thank goodness he did find it. It is an eye opener. "It strikes me that she's referencing a conversation she previously had with Fishbein... This was already in the works... "There was nothing wrong going on at AVN. The simple fact is that Ken Wood took over the reins and everybody included Rebecca Gray fought him tooth and nail. It was like a Republican in a house of Democrats. They refused to do anything. They held their breath and kicked their legs like little f---ing children until they got their way. They did not want this guy in there. "Ken Wood had only come aboard as managing editor. He was only there a couple of weeks when these guys started in... I told Paul long prior to that, pardon the pun, that there were problems at AVN that he needed to address. I said, Paul, there's a cancer here. Certain people have to be gotten rid of. "Prior, again excuse the pun, maybe a week before the Maui AVN Conference in April, I told Paul, before we left, that there's about four people here who need to be let go." Luke: "And those four people would be Bryn Pryor, Rebecca Gray?" Gene: "I could've arbitrarily picked any other two. I just saw this bad vibe all over the place." Luke: "What was the cancer?" Gene: "Backstabbing. Backbiting. Disagreement to pitch in and help. People trying to make other people look bad." Luke: "Was there an underlying philosophical divide?" Gene: "First you need the intelligence to comprehend something. It was just if somebody didn't like somebody, that was it. There was no particular vision... "If there was a personal philosophy, Bryn Pryor believed that adult industry movies should be held accountable in the same terms of quality with mainstream stuff. And that anything that fell short was bad." Luke: "That's amusing. I hear that he would bring in people from different companies and lecture them on the fine points of filmmaking." Gene: "Of course he's yet to make a film. Oh, he did make one [mainstream film] - Liars Poker. It's actually a good title. It's never been distributed. I have a copy at home. It's bad, really bad. "Rebecca Gray's the starring character in The Money Shot." Luke: "She's an actress?" Gene: "You wouldn't know it to look at her, but she is. "A lot of the editorial meetings used to be occupied with her flights of fancy. You'd just say, reel her in for chrissakes, or shut her up." Luke: "Is Paul a savvy businessman?" Gene: "Paul was a lucky businessman. And just doesn't know how to manage. Paul caught lightning in the bottle with AVN. "Ellen Thompson got a better offer from LFP (Larry Flynt Publications). Ellen was my inspiration. She was disenchanted with what was going on there. Internal operation. Promises made, promises broken." Luke: "Rebecca Gray writes that you were not loyal." Gene: "Well, there you go. Isn't that an interesting assessment? I was a loyal employee for 14 years until I saw that email. "It all came down to this. They didn't like Ken Wood and I was his mentor. So therefore, by extension, I was evil too." Luke: "Perhaps they did not like Ken Wood because he was 22 years old." Gene: "Could be. "On the one hand they say that I am not loyal. On the other hand, they're chastising me for not having the nerve to leave. What does that mean? Isn't that contradictory?" Luke: "Rebecca writes, 'If Gene requieres anything of the internal system, he will have to go through me.'" Gene: "That's basically a coup. An assumption of power by her. I was Vice-President of Editorial Operations." Luke: "She writes, 'There will be no screaming down the hall.' Did you use to scream?" Gene: "I used to scream at Mark Kernes because he didn't have any clues about deadlines. If there was anybody over there who drove me nuts, it was Kernes. "The art direction was terrible. The best art we ever had came from Dave, who had his own personal demons to deal with." Luke: "How does AVN art director Robin Greenberg keep her job if she isn't very good?" Gene: "A really good art director wants big bucks. They tried hiring other art directors who came in and said, this is what I want. And once again, AVN in its typically penny wise pound foolish manner of operation, will always go for the cheaper person. "For instance, I suggested that Quasarman be my replacement. Quasarman came in. Paul interviewed him and said, 'I like the guy. He's terrific. He's great.' Except for one thing. Quasarman wanted money. He actually wanted a salary of substance because he was potentially leaving a pretty lucrative thing with directing. I guess he started waying the options and presented X number of dollars and said, this is what I want. And Paul said, well, I've got to look for somebody else. But I really like him." Luke: "I heard he was shopping the job around for $50,000?" Gene: "I don't know what he was shopping it for. But I know that he was trying to keep it under the lid of what Mikey Ramone (the new managing editor) was getting. Paul didn't want to create strife by paying somebody more than Mikey Ramone (Bryn Pryor associate) was getting." Luke: "What does Paul Fishbein get out of playing to someone like Rebecca Gray?" Gene: "Maybe he's a drama junkie. You'll have to probe his psyche. But to me it is clear cut. If I had a disruption like this, I'd get rid of the disruption." Luke: "Why didn't Ken fire Rebecca?" Gene: "Because he wasn't given the power to do it. And that was one of the things he constantly came to me to complain about. Paul wants me to do this and that but he's not giving me the public vote of confidence... No, Paul encouraged rebelliousness. Any time they didn't like something, they'd knock on his door and complain to him." Luke: "I've heard that there are employees at AVN who'd like to come to work and find the doors padlocked." Gene: "Could be. I've always sensed it." Luke: "AVN.com just seems to be a rewriting of other people's stories." Gene: "Right. While they're rewriting, we're creating the news here." Luke: "I can't seem to access AVNGossip.com or Tod-Hunter.com." Gene: "But you can access Tod Hunter through GeneRoss.com. They're playing off my name. That's gotta tell you something. But you and I know, GeneRoss.com wasn't making any money." Luke: "They've got 12 little banners here, at $1000 a month." Gene: "They've got substantially less than when I had that site. "That's $12000 for recycling news releases. I guess Tod's getting a piece of the action?" Luke: "I don't think so." Gene: "I don't think so either. I don't think he'll ever see a piece of that action." I stopped by Extreme Associates Thursday night and snapped these photos:
Concerned writes: Luke, I note in your recent photos of Gene Ross that his trusty red baseball cap has been replaced by a blue one. Does this signify that his street gang affiliation has shifted from the "Bloods" to the "Crips"? Goddess writes: I see by the pics on your site that Gene is still emitting extraordinarily strong hunk-o-rama rays Joner1: Remember beetlejuice from teh stern show at the AVN awards last year? Have you seen the new AVN ads for the show?.NOV 2000 AVN issue..Beet is featured prominately...his picture. They scorn him at the time....toss him off the stage. Then the VERY next year they use HIM as promo for their new show....major oops. Typical AVN..... Did you notice that? Joner1: Using Beet as a sorta attraction for this years show.... Joner1: like.remember how neat it was at last years show..etc etc. Joner1: like remember how GRWAT and funny beet was..as they tore him from teh stage.. Joner1: to quote Paul on stage.."alisha klass we need you now!" He was worse then alisha?....and now they use him as promotion?..huh? Joner1: nota biggee..just something of note. Joner1: anyhow..did you catch Paul Fishbein on the Stern Tv show recently? The TV airing of his radio appearance with Penthouse Pet of the year Juliet Cariaga and Nikki Fritz. Watch their eyes as they speak.... I have the tape.... I've checked it out a few times. Well..they were so hesitant to say anything without Paul's approval. Luzdedos1: interesting, i believe that. Joner1: They kept looking to and at him as they spoke.to see if they should shut up or continue etc Joner1: they speak to Howard with their eyes on Paul the whole time... Joner1: You do know that the name marc wallice was mentioned... Joner1: did you hear the call?..or read the transcript? Joner1: and BTW-- i have the original call.and genes long long transcript was sure to leave out some negative to porn detailed items...but that's the norm. Joner1: Gene put it up in his form..then soon it was gone.the next day in fact.. Joner1: did you see kendra on the stern Tv show last night?. Joner1: she was looking the best she ever has on sterns Tv show...but tons of makeup.. Luzdedos1: no did not see it, i do not watch tv Joner1: ok..i understand that.. Joner1: no exceptions for the dearest kendra?. ;-) Joner1: BTW- kendra knows who i am. Joner1: i mean.who i am and what i do....if she remembers ;-) Joner1: also......about Paul on Stern. In his [TV] segment, they cut out the part where they all talked about the mafia control of the porn biz...but they made a reference to it later on...in regards to the mafia having control over AVN..quite funny and interesting Joner1: i know for a fact that paul/mafia/porn calls were screened out by the stern call screeners... Joner1: stern/porn/paul/avn/org crime stuff//connections Joner1: the beet thing just really bothered me....its kinda racist of AVN to be goofin' on the lil black guy like that...using him...etc Luzdedos1: i'm particularly curious about any AVN connections to organized crime Joner1: its like come to the AVN awards minstrel show..... Joner1: we have silly performing lil goofy black guys to entertain you.... Joner1: and i love beet....he is a super hero. Joner1: he just goes with teh flow...he has no idea taht avn is using his image to promote..but AVN has the rights i guess...i hope hes getting something for it..doubt it. Joner1: i guess they comped him good in vegas last year as fair payment. Luzdedos1: ok, i gotta run Joner1: still.....image is everything....AVN.take a look at how you market your silly awards show will ya..jeeez. Spotted on national television...Nikki Fritz..a Producer for AVN..in a titter giggling over the potential of a sexual harassment lawsuit being filed against AVN management...all the while locking nervous eyes with Paul Fishbein sitting quietly in the corner pulling the puppet strings. This is an event that happened that I thought you would have been all over by now with detailed accounts and your usual unique reportage. Paul Fishbein grilled on national radio directly about the mafia and AVN and the silence that followed from the XXX press. Luke....are you telling me that you missed the grilling that Paul Fishbein took on the Stern radio show concerning the "mafia" and control of AVN during AVN's growth period.(1985-2000) Paul was in the radio/TV studio for only a few minutes before the topic came up. Both Howard and Robin asking Paul about his magazine and his money and most of all asking him why the mafia that supposedly runs the XXX biz didn't just come and beat him up and take control of his magazine away from him. This was a very interesting line of questioning from Howard and Robin..as expected..Paul was in denial mode and tried leading them away from the subject matter. This entire line of questioning was *noticeably* cut from the TV version of the Stern show. There was a slight reference to this topic left in the TV version of the interview when later on in the talk Robin Quivers says jokingly to everyone..."screw the mafia!..WE should have been the ones to beat him up and take over control of his magazine!!..ha ha haha!!" Robin's line seemed out context because of how the TV show was edited..leaving out the entire earlier line of questioning. Luke says: Read Gene Ross's transcript of the Fishbein appearance on Stern here: http://www.geneross.com/archive/oct2000/102700_a.html "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. 12/1/00 Latest AVN Gossip At GeneRoss.com I can't pull up AVNGossip.com nor InsideAdult.com (both AVN sites) but I can pull up AVN's latest gossip at GeneRoss.com where I found this written by the site's current author Tod Hunter: Paul has asked that I pass along this statement, and considering the coverage on other sites of the history of AVN and Erotica L.A., I think it's newsworthy enough to pass along. "Any differences between AVN and Ron Miller were settled over a year ago." - Paul Fishbein. So whatever happened before that - to which, honestly, I was not a witness - seems to have been superseded by this new harmony to which both Paul and Ron have alluded. Luke says: It sounds to me like an admittance that a year ago, as previously reported here and on GeneRossExtreme,com, Darren Roberts and Bryn Pryor were looking for a hatchet job on Ron Miller. And it also sounds like Fishbein is selling Pryor and Roberts down the drain. You get a nice read of Tod Hunter's personality reading his site, at www.GeneRoss.com. Tod's a master diplomat. Tod writes on GeneRoss.com: We're not perfect. We miss stuff. But that's not our problem: It's yours, just like it's your career, or it's your video company. We're in this together. Do your part. Tod Hunter extension 109... Some things have changed (my extension is now 114 - call 109 and you'll get Ken Michaels at AVN Online; we are now down the street from Wicked Pictures, so Steve and Joy personally bringing in the tapes isn't that extravagant a gesture now; and Gene doesn't have as much clout around here as he used to) but the fundamental message stands: It is not our job to keep track of your career. Screw false modesty. Bang that drum. If you don't tell us, we don't know. Simple as that. Note to Paul: Let's consider Rebecca Bardoux for the Hall of Fame next year. Luke says: I am not a diplomat like Hunter. But certainly one reading of his site today implies that AVN understands its system is flawed. Hunter's acknowledging that porners are getting the short shrift. Too many videos and too little time. The evidence that Gene Ross and I have presented over the past week suggests that much of AVN (though certainly not everyone who toils there) is morally bankrupt. If Paul Fishbein didn't always say that his magazine and awards show had integrity, this would be no big deal. But as we've shown, awards and reviews and editorial coverage at AVN consistently get slanted to favor AVN's friends and advertisers. To say we make mistakes and that is not our problem but yours is a dereliction of AVN's responsibility to the industry it purports to cover and represent. For AVN to say that we can't keep track of everything, you have to beat your own drum, that is an admittance that it is not up to the task of journalistically covering the adult industry. But we've known this all along. Jeff Stephens writes Gene Ross: "gene you big giant dick. your site has rocked almost since inception. as a client living down here in the hills of arkansas, i have become aware of the following: the more links the better . the more photos the better. the less references to that homo Luke F-rd the better. keep up the good work." Gene Ross writes: "Sources tell me that the betrayal remark is the popular comment being uttered at AVN these days. And I guess it's true because I certainly didn't bend over and take one for the team." I've found GeneRossExtreme.com mesmerizing the past two weeks and Friday afternoon's update is no exception. Here are some excerpts: Ken Wood worked at AVN for 18 months until forced out in a Byrn Pryor - Rebecca Gray "Arizona Mafia" coup. Wood served as AVN's managing editor for four months. Friday, Gene Ross prints this quote from Wood: "My fondest memory of Darren Robert$ was my last day at AVN. He brought me into his office. He basically showed me some information that he thought I was making threats to the editorial staff or AVN. He said, kind of laughing, trying to play it off as a joke, 'I don't know whether to call the police or something.' I just stared him down and said, 'Darren, let me tell you something. Half my family are lawyers so threats to me involving legal action or law enforcement don't go over very well. And, by the way, if I was face to face with the police, maybe I'd have to tell them about some of the other things going on around here at AVN that I have evidence about including a 'confession' by AVN's comptroller Roland Roth.' I confronted Roland about certain things." Luke says: What Ken Wood is beating around the bush about is controversy over AVN's handling of its company 401K plan which is operated by the brother of Paul Fishbein's wife Kimberly Wilson, the head of cable sales at VCA. Many AVNers and ex-AVNers believe that AVN's handling of the 401Ks has not been fully kosher. I emailed the normally loquacious Ken Michaels for comment on this story. Was he aware of any financial improprieties and legalities going on at AVN? Ken has been heard voicing complaints about Roth's handling of the 401K but so far Mr. Michaels has chosen to not comment. I emailed AVN publisher Paul Fishbein: Was he aware of any illegal activity at AVN? Clemenza writes Luke: You dumbass, always getting your facts wrong. Roland Roth is not Kimberly's brother. Roth is the controller at AVN. Kimberly's brother operates AVN's 401 Pension plan. Gene Ross - Bad For Jews (Like Fishbein, Hirsch)? Luke says: Gentle readers, please help me put an end to hate speech on the internet by seeking out the anti-Semitic reference in the following from gentile Gene Ross: "Fishbein revealing grandiose plans about a possible AVN move to California, saying that now, thanks to my efforts, AVN was in a position to get near where the action was. Fishbein, however, stipulated that the move was contingent upon my saying yay or nay. "If you say no we won't do it," said Fishbein who then proceeded to apply the typical Fishbein verbal thumb screws to see that I would. Torquemada and ten Jewish lawyers could have taken pointers from this guy who brags about being a student of Machiavellian tactics. Several points were ultimately agreed upon and I have to say that Fishbein followed through and kept his word on those. HOWEVER, Fishbein, sensing that something was needed to sweeten the pot also said, "I'll have Steve Levin [his Philadelphia lawyer] draw up papers." In essence, to give me a percentage of AVN. I had certainly earned it because I pulled his company out of the brink of bankruptcy when he was ready to lose his ass in 1987, having overextended himself in an ill-advised newsstand experiment under the then tenure of managing editor John Paone. When I took over for Paone, I spent the next four years diligently keeping maintenance costs to a near minimum and had absorbed most of the writing load to defray other freelance costs, yadda, yadda, yadda. Once we had moved to California and settled down somewhat, I brought up our Upper Darby conversation to Fishbein. He had a convenient lapse of memory on the Steve Levin point." (Gene Ross) Luke says to Gene: Perhaps you were not given a percentage of AVN because you're a goy? Steve Hirsch, Nikki Tyler, JB and the Rape Charge Clemenza, who debuted on l-keford.com in December of 1998, has resurfaced after a two year absence from the internet. Clemenza writes Gene Ross: "You wrote about Steve Hirsch and Nikki Tyler the other day? But were you aware that Hirsch was sleeping with Tyler and because J.B. had a one-nighter with her, Hirsch decided to make things real rough for him over at Metro where he was employed at the time and where Tyler was the contract girl. Something about a charge of "rape". Even [Vivid lawyer] Paul Cambria got into the act." J.B. tells Gene Ross: "I can't really comment on this. I take it real seriously when someone tries to hang a rap on me that's $50,000 bail and a good five to ten years in jail. All I can say is the entire business is full of f---ing liars." 12/3/00 I hear that AVN has fired two employees following the recent controversy on my site and GeneRossExtreme.com. AVNGossip.com Tod Hunter writes AVNGossip.com. He owns the domain name Tod-Hunter.com but you can't access his gossip site there. You can find sometimes find it at Todd-Hunter.com and usually at GeneRoss.com. Anonymous writes: "When you have a minute, bring up Network Solutions and do a "who is" on both Tod-Hunter.com and Todd-Hunter.com. When you see who the owner of those sites is I think you'll agree that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know why AVN and Fishbein keep screwing around with the gossip links. I'm surprised Gene Ross hasn't figured that one out." Hank writes: "Spend two minutes on the so-called "reviews database" and YOU can tell ME why they keep screwing with the links. The Internet department at AVN couldn't find their own asses with both hands and a copy of Gray's Anatomy." Luke says: Tod Hunter owns those domain names. AVN owns the domain name GeneRoss.com. Gene Ross writes: Tod Hunter, trading off my name at geneross.com for the last month, writes: "Some things have changed (my extension is now 114 - call 109 and you'll get Ken Michaels at AVN Online; we are now down the street from Wicked Pictures, so Steve and Joy personally bringing in the tapes isn't that extravagant a gesture now; and Gene doesn't have as much clout around here as he used to) but the fundamental message stands." Gene sez: "Hunter, I will show you clout. I will teach you the definition of clout. You will be my bitch when you find the doors padlocked and you're out on the street peddling your press release rewrites to some wannabe porno website." Gene Ross also writes about Marc Bruder, owner of BRI - one of the major suppliers of adult to the cable market. Marc's a competitor of Kimberly Wilson, Fishbein's wife. Fishbein has done his best to discredit Bruder over many years. "I know he's your friend, but he's a thief," Fishbein would often tell me. Rodney Moore writes: How about those AVN nominations. Let's see....."Cum Covered Faces," a movie which features girls walking around in public wearing Pina Colada Mix on their faces was nominated for an award. Public Pop Shots, a movie which features girls walking around in public with real semen on their faces was not. Apparently the AVN staff gets more turned on thinking about getting drunk then getting laid. AVN Moonlighters It's against AVN policy for employees to moonlight or freelance with other porn companies. But several employees have done so. XXX: "Paul begrudges his people trying to make an extra buck as he pays them diddly squat. But Paul has his fingers in all sorts of businesses. Only Gene Ross got a somewhat decent deal, because Gene negotiated to move out here to Los Angeles (from Philadelphia)." The wage scale for AVN writers is about $500 a week. XXX says: "And they work like slaves because every couple of months, Fishbein will hold a meeting to say, 'We're losing money. Editorial's gotta do more. And if you don't hold up your end, I'm going to have to let people go.' That's how he cracks the whip. Putting the fear of God into them. "Bryn Pryor however is doing pretty well (about $60,000). He walked into the managing editor's job, handed to him by Gene Ross. Mark Kulkis had quit out of the blue. Pryor negotiated well. He had Fishbein over a barrel. "Paul consistently sells out the editorial staff. He dresses them down in public for doing things that he told them to do. Paul likes to dress people down in public. Just humiliate them. Gene was about to smack him on a couple of times. "Darren Roberts owns pieces of the AVN pie and other operations. He's hauling in bucks from lots of different deals. "AVN advertising head Jennifer Rosenblatt has a cushy deal. She hauls in commissions. She seems to get about eight weeks off a year. Everybody's resentful of her because she comes across at times as a whiner and complainer. If she's unhappy with Paul, she marches right into his office and cries and screams. She's Paul's little princess. "Paul don't respect you unless you abuse him and Jennifer has it down to a fine art. "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.'" How did Darren and Juliette get made business partners? XXX: "AVN made little effort to promote GeneRoss.com. And it is immoral of them to keep the domain from Gene, now that he's moved on. He should own his own name. Gene pushed Paul to give him an internet site from early 1998, when the HIV scandal broke. "Gene couldn't squeeze equipment out of AVN. Gene worked with an out of date computer that repeatedly broke down. They'd never tell Gene how the site was doing, how much advertising it was raking in..." Ian writes: "Hi Luke, You certainly have recruited a lot of people to dish the dirt on AVN. But why, if AVN is so inefficient, has no publication successfully challenged its monopoly in the porn industry? In capitalism, potential competition is what is supposed to keep businesses on their toes. And why, if those who run AVN have been so dishonest, have not public authorities indicated concern? It is, after all, their job. Finally, why, if your respondents are so indignant about AVN's morals, did they not speak up at the time they were employed by that company?" Ken Woods Nominations List Former AVN managing editor Ken Wood contributes 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. Have a nice day, Paul. Luke says: It appears that AVN's about to take a big fall. Mr Marcus writes: "You mean I've been paying full price and others are getting stolen computers, what the hell? I need the hook-up Luke, call you or should I call AVN? And ya'll think only black people are crooks?" 12/5/00 'I Can't Believe I'm Having An Affair With The Publisher Of AVN' This statement has been widely attributed to Chloe. At the time (fall of 1998) she was roommates with Ty Longley, now the publicist at Zane. Ty's allegedly told people that Chloe came in the door one night and makes the pronouncement . A few weeks later, Chloe won some major awards from AVN. Chloe and Ty deny this story. And I find it hard to believe that the AVN publisher would indulge in such a conflict of interest. Then I surfed over to AVNGossip.com and found several press releases about Chloe at the top of the page. Here's an excerpt from site author Tod Hunter: "She's won a slew of AVN Awards already, she's nominated for a bunch more this year, and she's finalizing a VCA contract for 2001. Veteran starlet Chloe is finalizing a contract with VCA. "We are working on a combination acting and directing contract," VCA PR rep Mischa told me eariler this afternoon. "Eight to ten pictures; We're still finalizing the deal."" XXX says: "Why this deluge of Chloe press right now? Coincidental? Keep her happy, keep her mouth shut." Dashing Nobleman Edmund Dantes-Ross Revolts Against Marquis De Fishbein Gene Ross writes: De Fishbein, a patron of the arts much like the fabled de Medicis, often called meetings among the poets and scribes, just when the food carts of Paris would cobble down the city streets. "But we are hungry," the scribes told Fishbein. "We're having a meeting," de Fishbein would retort sharply, often petting his dog in a way to suggest mockery of the cries of the famished. And it was de Fishbein who once proclaimed that animals, particularly dogs, should be placed on the evolutionary scale ahead of humans. It was a dashing nobleman in his employ, Edmund Dantes-Ross, believed to be a Corsican judging from his swarthy tan, who took exception to de Fishbein's practices. It was Ross, a particular favorite among the ladies of the court, who reasoned that de Fishbein's extraordinary land holdings should be more equitably distributed among those, particularly the scribes, who assisted in acquiring them, often by brute toil, for the Grand Marquis. Luke says: Like Steve Hirsch, Paul Fishbein's a big animal rights activist who donates money to that sacred cause (including such moderate groups as PETA). Gene Ross is on a tear, so I might as well, choking in his dust, devote a few minutes to chronicling what's going on at www.GeneRossExtreme.com: Gene opens today with a historical swoop about a certain Marquis de Fishbein who cuts off at the knees a certain Count Casimir de la Brioske (who is that?). "He owned a printing press, and thus commandeered court opinion in his favor via the distribution of weekly propaganda and statistics about sewers - often the concoction of de Fishbein's vivid imagination." Because of his informational access to the high courts (Vivid, VCA and co), Fishbein gained great power. This Fishbein once held his awards show at Caesars Palace which prepared a sumptious meal for those attending. This cost Fishbein and his business partner Stuart Franks a pretty penny and Fishbein, according to Ross, swore that such a loss would not reoccur. From now on, the peons could eat buffet. Ross writes that the "AVN awards between 1997 and 1999 today were invalidated when it was discovered that AVN staffers were too busy during that period writing film scripts [The Money Shot] to pay any attention to business." The three cosponsors for the January AVN Expo are paying $100,000 each for that privilege. According to Gene Ross: Darren Roberts screwed up AVN's "Fetish" magazine by trying to make it too artsy fartsy. Ellen Thompson, now with LFP, hired talented people to write for and design the mag but they were paid months late, if at all. Three summers ago at VSDA, Allen Shustack first told Thompson that she was going to edit this new magazine "that was the brainchild of him and Fishbein. It was news to Thompson who didn't hear anything from Fishbein until about two month's later when he told her she was going to get an extra $6,000, I believe it was, to write and edit it. Thompson often got paid late when Roberts would tell her they weren't making any money. Dark Lady got contracted for work and it took her a year and a half to get paid $700 of a grand total of $1200 by Shustack. Julie Strain had to wait a year to get paid." Goddess writes Gene, asking why he stayed at AVN if working conditions were so awful there. Gene replies that he didn't have any other options until Rob Black came along. For the past two years or so, Gene's understood that he'd eventually work for Rob. Ross says that once he got to California in 1991, all the 'promises' he'd received from Fishbein were broken, which told Gene it was time to go. But, Gene writes, no porner would take the chance on hiring him because they feared retribution from Fishbein. "Former AVN staffer Ellen Thompson started out as Fishbein's secretary and was rebuked and verbally strafed almost on a daily basis. ...Fishbein, likewise, sent his Philadelphia office manager, Donna Magee, over the edge and she needed serious mental therapy as a result." Ross writes that Thompson began job hunting but was ratted out by a pal of Paul's. "With the upshot, Fishbein put a kabosh on her job-seeking attempts and thus made her a slave to Fishbein's own personal reserve clause. The same thing happened with the present art director who got hired by Hustler, that is, until Fishbein got wind of it and killed that deal." Ross writes that Fishbein's served as a [paid?] consultant to Odyssey Group Video for nine years, and used to be roommates in Marina Del Rey with Howie Klein who owned the Ben Dover series. Perhaps Paul owns a piece of Odyssey Group Video, Ben Dover's first distributor? Ben Dover received AVN's first Breakthrough Award. "[I]t wasn't a matter of awards fixing as much as awards-creating. Fishbein reached a crescendo of sleaze with that Breakthrough orchestration." A former AVN writer says: "I read Ken Wood's account of AVN voting. I raised a similar question years ago with the Savannah (who debuted in 1990) nomination for Best New Starlet (1992). I know that I and everyone I talked to voted for Angela Summers that year. Strangely enough, Savannah won. It couldn't be that she was also under contract to Vivid? "We only had a few writers in 1992. It didn't take much research. But everyone told me they voted for Angela Summers." You've got to suspect that AVN publisher Paul Fishbein has a major share of Babenet because Paul and Jack Gallagher, Babenet operator, are best friends. Fishbein invested in the Babenet - Rob Spallone shooting house RealPornWorld.com. XXX: "I don't think VCA owner Russ Hampshire likes Paul. Paul sucks up to Russ but Russ's pretty dismissive of Paul." Luke: "Russ once told me that Paul Fishbein has more integrity than anybody else in the business." XXX: "I think it's always been an uneasy alliance between Russ and Paul. I've always heard that Russ was anti-Semitic [hated Jews]. I've heard that from more than a few people." Luke: "I've heard that from tons of people too but I've never seen any hard evidence of it. I've spent a lot of time around Russ and I never sensed it. Russ's sales staff is all Jewish and Russ takes very good care of these guys." XXX: "Paul Fishbein had AVN report on the Edward Wedelstedt bust when it first went down, though only from the perspective of this is a witchhunt. Poor Eddie. Then the news came out that Eddie W had over two million dollars cash at his home when busted. This was not reported by AVN. Paul's put the kabosh on further investigation of this story. Eddie's a good friend of Paul's. The silence has grown deafening. "Paul's a control freak. He has to control all his employees. He micro-manages. "It's no secret to anyone at AVN that Paul is a philanderer. They all know it. To them, they're all amused how he goes into this whole denial thing. Paul's a liar like OJ. He can't keep his dick in his pants. And if it is a redhead, then he's particularly susceptible. He's just a sucker for redheads." Clemenza writes Gene Ross: "Contact Lana Sands. Fishbein did her in his office when AVN was still at La Cienega and Venice. Chris Mann set the whole deal up. ALSO, Fishbein did Kylie Ireland at the East Coast Video Show one year." Luke: "When Paul Fishbein looked me in the face and said that he'd never had sexual relations with a porn girl, I believed him." XXX: "I know you believed him. You were seduced by Paul's good looks. "One of the inside jokes at AVN was when you had your ethics ranking and you had Paul at the top of the list. "AVN is a cesspool of corruption. I'd tell people, 'I have this dream that we are all going to come here one morning and find this place padlocked. And nobody disputed me on that. "Ken Michaels often worries out loud about losing his job. He was offered many times the job of AVN managing editor. He always turned it down. He's a cowardly lion. He had the opportunity to make more money but he doesn't have enough confidence for the task. Even though he's as good as anybody over there. He's a good writer. Has a mind like a steel trap with a good recall of facts. "All the writers at AVN are highly talented but they all have these strange quirks. Suzie MidAmerica is there for her second tour of duty. We had to let her go the first time because emotionally she couldn't deal with it. She'd literally sit under her desk in a fetal position when the going got tough. "She's become an honorary member of the Arizona Mafia." Luke: "Is Renee Johnson a part of it?" XXX: "Nah. Once she got what she wanted, she tossed Ken aside like a sack of beans. He was good enough to go out with when she was a clerk. But once she attained such a lofty position (of running the AVN trade shows), forget about it. "The AVN Christmas party was the coldest f---ing affair you've ever seen. It was like one half of the room hated the other half. It's a bunch of cliques." Luke: "Who likes the VP Darren Roberts?" XXX: "Ken Wood put it well. Everybody hated his guts. They all laugh about him behind his back." Luke: "Who there likes Paul Fishbein?" XXX: "That's the whole point. They don't and Paul knows it. You've got to treat people with some form of dignity. He doesn't. At some point in time, he has to let you know that you are a peon." Luke: "Did Paul try to sell his operation to Larry Flynt Publications?" XXX: "Yes, but LFP didn't want to buy. The financial house wasn't in order on the AVN side. "Fishbein's been trying to get out of AVN for years because he wants to be a movie producer. Well, he fell flat on his face trying to get financing for his movie 'The Money Shot.' Gene Ross's Adult Video News was the prototype of The Money Shot." Twelve Days Of Fishbein On Gene Ross Gene Ross is going to town. He's planning "The Twelve Days Of Fishbein" on his site to coincide with the holiday season. Goddess writes: "Shouldn't it be the EIGHT DAYS of Fishbein? After all, he *is* Jewish." Gene writes: "Read about the Park Avenue Love Pad, and Fishbein's frequent flyer miles to New York City. Read about Fishbein's adventures in the world of professional wrestling and how a couple of irate customers actually took his offer of a free trip to Japan seriously! Read about the secret advertisers' rates list at AVN that gives selected video companies sweetheart deals! Read how Vivid was getting free back page advertising when Fishbein floated them for outrageous balances..." (Gene Ross) Clemenza writes Gene Ross: "Step two in the journey. Contact Lana Sands. Fishbein did her in his office when AVN was still at La Cienega and Venice. Chris Mann set the whole deal up. ALSO, Fishbein did Kylie Ireland at the East Coast Video Show one year. Jenna Jameson knows all about that one, too, but she's keeping her mouth shut in exchange for the fix." Yankel writes: "Fishbein would sell tickets to his own funeral and arrange for sponsors to underwrite the expense of it, if he could! however, gene ross is the worst kind of scum because he owes everything he has to avn and fishbein." AVN Moonlighters It's against AVN policy for employees to moonlight or freelance with other porn companies. But several employees have done so. XXX: "Paul begrudges his people trying to make an extra buck as he pays them diddly squat. But Paul has his fingers in all sorts of businesses. Only Gene Ross got a somewhat decent deal, because Gene negotiated to move out here to Los Angeles (from Philadelphia)." The wage scale for AVN writers is about $500 a week. XXX says: "And they work like slaves because every couple of months, Fishbein will hold a meeting to say, 'We're losing money. Editorial's gotta do more. And if you don't hold up your end, I'm going to have to let people go.' That's how he cracks the whip. Putting the fear of God into them. "Bryn Pryor however is doing pretty well (about $60,000). He walked into the managing editor's job, handed to him by Gene Ross. Mark Kulkis had quit out of the blue. Pryor negotiated well. He had Fishbein over a barrel. "Paul consistently sells out the editorial staff. He dresses them down in public for doing things that he told them to do. Paul likes to dress people down in public. Just humiliate them. Gene was about to smack him on a couple of times. "Darren Roberts owns pieces of the AVN pie and other operations. He's hauling in bucks from lots of different deals. "AVN advertising head Jennifer Rosenblatt has a cushy deal. She hauls in commissions. She seems to get about eight weeks off a year. Everybody's resentful of her because she comes across at times as a whiner and complainer. If she's unhappy with Paul, she marches right into his office and cries and screams. She's Paul's little princess. "Paul don't respect you unless you abuse him and Jennifer has it down to a fine art. "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.'" How did Darren and Juliette get made business partners? XXX: "AVN made little effort to promote GeneRoss.com. And it is immoral of them to keep the domain from Gene, now that he's moved on. He should own his own name. Gene pushed Paul to give him an internet site from early 1998, when the HIV scandal broke. "Gene couldn't squeeze equipment out of AVN. Gene worked with an out of date computer that repeatedly broke down. They'd never tell Gene how the site was doing, how much advertising it was raking in..." Ian writes: "Hi Luke, You certainly have recruited a lot of people to dish the dirt on AVN. But why, if AVN is so inefficient, has no publication successfully challenged its monopoly in the porn industry? In capitalism, potential competition is what is supposed to keep businesses on their toes. And why, if those who run AVN have been so dishonest, have not public authorities indicated concern? It is, after all, their job. Finally, why, if your respondents are so indignant about AVN's morals, did they not speak up at the time they were employed by that company?" |