A question of whether Paris Hilton was underage when she appeared in a controversial sex video led the Internet company who bought but chose not to show it online to sue the video's representative, accusing him of falsely representing the ownership of the video.
Marvad Corporation, the parent of SexBrat.com, began its probe after making a deal for the video with Donald Thrasher, who said he represented Richard Salomon, Hilton's former boyfriend. Suspicions that Hilton was underage at the time of the video proved unfounded, as she turned out to have been 19, but that led Marvad to question whether Salomon actually had the sole ownership of the video as Thrasher represented.
And, according to SexBrat.com's publicists, Kevin (KB) Blatt of KB Consultants, the company is looking into whether Thrasher might have been duped himself by Salomon. "We're looking into the paper trail right now," Blatt told AVN.com "Thrasher could have been set up. The front guy who was taking the fall. But we'll see how it turns out."
He said the prospect that Hilton might have been underage when the video was made "scared the shit out of them. And they said, so let's do due diligence here and find out if he misrepresented it. That's why you never saw the tape come out. It was not a tape that was acquired in good faith."
According to the November 14 filing, a copy of which was made available to AVN Online, Marvad accuses Thrasher of representing the video – purporting to show Hilton and Salomon in various sexual activities – as being owned solely by Salomon.
The suit also accuses Thrasher of telling SexBrat.com the video was created because Hilton and Salomon intended to show it to friends "and fans," with Hilton "expressly advis(ing) Salomon" she okayed the video's release and waived all connection to it – only to accuse Salomon publicly of lying in connection to his "advising of the video's existence."
Thrasher allegedly made the deal with Marvad with a $50,000 advance toward royalty payments, telling Marvad according to the suit that Salomon wanted the money in cash to duck a paper trail that could prove his involvement in licensing the video, "apparently because his marriage to (actress and Scare Tactics host Shannen) Doherty could be jeopardized and Doherty's career and reputation could be injured if Salomon's involvement was exposed.
"Accordingly," the suit continued, "Thrasher further advised that Salomon insisted that the Parties agree to maintain in confidence and secrecy the terms of agreement, and especially the existence and terms of the master license."
Marvad acted entirely upon Thrasher's representation and would never have made the deal if they had known Thrasher's representation was false in any way, the filing said. "Marvad had a right to rely on Thrasher's representations because he was a close friend of Salomon, and because he purported to be in constant communication with Salomon," the filing added.
Blatt said SexBrat.com is trying to pinpoint a source for the tape's having been leaked, since there were three copies originally, one of which SexBrat sent to Entertainment Tonight and one to Us Weekly. "We're trying to find out how people saw this tape prior to SexBrat buying it," he said.
Blatt had earlier said that SexBrat made a deal with Hilton herself that the Website would not air or show tape and would destroy any and all duplications in its possession, which Blatt said was done. He had also said SexBrat.com was cooperating with Hilton's legal team on the matter.
