Alex Sanders says that as soon as Luke Ford's financial backers become known, Sanders' lawyer will pursue libel charges against the yellow journalist. Sanders, like others, has held off from suing Ford because of the perception that Ford doesn't have a pit to piss in. However, with information leaking like a sieve that Ford has some major money behind him to create a "mega website," the gloves will be coming off in the industry. Sanders, obviously, denies ever having provided hookers to get good reviews in AVN, a libelous story which has been thrown up on Ford's site.
Sanders: "All 5A movies up for consideration at AVN go through a committee. That's a fact. It's impossible that Gene Ross could have been biased in that way. Another fact is that Ken Michaels was one of the reviewers. Unfortunately, Ken doesn't give good reviews based on Gene Ross getting a whore. The statements that Luke Ford's making about me are completely false and slanderous. I'll pursue that in other ways. I don't need him or anybody like him to devalue what I've done with a false statement like that. No way, shape or form did I ever supply compensation for anythiung that might be construed as a good review.
Gene Ross: "Luke Ford alludes to this great "power" that's out there that prohibits people from coming forth with charges against AVN and Gene Ross. Did you ever feel this so-called power of retribution swinging over your head and your career if you ever stepped out of line?"
Sanders: "A few years ago I felt I was robbed of an award that I should have had. I lost the award because of one gaping asshole. It's an award that I'll probably never be able to duplicate or get again. I was really upset. It was for Male Performer of the Year. Rocco won it.
[Many felt that Rocco's appearance in Marquis de Sade with the gaping asshole scene is what put him over.]
Sanders: "I was very pissed off. Personally, I feel that Europeans shouldn't be in consideration for this award. I was telling everybody I met how pissed off I was, how much bullshit I thought it was. In the previous year, I was worse to the point where I threw away my AVN awards I received in the past. I was expressing myself to everybody in this industry to where AVN could hear about it on a daily basis. Obviously I wasn't afraid of any kind of retaliation from AVN at all. That would have been a good time to give it to me, wouldn't it? AVN could have taken it to me. I do research. I find out what I need to do in my movies and what sells. The best way to find out what sells is to go to the people in a movie is to go to the people who are seeing them every day. If they give a good review to somebody, I want to know what they did in their movie that was so good that warranted this review.
"Please tell me. One of my biggest complaints in the industry as far your reviewing process is they would give gonzos to people who like features, and features to people who like gonzos. I've asked, please, just give it to somebody who likes my stuff. Anybody in their right mind would do that. But for somebody to say that I'd need to stoop that low to hire a whore to insure good reviews for my movies is an insult, and I'm not going to stand for it. Anybody who has the ability to do this to anybody, to publish our addresses, our real names on the Internet, to endanger our lives like that...one of these days, someone's going to get hurt because of the thing's he's doing. I can't believe anyone in this industry would stand for it. I don't understand who hurt this man in his lifetime that he needs to spread his negativity throughout the world. I don't know anyone whio has so much negativity flowing through their body. I'm shocked. This is unbelievable.
"I never at any moment in my life considered sending anybody a whore to make me or my work look good. But I would gladly send Luke Ford as many whores as he needs to keep my name out of his fucking website for all time. I've produced two movies in a little under three years. The need for good reviews means more money. If I was that concerned about selling so much my product, why did I put out only two movies? I ain't making a killing. I'm barely breaking even. I'm the worst person when it comes to marketing. I'm trying to be good to be good. If I find out that anybody gave me a break because somebody influenced them I'd be very pissed off.
