Porn Valley- XXX calls me Wednesday.
“I got a laugh out of Randy Spears’ Video Team comments https://adultfyi.com/read.aspx?ID=7469 which you posted this week,” says XXX.
“Especially since I’ve dealt with Chris Mann for years. Nothing changes.
“Then, again,” says XXX, “I thought Video Team was owned by Teddy Rothstein. That’s been the rumor for years. No disrespect to Teddy. He’s always been a gentleman. If he does own the company, what confuses me is that he won’t dump Christian Mann. What troubles me about Christian- and he insists on being called Christian, he hates being called Chris, it grinds him- is that he won’t return phone calls. He’s got his little pen collection on his desk, and he’s friends with Stevie Hirsch and Mike Warner.
“He reminds you constantly that he’s friends with Stevie Hirsch. Meanwhile this is a guy who bounces checks constantly in this business. Again, he will make them good. But why the attitude when you know you’re bouncing checks? Be a little friendlier. It’s puzzling. Also puzzling are the rumors about Teddy Rothstein. Rothstein’s a gentleman. Fair, an honest guy. Both Teddy and Marty- if you have a beef, they’ll call you back and negotiate a good price. They owe you money, they’ll pay it. I think Christian forgot that you meet the same people on the way up that you meet on the way down. I get the same thing from anyone that meets him at a trade show, that he’s snobbish, a little bit cocky.
“If he’s relying on his friendship with Stevie Hirsch to keep him alive, Stevie ain’t fucking helping his bounced checks and the fact that he don’t pay people. This guy better smell the roses. For God’s sake he’s been in the business as long as everyone else but he shuns them. For what? I own a couple of businesses in the arena and he’s bouncing checks to me. You’re being disrespectful to me and I can buy and sell you ten times over. I should be disrespecting you. Meanwhile, he collects pens. Can’t pass a check for $1200, but he collects expensive pens.
“It’s always been a rumor about Teddy Rothstein,” XXX continues. “The same rumors that go about the adult business. Is it true? Who knows. Throughout the manufacturer-distributor circuit, we’ve heard nothing about the sale of Video Team. Maybe it’s because nobody cares about Video Team. It’s not like it’s a Red Light or Anabolic. It’s not the Top 5. Video Team’s got a niche but they’ve got to be suffering like the rest of the manufacturers in the multi-billion dollar adult business who can’t pay their phone bills. Like Mark Dull.”
“I think you’re being too harsh since I believe Christian’s been on pain killers from back surgery,” I venture to say.
“Who knows?” says XXX. “Like who knows if Teddy’s really the owner of the company. Video Team, if you remember, was owned by Michael Warner. He went to jail for that, remember? He had to sell it off. But we never found out to who. If Christian owns it, good for him. Go down the sink and bounce your checks.”