"@ariannahuff is unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a manhe made a good decision."Donald Trump Tweets his response to news that the Huffington Post is moving coverage of his campaign from the news section to the entertainment pages.
If a story is published online and then pulled, did it actually happen? Since nothing is ever really gone on the Internet, the answer is "yes." Last week, Gawker posted a story about a high-ranking member of the media who hired a male escort. An avalanche of outrage came from people who think that outing someone who is not a public figure is mean-spirited and malicious. After a few hours, the story disappeared and the founder and managing editor of Gawker apologized: "The media environment has changed, our readers have changed, and I have changed. Not only is criticism of yesterday's piece from readers intense, but much of what they've said has resonated."
One of the main complaints was that the report identified the guy paying for the hooker, but protected the identity of the hooker himself! So let me rectify the situation. The media guy in question is allegedly the very dashing David Geithner, who is not only CFO of Conde Nast, but also the brother of former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. David allegedly hired hooker Brodie Sinclair ( aka Leif Derek Truitt ) to have sex for two to three hours at a negotiated rate of $2,500.
So far, I have no problem with this storyexcept that Geithner is married to a woman and has kids ( which also isn't my problem ). Brodie/Leif didn't know David's last name or anything about him. The deal was that Geithner would send Brodie/Leif half the money in cash via FedEx, and that's how his identity was discovered. Brodie/Leif emailed Geithner some documents about a discrimination lawsuit he filed against his former landlord, who he claimed evicted him because he's a porn star. The landlord says the eviction was because the tenant had an "emotional assistance dog" since he's a veteran with PTSD. I couldn't make up this stuff!
Geithner wasn't sure why he was sent this information. Brodie/Leif revealed that he knew Geithner's identity and hoped he could use his connections to help. Suddenly, Geithner's flight was delayed and then cancelled. He apologized, paid for Brodie/Leif's hotel room and promised to send him the balance of the negotiated rate. Well, hell hath no fury like a hooker scorned. Brodie/Leif contacted Gawker, shared his story, and sent them copies of the texts and emails. Gawker, doing due diligence, contacted Geithner to corroborate. He then texted Brodie/Leif saying, "Can you call as soon as possible? I spoke with a reporter who says you sent him something?"
Of course, this could all be a lie. The only one confirming this story is the hooker. Geithner denies that any of this is true: "I don't know who this individual is. This is a shakedown. I have never had a text exchange with this individual. He clearly has an ulterior motive that has nothing to do with me."
You certainly won't be hearing that story on The View. Then again, who knows who will be on The View when it returns in the fall. All three of the co-hosts hired this year have been let gowith the possible exception of Nicolle Wallace, who has been asked to return on a part-time basis. ( We hear she is not thrilled with this offer. ) So far, Whoopi, Raven-Symone and Michelle Collins have contracts. There is a fourth position to be filled by a conservative who would be more conservative and combative ( as opposed to the very moderate Wallace ). As for the fifth seat, those geniuses at ABC News want that to be filled by a group of rotating hosts, including Molly Simms, Paula Faris and Stacy London. As I've previously reported, former co-hosts Joy Behar and Sherri Shepherd were asked to join the rotating group. While talks with Behar have broken down, Sherri is still very much in the mix. We also hear that Rosie O'Donnell was asked to return for a few dates in the fall.
Someone rumored to fill the conservative slot on The View is Candace Cameron Burethe sister of crazy Kirk Cameron ( who, it must be said, still looks good ). The network brass were impressed by a fight Raven and Candace had last week about the owners of that bakery in Oregon who the court ruled must pay $135K for refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding. ( It's against Oregon law to discriminate against customers based on sexual orientation. ) Candace sided with the bakers and saw it as a First Amendment issue ( citing "freedom of association" ), while Raven felt it was discrimination. The ladies all agreed that $135K was a bit steepbut that's because they didn't consider all the facts. The high settlement reflected not only the bakery's illegal refusal, but also the owners going public with the gay couple's identity, which led to harassment and death threats. It should also be noted that the bakers had their share of harassment, including having their car broken into. They ultimately closed up shop.
But they had something cooking on the back burner. Taking a page from the people who set up a GoFundMe account to raise money to pay the bills of that anti-gay pizza parlor, the bakery owners opened a similar page themselves to raise money to pay the lawsuit. They raised over $105K in eight hours and then, suddenly, the page was terminated. Why? GoFundMe stated that since the bakery owners "have been formally charged by local authorities and found to be in violation of Oregon state law concerning discriminatory acts ... the campaign has been cancelled." So the bakery moved to another crowdfunding siteContinue To Give. Thus far, they have raised over $350K, breaking all records for the site. By the by, they also got the GoFundMe money$60K after taxes. That does itI'm going to have to start banning people from joining BillyMasters.com . That'll be the daywhen have I ever refused to service somebody?!
When people are paying bakers not to bake and hookers not to hook, it's time to end yet another column. I knowkinda heavy reading for a summer column. But you never know what you'll get on www.BillyMasters.com, the site that's unpredictable. I haven't had room to publish an "Ask Billy" question, but I'm still here for you. Drop a note to Billy@BillyMasters.com and I promise to get back to you before somebody pays me not to gossip. So, until next time, remember, one man's filth is another man's bible.