After founding the grownup DVD empire Girls Gone Wild and cementing the model into the 2000s pop-culture zeitgeist, creator Joe Francis has been exiled to Mexico amidst a slew of authorized battles and has largely remained out of the highlight. But Peacock’s new documentary Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story, which began streaming on Dec. 3, places Francis within the sizzling seat, with journalist Scaachi Koul forcing him to confront his sketchy previous.
The three-part sequence re-examines the cultural phenomenon that was Girls Gone Wild — movies of younger girls flashing cameras, most notably throughout spring break journeys — and sheds new mild on the subject with interviews from former staff, girls who have been coerced as youngsters to have intercourse on digital camera and signal their rights away, and, after all, Francis himself. Koul interviewed Francis at his compound in Mexico in regards to the historical past of Girls Gone Wild and his sordid historical past with the corporate, together with alleged assaults.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fireplace, however should you simply begin on the core, I’ll work with you, nevertheless many hours, and peel again each layer and reply each fucking query and present you each doc,” Francis stated to Koul firstly of their interview. “I might love for you to have the ability to nail me … I need that to be your purpose. Nail me. Fucking nail me.”
Francis doesn’t mince his phrases, nor does he take a lot accountability for his alleged wrongdoings. While the docuseries consists of a lot of surprising and noteworthy moments, listed here are 5 main takeaways:
There have been underage women being satisfied to take part in Girls Gone Wild movies. As a consequence, Francis and his staffers have been arrested.
In 2003, a bunch of underage girls who took their tops off and carried out sexual acts in a Girls Gone Wild video in Panama City, Florida, reported the incident to the native police. Police arrested Francis on 22 felony accounts, together with expenses of selling the sexual efficiency of kids. Francis pleaded no contest. While the decide sentenced him to 339 days in jail, Francis was credited for prior jail time he’d spent relating to a separate authorized problem involving tax evasion.
Francis believes he was victimized and doesn’t present regret for the ladies within the Girls Gone Wild movies.
Despite the variety of girls within the documentary alleging they have been coerced into performing sexual acts on digital camera — which the ladies stated they’d not initially signed up for — Francis says within the documentary that he doesn’t really feel dangerous for the ladies who appeared in Girls Gone Wild movies.
“I may at all times sense after I felt like what I needed to say didn’t matter and I very a lot bought that vibe from this cameraman,” one lady shared in a clip. “I felt like if I didn’t comply, issues may go actually badly for me.”
When Koul asks Francis if he felt dangerous for the ladies who have been underage and took part within the movies, Francis doesn’t hesitate to reply, “No.”
“No, as a result of I don’t imagine they have been victimized,” he provides. “They victimized me.”
Koul reminds Francis, “They have been fairly younger.”
Francis doubles down and replies: “No, they have been 17. They have been those that victimized us. I imagine and all of us imagine that they have been put up by the Panama City Police and it was all an operation.”
When Los Angeles Times reporter Claire Hoffman traveled to Chicago to profile Francis in 2006, she claimed he assaulted her.
In 2006, Hoffman was on an project within the Chicago space, following Francis round so she may in the end profile him. In the midnight, after visiting dance golf equipment and spending time with Francis and his digital camera crew, Hoffman wrote that Francis pressed her in opposition to a automotive, twisted her arm, yelled at her, and tried to kiss her, pushing himself in opposition to her.
“As he yells, I’m wondering if this can be a flashback, or if he’s punishing me for being the one blond in sight who’s not sporting a thong. This a lot is for certain: He’s bought at the very least 80 kilos on me and I’m considering he’s about to interrupt my left arm. My eyes begin to stream tears,” Hoffman wrote in her 2006 profile of Francis.
In the documentary, Francis defended himself to Koul. “She tried to kiss me, and I wouldn’t kiss her! She was attempting to hook up with me. Totally unprofessional, after which she wrote a fucking hit piece,” he stated. Hoffman declined to remark or take part within the documentary.
Francis has a protracted historical past of alleged sexual assaults and misconduct however within the documentary, he vehemently denied having ever assaulted anybody.
“I used to be not concerned within the filming of women, and most definitely would by no means bodily assault anybody, ever,” he instructed Koul. “Trust me. By now, there can be so many different women saying that I raped them, if I had. I’ve by no means raped a girl. Ever. Or a person. Or a baby.”
There have been additionally Guys Gone Wild tapes the place crew members satisfied males to carry out sexual acts on digital camera.
A former Girls Gone Wild worker spoke about her time producing movies for Guys Gone Wild, footage that aimed to movie straight males for a homosexual male viewers. She stated these crew members referred to themselves as “rooster shooters” as a result of they have been “capturing cock.”
The documentary additionally exhibits a clip of Francis speaking about Guys Gone Wild on a “Behind the Velvet Rope” podcast episode, explaining that he believes 20 % of customers are girls and 80 % of viewers are homosexual males.
“What does a homosexual man like probably the most? A straight man,” Francis stated. “The straight guys are the forbidden fruit.”
While the previous worker stated the Guys Gone Wild movies have been moneymakers, she described the expertise of manufacturing these movies as “traumatizing.” It was grueling, she stated, to “coax this man to have an orgasm.”
“The similar method Joe was pressuring the fellows [crew members in the field], ‘Make certain you get this quantity of footage,’ is identical method he pressured us,” she stated. “Just the issues it’s a must to give you are gross … This was like, I needed to be in it with you.”
Girls Gone Wild went underneath in 2012 after Francis was sued for slander.
As a results of a public feud between Francis and actual property developer and entrepreneur Steve Wynn over a debt Francis owed Wynn for playing at his casinos in Las Vegas, Wynn sued Francis for making defamatory statements in 2012. A jury later discovered that Francis had falsely claimed Wynn threatened to kill him and have him buried within the desert if he didn’t pay again what he owed. Francis had additionally claimed file producer Quincy Jones instructed him that Wynn threatened to kill him, however through the case, Jones testified that wasn’t true. The jury ordered Francis to pay Wynn a complete of $40 million after discovering he had slandered Wynn.
The following yr, in 2013, Francis’ father or mother firm for Girls Gone Wild filed for chapter with the intention to block Wynn from receiving funds.
Afterwards, the corporate went underneath and Francis confronted extra authorized points. In 2013, he was sentenced to 270 days in jail for an assault and false imprisonment of three girls. Two years later, Francis fled to Mexico along with his then-girlfriend and two daughters.
