Taryn Pieh writes: Please allow me to clarify some details in regards to the misfortunate happenings surrounding the Tampa Erotic Ball www.adultfyi.com/read.php?ID=22391. As Sophia’'s [pictured] manager, I accompanied her to Tampa last weekend and did most of the communication with Steve.
Things started off badly upon arrival at the airport, when instead of having a chauffeured car as promised, he put three of the performers and me into one taxi, and two others in his personal car. Then he took us to a very low-budget hotel that was not the one he told me we would be at.
When I asked for Sophia’s per diem, he said we could pay for it ourselves. Two other performers besides Sophia were upset about the situation, and I told them I would speak on their behalf so that Steve would not be overwhelmed by complaints.
When I went to speak with him in his room, it was clear that he had been living there. This led me to assume that he had intended on putting us there all along, rather than the place he had originally arranged. He claimed that no other hotel in town would allow him to make reservations, since they recognized his name or face from the recent press attention he had been getting for the event, and the hotel managers did not want adult performers staying there. I assured him that we could put the reservations on my card or someone else’s, as long as he provided the money, but he seemed reluctant to do this.
That night, he took us to dinner at a gentleman’s club, and when we got there, we realized that Sophia’s presence (along with the other girls) was being advertised, and he was making money off of it.
I had no knowledge of this whatsoever, so this obviously took my distrust of him to a different level. Sophia and I took a taxi back to the hotel, and two of the other girls decided to come along, as they were also very disturbed by the way things had been going up to that point. The four of us moved to a different hotel and then tried to work things out with Steve over the phone. Communication was extremely difficult, and at one point he even said that he wanted to punch me in the face.
When it became clear that Steve was not going to abide by the terms of the contract, I advised Sophia not to attend the event. One of the girls' agents advised her to do the same. The other performer decided on her own not to attend.
The last thing I want to do is start a smear campaign against someone who has recently passed away. Nevertheless, I feel it is necessary to point out that this man was troubled, and the only person responsible for his problems was himself. Sophia never did anything that would have led this man to take his own life and should not be held responsible in any way for what happened. By saying that her cancellation could have set the wheels in motion, you are implying that she is in some way responsible for this man's death. If you insist on blaming anyone besides Steve, that person should be me.
