In the 1990s, Heidi Fleiss, the "Hollywood Madam" was one of the most
influential madams in the world. She had
some of Los Angeles' most beautiful women working for her high-end
prostitution service serving Tinseltown's
rich and famous for up to $10,000 a
night. Then she was arrested and
convicted for tax-evasion in connection with her prostitution earnings and sentenced to 37 months in prison.
However, due to strong media pressure and public outrage at her harsh
punishment while her customers had not been punished, she only served 21 months.
Heidi's father, a well-known obstetrician, was
convicted of money laundering for his daughter, and sentenced to one day in
prison, three years of probation and 625 hours of community service, a
somewhat ironic sentence considering community service was the reason why
his daughter was arrested.
Heidi's charges were unusual since in Los Angeles, as in many other
cities, prostitution madams are often exempt from prosecution in
exchange for information about some of their clients. Heidi was
apparently not cooperative and made many enemies among the police,
politicians, and other whoremongers, especially her former boss, Madam
Alex, who accused Heidi of stealing all her clients.
In 1995, Nick Broomfield made a fascinating BBC documentary about Heidi, her family, another Madam named Alex, Fleiss' former lover, director,
and ever-smiling scumbag Ivan Nagy, and the LA prostitution scene called
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam. In 2004, a made-for-TV movie was
produced called Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss, in
which Fleiss was portrayed by Jamie-Lynn Sigler. She is the owner of the West Hollywood
boutique "Hollywood Madam." When she announces in the
opening scene that her world runs on ''dollars, dicks, drugs, and
deceit'' , it's time to switch to another channel.
Fleiss moved to Nevada where she announced
plans to open a male brothel for women only in Pahrump,
about an
hour outside Las Vegas, called
"Heidi Fleiss' Stud Farm," so that it wouldn't be a just "one-whore's
town. The brothel has been put on hold due to some criminal charges against
one of her backers. Heidi then used her experience in money laundering to
open a laundromat named "Dirty
Laundry" in Pahrump.
With her amazing entrepreneurial talents and flair for self-promotion, Heidi
may have overlooked a more lucrative line similar to Paul Newman's, such as
Heidi Fleiss' Pasta Puttanesca Sauce (sugo alla puttanesca). Sugo
alla puttanesca is traditionally served with spaghetti (spaghetti
alla puttanesca), although it may also be used with other dry pasta
types like vermicelli (vermicelli alla puttanesca). I guarantee
that it would outsell Newman's Own.
The name puttanesca is a derivation of puttana, which in
Italian means "whore." Pasta
Puttanesca in originated in Naples. There are several hypotheses on the
origin of the name. The more reasonable explanations are based on the quick
cooking time of the dish - less than 15 minutes. Either the whores needed
something quick to make and eat so they wouldn't miss too much street
traffic, or is was something quick to make for their tricks to ensure a tip
or a return customer if the sex was only marginal.
So lets enjoy some Spaghetti alla Puttanesca on Heidi's birthday
while we recall her celebrity by renting a DVD of
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam. |
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