Laurie Holmes would not comment, but Gary Frischer, who is Holmes' manager, had a few things to say regarding a New York Post story which appeared earlier this week. The Post story stated that Holmes, widow of the late John Holmes is suing Holmes' one-time best friend, Bill Amerson, over statements he made in a documentary.
In "Wadd: The Life and Times of John Holmes," Amerson claims Laurie once worked as a hooker. "She would go out and hitch-hike around the block and turn tricks in the cars," Amerson was quoted as saying. Laurie, a/k/a "Misty Dawn," according to The Post, denies having ever been a prostitute and is seeking unspecified damages. Holmes filed the suit in the Superior Court of the State of California.
VCA Labs which funded the documentary is also named in the suit.
Frischer: "Laurie did file a lawsuit. The most important thing to understand about this lawsuit is that in this film Bill Amerson accuses and convicts Laurie of committing a crime. In the state of California you can't do that."
Holmes is being represented by high-powered celebrity attorney Greg Smith, who had this to say. "It's a slander per se," according to Smith. "It's not based on Laurie's chastity which is probably questionable. But it is based on the fact that if you accuse someone of a crime, and prostitution is a crime in California; if you don't have a conviction for that crime, that's slander per se. Damages are presumed. We don't have to go into the kind of damages or pain and suffering; they're presumed. It's presumed that her reputation was injured. It's a slam-dunk case." As an attorney, Smith was prominently involved in the LA police corruption scandal.
According to the Holmes' suit, on or about August, 1998, Amerson allegedly said: "She [Laurie Holmes] was a hooker. She would get dressed, and she always dressed as a little girl because she knew that she could make more money from men if she looked younger. She would go out and hitch-hike around the blocks and turn tricks in the car." Amerson's comments were made on-camera in the Holmes' documentary which was subsequently shown to theater audiences throughout the United States.
Holmes' lawsuit says she never committed the crime of prostitution, and, as a result of the false statement, Holmes, among other things, has "suffered injury to her reputation in a sum according to proof." According to the suit, VCA was also named because it had re-published Amerson's statements with "reckless disregard for the truth".
VCA's Russ Hampshire was out of town and could not be reached for comment.
