Judge Denies Pistol's Attempt to Choke Vivid's 'Throat'

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles county judge has refused to grant Ray Pistol a temporary restraining order blocking the release of Vivid Entertainment's Throat: A Cautionary Tale.

Attorneys for Las Vegas-based Arrow Productions maintain that Vivid violated contractual agreements and infringed upon the well-known film title Deep Throat in marketing the loose "reinvention" of the X-rated classic. 

Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe on Friday rejected Pistol's argument that Arrow would be damaged irreparably if Vivid released its version of the famous Linda Lovelace film.

"Ray Pistol's attorneys spent a full half hour before the judge trying to make their case, but he essentially told Arrow they can't stop this movie from being released," said Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch. "I am, of course, delighted, and we are moving forward with release of the movie as scheduled on March 18."

Head-butting between Pistol and Hirsch is a main focus of the World of Wonder reality series "Deeper Throat," now airing on Showtime.

"As is evident from the Showtime series, Pistol is a bit hard-headed and tends to make snap decisions without adequate research," Hirsch said.

An Arrow Productions rep confirmed to AVN that the company intends to continue its court battle with Vivid.