Darva Conger \nSEATTLE - Seth Warshavsky's Internet Entertainment Group wants to marry a millionaire's ex-bride, sort of - he's offering Darva Conger, the bride in the ill-conceived incident which turned Who Wants To Marry A Multimillionaire from tacky to outrage, a million dollars for an exclusive interview and a nude appearance on IEG's clublove.com Web site.
Warshavsky says he will hire a "top photographer" to portray Conger "in a tasteful pictorial," going far enough to place an ad in the Los Angeles Times to be certain she sees his proposal. ``With the money she'll earn, Ms. Conger can achieve financial independence that will allow her to take her time to find the man of her dreams,'' he says. ``She is a woman with definite assets and she should capitalize on them while her name is newsworthy.''
This isn't exactly the first time Warshavsky has been ready to pay millions for nude appearances of the famous or infamous. Two years ago, he offered Monica Lewinsky $2 million to pose nude, but representatives for the former White House intern whose affair with President Clinton led to his impeachment turned the offer down.
Warshavsky has, however, made a name for himself by, among other things, showing nude layouts or videos on clublove.com of such celebrities as Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee in a nude video; radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger, in nudes taken by a former boyfriend before she became famous; and Keith Richards, the longtime lead guitarist and co-songwriter for the Rolling Stones.
"We haven't yet reached Ms Conger to make our offer," Warshavsky says, "so to make sure she knows we want to work with her we are taking an ad in the Los Angeles Times this week.''
Exactly when the ad will appear isn't known yet. It's set to read, ``Darva Conger, the whole world has fallen in love with you. We want to make sure you have a real chance to earn the money you so richly deserve, so we hereby offer to you $1 million to pose on clublove.com. Please call me. Seth Warshavsky. Tel: 206-622-3385.''
Meanwhile, the storm surrounding Conger - whose televised Who Wants To Marry A Multimillionaire wedding to Rick Rockwell stirred a flap over old accusations that Rockwell had physically abused a former girl friend - doesn't seem likely to dissipate quite yet, especially if she accepts the Warshavsky offer.
The Associated Press is reporting that Conger has raised a few hackles among U.S. military brass for claiming she is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War. She served in the Air Force as a medical services specialist at the time, but her military records show she never served in the Gulf.
At the time of the war against Iraq, Conger was an Air Force staff sergeant stationed in Illinois, where she served from 1990-95. Previously, she'd served in Korea and in Utah, the AP says.
But Conger told television's Inside Edition that anyone on active duty at the time of the Gulf War is considered a Gulf War veteran - with which some military brass take issue. ``You can't call yourself a Gulf War veteran if you've never been to the Gulf,'' retired Army Col. Daniel Smith, now director of research at the Center for Defense Information, told the same program.
Conger is now seeking an annulment of her television marriage, saying she did it as a lark. Fox Television called off a planned rebroadcast of that Who Wants To Marry A Multimillionaire show after it was revealed a 1991 restraining order was issued against Rockwell by his one-time fiancee. Rockwell denies ever hitting or threatening to kill the woman.
