OJAI, Calif.—Kristina Knapic, owner of the Acacia Mansion near Ojai, has filed suit against gay production company Lucas Entertainment, Lucas Distribution and company founder Michael Lucas himself, charging that Lucas or one of his associates rented her mansion through Airbnb allegedly for a "vacation," but that they actually spent the five days filming gay adult movies.
Among the allegations Knapic makes in her complaint are that "Urine, semen and fecal matter were found on the linens, carpets, upholstery, walls, ceilings and in the hot tub"; "Enema kits were found throughout the house—on the floors, in the beds, in nightstand drawers and in the trash"; "Various sexual devices were found in the beds and in the trash"; and that "The hot tub water was brownish in color."
There's only one problem: The allegations appear to be complete horseshit.
Knapic bought the mansion 11 years ago, and frequently rents it out through Airbnb for "vacations, weddings, reunions and other gatherings," but according to her complaint, she "has not, and does not, rent the property for the purposes of filming adult pornographic movies," according to the complaint, which adds, "Such an image is not one Plaintiff wants associated with her pristine home."
One might then ask, "If that's the case, why is there a sex/bondage dungeon in the mansion's basement?"
After the rental term expired, Knapic claims to have returned to her home to find it in the state referenced above—and then she went through it using a blacklight, which she claims "revealed the presence of bodily fluids throughout the Property." She also found a business card for Lucas Entertainment in the trash, which she says is what led her to accuse Lucas and his companies of causing the damages.
Michael Lucas tells a completely different story—and he's got documentary evidence in the form of texts and video to prove that Knapic is full of shit.
"Simply stated, there is no basis whatsoever to this claim, and we have photographic evidence to prove that," Lucas said in a statement to AVN.
"Ms. Knapic was a resident in a guest house on the premises during our entire stay. Our windows faced her windows, we shared the yard and garden, we shared laundry facilities. If there were any activity which would have resulted in the damage she now claims, it would have been evident.
"When we first arrived, we inquired if it would be possible to extend our stay, but were told we could not because the house was already rented to others.
"Paragraph 17 of the complaint says Ms. Knapic entered the property on August 16, after we had vacated the property, and found a mess. That is a completely false statement.
"On August 27, 11 days after we left, we texted Ms. Knapic to ask if something we had forgotten in the refrigerator had been found. She responded by text on August 31 that they were in Cancun and that their cleaning staff had cleaned the house and threw everything out. Not one syllable about any issue with the horrible condition in which she claims we left the house on August 16. There was absolutely no claim at that time of any problems at the property. Cleaning staff went through the house to prepare it for the next rental. Again, absolutely no complaints about the property.
"In fact, we have photographs and video that we took on both our arrival and departure dates showing that we left the property in pristine condition. Ms. Knapic’s assistant Dorian even complimented me on how clean the house was."
Along with his statement, Lucas sent AVN screen-grabs of the text messages between himself and Knapic on August 16, which includes Lucas' statement that, "Dorian is here and we did the walk through, he told me everything is good," to which Knapic responded, "Ok, great! I hope you had a wonderful time!" He also texted her on August 27, asking if she would check her refrigerator for a "very important medication" that Lucas had left behind. He didn't receive a response until August 31, where Knapic's only comment was, "We have been in Cancun for the last week. Sorry my cleaning staff threw everything away."
"Obviously, if the house was in the condition as described in her complaint, the response on August 31 would have been something other than 'Sorry, my cleaning staff threw everything away'," Lucas rightly observed.
"Ms. Knapic claims in paragraph 20 of her complaint that bodily fluids were found on the walls and ceiling," Lucas' statement continued. "If true, that must have been one heck of a party. No such party occurred on the days we were there ... and she was there the entire time.
"Here’s the truth: the house has a unique and unadvertised feature: a fairly well-equipped sex dungeon in the basement, complete with a sex swing, whips, chains and miscellaneous bondage paraphernalia. We did not use this room nor any of the equipment in it.
"Not having been served with any papers, we cannot ascertain if the complaint as filed is verified. But if Ms. Knapic continues with her claims, she will have to make statements under oath and provide admissible evidence of her claims. It's also her lawyer’s job to ensure she does not commit perjury."
Indeed, a search of the Ventura County Superior Court website notes that a complaint had been filed, but the only other notation in the file so far is a puzzling one that reads, "MANDATORY APPEARANCE CMC/Order to Show Cause Re Sanctions/Dismissal for Failure to File Proof of Service/Default." That hearing is scheduled for April 15, 2016, and the docket notation suggests that Knapic (or her attorney, John J. Thyne) had failed to provide the Court with proof that the complaint had been served on Lucas and his companies—service that Lucas says has not to this date been accomplished.
"If the house was trashed, it was trashed by someone other than us," Lucas' statement continues. "It is possible that she or her renters had a sex party in the dungeon that got out of hand, and she is now looking to a porn company to fund the repairs."
Lucas did provide a 30-second cellphone video of the "dungeon," which includes a weird-looking mannequin, chairs and sofas decked out in red velvet and leather, and a box containing whips, chains and handcuffs.
"In my opinion, this woman is a professional extortionist, and that's clear from the reviews she has received," Lucas concluded. "It’s also an obvious contradiction that she did not keep the security deposit, but now has decided to file a lawsuit."
And apparently, Lucas is not the only one who's suffered at Knapic's hands.
"Two recent reviews on TripAdvisor.com tell similar stories," Lucas noted. "'Ginalee G.' of New Orleans writes about her family reunion at the mansion, noting, 'During the family fun, the owner Kristina and her boyfriend must have been feuding, because he threw her suitcase down the stairs … The day of departure, we all gathered together, cleaned up the house, and gathered our things. The housekeepers came in and said, wow, they had never seen it so spotless… My parents put a $1000.00 deposit on this. It took them almost two months to get part of it back. She (Kristina) said the spa needed to be cleaned. Only one person used it for about 20 minutes… [T]o pay close to $6,000.00 for 5 days for rooms, no breakfast included, and try and keep your deposit when everything was spotless is just wrong.'
"Another renter of Acacia, 'JohnGalt1984', writes on August 13 that he and his family 'took care of the place and left it cleaner than we found it (in the kitchen and pool area that wasn’t very hard to do). All memories were good until Kristina, the owner, retained our large security deposit for almost two months, claiming that we had damaged several things during our stay. In spite of my repeated requests, she refused to tell me what those damages were... Eventually she returned some of my deposit, retaining a large portion for repair and replacement of items, which as it turned out were in such a broken-down condition that they were already on their last legs. We do not even know if these claimed damages were legitimate, because the owner failed to provide any credible backup for her claim. She provided no evidence that the damages, even if legitimate, were not incurred after our departure by another guest over the next several weeks. We did not abuse her property. She charged me for what amounted to deferred maintenance, which is not the responsibility of a guest. Many things throughout the property are in a similar state of disrepair and poor maintenance."
"Ms. Knapic alleges that our filming will damage the 'reputation and romantic image' of the house," Lucas' statement concluded. "If that was a real concern, she could have framed her complaint innocently and omitted the salacious details. By drafting the complaint as she has, Ms. Knapic has secured the publicity and notoriety she so clearly sought.
"It took two months for Ms. Knapic to concoct this false claim and file for damages. Her lawsuit is absolutely without any merit whatsoever."
Knapic has also reportedly put in a claim to Airbnb for $30,000 in damages to her property, and since a complete copy of Knapic's complaint in Superior Court is not available online, it is not known what dollar amount of "damages" she is trying to obtain from Lucas and his companies—but whatever the amount, Lucas seems to be in an excellent position to defend against her charges—and might consider filing a countersuit of his own if the complaint is not dropped. As it is, if the allegations Lucas has made in the above statement can be proved in a court of law, Lucas may have an excellent case against Knapic for defamation.
AVN will continue to follow this story and report future developments.
Pictured: Michael Lucas (inset) and the Acacia Mansion.
