Summer Haze, Craig Valentine Interview
Thursday afternoon, October 7, 2004, I begin with Craig. He and Summer are on the road in Connecticut.
Craig: "I had one of my glass blowers rip me off and I had to have him killed. People need to realize that you don't steal money from us."
Craig and Summer hosted a contest (Miss Nude Connecticut or somethiing) at Stagedoor Johnny's last week.
Craig: "The fiasco? I care not to discuss that. That was a nightmare."
Selena Steele and Bridgette Monroe discuss it negatively here in this Adultfyi story.
How did you get into the adult industry?
"I was a DJ in a titty bar 15 years ago. The feature entertainers decided that they wanted to use me as a little sex toy. They figured out that I had a talent. A couple of years later, one of the features that I was banging, told me that I could get paid for what I do. So, 300 sex scenes later, my dick pays my bills."
When did you do your first scene?
"Shiiiiit. We're going back to 1992. Shannon Rush."
When did you hook up with Summer Haze?
"She featured in my club in 1995. She wasn't 'Summer Haze' yet. I was the DJ at the Crazy Horse Too in Pompano, Florida. I've never owned a club. My stepfather owns Trapeze, the swingers clubs.
"She thought I was a f---ing a------.
"We ran into each other again [in August 1999]. I was doing the Exotic Dancer show. I went to work for Pure Platinum. We got selected as the club of the year. She'd started doing porn. We met up again at Internext (then IA2000) in the Fall of 1999. I'm famous. I'm the one who rented the Sea Escape and did the porn cruise.
"My ex-partner fell in love with her. He told her I was a broke loser and she took off.
"About two years later, somebody told her the truth. Everybody had figured out that I was a millionaire. We wound up getting back together. We got married last year at the Exotic Dancer convention. We just had our one-year anniversary in Las Vegas."
I know you've banged a lot of porn star. Did you have any relationships with any?
"Not really. It's just a job."
Did you have relationships with civilian girls?
"Here and there. I really didn't have relationships with anybody."
Has this been your life the past 15 years?
"Basically. And I owned the third-largest concert tour company (Mystery Lighting and Production Arts) in Florida. We own an Internet company. We own a production company. We own a glass sex toy company.
"We lost the touring company September 11 [2001]. We got stuck in Brazil. Our equipment got robbed. They wouldn't allow the cargo planes come back in. When our wonderful president declared war, war invalidates my insurance.
"We licensed Summer's name out to a company called Glass Pleasures [in January 2004]. They ripped us off. We went after them and took possession of the company. She designs it. My guys manufacture it."
How is it different from all the other companies that make sex toys?
"All the other companies have guys owning everything and guys manufacturing everything. One, you've got a porn star. Two, you've got a woman. Women know what women want. If we had to figure out what a woman wants, we'd go nuts. All her little girlfriends come over to my house. It's like a pornfest and a f---fest over at my house every weekend trying out the toys."
I believe porn star Serenity owns Las Vegas Novelties, a sex toy company out.
"We were distributing directly. We just started distributing through RSK Distributions out of Baltimore, Maryland. We have a downside. Everyone thinks that Alex is god because he's the only one who's been around but Rick's got some competition."
Who are the Alex and Rick in this quote?
Craig Valentine does most of his scenes in Florida and New York. "I know Jim South very well but he doesn't get me much work. I can go to New York or Florida and work five or six times in a day. The theory is that I am unproven LA talent. I don't give a f---. I get $500 a sex scene in Florida.
"I used to be the head MILF-seeker for MILFseeker.com. I did almost 20 episodes. Until the photographer, Photogregg, got jealous because he couldn't f--- my wife. 'I'm sorry dude, but I take this strictly as a business. She's gotta f--- you for me to keep my lead role? Kiss my ass.' He ended up losing a filming contract when they moved MILFseeker out to LA."
Pornstar2pac writes: PhotoGregg's house burnt down again. Try back Monday.
"I was going up to New York for Magnum Productions. Bob Magnum. Shannon Rush's ex-husband. CV Productions. Paul Howser. Greg Gregory. There's anywhere from 20-30 scenes a day going on in Florida. The problem is that they don't adhere to the testing rules like they do in LA.
"I don't classify the testing as meaning s---. But there are enough problems in our business now. You don't need to throw any wood on the fire.
"My wife eight months ago came up with a bunch of restrictions. She only wants to perform with women or me. I can do what I want.
"She got hurt the last three times on a set [with a guy]. She got put in a hospital on a set."
I hear Summer talking in the background.
"Then she had a photographer for a major release stalking her. After putting a decade into the industry, she should be able to work with who she wants, not who they tell her to work for."
How did she get put in the hospital?
"Somebody went ahead and did what she asked him not to. They come up with these guys with monster dicks. She had ovarian cancer real bad three times. She said, if you are going to do doggie, do it real easy. He did whatever he wanted. She wound up with bruised kidneys and everything else. He put her in the hospital.
"Then we had a shoot offshore of Florida where the guy put her in dangerous positions. It went to DVD. It was released at AVN Expo [January 2004] -- Sexy Outdoors. We had it yanked because he was shooting in a National Wildlife preserve with kids around.
"The photographer (Adam Redford) was going around -- 'oh, you're such a good f---. Throw your husband out and come over to the house.'
"He almost caught a beating at AVN. He tried turning around and play little scumbag when I was picking up our AVN Awards tickets. Somebody had to stop me from throwing him a beating.
"He said, I've got a client. Here's how it works. After she kills the snake in the Everglades, she lies down in the grass with the cameras off and the client f---- her. I said, dude, she's a porn star. She's not a hooker.
"Another one was that he takes her to a cabin in South Carolina, slits a pigs throat, and lets it run around the cabin dying while he's f---ing her.
"He didn't know I was her husband. When we were going to shoots in Florida, nobody knew we had anything to do with each other. When she was doing her sex scene four miles off shore... I said, I've got a gun. He tries shoving a fish in her pussy. He says, I've got my cameraman. Well, I'll shoot both of you [with the gun]."
We talk Friday by phone.
Summer: "I'm tired. I'm tired of being on the road...for almost a month now. I go home in a week for four days. And then I'm on the road again.
"I started dancing in Philadelphia when I was 16 years old [in 1988]. I lied [about her age]. Back then, you could get away with saying you were 18. Nobody really asked."
Like Jenna Jameson.
"I remember Jenna when she was young. I remember seeing her at Al Diamond's Cabaret in 1991. She was just getting popular. You would say 'Jenna,' and everybody would say, 'Yeah, Jenna, wow, Jenna.'"
Were you surprised by how popular you became?
"Oh yeah. She was one of those girls who was always at the right place at the right time. Her [first] husband was good at marketing. He was just a jackass. He treated her crappy."
You didn't have any trouble dancing when you were 16?
"Not really. I ran into a lot of weirdos. I had a few stalkers. I knew that eventually I wanted to do something better than just dancing. I was bar tending. One of the girls didn't show up. They said, do you know how to dance? I said, I don't know. I dance at home. I dance in the mirror.
"They said, you've got to take off your clothes and dance. I gave it a try. I made a couple of hundred dollars a night. That was good money. I had a 36B. My body was proportioned. I was thin.
"I've had my implants now for about eight years. I'm a 40DD. I like 'em fine. I don't even notice them anymore. They're not heavy. I'm a big framed girl. I was professional wrestling for a while with the ECW and the AWA and some independent federations. I go to the gym. My body is a good body weight to hold my boobs. They look natural."
What were your first impressions of [her husband] Craig [Valentine]?
"I thought he was a prick. He was one of those young arrogant long-haired rock 'n roll guys who thought he could get any girl he wanted. He was a popular DJ. He was getting magazines and awards and keys to the Doll House [a famous Michael Peters strip club]. Michael Peters thought he was the s---. All these porn stars were coming in and because he was so young, they wanted to do him. Every porn star coming through there was staying at his house and stalking him.
"He was telling me about all this crap and I said, I don't really give a crap."
The next time you met him, in 1999, it didn't go any better.
"No. It was in Las Vegas. The guy who [Craig] was working with had a crush on me, which I didn't know. I believed everything he was telling me. Hold on a second..."
Summer talks to Craig: "Do you have everything for the clubs? Because if I forget something, I'm going to freak out.
"This guy did whatever he wanted to do and f---ed up my life and Craig's life and told me that Craig was a loser. That he didn't have any money. In the meantime, [Craig's] walking around with tens of thousands of dollars in his pocket. He owned one of the biggest concert tour companies out of Florida. Here I'm thinking he's some poor schleppy shmuck living with his mom off the street."
So what convinced you to give him a chance?
"I did three tours of the UK. I figured I was going to try to make something of myself. That was going to work better than over here. You can get more popular overseas than you can over here for some reason. I went over there and got a whole bunch of titles and awards and worked for all these companies. I came back here and there wasn't anything for me to do. People were trying to drill it into my head that I was a has-been. That I was nobody. I was never going to be anything.
"I ended up in these people's house [Photogregg], living there for free [in Florida in March 2003]. I made sure the house was all cleaned up, cooking for everybody. Photogregg is a scumbag. There were always wacky people running in there. I minded my own business and did my own thing. I didn't have to pay rent.
"Every time I would wake up, Craig was over there doing s---. He was sticking his face in my face at 7 a.m. Get the hell out of my room. He said, it is time for you to get up. I said, don't tell me it is time to get up. Go away.
"In the matter of a year [since hooking up with Craig Valentine], I have had Hustler layouts. I did the cover of Australian Penthouse. All the s--- I have going on with my glassware, this has all happened within a year. Craig does all my marketing and promotion. I don't think I could ever have done it myself because when I tried to do it myself, it didn't happen. I ended up being nobody."
Was there a falling out between you and Photogregg?
"No. He really didn't care. He said, go ahead and do whatever you are going to do. Craig is not going to be able to do anything for you. You're not going to be anything. You're not going to be anybody. You're still a loser. He called me a fat ass every other day. My self-esteem and ego was down the drain.
"When my cover for Screw My Wife, Please for Wildlife #28 came out, Gregg said, 'You are even a bigger loser now. You are doing a Screw My Wife Please series.' I said, yeah, but I got the cover. It's one of the biggest selling covers.
"I did my first porn movie in Australia in 1998. I shot for Dementia, Aussie Media."
What was the show case you did last week?
"That was a showcase at Stagedoor Johnnies. It turned into a disaster."
I hear Craig's voice tell Summer not to talk about it.
Summer: "Craig suggests we don't even discuss it. It was that bad.
"Ontheflop Productions are into the swinger conventions like Hedonism. They decided to put together a DVD with couples competing against each other to see who is the hottest couple. A bunch of couples live out the fantasies. I was contracted as a porn star to make their fantasies come true."
How did you get involved with the glass toy company?
"I was at an expo. Glass Pleasures said we need a spokesgirl. We've heard a lot of good things about you. Do you want to be a spokesgirl for us? They dished out a lot of crap about what they were going to do. What they did was take my designs and run with them. I wasn't getting any money for the use of my name. They were trying to screw us over.
"Craig asked a lot of questions and couldn't get any answers. Then one day the glass blower called the house. Jason at Glass Pleasures had claimed to own the glass blowers but they said no. Craig had a long talk and decided to buy the Glass Pleasures company."
How is your company different from all the other sex toy companies like Serenity's and Doc Johnson?
"From what I've seen, I don't think they do a lot of glass. I have a lot of crazy ideas of what people would like...to have as a novelty. I have people who buy pieces to put on their book shelves because they think they are cool. Heidi [Pike-Johnson] from AVN likes the smoke-and-poke."
It's a combination dildo and bong.
"We don't constitute drug use. We have one that is in the shape of a gun. We call it a gangbanger."
Do you try all these out yourself?
"I have parties at my house and all the girls come over and when we get something new, we all try them out to see if we like them. That's how we can tell if we are going to push them out in our line or not. If the girls don't like 'em, we drop 'em from our line. I don't want to hurt anybody. I don't want anybody saying that my stuff sucks."
What do you love and hate about being in this industry?
"I love meeting new people. I think the nice people overpower the crappy people. I hate all the jealousy and animosity. People always trying to get over on somebody else. People are always lying and scamming people. That seems to be a big thing now in our industry -- to see who can outscam somebody else. The money used to be good but it's not great anymore. But at least if you own your own company, you have the ability to make a lot of money.
"The features [strippers] used to make a s--- load of money in the '80s and early '90s but now it is hard. One, people don't have the money anymore because of all the crap going on in the world. Two, or you are not doing enough stuff to keep them interested to make them want to give you money. I'm the hardcore performer of the year right now. The s--- that I do on stage is pretty hardcore, whereas someone else might get on stage, do a cute little scene, you dance around, you do a slow song, you shake your boobs in somebody's face, and that's your show. That's bulls---. People don't want to see that anymore."
Summer Haze vs Bridgette Monroe, Selena Steele
Gene Ross has it all covered at Adultfyi. And here. Here.