Joey writes:

It is a little entertaining to sit back and read the nickering and bickering that goes on between everyone in the adult business let alone the once friendships and co-workers to go at it as well.

All I know is that we are all pointing the fingers at this one, that one, and where is it getting us?

ON THE FUCKING GOSSIP COLUMNS!

Everyone from Steve Seidman, BiSexual Britni, Gauge, Wankus, and my fellow co-worker, Don Benn, had very valid points about this whole CCA issue.

The bottom line is that the fans were the ones who lost out here and everyone who put effort to get this off the ground. I do know that Adult Stars Management which is part of ASM acknowledges the let down for the fans, which is what makes this business what it is today. Without them, this multi-million dollar business would be nothing more then a thrift shop for perverts.

We here at ASM, stress to our models of the importance of public relations, and to go that extra mile for a fan because they deserve it. We all know that Britni gives that attention to her fans, as well as Gauge, and even though he is not a performer, Wankus does give that extra mile too. Even Don Benn which I can say does have a soft side to him cares about both performers and fans alike.

I was shocked by some of the comments that came from people regarding this whole CCA ordeal which in my opinion, is because of some personal differences that were brewing inside them. This all reminds me of freaking high school to be honest and I do not know about you all, I am to old for this shit.

Even when us here at ASManagement barely got any recognition in any of the press for the “many” adult functions that we were putting our free time to, did you hear us bitching? HELL NO, until now! I could get on this wagon here, but I would elect not to because I sincerely hope that we can move on to bigger and better things.

Coming from a prior 10 year military background, I do believe that even though we might not like each other, working together as a team is not that hard! Remember, there is no “I” in “TEAMWORK”! I do believe in Jeff Cartwright’s idea regarding this show and maybe all of us can put our personal differences aside, and give what the fans want…………THEIR OWN AWARDS SHOW!

Peace

Joey

—

Steve writes:

Sometimes even I have a heart, and I’ve been requested by a few of my friends to give my opinion on what recently went down with the Consumer Choice Award Show. I will not be totally critical even though in my job as a gossip person I should. Here goes: Back in July of last year, while still at ASM we were starting to get things ready for a January Awards Show, that is when Jeff came to me and said that Paul at AVN wanted to change the venue to Erotica LA where he thought that we’d get a better response. At that time I was very leery of the idea, the year before except for a few glitches we pulled off a great show that rivaled AVN for less money, agreed we didn’t make the money AVN did, but we had people there that didn’t even go to the AVN Award Show. The real reason I thought that the venue was being changed was because Paul really didn’t want to chance the competition. Jeff had mentioned that if we moved the show Paul would do all the planning, all we would have to do was prepare the ballots and get the awards, for which we’d split the profits 50-50, I replied Jeff do you really think that this is true!. In late October I left ASM, at that time still no word from Paul on the AVN/ASM Consumer Show. A new year comes and still no plans, all of a sudden two months before the LA Erotica they announce a show that is to be held before LA Erotica, ballot are put together and this show was a go. To bad that the consumer wasn’t informed, ticket sales were should we say DULL. Then the announcement 6/2, the show has been cancelled, no explanation except a disagreement between partners. Jeff, open your fuckin’ eyes you were told that this would happen, don’t believe the bullshit that you’ve been telling yourself for years, you aren’t a major force in the adult business, you are just a pawn that has been moved the way the master moves many things. Sometimes I hate to admit that I was right from the beginning, but I TOLD YOU SO! Sometimes I know what I’m talking about. I paid my dues in this business, I earned my respect, I DIDN’T TRY AND BUY IT!!!

A major problem also arose when Jeff in his ultimate glory decided to shun the people that helped make the show last year. Wankus as host was superb, he kept the crowd going and the show moving. Steve Banan did some really great P.R. work and without his help the show would have been a total flop. Now as far as Tom Goddard, he created more problem then he was worth. Don, Jeff and myself worked our ass’ off to make it a great time, IT WAS!!! Everyone commented on the show and if it was held in Jan. at the AEE would have rivaled AVN. Once again he does things on his own and he gets destroyed. You’d think with a great team you’d at least listen to their advice instead of going half cocked and creating a dream world for yourself. Enough ranting or I’ll start saying things I’ll regret saying!!! PEACE

—

Greg44 writes:

fuckin’ avn is full of shit. they cancelled this because they knew they wouldn’t have any control over the voting and that means they can’t fix it, like their other awards shows.

—

BiSexualBritni writes:

They seemed to be nervous when they realized how many sections I was enroot to winning.

—

Wankus writes:

I’m seeing all the “told you so” comments from people and a part of me snickers because I really felt like I donated a lot of time and effort to the last CCA event, only to be left in the cold on this one. At the last awards show, I volunteered to host an event, one that normally pays me a few grand, for what they required. I did it for free so that they could see what I could do and it would guarantee me the gig for the next one, at my rate. Days before the event, they told me I wasn’t well known enough so they had to have me host it with Jill Kelly. Ok, no big deal. Back stage that night, Kelly told me to just go out there and let her handle everything. “These are my people,” she said, “I know how to handle them, I know what they want.”
I was thinking, “I’ve been doing live shows forever…if I want to learn how to suck a cock, I’ll go to her….getting an audience fired up…I’ll handle it.” Needless to say, we went out there with her entourage and it was painful. Long story short, I grabbed a cordless microphone and did everything I could to keep the show together. A box of awards was lost, the crew dropped the list of winners names, forcing me to go back stage in between winners and find out who was next to receive, technical hell broke loose, Rick James was drunk and didn’t know the words to his own songs. All I did was what I was suppose to do. Keep the show moving. And I did. After that, I was assured the next gig and with pay.
When AVN jumped in, I knew it was not going to happen. They had no loyalty to me, and I assumed they were dropping the cash for the event, so when they announced other hosts, I wasn’t shocked. Shit happens.
Regardless, I’m not going to give them “I told you so” in my response. I don’t have a problem with any parties involved and I think it’s a shame that it fell apart. But like I said on my radio show last night, Fan Based Award Shows of any kind should not consist of questions like Best Guy/Girl? Best Anal? Best anything. Do you remember how you used to watch porn as a fan? It wasn’t by name or movie company. It wasn’t by director or producer? It was by a flashy box cover.
You bought it if the cover looked good. Then it sat in your sock drawer until you were horny. You cued it up past all the legal bullshit and commercials and jacked your cock. When you came, you put it back in the drawer and couldn’t name one person in it. Fan Base Awards shows should consist of categories like “Best Place In Your House to Jack Off While Watching Jenna Jameson” and questions like that….because that’s about the most an average fan can tell you about their porn experiences.
For every die hard fan, there are 100 who just want to see tits & ass and have no idea who the hell they’re enjoying! That because when they bust a nut, they return to their mainstream worlds until the next urge.
By the way, at intermission at the last awards show, Jill Kelly said, “Don’t worry about me…you’re fine. You’re doing just fine.”
—-

Don Benn writes on PNN:

Opinions are like assholes…everybody has one. And, might I (unnecessarily add) some opinions, like some assholes are (simply) full of shit. Such is the case with Steve Banan and his (in my “opinion”) vicious verbal assault against my magazine, my publisher, and myself in the June 4th edition of The Liberty Network (www.thelibertynetwork.tv).

Before I go any further (which believe me – I will) I need to (re) state my feelings on negative press, especially when directed at members of the adult industry. I’m against it and have no place for such merdurinous mumblings. With the number of individuals and entities in the outside world who apparently live for and take glee in attacking us, self-attack (in my opinion) is just downright stupid. As such, it is my policy as editor of the Adult Stars Magazine publishing group to not print negative items in any of our online publications.

This article will (hopefully) be the sole exception to this rule!

For those of you who may not be aware of the situation (and if this is the case than I am to blame)…Adult Stars Magazine and Adult Video News jointly planned, jointly administrated, and in the end jointly “scrubbed” the presentation of the (no-longer) upcoming 2003 Consumers Choice Awards Show. The event was to have been held on June 19th, 2003 in Hollywood California. For reasons explained in my editorial of June 4, 2003 the show (not so) simply didn’t happen.

Trust me readers – no one feels worse about the cancellation of this event than the folks at ASM and AVN who worked so hard to make it happen). No doubt that the performers who were nominated and the fans that cast their (sometimes multiple) ballots feel let down…but no one feels worse than us (trust me)! What we do not feel is anger, what we do not feel is a need to call names, and what we most certainly do not feel is the need to insult the parties who worked so hard to make this happen…all of which Banan felt compelled to do.

I consider Steve Banan to be my friend. And, as one does with friends, one makes (shall we say) “exceptions” for frailty and/or foolishness. His words of attack upon myself, my coworkers and my company (although the son of a gun didn’t say word one against AVN) hurt and hurt deeply. To call me a “clown”, to call my words “crap”, and to state that I believed that you, our readers, are “stupid” is insulting, inaccurate, and, well, downright mean.

Steve Banan had NOTHING (notice the use of all capital letters) to do with this event. NOTHING! His participation in our 2001 Consumers Choice Awards Show was important and appreciated but certainly nowhere near the messianic level he has portrayed it to be. I must wonder how much of his current anger stems from factors other than our decision to cancel the current show.

To strengthen his point, Banan enlisted the aid of two individuals with a long history of involvement with ASM – Wankus of KSEX Radio and Steve Seidman of Adult Stars News. As per Wankus – 99.9% of his statements concerning the prior and (almost) current show were absolutely correct (at least that’s my opinion.). As per Seidman – no individual outside of the current ASM office has as much direct insight and/or knowledge as to the history of the Consumers Choice Awards Show. Without Seidman there would have been NO show. Without Wankus there would have been a show (it might have sucked a little…but there would have been a show).

Seidman’s words were that of an experienced, informed, educated, (almost) first-hand opinion. Quite honestly, Seidman is the first guy that I go to when I need industry-related advice. Nevertheless, Seidman’s opinion is simply Seidman’s opinion. And, as I said in my opening paragraph…everybody has one.

I know Steve Banan. I like Steve Banan. It’s my opinion that while it is most certainly his right to act like an asshole…that he is, in fact, NOT an asshole. Of course, that’s just my opinion, and, like assholes, everybody has one.

Don Benn
Editor
Adult Stars Magazine