Gossip columnist Luke Ford, under his current pseudonym "Deep Under Cover," used the recent bust of Wal-Mart stores by federal immigration agents to take a jab at adult entrepreneur Eddie Wedelstedt, his company Goalie Entertainment, and — most importantly to Wedelstedt — the Eddie's Kids Foundation, the charitable organization which Wedelstedt founded to arrange for poor and abused children to attend sporting and other events.
For his article, titled "Porn Raids Catch 300 Illegal Workers," Ford copied an Associated Press story dated Oct. 24 from the national newswires and did little more than change the names to make it appear that Goalie rather than Wal-Mart had been raided, though he added material implying that Wedelstedt was a cocaine addict and that the Eddie's Kids beneficiaries were "retards."
The only clue within the story to indicate that the entire piece was a complete fiction was the fifth paragraph, which read, "Contacted for comment, setgo.com's Deep Under Cover said the whole story was satirical."
Apparently, Ford's half-hearted attempt to shield himself from a defamation suit was lost on many of Wedelstedt's supporters and contributors to the Eddie's Kids Foundation, who reportedly deluged Wedelstedt with calls of concern.
"My phone's been ringing off the hook from people who can't understand why I'd refer to these kids, whom I love and whom I've devoted so much effort to, as 'retards,'" Wedelstedt told AVN.com. "It's a good thing they know me well enough to know that I'd never even think something like that, but when they saw this article, they were confused and outraged."
"We in the adult industry have finally got a program that is so wonderful for children across the United States," Wedelstedt continued, "Literally, 70,000 kids a year are taken care of by the Eddie's Kids organization, and it's good for these kids. It's something that we care about from our hearts."
"This has nothing to do with the adult industry except for the fact that the wonderful owners of these companies put their money up with me for the benefit of these kids, and to see something like this happen — for that man to call those kids 'retarded,' it's just gone way too far. We're going to have to get our lawyers involved in this thing; it's as simple as that."
According to the Ford article, "In addition, 2300 of Eddie's Kids were hauled away in shackles, their young innocent handicapped faces pressed against the wire meshing of huge black trucks. Eddie's Kids will be flown to Guantonomo [sic] Bay, Cuba, along with Al Qaeda terrorist suspects."
The Eddie's Kids Foundation has the support of nearly a dozen major sports franchises in the western United States, all donating time, money and tickets to the effort to bring some enjoyment to the children, many of whom are from broken homes or orphaned. Eddie's Kids provides the children with free tickets to major league sporting events, transportation to and from the games, and refreshments. It also throws parties for the children during the Christmas/New Year's holidays and sponsors other activities in which the children would otherwise have no chance to participate.
"For this guy to try to tear all that down — I just don't understand it," Wedelstedt stated angrily.
Ford has made a career dishing dirt on many in the adult industry, and in 2000 was forced to settle a defamation case brought by actress Christi Lake for $150,000. In that instance, Ford published photos of an unidentifiable woman, whom Ford strongly implied was Lake, having sex with an animal.
