After two scandalous years of dealing with an extramarital affair, an illegitimate son, and a high-profile separation, Arnold Schwarzenegger was all set to wipe the slate clean with a wholesome Hollywood comeback story.
Before he rose to notoriety as the founder of Penthouse magazine, Bob Guccione allegedly wrote letters soliciting customers to buy his dirty photos at the bargain rate of 10 photos for $2 under the pseudonym of "Robert Gucci."
Penthouse Founder Bob Guccione has died of cancer. He was 79. Guccione was once one of America's richest men because he published a softcore porno mag where women actually showed their vaginas. Then the Internet happened. [Image via AP]
In your slowly improving Thursday media column: Penthouse makes a faux-bid for Playboy, the WaPo's internet strategy is very serious and journalistic, Brad Stone leaves the NYT, and a Tucker Carlson vs. Keith Olbermann feud, which matters.
In your enraging Wednesday media column: the world's worst writer strikes again, Penthouse wants to buy Playboy, Forbes' future is in unpaid blog slave labor, and Piers Morgan is all set to take Larry King's job.
The Brooks Brothers-clad financistas are going to ruin everything that is awesome in Manhattan, including Penthouse founder Bob Guccione's Upper East Side den of sin. New owner Philip Falcone is going to renovate and remove all the awesomest details.
Last night we mentioned a creepy auction of the Plato's Retreat-era marble fixtures that adorned Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione's notorious apartment. Here, from the auction house's web site, is a visual taste of how the Gooch lived in his heyday.
Yesterday in Norwalk, Connecticut the contents of former Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione's massive former townhouse were auctioned off for charity. Not surprisingly, some of the items in the auction were, uh, different, which somehow caught some potential buyers by surprise.
FriendFinder Networks, the publisher of Penthouse and operator of adult-classifieds websites, is facing a sexy legal scandal. A former top executive who went public with her grievances has now filed a lawsuit.
Internet porn has devastated old-fashioned smut rags. We now hear a top executive at FriendFinder Networks, the publisher of Penthouse, wants to close the money-losing magazine down. But his boss denies it.
A porn star draping boobs over an employee's head. Lapdances on the company dime. $50 million in back taxes. These are just some of the charges Penthouse publisher FriendFinder Networks is facing from an ex-employee.
• Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S., is forcing thousands fo employees to a week of unpaid leave. [NYT]
• The NYT-owned Boston Globe is cutting its staff by 12 percent. [NYT]
• Penthouse is laying off staff. [Portfolio]
• Newspapers are saving money by outsourcing foreign news coverage. [WSJ]
• Hope…
Andrew Conru, a geeky mechanical engineer turned porn baron who founded one of the Web's raciest personals site, made out well when Penthouse bought Adult FriendFinder. He even unloaded a $125,000 car on the operation.
We know, we know: as you've read through our raft of election-related stories, your anxiety mounted as the pressing question, "But what does Larry Flynt think about all this?" remained unanswered. Now, though, you can relax, as an email has landed in our inbox entitled, "HUSTLER Publisher Larry Flynt’s Statement On…
There goes a perfectly entertaining rumor: Adult FriendFinder founder Andrew Conru has written in to deny that he's involved with a woman named Lois, as commenter rumourone had claimed. Amusingly, rumourone had gone to some trouble in constructing the fantasy, picking up factual bits like Conru's interest in fish…
A tipster writes in to say that Diane Silberstein, president and publisher of Penthouse Media Group, just got "FIRED!!!!!!!!." She was formerly the publisher of Playboy. The explanation: "She was fired because there were disputes over how 'hard' they wanted the girls to look/pose." Well then, this raises several…
While Richard Bottoms's sexual discrimination case against Penthouse Media Group continues, the Palo Alto man angry with his dismissal from the company tells us he's now planing a new round of suits against the company, seeking $1 in damages. In an email to Penthouse management announcing his plans to sue, Bottoms…
Despite such perks as "all the porn you can watch if you've a mind to," a former employee of Adult FriendFinder, the user-generated porn site now owned by Penthouse, plans to sue the company. He says the company fired him because of "his activism on behalf of gay, lesbian, and other alternative lifestyle folk." The…
Whatever happened to Andrew Conru, the porn baron of Palo Alto? After selling Various Inc., the parent company of X-rated singles site Adult FriendFinder, to Penthouse for $500 million in December, he's getting his personal life in order, commenter rumourone informs us. He's reportedly still working at Various, but…
Financier and CEO Marc Bell plans to take Penthouse Media Group public in a $250 million IPO. If investors take the bait, it'll likely be on the strength of Adult FriendFinder and the rest of the Web properties Penthouse bought from Andrew Conru last December for $500 million. After the acquisition, Penthouse…
