Raised in the Bronx the middle of three children, Adam Glasser in the
early '90s owned an LA gym that he rented out to movie and TV producers
for use as a set. The first X-rated director to walk through his door
was John Stagliano.
"I watched what he did," says the muscular Jew, "and I realized that I was in the wrong business."
Adam and John talked about porn and made a deal that allowed Glaser to use Buttman's equipment to shoot his own sex scene which he took to the 1993 CES and showed to every producer he could find. Israelis Yosef and Rita at Factory Home Video eventually signed him.
In 1994, Seymore met a bouncy blonde who dominated his life for two years.
"Shane sent me several videos before I found out her name. They were all done Seymour style, with her talking into a mirror with the camera up in front of her face - all I saw was her naked body. Just her masturbating and I couldn't see her face.
"She was ballsy in our first meeting. A couple of days later we went off to Mexico to get acquainted. We made our first movie together." (AFW)
Although Seymore Butts and Shane are no longer lovers, we have numerous great tapes to remember them by such as the 133 minute Backdoor to Buttsville.
"The fun-loving couple open this installment as they settle a lover's quarrel with some hiney-slaps and a well-lensed butt bash. Next, T.T. Boy pops up poolside to cram the ass of the hugely-chested Olivia. T.T. returns later with Jake and Sophia, a dark-haired Euro-chick, who eagerly takes the two guys in a DP. Tom Byron's b-day party accounts for two scorching scenes as Shane, Tera Heart and Yvonne give themselves to him as his present, and then, after a cake break, Tom drills Tera and Yvonne in the ass." (AFW 96D. p.92)
"I saw some great tushies down on Venice Beach the other day," says Seymore. "There's no better sight than a beautiful tushie in a g-string, roller skatin' along. And in Backdoor to Buttsville - there's eight grade-A tushies in that.
"I was greatly influenced by Stagliano," Butts says about Buttman. "Not just his style, but I knew what his secret was. He was consistent. I could count on him, but noone else... When I first started appreciating adult entertainment, Stagliano stood out ot me because I knew that he was going to consistently get me the shots...that would get me off.
"My movies have evolved over the years and are no longer anything like Stagliano. For six years I've kept up a running chronicle of what I do.
"Did you hear about our scandal in New York? A Current Affair did six minutes on it. Shane went wandering one afternoon and got lost. So she stops by a firehouse to get directions. The fireman who opens the door she finds cute...So he asked her what the camera was for and she tells him and he's interested. She blows him on the back of his fire truck in the station. By accident, I didn't cover the logo on the door, and the New York Fire Commission gets hold of it, and they sued us for $172 million. It eventually got dropped." (AVN)
My Travels With the Tramp appeared in 1994. "Seymore Butts and Shane take us along on their fun-filled vacation to Europe. After a struggle to get to Italy, each heads out with a palm-corder of their own to see who get some first.
"Seymore may be following in the footsteps of Buttman, but if Stagliano's not careful, he might find he's been left in the dust! This is a great series! Shane is intoxicatingly sexy - not just a pretty face and a great body, but a wonderful personality to boot - and the easygoing rapport between the two makes you feel like Shane's your girlfriend too." (AFW p.261)
In 1995, Seymore set up his own distributorship with Ultimate Video.
In Deep Behind The Scenes, Butts examines the making of The Palace of Pleasure and turns out a product much better than the film, "suggesting that Seymore has a better eye for eroticism than the Palace director, Santangelo. Butts' fresh approach and eye for a porn moment make this feature a stroker's delight from start to finish." (AFW 97)
"Over the past couple of years," Seymore said in June 1997, "I haven't been able to do the kind of work that I want to do, because my business has gotten big. I own my own distributorship, I do interactive CD ROMs, I have my own internet site... In this business, people don't want to pay you... You've got to worry about collecting your money and worry about lawsuits... which cuts into my time as a creator.
"In the important money issues, I can't find people to trust. And I can't find anyone to do my type of production that will consistently deliver what I want to put my label on... And I can't delegate. That's my biggest problem."
Seymore's breakups with Shane and Taylor Hayes also caused him heartaches and headaches. "It's difficult to sustain a relationship in this business."
Taylor gave birth to Seymore's son in late 1996. "It's given my life new meaning and new reason to struggle on. It's such an awesome responsibility to see part of you... completely helpless without you.
"Being a father makes you rethink your priorities and what is important in life. It's something I draw upon in times of difficulty, when I'm feeling attacked and vulnerable. I use that as a strength that I have to persevere because this person is depending on me.
"I am not ashamed of what I do. I provide a valuable service... We all have these urges... The difficult problem is not my son growing up in this industry, but in this society where porn is despised.
"Sexually, he's going to be more mature than his peers. He'll have more life experiences than his peers because of the traveling that we will do. But the problems will come from his peers and their parents reactions because I'm a recognized figure.
"I'm the type of person who will go to PTA meetings and I'll probably be recognized.
"When I'm somewhere and I don't want to be recognized, it happens. They will ask me to make their wives squirt for them right there... When I want to be recognized, no one will look at me.
"A friend of mine was written up in the paper as a producer. His kid went to school the next day and other kids said she had the "TV f--- Dad" because he was on the news. Kids are cruel. I hope he'll be able to deal with it."
Seymore's mom works for him full-time as his bookkeeper.
"In ten years, I want to be the biggest little guy in the business. I never want to release more than one video a month.
"I'm putting a lot of money and time into my internet site, preparing for the future.
"I'm proudest of the consistency of my releases. I'm in the top 95% of my industry in sales out the door, selling 10-15,000 units of a title within a year of its release.
"I'm proud that Shane can leave me, start her own company, and sell 4000 units out the door, jumping into that top 95%. It proves the power of our name. That someone like Philmore Butts, a no-talent guy, can also capitalize off of Seymore Butts...
"I don't send my movies to catalogue. I keep selling them at $15 each. I get paid within 38 days like Stagliano. No one else gets paid before 60 days. I've modeled my company on Evil Angel Video."
Susie Bright says about Seymore: "…His camera seems to be a natural extension of his body -- and he regularly records phone calls with his mother that sound so neurotically real I sometimes have to run out of the room."
To keep himself from ejaculating too quickly, Seymore thinks about moldy mayonnaise on a sandwich or about his old friend Leno's grimy fingers.
"After you watch a number of hard core movies," writes a poster on rec.arts.movies.erotica, "you realize that there are only so many "positions" you can do it in, and the movies can become somewhat boring and repetitious (particularly for a couple). The scenes are just setups, excuses for the man and woman to engage in acrobatic sex. E.g., a guy goes into a cafe, eats lunch, tells the waitress he doesn't have money for a tip, boom, bang, they're doing it on the table. The problem, I suppose, is that even with an ability to let your imagination stretch, many of the movies seem SO phony that they just aren't very sexy. So the question is, what are the most erotic hard core movies? Movies that are genuinely SEXXY! With scenes that seem real, and hot?"
The Director: "Recently, the only flick that really got the wife and I juiced was "Seymore and Shane Do Ireland." It was a freewheeling movie and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The opening scenes with Vanessa Chase were absolutely smoldering. The pick-up truck encounter with Kylie Ireland was sexy as well, if for no other reason than they were in a parking lot in broad daylight." (RAME)
Cmovieman: "A sex film must contain a certain amount of sex or it will be poorly received in the adult marketplace. And since there are only so many sexual positions and acts possible, it becomes a been there/done that situation. For couples, this is particularly distressing because the romance (or build-up) is taken out of the movies in lieu of more ever more exotic sex. On the other hand, for hard core enthusiasts, this is a blessing. And since most adult movie consumers are male, these films are aimed squarely at that audience.
"With Seymore Butts and Shane you get a certain amount of mischievousness which puts a whole different slant on the sex. It's almost like you know someone like them or wish you where with them on their sexual adventures (Sort of a sexual McMillan and Wife if you will). They put a bit of innocence and a lot of fun back into porn movies." (RAME)
In 1997, Seymore signed three "Tushy Girls" - Samantha Stylle, Alisha Klass and Halli Ashton. Klass, a slim brunette, told Steve Austin of the 3-98 AVN, that a "Tushy Girl" was "somebody who loves to get her ass f---ed, but comes across like the girl next door."
After appearing in a few home videos, Halli met Ron Jeremy at a club, who helped introduce her to Seymore.
Alisha "wrote Seymore a fan letter, and I told him I loved his videos so much that I had his name tattooed on my ass. This really got his attention. SO he called me and he came down to my place, and basically made all my fantasies come true."
Klass hosts a show on sex on L.A.'s 92.3 FM, The Beat, on Friday nights.
Upon entering porn, Sam got a boob job, moving from 34B to 34 DD overnight.
"In Behind the Sphinc Door," Halli told the 3-98 AVN, "he taught me how to really enjoy anal sex, and it all came down to three little words: enemas, lube and relaxation."
Ashton and Seymore became engaged in late 1997. They soon separated and Seymore took up with Alisha. They became engaged and then broke up in September of 1999.
10/18/99
Tony writes: Luke, I am a semi-regular who has never had a reason to contribute until reading the post from “Under Cover Angel” but my roommate came home last week with a bundle of cash and a bag with two Seymour Butts movies in it.
He told me this story about how this older man approached him in the parking lot as he was just getting to work (my roommate works for one of the big phone companies). He said the guy knew his name, called himself “Ed” and said he needed some help with a private matter. It turns out that Ed wanted 6 years of phone records on a certain individual. He said he had all the basic information my roommate would need and went into this long story about him working for a guy in the porn industry and how important this would be and that he was only interested in long distance calls and then he offered my roommate $200 cash for the info, my roommate explained he could lose his job and asked for double plus a couple of movies.
Ed didn’t hesitate and they arranged to meet for lunch at a nearby restaurant. My roommate said he was nervous because he could only get to 4 years of records but went to the restaurant anyway, and found Ed sitting at a table. He said Ed seemed very happy even though he wasn’t able to get all 6 years. Then Ed told him to order anything he wants, placed a $20 bill on the table, handed him a plastic bag, told him to have a great lunch and got up and walked away. The fact that Seymour’s name was mentioned in the same post as the private investigator rumor and that my roommate was basically bribed with Seymour Butts videos started me thinking.
When I asked my roommate to read the post he recognized Pinkousky’s name as the one Ed was so interested in. This is obviously no coincidence do you know what Seymour and Adam & Eve are fighting about? Have you heard any other good Ed stories? Counting on you for some answers.
Luke: Here's last week's post again: Undercoverangel writes: Luke, Here are some of the tidbits floating around the ECVS...
The reason for the spilt between Seymore Butts and Alisha Klass seems to be some sort of fall out from the mounting legal problems Seymore is facing. Also, it sounds like Seymore’s other ex, Taylor Hayes, has found herself caught in the middle of Seymore’s three year court battle with Adam and Eve. Apparently certain checks written to Taylor have become points of contention in the case, along with millions of dollars allegedly misappropriated by Seymore. Many high profile people seem to be involved in one way or another including Alisha Klass, Vivid’s Steve Hirsch, IEG Seth Warshavsky, Adam and Eve’s Mary Gates and Ulitmate’s Nick Pinkousky. Rumors have a private investigator asking lots of questions about the Adam and Eve / Ultimate relationship.
According to GeneRossExtreme.com, 7/6/01, Alisha Klass received these messages from her ex-boyfriend Adam Glasser in November 2000:
"Here's some more for you. If you can't wait to see your f---in' contract, you beaky-assed f---in' cunt, then I will post it up on the websites for you. It will be going up on generossextreme.com as soon as I can get it together, okay? I'll make sure it goes up on l-keford.com and everybody else so you can see your signed contract and everybody else can, you f---in' liar."
A follow-up call: "I've just finished reading the first half of generossextreme. I see that you've now gone and done it. Know that my last message just means even more to me, now. I'm going to f--- you up, know it. I'm going to f--- him up. Tell him, Tell him. Let him know. These things about the threats. Now I'm going to make it real. I didn't threaten your car. Something about your car [there was nothing about a car]. I never threatened that. I never threatened Adella. I just told them it was a contractual-thing. You're making it sound personal. You brought my baby into it, man. That's it, man. That's it. You better stay away longer than December 3rd, and I'm telling you, you're going to be calling me from Colorado and you'll beg, you will f---in' beg for me to stop., You will beg. f--- you, Lish. f--- you."
8/15/00
Adam Glasser vs Yosef & Rita
XXX: "Here's the lowdown. Rita Shemesh at Sunshine Films sued Adam Glasser for using the name Seymore Butts. Adam got his start in the porn industry working for Yosef and Rita. They funded his series. Together they created the character "Seymore Butts." Then Adam decided to go off on his own, with Shane, and form his own company, Seymore Butts Inc and he continued to pump out volumes in his "Seymore Butts" series.
"Everything that Adam sued her for got dropped except for Factory Home Video owing Adam $210,000 for royalties from foreign sales. There is no Factory Home Video anymore so he can't collect.
"The jury came back and said we don't feel that Factory Home Video transferred everything properly to Sunshine Films. Judge: I'm going to rule on this. The judge came back ten days later, and said, I find that Factory Home Video owns the name "Seymore Butts" and they have the right to transfer it to whatever company they want.
"AVN is in bed with Adam Glasser. Adam edited for free video for the AVN Awards. Mark Kernes is Adam's boy. At the convention, Mark said about the lawsuit, 'This is very disturbing.' Mark and Paul Fishbein support Adam. Gene Ross is impartial.
"The judgment came down that Adam Glasser will have to pay court costs. When you have to pay court costs, that means that you lost.
"Nobody really won. The lawyers won.
"Now there will be a new court case to make Adam Glasser stop using the name "Seymore Butts." In the meantime, they can both use the name.
"This lawsuit was not about who can use the name "Seymore Butts." It was about all the other stuff.
"As soon as Adam makes another Seymore Butts video, Rita and Yosef Shemesh will sue Adam and bring up another big court case.
"Adam Glasser has threatened people's lives about this. He sent two big guys into Sunshine Films to hurt Yosef and Rita. Adam threatened Chuck Martino's life on four different occasions.
"You have a sponsor who got you popular. What if you were to look at him and say, hey buddy, f--- you. I'm going to make all the money. What type of person are you? A scumbag. That's Adam. He got popular through Yosef and Rita. Then said f--- you, I'm going to make it all myself with Shane. Then he f---ed Shane over. Ask her. He f---ed Nick Pintowski (Ultimate Pictures) over. He f---ed Adam & Eve. He's not a popular guy."
YYY: "Gene Ross got all the papers last week from the trial but has refused to publish them. Instead, Mark Kernes took over the story. AVN is playing damage control, trying to protect Adam Glasser, one of their boys. They've just printed what Adam wrote to them, not the court documents."
Luke: Adam Glasser sent GeneRoss.com this email:
Seymore Butts writes: Dear Gene, Over the last several weeks Sunshine Film, Inc. has disseminated inaccurate information concerning the results of litigation between it and Seymore, Inc. (and Adam Glasser).
Here are the facts. On July 19, 2000 a Los Angeles Superior Court jury returned a Special Verdict against Sunshine rejecting its libel claim against Seymore, Inc. In addition, the jury also found that whatever rights Factory Home Video, Inc. claimed to have had in the trade name "Seymore Butts" as used in the titles of adult videos, it had failed to transfer them to Sunshine Films, Inc. prior to Factory Home Video, Inc. ceasing operations in October, 1995. As a result, Seymore, Inc. prevailed on all of the trade name related claims brought against it by Sunshine Films, Inc.
By contrast, the jury found in favor of Adam Glasser's contract claim against Factory Home Video, Inc. and awarded substantial monetary damages. Moreover, because Seymore, Inc.'s trade name related claims against Sunshine Films, Inc. had been dismissed by the Court prior to the jury's findings regarding Factory Home Video, Inc.'s failure to transfer any trade name related rights to Sunshine Films, Inc., Seymore Inc. shall be seeking a partial new trial on its claims against Sunshine Films, Inc.
Until resolved on appeal, Sunshine Films, Inc. may claim that the now defunct Factory Home Video, Inc. was found by the Court to have had the original right to the trade name "Seymore Butts" as used in the title of adult videos. What the Court did not rule on, however, was who had the right to the trade name "Seymore Butts" as used to identify Adam Glasser as the producer, director, writer and performer of "Seymore Butts" videos. In that regard, Adam Glasser is and remains the sole registered trade name holder of the name "Seymore Butts" in connection with videotape production of "Seymore Butts" movies. (See, for example, United States Patent and Trademark Office Registration No. 2,201,190).
Nevertheless, it has come to our attention that Sunshine Films, Inc. has announced its intention to release a video entitled "The New Adventures of Seymore Butts." Adam Glasser and Seymore, Inc. have nothing to do with this video and shall take all necessary and appropriate legal action to prosecute their claims against the producer and distributors of this video to the full extent of the law if it violates Adam Glasser and Seymore, Inc.'s rights to the trade name "Seymore Butts" as used in the production of adult videos.
In the meantime, Seymore, Inc. looks forward to the release of" The Gapes of Wrath" a brand new video product, directed, written and captured by the one, and only, Adam Glasser as "Seymore Butts." The video shall be consistent with the high production quality and standards you have come to associate with Adam Glasser and Seymore, Inc. and their production of over 55 movies starring Adam Glasser as "Seymore Butts."
Very truly yours, Adam Glasser, President SEYMORE, INC.
[Gene sez: Mark Kernes, AVN's legal expert, who quickly admits he isn't a lawyer, sez: "I've taken a look at the actual judgment that was entered in the Sunshine v. Glasser case, and only a few things seem really clear: 1) The judge says Factory Home Video (FHV) is the only company that can use the name "Seymore Butts" in the title of a video. 2) The jury says FHV didn't "transfer its trademark rights in the Seymore Butts trade name" to Sunshine Films. (There seems to be a bit of confusion, at least in this layman's mind, as to the difference between the TRADEMARK "Seymore Butts" and the TRADE NAME "Seymore Butts," which may further have to be worked out in court.) 3) The jury says neither Glasser nor Seymore Inc. libeled Sunshine. 4) The jury says FHV owes Glasser some big bucks for non-payment of royalties on the 14 Seymore titles it released. And the jury didn't say anything about who owns the right to call himself Seymore Butts, except that Sunshine DOESN'T own it. AVN is still working on this story, and hopefully, the complete version will appear in our October issue.] (From GeneRoss.com)
YYY: Gene Ross is tired of this story. He's tired of being caught in the middle of it.
Luke: I talked to Chuck Martino Tuesday morning. After Adam left Yosef and Rita, Chuck started shooting a similar gonzo line for Factory Home Video called "Philmore Butts..."
Chuck: "Adam Glasser is a f---ing scumbag. You should write about what he's done to different people like Shane. They will also tell you that he's a scumbag."
Luke: "I've heard that he threatened your life."
Chuck: "The dude threatened me three times on the phone. It wasn't his voice. He had somebody else do it. But after I testified [in the Adam vs Yosef & Rita trial], I started getting death threats. I filed a police report. They took it to court. While he was in court, they told him, if this guy has one finger laid on him, we're coming after you. Adam denied everything.
"He also denies reporting Rita to the IRS. And reporting Rita to Immigration and Naturalization. Which he did a few years ago. And after the court case, he did it again. This guy is a piece of work. I may have done some bad things in my life, but I don't f--- people over like that.
"Adam says he won. But then, why is he having to pay for the court costs?
"I hate seeing people get f---ed. Could you imagine if this was Russ Hampshire or David Sturman or Stevie at Wicked?
"Sunshine is going to put out Seymore Butts movies. As will Adam. Which will create another court case.
Chuck: "Adam wants to get out of this business anyway. He tried to sell me his company a few months ago. When he found out that I started my own company (Rita was my partner), Adam called me up. 'Congratulations...'
"I was like, 'I haven't heard from you in five years. Now court's coming up and you want to be my friend.' I went to his office. He said, 'I want to get out of the business. I want my kid... I will sell my whole company for $300,000.' It was all bulls--- so that I would say the right thing in court.
"Seymore is not looking good. He looks really unhealthy. I want to see a valid HIV test on that man."
Luke: I talked early Tuesday afternoon to the Beverly Hills lawyer for hotblooded Israelis Rita and Yosef, Carl Osborne.
Luke: "Who won?"
Carl chuckles. "It depends on how you look at it. Rita and Yosef and Sunshine Films look on it that they prevailed because the court made a finding that the tradenames "Seymore Butts" and "Philmore Butts" were initially owned by their company Factory Home Video. And that Factory Home Video can transfer the rights to the names by agreement. That was 90% of the lawsuit.
"Mr. Glasser filed a cross-complaint against Rita, Yosef, Sunshine Films and Factory Home Video. He lost on all counts except for rights to royalties ($208,000) from Factory Home Video. That was a hollow victory because Factory Home Video is no more.
"Rita, Yosef and Sunshine will be collecting money from him as the result of costs they incurred defending themselves against his lawsuits....which will probably run $150,000-$200,000.
"Mr. Glasser is technically not allowed to use "Seymore Butts" in the title of any more videos. The court did not have before it anything to make a determination whether Adam could use the name "Seymore Butts" for listing as an actor or producer."
Luke: "Was it weird for you as a respectable attorney to litigate a case over the ownership of the name 'Seymore Butts'?"
Carl: "Lawyers don't pick or choose their cases... Yeah, it's kind of humorous. When I was a kid, Seymore Butts was a joke. Who wrote the book 'Under the Grandstand'? Seymore Butts. But it meant something to these people for some reason and they wanted to go battle it out rather than sitting down and resolving it like human beings.
"We thought the court might say, well, nobody owns this name. It is commonplace. But the court found that in the adult film industry the name had a secondary meaning and that Factory Home Video put it into play and they own the name."
Luke: "Did the judge or jury find the subject matter distasteful?"
Carl: "We tried to minimize the negativity of adult, if there is such a thing, by not showing pictures of sex scenes... We limited it to the legal issue of the name... It didn't get into hardcore stuff."
Luke: "What was the libel about?"
Carl: "Sunshine accused Glasser of libeling them. When he put out a letter regarding a film they had released, that it was a compilation. Sunshine said it wasn't. That it was an original film made by Glasser. Unbeknownst to Sunshine, Glasser had actually taken scenes from that movie and put them in other movies. So when this Sunshine movie was released, some of the scenes had been previously released in other movies. So it was a compilation. But my clients were unaware of that."
4/17/01
Seymore Butts Charged With Obscenity
Mark Kernes writes for AVN.com: LOS ANGELES - file photo. Adam Glasser, better known to porn fans worldwide as Seymore Butts, has been charged by Los Angeles prosecutors with misdemeanor obscenity for his Tampa Tushy Fest tape, one version of which contained a fisting scene, AVN.com has learned.
Glasser is scheduled to be arraigned in court Friday (April 20). He is expected to plead not guilty to violating California Penal Code Sections 311.2(a) - "production, distribution or exhibition of obscene matter" - and 311.5 - "advertising or promoting matter represented to be obscene," better known as "pandering obscenity."
"I make pretty much the fun-est, most consensual, non-degrading, albeit very hardcore, tapes," Glasser tells AVN.com. "The essence is, the women are always in control. The pleasure of the woman, the orgasm of the woman, no matter what kind of sex she's having, is the main thing."
Adam Glasser aka Seymore Butts tells GeneRossExtreme.com about his ex-girlfriend Alisha Klass: "The truth is she f---ing Jackie Martling, Emilio Estevez and Bruce Willis. The three celebrities that approached her she f---ed. So what does she mean when she says she doesn't use it to her advantage? She's a star because she's a star? She's a star because her pussy squirts 10 feet high when she gets f---ed up the ass. Of course before she ever met me and I gave her the name Alisha Klass, she wouldn't even know what ejaculation was. If you squirted it in her face. She wouldn't know what the f--- was happening."
Alisha tells GeneRossExtreme.com: "Or would he like to talk about how he got up five in the morning one morning, putting all black on and the OJ gloves and went over to Emilio's and ended up killing his dog and then torturing him for five more months until Emilio called begging me to ask him to stop. That's the kind of person he is. If he wants to get into our past I've already admitted everything. Leave me alone. I left him for a reason and he's lucky he's not being sued for all the money owed to me. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. And, Bruce Willis chased me. I didn't chase him. Also, I'm a star, not because I f--- stars because I don't go around using that to my advantage. I'm sorry that there's no mainstream stars looking to f--- him [Seymore] and his fat ass. I f---ed a man, and, unfortunately, he's a famous one."
Seymore Butts tells GeneRossExtreme.com: "I dare you as a journalist, as an investigative reporter, as a man to find one shred, one person, to find anybody that will say that one, has anybody found out that he had a dog killed? If she's going to say I pulled an OJ on Emilio's dog, that's a pretty heavy statement about me and my character. Again, where's the proof. I think Emilio Estavez is accessible from the standpoint of having an agent/representative. Would it be worth a phone call to see if the man had a dog killed. Has the man lost a dog? Does he own one?"
Porn star Alisha Klass writes: Hi Luke, Hope you celebrated this holiday weekend in whatever way you do. Thanks for the thank you. I just got in from Canada, the expo was a hit. Nice to hang out with the girls who attended. Jill Kelly, Shayla, Cassady, Briana and Dayton as well.
What a mess this whole weekend has been on the web. You know, it sucks that you get away from someone and they don't go on with their own stuff and stay out of yours. Why do certain people have to continue to try and be cruel and lie? I'm thru with any further comments when the idiot opens his mouth. Doesn't he have his own things going on to get nice press? I've stayed away and I shouldn't have reacted to his evil comments and the stupid back up stories he cooked up. I'm better than that and I left that certain personality for a reason. He did drive by and that really upset me, then after the comments posted on your site, I lost it and that's the last time I spend any negative energy on people that have no business or matter in my life. My life is going perfect and I have been working very hard to move on. I don't really care what anyone's take is on the Willis story, cause nobody else is involved. And if I'm only a star, cause I squirt 10 feet high well, I'm not squirting in any other area of my accomplishments, so myself and my work and the way I treat others speaks for itself. Thank you for printing my interview and for covering CENTER OF THE WORLD. To bad you couldn't hook people up to a lie detector test, before you posted their comments, then the people would know the truth.
4/18/01
Rodger Jacobs vs Seymore Butts
Rodger Jacobs writes for Adult Video News: A couple of months ago I wrote an editorial for this site suggesting that the young'uns in this trade who believe that their extreme product is a proper exercise of their constitutional rights of free expression are, well, deluded. I also suggested in rather polite terms that their grasp on law and morality is as loose as the sphincters of their anal queen starlets.
Now we have Adam Glasser's hilarious comments to Mark Kernes to underscore my point. Glasser's defense is so goddamn funny it could be stand-up routine if it weren't also so pathetic. He asserts that a jury of his peers would understand that his movies are "consensual (and) non-degrading ... the women are always in control. The pleasure of the woman, the orgasm of the woman, no matter what kind of sex she's having, is the main thing. So to me, when you're talking about defendable, mine has to be considered the most defendable." Sure, Adam. You're just a regular Candida Royalle, aren't ya, pal? You're the David Lean of porn. A jury would be moved to tears by the many moments of tender, loving passion depicted in your tasteful and artistically rendered anal epics.
"Fisting is obviously the key here," Glasser admits. You betch-um, Red Ryder, so why did you distribute the movie with that scene in it? Come on, now, don't tell me everybody else is doing it because that's no defense at all. You're the one who got caught with your hand in the cookie jar -- no pun intended -- and now you will have to pay the price. Sorry, dude, but you knew that your artistic vision could lead to trouble.
Seymore Butts replies: rodger, i have some questions for you...
what exactly are the limits?
where exactly do i draw the line?
what are the exact standards for obscenity within the city of los angeles?
you seem to have such a good handle on this, i thought you might set me and the rest of the young'uns straight.
listen,rog,here's the deal,babe. being a writer who has profited in a variety of ways in this industry does not make you an authority on obscenity,just another asshole with an opinion! thats just the way it is! until your able to answer my questions,i suggest you pickup a copy of the movie in question,grab some lube,sit back,shut the f--- up and do what you do best! go get'em tiger!
respectfully,
seymore butts
7/6/01
Adam Glasser Interview
I found an interview with Adam Glasser aka Seymore Butts on the June 14, 2001 archives of the Bob Berkowitz show Lovebytes.
Adam said he was warned to not get into the industry because of the presence of the Mafia and the difficulty in getting paid. Adam heard the industry was dominated by folks who'd been together since the 1970s and prefered to deal only with each other.
Bob: "Is the industry still mobbed up?"
Adam: "I think that was an overstatement when told to me ten years ago although I am not saying that it is completely false. There are occasions when you do come across and have to deal with those type of people. I think that's not unlike most businesses.
"Tera Patrick has had a 24-hour a day babysitter since day one assigned to her by her company [Digital Playground]."
Bob: "Where you from in New York?"
Adam: "Riverdale."
Bob: "Why are there such an inordinate number of Jews in porn?"
Adam: "Isn't it strange?"
Bob: "It's amazing."
Adam: "I've wondered about that myself. I might study that later in life."
Bob: "I'm about to start a doctoral program in human sexuality. I've been toying for a subject for my thesis."
Adam: "It's probably the same answer for Hollywood too."
Bob: "The originals moguls were Jewish."
Adam: "Even today at the studios, most of the people who run them are Jewish."
Adam says his favorite actress to work with was Vanessa Chase. He said he wouldn't want to work with Jasmin St. Claire ('rude'), Juli Ashton ('not my type, know her too well') and Tera Patrick.
Adam: "I know Tera well. I've had experience with her. And that turns me off. From the pure looks of it all, she looks like a great girl."
Bob: "I like Tera but there's a detachment about her."
Adam: "Tera's been honest about this on her show. She's been physically abused by the last two men she's been involved with. That probably has something to do with that detachment."
Bob: "She proposed marriage to me on her last time on the show. She likes older Jewish gentlemen."
Adam: "In her movies, I find her to be a pillow queen. Inactive. She lets the stud take the lead."
Adam says few people wanted to work with Leanna Hart because she was a bitch and wanted to be treated like a Hollywood queen.
Adam says he was upset with Alisha Klass's negative comments about him but he wasn't going to say more.
Glasser's opened up an office in Amsterdam to better distribute his movies throughout Europe.
Bob: "You haven't seen any evidence that this new Bush administration is going to do anything about pornography?"
Adam: "My hit [from the Los Angeles Police Department for obscenity] came a few days after the Bush inauguration. And then there was another hit [obscenity bust against Jeff Steward from Legend for bukkake]."
Bob: "The Bush administration has created an atmosphere for local DAs to go after the industry."
Glasser's now defending himself against a local obscenity charge for Tampa Tushy Fest which features a fisting scene, the first American fisting scene in 20 years. Adam mentions that the industry's dinosaurs (folks from the 1970s) made a deal around 1979 with a local DA to not do fisting and other controversial sex acts in hardcore videos. The Los Angeles vice squad which busted Glasser told him that pornographers would see a lot more of them in the months ahead.
Adam: "I'm going to trial on June 29th. We have an obscenity case with the city of Los Angeles centered around that tape Tampa Tushy Fest 1. That fisting scene was the first fisting scene released in the United States for 20 years. Although I was told by many people that that [fisting] is not put into movies, nobody could ever show me why. They could only tell me that some dinosaur owners from our industry made some sort of handshake agreement with some District Attorney that they wouldn't put this in the movies. I am not privy to that. I don't know who made that agreement."
7/9/01
Seymore Butts Goes To Trial Monday
Adam Glasser aka Seymore Butts goes to trial in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Monday morning facing obscenity charges relating to his video Tampa Tushy Fest which contains a graphic fisting scene between Chloe and Alisha Klass.
I spoke with Seymore by phone Sunday morning and asked him about the hit he's taken from Rob Black's Extreme Associates.
"Come on, isn't this wrestling fodder?" said Mr. Butts. "I don't have any comments. It's not reality. It's Rob Black's fantasy world."
Seymore's attorney Roger Diamond estimates the trial will take between five and eight days.
"I've gotten lots of call and emails of support from the industry," says Butts. "From that perspective, I've felt supported. From the Free Speech Coalition, I haven't received a phone call or anything from them about this case. AVN has been very supportive in providing access to information. Is Rob Black part of the industry? How supportive is he being?
"Everybody that we've asked to participate as expert witnesses has agreed, so long as it has been within their schedule. Unfortunately for us, there's a sexologist convention in Croatia right now but I think people are returning this week. Our witnesses will include Chloe, a doctor, somebody from AVN, and some other witnesses. We've let them [prosecution] know about our witnesses but we don't necessarily let them know about the scope of their testimony."
Seymore says he won't be calling his ex-girlfriend Alisha Klass to testify in his defense. "Which is probably unfortunate for her because it's a publicity opportunity. PBS Frontline is petitioning the courts to put cameras in and we'll have some other media people in the courtroom covering it. It'll be a circus and you know how Miss Klass loves circuses."
Mr. Butts says he's always distributed two versions of Tampa Tushy Fest, one for more conservative communities which does not contain the fisting scene.
Luke: "Do you regret distributing a fisting version now that you've gone through this hassle?"
Seymore: "From the hassle perspective, from the tension and anxiety that the courtroom seems to give me, yes. From the principle standpoint, no. I feel good about the movie. I wouldn't have released it if I didn't feel good about it. I feel great about the scene. A lot of other people feel great about the scene because it has been awarded by two different organizations [AVN and XRCO] the scene of the year award.
"Fisting? What are we talking about? The issue of thumbs. Because four fingers, I could show you movies all day long with four fingers inserted in a girl. But the thumb seems to make the difference. I can show you movies where two hands with eight fingers are inserted. However so long as the thumbs are out, everything's good. It just seems ridiculous and hypocritical to me that the thumb makes that much difference.
"I have find out, and I am sure that a lot of people know, that fisting is a regular part of a lot of people's lives. Especially in the gay communities. Look at Europe. Everybody in America wouldn't be shooting European versions with fisting if it wasn't a subject that people were interested in."
Luke: "Did you tell Bob Berkowitz that the vice squad, when they busted you, said that pornographers would be seeing a lot more of them in the months ahead?"
Seymore: "No. I was quoting what Legend's Jeff Steward said the vice officers told him when they busted him. The officers I dealt with seemed apologetic and simply wanted copies of the videotape."
Luke: "So what kind of penalties could you face for a misdemeanor obscenity conviction?"
Seymore: "Right now they've piled up the counts between corporations and my mother and myself. Each count is worthy of six months in county jail and a thousand dollar fine. We don't anticipate that even if there was a guilty conviction. We're first time offenders.
"When they offered a plea Friday of two years probation and one count guilty of obscenity, no jail time, and all charges dropped against my mother and my companies, if I thought this movie was a problem, I would've taken that. That's an easy way out that others in the industry have taken. It hasn't been publicised but others have taken that route many times."
Luke: "If you pled guilty, it would set you up for future convictions?"
Seymore: "Absolutely. From a federal level, yeah. And now there seems to be a [federal] agenda, who wants to take that chance?
"So far we've had Legend hit after me. And they haven't been notified what's going to happen with that. We know that Extreme's had a purchase made by a vice officer (Stephen Patterson). The same vice officer that bought from Legend and myself. Who else has that Stephen Patterson name on their list? I don't know. Are they looking at this case as a gauge for how they're going to act in the future? Possibly. If they get a conviction, maybe there will be more busts. If they don't get a conviction, maybe they will decide that there are better ways to spend their time."
Luke: "Will you use Extreme Associates in your defense, claiming they do stuff far more obscene than what you've done?"
Seymore: "I would never use the term more obscene because I don't do anything obscene. What anybody who's going to be facing what I face will have to do is point out comparable materials. Not worse than. Comparable videos and comparable magazines. We plan to show a rubber fist sex toy that readily available. In an obscenity case, you have to educate the jury as to what is available out there because you can't assume that the jury is familiar with our industry. If somebody is completely unfamiliar with our industry, it puts us at a disadvantage."
Luke: "Have you kept releasing titles under the name Seymore Butts since your trial with Sunshine Video? I see you own SeymoreButts.com."
Seymore: "Absolutely. I've never stopped using the name and there will soon be an announcement made on the case you're talking about."
Luke: "How many movies are you releasing a month and has been affected by all your legal disputes?"
Seymore: "My company has been affected by all my legal cases. It's been nonstop for quite a while. I defended Alisha [Klass], Samantha [Style] and Halle [Ashton] in an obscenity case [they were busted for flashing at a Seymore Butts booth at the April 1998 Erotica LA]. That was three lawyers. That went on for over a year. The case was eventually dropped.
"I've had a lot of experience in the courtroom lately and it has affected my company. I used to release one movie a month. Now I release one movie every other month. But I make up for it with other lines that I distribute. Today I distribute more movies than I did a year ago however they're not all Seymore Butts movies.
"Like I've done for the last ten years, my movies are a chronicle of my life. I still have sex on camera. Always seen through my eyes. Shot point of view. We have one contract girl - McKayla Mathews."
Luke: "Has anyone donated?"
Seymore: "No though we've had one offer. We haven't accepted yet. We asked distributors, retailers and fans to buy a few more of our movies. Check out our web site. That will help us, if you believe in what we do. We try to deliver quality product."
Luke: "What happened with your dispute with Ultimate Pictures?"
Seymore: "It's confidential but I am happy with it."
Luke: "This is the fourth legal battle you've had in the last four years?"
Seymore: "That you would know about."
Mr. Butts has spent about one million dollars on legal fees in the last five years.
Luke: "Do you enjoy the legal jousting?"
Seymore: "I'm a survivor. When a battle is put before me, I generally won't back down. Look at the Rob Black situation. It took me one hour to figure out that it wasn't worth my time. But other things are. When somebody wants to take your name, you have to fight. When somebody accuses you of something obscene that you don't believe is obscene, you have to fight."
Luke: "How satisfied are you with your internet operation TeamTushy.com?"
Seymore: "On a scale of one to ten, five. It is one of the things that has suffered because of my time obligations to this legal stuff."
Seymore's contract girl McKayla Mathews writes: HELLO LUKE! I HOPE YOU AND ALL OF YOUR READERS ARE WELL. I JUST WANTED TO COMMEND YOU ON YOUR ARTICLES CONCERNING SEYMORES' TRIAL. YOU'VE REMAINED TASTEFUL AND ACCURATE WHICH IS MORE THAN I CAN SAY FOR SOME OTHER WEBSITES. IT'S NICE TO SEE THAT THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE IN THIS BUSINESS THAT STILL CONSIDER IT A BUSINESS AND NOT AN EXUSE TO BADMOUTH PEOPLE LIKE LITTLE BOYS. I HOPE THAT EVERYONE CAN LEND SEYMORE ALL THE SUPPORT HE NEEDS RIGHT NOW. AND IF PEOPLE BUY HIS MOVIES THEY CAN SEE MY SASSY ASS(MINUS THE FISTING!)! KEEP UP THE GREAT SITE, LUKE, AND MY LOVE TO EVERYONE! YOUR TUSHYGIRL- MCKAYLA MATTHEWS
7/10/01
Seymore Butts Obscenity Trial Postponed Until After Yom Kippur
I attended the obscenity trial of Seymore Butts today in downtown Los Angeles. It was postponed until October 15, after the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Seymore got busted for the first widely publicized fisting scene (1998's Tampa Tushy Fest) in an American porno in over 20 years. A 1980 Los Angeles City Attorney's Office memo to the industry listed fisting as one of the seven deadly sins. Prosecutor Deborah L. Sanchez remembers the list with the acronym "CURBFPH."
C - Children
U - Urination
R - Rape
B - Bestiality
F - Fisting
H - Homocide with hardcore sex
P - Excessive pain with sex
You can apparently still order Tampa Tushy Fest at places like XXX-imports.com, from which I took this:
Seymore is despondent over the loss of Alisha, and many women try to, ah, arouse him from his depression. Most exciting for us are the efforts of Bridgette Kerkove and Kylie Ireland. In addition to some gaping ass work, and dildo-stuffing, Bridgette and Kylie anally fist each other, at the same time! Order it now for $35, shipping included.
The Buzz On the Newsgroups said:
"Just saw Tampa Tushy Fest by Seymore and Chloe gets double fisted my Alisha Klass Alisha Klass gets fisted then Chloe puts one in her ass and Alisha tries to fist herself. Unbelievable I think Seymore pushed the envelope across the table."
"It has one helluva hot scene for those who are able to see or get it! Chloe...incredible! One shows Alisha getting both hands past the wrists into Chloe's twat, Chloe was sitting on her butt, torso raised, and she was diggin' it..... The other showed Chloe in the same position, but with a big dildo up her ass and Alisha with one hand in Chloe's cunt. Egomaniac Seymour had to somewhat ruin it, by having his hand and finger manipulating the dildo in Chloe's butt."
"Alisha's best vid IMHO, was Tampa Tushy Fest #1 (the uncut version) where her and Chloe melted down my VCR with their fisting each other."
I parked over two miles away Monday morning, just off Olympic and Figueroa, and grabbed my space in a $5 parking lot. The lot at the courthouse cost $14 for the day.
Wearing my synagogue suit and fancy black shoes, I wore off much leather walking over two miles in 40 minutes to the courthouse at 210 W. Temple Street. I passed through the elaborate security and finally made my way to the Division 40 court on the fifth floor at 8:45 AM. I recognized nobody.
I wandered in and out of the court, then sat on a bench and read the Herman Wouk novel Youngblood Hawke.
"Mr. Ford," a familiar voice called out five minutes later. I looked up and saw Seymore Butts aka Adam Glasser, 37 years old, wearing a suit and sandles. I followed him into the court and we two Jews were about the only white folks waiting for trial. Everybody else was black or hispanic or asian.
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Roger Diamond talks with Frontline's Corey Ford
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Seymore Butts
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Seymore Butts
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Roger Diamond
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Roger Diamond
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Seymore Butts
Heather Barron writes: "Seymore looks really sickly in those photos on your site today. What's up with that?"
We wander out again and run into a two man crew (producer Jim Gilmore and assistant Corey Ford) from the PBS documentary-style show Frontline. I vividly remember their 1983 report on gambling's influence on pro football. Almost 20 years later, that's still the highest rating show the program's ever aired.
Scott writes: "geez,Luke-let no one question your sincerity to the Jewish faith-NOBODY but a REAL JEW would walk two miles to save $9 bucks! FRONTLINE also did a great show on the Russian mafia's invasion of hockey and the incredible DEATH OF A PORN STAR documentary about Shauna Grant."
Glasser's 58-year old attorney Roger Diamond shows up. A nice Jewish boy who graduated UCLA Las School in 1966, and married shortly after, Diamond tried his first obscenity case in 1969. He represented Walter "Frenchy" Bagnall in the 1980 MiPorn bust and Rick Nathan of Tao Productions in a 1985 obscenity case. The feds initially tried Tao Productions in three jurisdictions around th country, Salt Lake City, Buffalo and Little Rock, Arkansas.
In the 1980s, Diamond defended Sterling Austor, a San Fernando Valley porn store, for its 8mm movies which included Plunge One, which features a man with his arm up to his elbow in another man's ass.
In 1993, Diamond initially defended Mickey Fine aka Herbert Feinberg, who recently called me from jail. He won't finish his sentence until the year 2032.
Diamond was barred from defending Fine on a conflict of interest angle.
Now Diamond is defending John Lynch, who holds sex parties at a private residence in the Valley. The police say that the home is not properly zoned to license as a sex club. Diamond says it is just a private residence, not a sex club, where adults do consensual things to each other.
Roger remembers how Patrick Livingston's 1983 arrest for shoplifting devastated the feds MiPorn cases. Livingstone was one of two federal agents who went undercover in the industry from 1977-79.
Diamond, Glasser and the Frontline crew keep referring to this as Los Angeles's first obscenity trial in eight years.
Diamond and Glasser sport similarly curly unruly short hair. Seymore says his hair is naturally curly. He gets out of the shower in the morning, adds some gel, and off he goes.
Our first judge Monday is Patricia Schnegg but she delays assigning a court to the case until the prosecutor arrives.
Deputy City Attorney Deborah L. Sanchez was supposed to show at 8AM but doesn't make it until 9:30 AM. She's a big woman, over 200 pounds, hispanic and amiable. She brings with her two gorgeous latina law students at Loyola Marymount who are interning with her over the summer and two Los Angeles Police Department porn squad detectives Steven M. Takes---a and Kyle Lewison.
Takes---a should be a familiar name to pornographers. He's been on the LAPD's Organized Crime and Vice Division Pornography Unit since 1985. He pulled the sting on Reuben Gottesman and Steve Orenstein in 1990, ordering illegal Traci Lords tapes. Takes---a runs the LAPD's porn squad. He's a powerful muscular asian man of few words. Steve and Kyle have the tough chiselled wholesome look you expect in police officers. They walk into court carrying a box of evidence.
What most surprises me today is how much of business is carried on personally between the prosecutors and the defense. They banter back and forth all day in a cordial tone. Even Seymore and the prosecutor and the detectives banter back and forth. I thought these guys would all hate each other and only fix upon the other an icy stare.
When I first talk with Deborah, she lights up with a big smile. She's read my web site for years. l-keford.com was the favorite page of her previous supervisor. LA's former City Attorney Jim Hahn, Deborah's past big boss, is now Los Angeles's mayor. He is thought to have conservative Christian views of pornography and may initiate a crackdown. The new city attorney is Rocky Delgadillo.
Deborah seems conversant with all the porn gossip sites out there, from GeneRossExtreme.com to AVN.com.
Sanchez and the detectives correct our supposition that this is LA's first obscenity bust in eight years. They say there have been many. They just have't gone to trial. Porners have pled guilty to obscenity.
Orange County's Mother Productions recently pled guilty to a charge of obscenity for the tape Liquid Gold Nectar which featured urination and fisting. Mother Productions also voluntarily brought master tapes of six of its other urination tapes to the LAPD to be destroyed.
Around 10:30AM, Judge Schnegg assigns us to Court Division 47 on the seventh floor. We all pile out of the courtroom and gather in a tight circle. Diamond opens up his box of goodies to show the prosecutor his defense exhibits.
The prosecutor and detectives show concern that we should not examine the smut in public view. There might be children around. The defense are much less concerned and they start producing hardcore videos, AVN magazines, a fist dildo, last week's New York Times article on the French film Rape Me, other articles, and "scholarly" books on anal and vaginal fisting.
Seymore on the New York Times article: "This new French film shows the most graphic and violent rape scenes you've ever seen."
Diamond presents a tape of the AVN 2000 Awards where the tape in question, Tampa Tushy Fest, won an award (as it also did at the XRCO).
As Diamond finishes presenting the prosecutor with the box of hardcore tapes, Deborah Sanchez makes a revealing remark that shows she reads GeneRossExtreme.com: "Are any of those tapes distributed by Extreme Associates?"
Last week on Gene's site, Extreme owner Rob Black claimed that Seymore Butts was going to point the police in Blacks' direction as a way of escaping an obscenity conviction. Extreme and Gene have been riding Seymore unmercifully.
Seymore Butts: "No."
Detective Lewison: "These are just from other companies?"
Seymore: "Yep."
Diamond presents to Sanchez an 8mm copy of Plunge One.
Roger: "This is a movie that I defended in this building, and won, 20 years ago, called 'Plunge One.' This actually shows the guy's hand, up to the elbow, going into the other guy. This was tried by the LA City Attorney's office, Mr. Lawrence Bauer, your predecessor."
Deborah: "I prosecuted a film similar to that was sent from San Francisco."
Roger: "I haven't even seen it since the trial."
Seymore to Deborah: "Do you keep track of what is going on in the industry as far as from the web site perspective? Or why else would you ask about the Extreme product?"
Deborah: "No, because your attorney is talking about comparability."
Seymore: "What does that have to do with Extreme?"
Deborah: "If there are comparable films out there..."
Seymore to Luke: "You understand that I didn't say anything... She brought up Extreme Associates."
Roger: "This is Adult Video News. And what they do, is they review these movies. And we have, I told you, witnesses coming. The publisher [Paul Fishbein] and an editor of this magazine to testify that they reviewed this movie and they also gave it an award.
"And this is a fisting movie called 'The Fist, The Whole Fist, And Nothing But The Fist.'"
Deborah: "Who distributes that?"
It comes from Patrick Collins Elegant Angel. It's the only other fisting movie they can present as evidence. If they could find more fisting movies, then it would make it more likely that their fisting movie Tampa Tushy Fest did not violate community standards.
Roger: "Here is an article in last week's Los Angeles Times. Playboy is buying hardcore channels. Evidence of what you can get on an ordinary TV station."
Deborah: "You're not going to get this [fisting] on an ordinary TV station."
Seymore: "You're going to get four fingers, you mean?"
Mr. Butts can't see the difference between inserting four and eight fingers in an orifice and inserting a whole fist.
Roger: "Here is stuff from the internet on female ejaculation."
Seymore: "We'll probably have somebody from Liberated Christians come in and talk about that."
Deborah: "We can look at these later, depending on what the court decides."
We all, defendants, prosecutor, detectives and media, go up the elevator together trading stories. The gorgeous interns have shy smiles. The opposing attorneys act as if they're engaged in an interesting chess match. The detective's give away little in their expressions. The only one not enjoying himself is the defendent Adam Glasser who repeatedly mutters that the case is "bulls---."
During a break in the legal action, Adam tells his attorney that the case is over. A settlement has been reached. In exchange for dropping the charges against him, prosecutor Deborah Sanchez will star in some hefty latina porn videos for him, doing vaginal and anal fisting.
I tell Mr. Butts to not corrupt the two beautiful latina law students. He gives a wicked smile.
Diamond says our new judge, whitehaired Laurie D. Zelon, has no experience with obscenity cases. But with her sharp questions and comments over the rest of the day, you wouldn't know it. The two attorneys go into a private conference with the judge.
Gilmore, Glasser, Takes---a and I trade stories and opinions. Adam's not afraid to go directly after the detectives and the prosecutor.
I spoke briefly with Takes---a in 1996 but I could never get permission from the LAPD's press office to do an interview with him.
Roger Diamond says Deborah, Seymore and company: "What motivated the police to file charges may have been the fisting, but what's admissable [for evidence] is the comparable material if it shows the other activities in the movie [aside from fisting]. Because the jury may see, the fisting is ok. It is between two men and is consenting. But we didn't like the other part. And for something to be found obscene, the whole thing must be found obscene, not just a part. The jury is not given the choice of what part of the movie to focus on because the jury instructions say 'Consider as a whole.'
"I don't think it is fair to require us to put on comparable material limited to a particular scene that might've caused them the problem."
Deborah: "But it is the fisting that you touted..."
Seymore: "Touted by what?"
Deborah: "On your advertisements."
Seymore: "If you look on the box, you will never find the word 'fisting.'"
Deborah: "On your internet advertising."
Seymore: "That's the only place you can find it."
Roger: "If the judge rules that comparables are not allowed at all, then the trial could proceed [today].
"This guy [Steve Takes---a] is apparently their expert witness. And he's not available after Wednesday. So she says to the judge, if we allow this comparable material in [as evidence], I'm going to need a long time to go over it with my witness. Fine, but I have scheduling problems. I have cases backing up. Plus I'm going to be out of the country in Australia for a couple of weeks.
"The judge has no experience in obscenity cases. I told her, when we come back to this in a couple of months, maybe she can educate herself in these issues. They are tricky subtle issues. She has no knowledge of them. She has no background.
"It's an interesting legal issue - does the comparable material [have to be fisting] have to relate exactly to the material that they don't like given the fact that the law and the jury instructions says the jury has to consider the whole thing."
A few years ago, I spoke with Chicago vice squad leader Tom Bohling who said that because the federal Clinton administration had no interest in prosecuting obscenity, local law enforcement has also abandoned the beat. But LA's cops say that they take no direction from the feds. They claim no change in approach since the new Bush administration.
Seymore tells Luke: "Remember when we showed them the box and Deborah asked, 'Are those movies from Extreme Associates?' And I say, 'No, why would you ask if they're Extreme movies?' And you could see her backtrack. She expected a box full of movies from Extreme Associates. Obviously they are keeping track of what is going on, not only on your web site, but on the AVN web site and on the Gene Ross web site as well. Does it look like there's any cooperation going on between us and them?"
Luke: "No."
Seymore: "Those undercover officers. I've seen them before. I recognize them. I remember having conversation, especially with the asian man.
"I just thinking it is interesting that the word 'Extreme' came out of the supervising attorney's mouth before any of mentioned it. I wasn't even going to mention that name. I'm glad you were there."
Luke: "And I had my tape recording running."
Seymore: "It goes to show that they [Los Angeles law enforcement] are a lot more on the ball than people think. So when Rob Black rants about chunks of s--- coming out of people's asses and all that kind of stuff, the people who are reading it are not only fans of the industry but the city attorney, the vice office squad, the obscenity squad, they're all reading it.
"They [law enforcement] bought the movie off the web site. And on the web site, I think it has the word 'fisting' in it. I've done several movies with fisting. The others are Alisha [Klass] doing it to herself. I don't know if they consider that obscene. I don't know where they join the line.
"But touting? It's not on the box. You can't find a picture of that on the box. You can't find a press release that we did that says, 'Hey, this movie has fisting. That's why you need to buy it.' That's the opposite way we did it. We didn't put any kind of reference to fisting on the box because we didn't want people to think that we were trying to sell it for the shock value. It just happened in the movie, not planned, that I decided to leave in because it seemed very erotic to me. And the girls obviously enjoyed themselves."
I remember when Alisha Klass hosted the 1999 AVN Awards in Las Vegas and kept referring to how wonderful it felt to have Chloe's fist up her ass. I sat at the table with Russ Hampshire and I saw how upset she got with Alisha's crude remarks. The next year, Alisha told Russ "to shut up, you old drunk."
Luke: "Russ's mom got up and walked out."
Seymore: "That's so funny how she could draw the line. His mother walks about because a girl is talking about a fist up her ass meanwhile there's a comedian on ten minutes earlier talking about the most outrageously crude things I've ever heard. There are dirtier words than 'f---' and 'fist.'"
I listen in as Seymore and his attorney discuss his defense during the hour lunch break from 12:30-1:30 PM.
Seymore: "Why do we have a rubber fist? It's obviously not something that people hang on their mantles. This is used as a sex toy. Somebody's buying it."
Roger: "Their argument is that obscenity goes to the way that sex is depicted, not the way it is practiced. No matter what goes on in a private bedroom, unless it is depicted..."
Seymore: "We have a video with somebody using a rubber fist."
Roger: "I don't want the judge to limit us in terms of what we can show [for defence]."
Seymore: "We also have an actress who says that she shot this stuff many times for other people. For her, the only way she can really get off for real is fisting."
Luke: "Do other just use it for their European versions?"
Seymore: "Yes."
Roger: "If we had any doubts [as to what caused the obscenity bust], whether it was the anal to oral sex... We now know clearly that they're after the fisting. It's clear what their strategy is going to be. They have two basic witnesses and a movie. To isolate a 25-minute section of a two hour movie and calling it obscene, I think they will be banging their heads against the wall."
Seymore says there's a ten minute difference between the two versions of Tampa Tushy Fest he's distributed. "I don't think the actual fisting, where you have every finger in, lasts more than ten minutes. Everything else is the same."
Ken Wood, former AVN managing editor stops by the court room for giggles. After a couple of months of vacation, he starts law school in September. Freelance writer and former Marketplace reporter Adam Davidson stops by for a few hours. Both are pale smart Jews, verbally agile, with triangular heads.
The cops and latina prosecutorial team are not jewish. The bailiff is asian. The judge seems Jewish. Seymore's attorney Diamond tells the court he can't work over Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year which falls in September in the Western calendar.
We almost have enough Jews for a minyan to daven mincha [afternoon prayers].
Judge Laurie D. Zelon has an amiable manner. I'm intrigued by how well everybody seems to get along. Only Seymore the defendant seems to carry a grudge. For everyone else, it's just a game.
Judge Zelon says from her bench that both parties agree that most of the video in question shows standard hardcore porn but there are particular practices that are not normative.
The judge and Diamond argue over comparability - how close the evidence (mainly hardcore videotapes) must match Tampa Tushy Fest. Does a tape need to show fisting to be valid evidence of community acceptance of fisting in hardcore tapes?
Prosecutor Sanchez says she needs more time to view the tapes the defense wants to submit as evidence. Sanchez describes Tampa Tushy Fest as building to a crescendo of fisting while Diamond downplays the significance of fisting to the movie.
Seymore repeatedly interrupts his attorney with arguments in his behalf. Seymore seems stunned he has to be in court to answer such "bulls--- charges." At times Diamond listens to Seymore's arguments and at times Diamond shushes him.
Sanchez says they did not bust Mr. Butts arbitrarily. They received a complaint about the tape and investigated.
To move the process along, Diamond offers to Sanchez to give up all the movies in the box as evidence and only use one movie - a Wicked tape of the 2000 AVN Awards. But Glasser overrules the offer. He wants to submit numerous movies showing four and eight finger insertion.
Diamond and Glasser tell Sanchez that their including Glasser's 70-year old book-keeper mother in the case is a big mistake. "She's never even seen a [porn] movie," says Glasser.
Outside in the corridor, while we discuss whether fisting is obscene, two hispanic Spanish-speaking mothers tend to their kids. One little girl looks over at the box of pornographic evidence. Seymore points her out and Diamond hurries over to move the box.
Roger: "This is a fascinating chess match."
Seymore: "No it isn't. It's bulls---. What's the difference between four fingers and a thumb? Look." He holds out his hand. "The thumb is smaller.
"You [Luke] have been on sets many times where they've done eight finger insertion."
The judge turned down Frontline's request to videotape these pretrial discussions. The trial is now set for October 15.
Robert H. Rimmer wrote in his 1984 book "The X-Rated Videotape Guide":
"Today, most adult filmmakers do not produce films that transgress a 1980 memorandum from the Los Angeles City Attorney's office. The memorandum pinpointed makers of those films and tapes subject to arrest and prosecution. They included scenes of bestiality and masturbation of animals; so-called snuff films, in which the actress is supposedly murdered in her final orgasm (probably none of these actually exist); and films or tapes showing sex with minors.
"The police may also try to censor films on tape that show urination (golden showers), defecation (Marquis de Sade style), or films showing pain or sadomasochistic abuse. However, as you will discover in the filmography, there are many bondage-and-discipline films available on videotape. A few tapes even offer "fist f---ing," in which an arm, foot or toe is inserted into a vagina; one such sequence appears in the original tapes of Candystripers, which were confiscated in a raid by the Los Angeles Police Department in March 1979. If you buy a videotape of Candystripers today, the scene has been eliminated.
"Areas I have labeled "Deviational Kinky" in the filmography (such as anal sex, double insertions, orgies and various combinations of group sex) are no longer subject to police raids."
From Adam Glasser's Prosecutor Deborah L. Sanchez
Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Deborah L. Sanchez writes Luke: "Hi, I read article today on your web site. I wanted to let you know that the obscenity convictions I told you about were NOT lesser charges. They were distribution of obscenity convictions. Rarely have the charges been reduced to something else. Your readers may want to know that.
"Also, the Mother Productions tapes returned to LAPD, only involved the master tapes. It wasn't hundreds. It was only 5-6 masters. Thank you."
Deborah Sanchez appears around 40 years of age and has about ten years experience working for the Los Angeles City Attorney. She now heads the "Special Enforcement" division and works closely with detectives from the LAPD's Organized Crime and Vice Division. She's successfully prosecuted several pornographers over the past few years for distributing obscenity. Any of the seven deadly sins are likely to bring prosecution from Sanchez.
Don't let her smile and amiable ways fool you - this woman knows how to convict aberrant pornographers. Sanchez, like her peers, believes that it is not at all clear that any hardcore tapes are necessarily legal. It's just that her office, so far, is only prosecuting porners who step over the line into urination, fisting, defecation, rape and similar deviant material. Her office knows all about Rob Black and Extreme Associates and they are biding their time before they bust him. When they do, they know Rob will be on the evening news constantly making his case. They know Rob wants to fight. I'm sure his turn is coming soon.
With all the skeletons in former mayor Richard Riordan's closet, including his purported connections to scandalous figures, it was no surprise that Riordan left the sex industry alone. Mayor Hahn, with conservative Christian values on porn, should be a different story. The LA Times hasn't assigned two reporters to the porn beat, for the first time ever, because they think things are going to be quiet over the next few months.
From GeneRossExtreme.com:
Voltaire Jones writes: You guys should back off this anti-Glasser stuff. If you read what happened in court Monday you would know that Glasser is not rolling over, and he's not sending people to Extreme. All of your site speaks to your own paranoia about Glasser somehow pointing LA Vice to your products. And by all accounts he hasn't even mentioned your company at all. And by all accounts LA Vice is well aware of generossextreme.com and all of Extreme's products in any case.
I think Glasser deserves some credit for not rolling over. As stated in the Luke F-rd article, this is not the first case prosecuted in 8 years, it is instead the first case that has gone to court in 8 years. Everyone else rolled over. So give him some credit, and stand behind him until you have proof positive that he has somehow acted the way you are afraid he might act, possibly a projection of the way Black would act if caught in the same situation.
Gene sez: Yeah, and we know some of the things that happened in court Monday because a little birdy came back to this office and told us about it. When Glasser brought in a box of tapes, the prosecutors asked if those were Extreme tapes as if they were expecting them. Wouldn't that question seem a bit odd to you. Someone in Glasser's inner circle ratted out that his strategy was going to be one of pointing the finger of guilt at Extreme. We've merely made it very difficult for him to do so. Regardless, he will beat the rap. Ain't no way you're gonna get any kind of obscenity conviction in LA on straight porn, especially if Cincinnati finds a gay tape to be not obscene. Everyone involved in prosecuting Glasser should hang their heads in shame. Especially the Free Speech Coalition which continues its peculiar non-involvement with the affairs of this industry.
Voltaire writes Gene: Very odd that Vice would ask Glasser about Extreme. The take on that by Ford was that the Vice dept is reading l-keford.com and generossextreme.com and is not as ignorant as we all guessed. I guess we are supposed to think (based on their quotes in LF's article) that they are blase civil servants who attack porners only because the public demands it. But it's hard for the general public, or at least the significant portion of the general public that consumes porn, to believe that the Vice people aren't a bunch of prudish schoolmarms that want to put people in jail because Seymour's girls didn't keep a thumb on the outside. (From GeneRossExtreme.com)
From Tod-Hunter.com:
I was going through Luke's site (of course I read Luke's site, and everybody else's. Don't you?) And I missed the importance of this entirely until Tom over at AVN Online pointed it out. Read this:
"Deputy City Attorney Deborah L. Sanchez was supposed to show at 8AM but doesn't make it until 9:30 AM. ... When I first talk with Deborah, she lights up with a big smile. She's read my web site for years. l-keford.com was the home page for her previous supervisor. Her big boss, Jim Hahn, is now Los Angeles's mayor. The new city attorney is Rocky Delgadillo. Deborah seems conversant with all the porn gossip sites out there, from GeneRossExtreme.com to AVN.com. Sanchez and the detectives correct our supposition that this is LA's first obscenity bust in eight years. They say there have been many. They just haven't gone to trial. Porners have pled guilty to lesser charges."
Tod Hunter writes: "This woman is a city attorney. She recognized Luke, she keeps up on all the porn sites, and her last supervisor was using Luke as a homepage. I thought "Yeah, yeah," but it was Tom who pointed out that the law enforcement community is reading the sites: if somebody blows off about how they had this 15-year-old girl and they d.p.'d her with Coke bottles and you can see it in the new Atrocities Volume 37 - THE AUTHORITIES WILL KNOW ABOUT IT. Like I said, let's be careful out there." (Tod-Hunter.com)
Luke says: Unlike Tod-Hunter.com and AVN.com and other industry web sites, I have no concerns about the health of the industry. I report and opine and you decide what happens to the industry. I don't care about the porno industry. If law enforcement reads my site, then I feel honored.
Deborah Sanchez emails Luke at 6:24 PM Tuesday: "Hi again, I've been busy and away, so I am sorry for this late response. To answer the questions: I can tell you that we don't "monitor" any sites. We just occassionally look at the sites that have adult industry news. No, we don't "monitor" or look at porn sites. Your site was bookmarked on the former supervisor's computer, but it was not a "homepage.""
Mark Kernes writes for AVN.com: "The major fight was whether or not we could offer comparable materials," explained Diamond, in an exclusive interview with AVN.com. "The judge ruled in our favor. The city attorney argued that the Heller case, which I won - that was my case, People v. Heller, 1979 - if you can believe this, the city attorney said that was an outdated case. I said, 'It's not been overruled, and therefore never been disapproved.' And I said, 'Also, it was my case, so it couldn't be that outdated; I'm still alive.' So the judge ruled in my favor. Then the judge said, 'Now that we've won the battle to get comparable materials in, the question still remains as to what's comparable. And that's a very complicated issue as to what's comparable to what is being charged.'
"The city attorney takes the position that only fisting is comparable," Diamond continued. "The idea now will be to show how silly this distinction is; would eight fingers be the same as fisting, or does the thumb make the difference?"
"The city attorney said, 'Well, in view of that [decision on the motion], we're not prepared to go forward on comparable materials because they were just given to us today. We don't know whether it's comparable or not; we haven't had a chance to look at these movies,'" Diamond recounted. "I said, 'Well, trust me, it is, because they have repeated acts, same thing.' And they said, 'But it doesn't have fisting in it.' I said, 'Well, that doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be exactly the same to be comparable.' And they said that what they were really upset about was the fisting scenes, as opposed to the anal. And I said, 'But a jury isn't asked to make a finding as to particular parts of a movie; they're just given the general question about whether a movie is obscene or not, and under the obscenity law, the entire movie is considered as a whole. You don't break it down into parts. So the jury may very well look at the movie, Tampa Tushy Fest, and conclude, subjectively to itself, that the fisting is okay but they don't like the anal. So if we're not allowed to put in evidence of anal comparable materials, then what would prevent the jury from making an erroneous assumption as to what was being charged with being obscene, in light of the fact that the movie has to be considered as a whole?' So we basically gave them exhibits and argued the point." (Tod-Hunter.com)
7/12/01
Here are some excerpts from the piece:
Sexpert Tristan Taormino, after all, announced last spring in her Village Voice sex column that fisting has gone mainstream. "Fisting is not just for muff-divers anymore," she decreed. There have been other fisting films made since, including Chloe's unmistakably titled "The Fist, the Whole Fist, and Nothing But the Fist," from Elegant Angel.
"You think they'd go to the scene where the nun is raped in the wheelchair and then thrown in the swimming pool," Butts says darkly, referring to a film by a rival producer.
"This is a crackdown," proclaims criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Douglas, who works regularly with the adult-movie industry and sits on the ACLU's Southern California board of directors. As Douglas sees it, the LAPD was just lying in wait for the likes of Ashcroft, hoping that with Bush in office more federal monies will become available for obscenity prosecutions.
The LAPD vice squad, believes Douglas, is hoping extreme porn will lead to easy convictions, resulting in bigger budgets and providing them sought-after respect. "If all you do all day long is watch X-rated movies and search porn Web sites," Douglas says scornfully, "it's harder to get status amongst your colleagues."
Regardless, pornographers pushing the obscenity envelope didn't foresee that this day would come, says Douglas. "I've been at meetings and events where, if you're talking to a 25-year-old porn-maker about federal prosecutions for obscenity, you might as well be talking about the Spanish-Mexican War," he says ruefully.