NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO - Lucas Entertainment founder and President, Michael Lucas, released a letter to the gay adult entertainment industry yesterday. In the email Lucas alleges that Raging Stallion Studios owners, G.C. Slader and Chris Ward, have aggravated an ongoing lawsuit Lucas is battling with International Media Films over his 2006 release Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita.
Michael Lucas' original letter, which was sent at 2 p.m. is as follows:
Dear All,
This is a letter for friends and colleagues, for those who know me well and not
so well, for those who agree with me on many issues and those who do not, for
both supporters and opponents of mine.
It's been nearly a year since this baseless, pointless, frivolous lawsuit has
been torturing me and my employees. Demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars,
my accusers have on numerous occasions claimed that they know that my film made
millions of dollars for me, citing a "very reliable source," that knows the
industry from within. I viewed this as mere gossip, but my accusers chose
to believe it, despite my repeated offers to let my accusers' accountants
review our books and see the earnings of my films for themselves.
Under pressure from my lawyers, the "very reliable source" was revealed.
This mysterious "source" that supposedly knows my business so well turns out to
be none other than Raging Stallion. The relevant documentation can not
yet be made public. But I knew anyway from other sources that Raging
Stallion is inaccurately and maliciously representing that I am making millions
of dollars in sales, including foreign sales, and accusing me of illegally
duplicating Fellini's film in China.
They are advising the party suing me not to trust me. The list of lies is long.
It was bad enough that, boiling from jealousy and hate, Raging Stallion,
including its co-owner G.C. Slader, threw ice cubes at me while I was receiving
my best picture award in 2006. But it was worse when Raging Stallion
co-owner Chris Ward posted a nasty piece on his blog, analyzing the law suit
against me in detail, predicting it would close my company. (Mr. Big
Mouth's aims were clear to me when I read that). But maliciously to lie
about my company's income to a third party that is suing me! To mislead
the prosecution by lying about sales figures!
Let's face it; we in this business all know very well that one can not make
millions with a safe-sex film with a foreign title, no matter how many awards
the film might receive. We all know that these awards are not the Oscars!
God, we know! We all know all of that so well, with the limited media coverage
we receive for the awards and the little clubs/theaters in which the award
ceremonies are held. They are important for the industry and for the
industry only!
Of these "brave" boys of Raging Stallion I ask; why are you so
consistently going after me? Is your business not keeping you
happy? Are your finances that bad? Are your shameless, pathetically
written press releases that useless? Or are you motivated to these petty,
malicious actions by having lost the damned awards? Did it get to you so bad
that you've made the most-nominated film in history into the most unprofitable
one? With the money I have had to spend on the legal defense in this year
alone, I could have made parts 3, 4 and 5.
It's not only money that the pooping horses at Raging Stallion have pushed me
to waste. Hundreds of hours wasted in discoveries, attorney conference
calls, depositions, court appearances; 2 of my office employees and I have been
deposed for hours on end. That is not to mention the sleepless nights
caused me by this, and the depression over the precious time that Raging
Stallion has robbed me of spending with my mother who is dying of cancer.
I am apologizing in advance to industry journalists, company heads,
accountants, sales people, distributors and others for the eventuality of my
having to subpoena you in this regard in the future. But if that becomes
necessary, the fault for it being necessary will rest squarely on Raging
Stallion. It is Raging Stallion that has maliciously convinced a third
party with no knowledge of our industry that in 2007 one can make millions of
dollars with a porn film. I had no plans whatsoever for seeking such subpoenas
before I gained knowledge of this shameful communication between Raging
Stallion and the company suing me.
As for the law suit itself; there was no wrong doing on my part. Under
the Constitution, I have a right to create a parody, and I had a right to call
my film Michael Lucas's La Dolce Vita. But aided and abetted by Raging
Stallion, the entity suing me is bringing a frivolous law suit
against me.
In my opinion this was the lowest of the low, even for Raging Stallion, but I
do want to know your opinion. I thank you in advance for your support, as
I believe there is a point in time when keeping silent becomes a fault and each
of you can be stabbed in the back just like I was.
Love,
Michael Lucas
Raging Stallion then issued the following press release in response at approximately 6:00 p.m.
Raging Stallion
Responds To Michael Lucas Accusations:
Michael Lucas, a New York pornographer, sent a general letter
to the industry today blaming Raging Stallion Studios for a lawsuit
between his company and the Fellini estate, the owner of La Dolce Vita.
Lucas seems to think that Raging Stallion is somehow behind, or in some
way supports, the party suing him for copyright violations. In rather
vicious tone he lays the blame for his legal trouble at our feet. This is our
clear, unambiguous, and final statement on these ludicrous charges: Raging
Stallion has never provided any information to any attorneys for the Fellini
estate. Raging Stallion has had no contact whatsoever with the Fellini
estate or its representatives. Raging Stallion, its partners, and its
employees do not even know the name of any attorney for the Fellini estate nor
do we know who owns the Fellini estate. We do not know anyone connected
in any way with the Fellini estate. We do not know how to contact them,
nor do we desire to contact them on this or any other matter. The studio, its
representatives, its employees, and its shareholders have never had any contact
whatsoever with the Fellini estate on this or on any other matter. It is our
hope that going forward Michael Lucas will keep his ongoing drama to himself
and leave us out of it. We have nothing to do with it and all of us are
baffled by the mention of our name in connection to this case.
Michael Lucas then released the following rebuttal to the RSS press release last night about 10 p.m.
In response to Raging
Stallion's lies:
That is right, Raging Stallion did not contact the Fellini estate. No need for
them to, as I never was sued by the Fellini estate. For Christ's sake, I never
mentioned anything about the Fellini estate in my email earlier today. This is
Raging Stallion's invention in order to find "legitimate" grounds for
their lies. Let's make it clear once and for all: I am being sued by
International Media Films, the company that claims to own the rights to the
Fellini film. And that is the company which Raging Stallion had their
communication with. A communication that I have. A communication that at this
point is attorney-client privileged only. I promise I will make it public
as soon as this pointless law suit is over. And this law suit wil be over soon,
as the whole mess is heading straight to trail.
Enough bullshit, Raging Stallion, you snitches. Your continuous lying to
the entire industry is ridiculous and disrespectful, to say the least. Do you
think everyone is that stupid? One thing is when Chris Ward lies that his new
movie has real airplane crashes in it, or shit like that, but how naive is it
to lie about documents that will be available for everyone to see?
Today, Raging Stallion Released the following statement regarding Lucas’ rebuttal:
Raging Stallion has never had any contact with International Media
Films, or any party to this lawsuit whatsoever. In fact, when I wrote
my press release I did not even know who was suing Lucas Entertainment,
hence my use of the term "Fellini Estate." No one here at this
studio or anyone associated with our studio has had any communication
whatsoever with any party to the La Dolce Vita legal drama. I don't
know how much more clear I can be. Michael Lucas has no "secret"
communication because one does not exist.
