Q&A: Heidi Fleiss on Gov. Eliot Spitzer, 'a creepy trick'

Before I even asked the question, former "Hollywood Madam" and current Pahrump, Nev., resident Heidi Fleiss had a good guess as to why I was trying to reach her.

"Are you calling to talk about the creepy governor?" she asked. "He won't have any problems. It is always on the woman. They are going to do character assassination on her. But it doesn't change what happened."

Richard Abowitz: So, what is your advice for any woman caught up in a public scandal and accused of being a prostitute?

Heidi Fleiss: Be yourself and tell the truth. What else could happen?

Q: Do you think it would have been a different story if Gov. Spitzer had gone to a legal brothel in Nevada?

HF: Absolutely. He would have gotten better service and his privacy would have been respected. But he sounds like such a creepy trick. I know from being in the business, his profile as a "John," and he is the type that I would pass on. I think it is awesome if the governor is seeing hookers. But he was defrauding the public.

Q: Did you handle politicians when you were in business?

HF: Yes, but most politicians weren't rich enough. To do business with me you had to be very wealthy. I would never deal with a customer who haggled. There are several men that are much more high-profile than this guy and who are much richer and much more public and they deal with prostitutes all the time. And they will never be caught because they do it right. You solve this problem by decriminalizing it. The system is set up so what the girls are doing is always illegal and they have no recourse.

Q: On that topic, how goes the stud farm plan?

HF: I have coin-operated laundry, Dirty Laundry. And it is my favorite business I have ever had, because washing machines don't talk back.

Q: So, the stud farm, is it on the back burner?

HF: I'll get to the stud farm, but there is a lot of red tape to get through. But I love Dirty Laundry. I wish I had started Dirty Laundry a long time ago. It is recession-proof, because everybody has dirty laundry.

Q: How are you doing with your latest legal issues which I seem to recall involve Vicodin and a car trip?

HF: You know what? It is like I am having a really bad day and everyone finds out about it. I called my attorney and said, "I don't care if it is probation or a fine or county jail. But I want to get it over with." It doesn't matter what the punishment is as I have had it much worse than that. [Fleiss served 21 months in prison for tax evasion in the late '90s.] I was not happy that day at all.

Photo: George Wilhelm/Los Angeles Times

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12:33 PM PT, Mar 13 2008 in Heidi Fleiss | Permalink | Comments (19) | TrackBack (0)

Heidi Fleiss back in trouble

I have been trying to reach Heidi Fleiss this morning to get from her the details of her arrest yesterday in Pahrump. According to the Review-Journal, Fleiss was arrested for "driving under the influence and without a license." Also arrested with her was a man she describes as her plumber.

Heidi Fleiss came here a couple of years ago with the wild ambition of opening a legal brothel stud farm for women. But so far she has wound up opening only a laundromat, Dirty Laundry, near the Wal-Mart in Pahrump. And her new life in Nevada has not been without controversy, including her claim in an interview with me that Mike Tyson was signing on to be stud No. 1. But outside some national media, no one familiar with Nevada's brothel system took seriously the thought that her stud farm would get Nye County approval. And if Fleiss hoped Dirty Laundry would establish her as a legitimate businesswoman in Nye County to help her secure a brothel license, the events of yesterday may prove a fatal setback for her dream.

The most serious problem for Fleiss stemming from the arrest may come from some pills found on the former Hollywood Madam. At this time, the pills are officially unidentified. But in an interview with the Review-Journal, Fleiss offered this amazing quote: "Big deal, I've got Vicodin without a prescription handy.... I make no apologies. If I want Vicodin, I'm having a Vicodin." She also told the Review-Journal that the blood test authorities took from her is likely to turn up some other "bad stuff" from a party at a girlfriend's house last week.

Her willingness to say almost anything is what makes Fleiss such a joy to interview. Sadly, I am guessing one reason she is not answering the phone today is that she has consulted a lawyer since yesterday.

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12:18 PM PT, Feb 8 2008 in Heidi Fleiss | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Fleiss tells Paris, don't worry

I don't know why Paris Hilton's sentence made me think of calling Heidi Fleiss on the phone at her home in Pahrump, Nevada. But I figured I could, at least, catch up on the laundromat she is opening in Pahrump, just about an hour from Vegas.

If you'll recall, her version of a stud farm has temporarily taken a back seat to a laundromat near the Wal-Mart in Pahrump. Dirty Laundry opens June 10, and I plan to go to the grand opening with a load of laundry.

As usual, Fleiss gives an interview like no one else. I would say she got the better of me on this one. In my defense, it is hard not to look foolish talking to Heidi Fleiss about Paris Hilton. But it can be entertaining:

Richard Abowitz: Do you have any thoughts on Paris going to jail?

Heidi Fleiss: When she wakes up it will be over.

RA: So, you don't think she is facing anything serious?

HF: Of course not. How can you call it serious? When it is over she will meet her new best friend.

RA: So you don't think what she is facing is as bad as she may believe?

HF: Of course not. She is just worried about the stigma that will be attached to her: 'Oh my god, I am not an aristocrat now.' But I happen to really like Paris. I think she is awesome.

RA: Do you actually think she is worried how jail will impact her reputation?

HF: Probably. (This is followed by a string of obscenities invoking stories of Hilton's past behavior, alleged past behavior and present behavior in explicit detail followed by the general indifference of Fleiss to such behavior.) I am saying the worst things I can say so you can't write any of it.

RA: Is there anything you can say without an obscenity about Paris?

HF: Let me tell you, I think Paris is awesome. What I love is that if you take the really richest families in America, all those Fortune 500 parents who send their kids to Ivy League schools and give them the most opportunities to experience culture, their kids still all want to be Paris. I love that.

RA: Do you think her going to jail will change that?

HF: Of course not. She's spent nights in plenty of places that are worse than jail.

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11:02 AM PT, May 17 2007 in Heidi Fleiss | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Heidi's suds farm

She's back. In fact, she never left. A few months ago it seemed Heidi Fleiss and her dream of a stud farm for ladies outside Vegas had vanished. But on a whim, this morning, I gave Fleiss a ring at her Pahrump home and she answered. The last time we spoke she had told me about her conversation with Mike Tyson coming to work for her at the stud farm. This claim was refuted, not by Tyson's camp, but by a man who emerged claiming to be the publicist for Fleiss. I still have never spoken to that man. That was our starting point. As always, Fleiss here is funny, optimistic and defiantly dancing to her own tune.

Richard Abowitz: You got me in trouble last time we spoke.

Heidi Fleiss: Why are you in trouble?

Q: Because someone emerged who claimed to be your publicist to deny you told me that story about Tyson coming to work on your stud farm.

A: That figures. That's good communication there. It is a true story. There is nothing you can do. You can't argue the truth.

Q: Have you spoken to Tyson again about it?

A: No, because he told a mutual friend that I should pay him for all the publicity and then the next week he was arrested.

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No Heidi Fleiss, though maybe some pimps

Heidi FIeiss wanted to build a stud farm in Paurump. Her idea was to simply change genders and run things just like the female prostitutes live at the legal brothels in Pahrump. In her mind this would be a place where large groups of men would live in isolated and lockdown conditions as they wait for visitors to show up and offer them a little love. The Fliess stud farm project never happened. But, in an odd way, it looks like Pahrump may be getting that big house packed with men after all.

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07:01 AM PT, Feb 27 2007 in Heidi Fleiss | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Where is Heidi Fleiss?

Robin Leach is reporting that Heidi Fleiss has vanished from Pahrump leaving the fate of her announced stud brothel there in grave doubt. This should not be a surprise to readers of the Buffet where since 2005 I have been steadfast in predicting that Heidi's Stud Farm would never open in Pahrump. There are just too many obstacles in the path including brothel regulations tailored for female prostitutes and Fleiss, as a convicted felon, being barred from ownership of a brothel. This has not stopped Fleiss from working the press for over a year hyping her stud farm. Leach reports that the telephone numbers for Fleiss are disconnected. But I tried the phone numbers I have for Fleiss this morning and one still works, well, sort-of worked: No one answered and there was no voice mail. I will keep trying the number, and if I reach Fleiss expect an update later today.

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10:34 AM PT, Jan 17 2007 in Heidi Fleiss | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

Mike Tyson to Work as Stud?

I just had a roller coaster of an interview with Heidi Fleiss. I called Fleiss to get an update on her plans for a stud farm (she says she should have the application submitted in the next 10 days) in rural Nevada. Our conversation ranged from exotic birds to her thoughts on the case against brothel owner Joe Richards. I will have the full transcript for tomorrow's Buffet. But for now here is a taste of what it is like interviewing Heidi Fleiss as well as her plans for stud number one: Mike Tyson

Q: So, is Mike Tyson going to come work at your brothel?
A: Yeah, he called me. How'd that get in the news?

Q: You talked about it in another interview.
A: Oh, I said it? Well, he was in the Hamptons with a friend of mine and he called me.

Q: How long ago was this?
A: It was in June. I said to him, 'You going to be my stud?' And he said, 'Heidi I don't care what any man says. It's every man's dream to please every woman no matter how old, how young, how fat, how pretty, how ugly, it's every man's dream to please every woman and especially get paid for it.' And, he goes, 'Hell yeah, I'll be your number one stud.'

Q: Do you think he was joking?
A: Half and half. Don't ever underestimate Mike Tyson. He is a genius and he can be very stupid like most people.

Q: Well, do you think he will do it?
A: I definitely think he would.

photo by KRISTINA M. BARKER/AP

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02:45 PM PT, Oct 16 2006 in Heidi Fleiss | Permalink | Comments (29) | TrackBack (0)

Heidi Fleiss Wants Bigger Bribes

"Our business ethics and principles, there's nothing in common between us." Talk about no class, convicted felon Heidi Fleiss has gone to the press to gloat about her former sponsor, Joe Richards, being indicted after a sting for allegedly offering a Nye County politician a $5,000 bribe. "Can you imagine going down for five grand?" Fleiss gleefully asks the Review-Journal. Then she goes on to answer that question in a way that I am sure will be a huge help to her at her licensing hearing: "Maybe for five million, but not five thousand." Okay, so Nye County should allow Heidi Fleiss to open a brothel because that will mean bigger bribes? Dumb, dumb, dumb. I once again predict that Heidi Fleiss is never going to get a licence to open any sort of brothel in Nevada, stud farm or the old fashioned kind.

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07:02 AM PT, Mar 8 2006 in Heidi Fleiss | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Alert the Press: Fleiss Arrives in Nevada

The Review-Journal contains an interview with Heidi Fleiss where the reporter, Henry Brean, visited her at her rented "modest two-bedroom house" in rural Nevada and watched her unpack and spackle holes in the wall. It is kind-of pathetic to hear her fantasies (endlessly lapped up by the media). She promises 20 studs with 10 in reserve and a flat fee of around $250 an hour. Meanwhile, as portrayed in the article, even her own lawyer can offer nothing more supportive of her chances of getting a licence than:

"Fleiss will probably have to answer a lot of questions about her past, but, Schonfeld said, he is confident the board will give her application a fair and unbiased review."

And, I thought that was the problem since an unbiased review might well deny her a licence for being a convicted felon whose crimes could clearly be seen as demonstrating "moral turpitude."

Yes, there are endless ironies in Heidi Fleiss being too immoral to operate a brothel in Nevada, because she operated a call girl ring in California. But when you get into legal prostitution Commissioners tend to accept some irony and contradiction to protect their turf. For now none of this matters since Fleiss has yet to even turn in her brothel licence application. That might put a bummer on the media campaign that continues with her first hire, James Brandt, 37, who explains in the article that he expects to earn $250 an hour:

Some women want to walk hand in hand through the park. Some want you to sing them a song. Some may want me to bite them on the spine. Whatever it is. I will do this.

I don't know about the singing and biting, but good luck finding a park in Crystal, Nevada for that romantic walk.

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07:07 AM PT, Dec 8 2005 in Heidi Fleiss , Nevada legal brothels | Permalink | Comments (3)