Jim DiGiorgio writes about the Cherry Poppins controversy detailed on today's site.
"First off, none of these events were concocted or fabricated by Rob. I was there, and heard every word the girl said. I questioned her about it myself. There's no embellishment here, there's no added dialogue, it's exactly what the girl said. Anyone thinks I'm lying about this can go fuck themselves....anyone.
Next, this girl, Cherry, was not stoned or fucked up in any way that I could observe (in spite of what Mitch says). She seemed grateful to find a place to stay. The whole conversation took place because I had heard someone say she was homeless, and I asked her how she came to be that way. Her story began when she was fourteen (she's now 18), and left home because her father was showing her some very unfatherly attention. The story continued through dancing in Florida, hooking up with Brian Williams, ending up at Reb's, then Ron's, then Rob's. The details of her story are on both your's and Luke's site, and again, nothing is fabricated (in terms of what she actually said). Luke doesn't have the imagination to make this shit up, your giving him too much credit when it's assumed that that's what he does.
By the way, Reb. Get a fucking grip with the Rob being a strapped, NY thug shit. If you knew anything at all about Rob, you'd know her prefers a bat (36oz Louisville Slugger), and sometimes a golf club--to a piece.
And how'd this girl end up calling Bill Margold or Luke Ford? She knows no one, and had no idea who Luke Ford was/is during or after Rob's phone calls. I can't imagine her knowing who Bill Margold is---surely she didn't have his phone number. So who helped her out making those phone calls? And who has influenced her to recant her story? If this girl was lying, then I definitely want to hire her for some of my features...she's a pretty good actress! In fact, I got the impression she was surprised to hear that doing free scenes in exchange for a place to stay (shithole or otherwise) was anything but normal for this biz. She seemed a bit bewildered that Rob and I would go off over a situation like that. She did seem a bit nervous about it, but we assured her that she was in no trouble or danger for telling us. But now that she's denying what she said, maybe someone has convinced her otherwise.
Greg Zeboray adds this: "I will not take sides here - both Rob and Reb are friends, but I'll you this: Spinelli is good people, and if he says this girl is going to be hurt by the business, I'd take it to the bank. Maybe everyone should drop the story for the sake of the girl."
Luke Ford called to say that he was celebrating Passover yesterday, and, hence, didn't get back to us for comment on the Cherry Poppins story. "Happy Good Friday to you," Ford said. "I looked at the story [on geneross.com. It was interesting."
Ford had this to say about the story elements he posted on his site which, essentially, got many bowels in an uproar, most notably those of agent Reb Sawitz.
Ford: "I think it's another typical Luke Ford story where he takes a rant from someone, particularly Rob Spallone, and creates a big brouhaha. I think on my ethics' rankings, I've given Reb the highest ranking of any talent agent in the business. I think, compared to his peers, he's a man of integrity. That's my perception of him. I've always had a good relationship with him. I was sorry that he was upset. One think that caught my attention was a remark from Jerry [from the geneross story] where she said I don't like my family being attacked. I don't remember anyone attacking her children or grandchildren. Or even Jerry. Jerry's got a pretty good reputation, too, from what I understand. I think this is another example of how the porn industry attracts lost souls and self-destructive types."
Ford said he picked up a message from his voice mail Wednesday night from Cherry Poppins. "She said she didn't say any of the horrible things to Rob about Reb," Ford states. "And she said that she embarrassed about the horrible things Rob said about Reb."
Ford said he got home last night and talked to James DiGiorgio. "He called and said he was with Rob when Cherry spoke to him," Ford recalls. "Cherry was sitting next to Rob when Rob left the five angry messages on my answering machine [last] Friday night which started the whole thing. He's always giving me a lot of rants about Reb, and I've almost always refused to run them because I thought it was too over the top and unfair. This time I ran a few lines from one of his [Spallone's] phone calls.
"I thought it was pretty funny and fairly harmless," Ford added. "But then it totally mushroomed out of control. I didn't hear any protests from Cherry when Rob left those messages. James said he was also there when Cherry Poppins first came to Rob and told him her story. He basically backs up Rob's version but doesn't offer the colorful language that Rob does. I think you know more about this than I do."
