Heidi Fleiss and the Man Behind The Art of the Pimp

One of the things I enjoy most about doing this column is meeting famous and sometimes infamous folks over lunch that might not otherwise enter my orbit. Today's visit to 55th and Fifth certainly fits the bill. I was joined today by Dennis Hof, proprietor of The Moonlite BunnyRanch, the Nevada brothel made famous by the HBO docu-series Cathouse, which chronicled the behind-the-scenes goings on in all its made-for-reality television glory, well before the genre became a TV staple. Accompanying Dennis was his close friend Heidi Fleiss, who has, for the moment, retired from 'the business' (more on that later) and now devotes her life to saving unwanted parrots, who she takes in to live with her. "I've spent almost a million dollars," she told me of her efforts. "I'm trying to get pet stores outlawed." PR maven Judy Twersky, who a few weeks ago arranged for me to have lunch with Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer, set up this little get-together. A friend to authors of every stripe, Judy is working with Dennis to help him promote is new book, The Art of the Pimp (Regan Arts.) You can't make this stuff up, folks. [caption id="attachment_329481" align="alignright" width="350"] Dennis Hof, Diane Clehane and Heidi Fleiss[/caption] The book is the brainchild of Judith Regan, who Dennis says is his "New York wife." The very day Judith inked the deal with Leon Black's company Phaidon Global for her own imprint, Regan Arts., she called Dennis and told him he needed to do the book they'd been talking about for years. She said it would serve as a sort of memoir, chronicling "the secrets of the business of love and sex" as well as a rundown of his outrageous marketing stunts and "scandalous" details of his friendships with porn stars, prostitutes and politicians. Of his fourteen year friendship with the firebrand publisher Dennis told me: "She's a genius! We love each other but we've never had sex! We're the perfect couple." (Speaking of sex, Dennis brought along girlfriend and former BunnyRanch employee Krissy Summers and former porn star Ron Jeremy, who were perched at a nearby table.) The book, out this week, is a mashup of chapters (with, as you might expect, very explicit language) on Dennis' life, interspersed with essays about him written by his friends, including Rita Cosby and Tucker Carlson. There's also a 32-page color cartoon by artist Robert Grossman and oddly, a psychological evaluation of Dennis by Sheenan Hankin, Ph.D., who labels him a "narcissist." Said Dennis: "I'll wear that like a badge of honor. Look at any list of the top businessmen in the world in Forbes and they're all narcissists." Dennis, who considers himself a master showman and savvy businessman (he has spoken at Harvard, Oxford, Trinity and most recently at the Sorbonne), was first approached by Showtime way back when about doing a scripted series on the BunnyRanch, but he felt strongly that the show had to be a docu-series. Luckily, in 2001, when Dennis told producer Sheila Nevins he was a fan of "Taxicab Confessions," a light bulb went off and Cathouse went on to become of the network's highest-rated reality series during its run. The New Yorker's Rebecca Mead penned a piece that same year effectively opening up the gates for the rest of the mainstream media to follow. "I did for legally selling sex what Starbucks did for coffee!" said Dennis, who has a penchant for speaking in exclamation points. Heidi, who had a cameo in the series, told me she was surprised by how many "beautiful and smart" women there were at the ranch when she visited for the first time because, she said, the show didn't really focus on those women. "Some of them were pretty enough to have worked for me -- and my bar was set very high." I asked Heidi, who lives a few miles from Dennis' ranch, why they've never gone into business together. "I've had all kinds of legal problems," she told me. (You may remember, in 1993 she was arrested in California for running a prostitution ring. During her trial it was discovered that client Charlie Sheen paid for services rendered with a personal check. She subsequently served two years in prison.) But Heidi hasn't ruled out a return to the business -- all legal this time. "Dennis is working on opening another house and I'm thinking maybe I should run it. It would be better for him and a lot of fun." I should add that Heidi was intrigued by the idea that I write about the Michael's scene each week. "Who's here?" she asked me when we began talking. I told her that she and Dennis were today's 'celebrities.' Sounding a bit disappointed after surveying the room, she said. "I don't see any of my former clients." Every time I looked up from our table I was met with plenty of raised eyebrows and stares which I admit, at first, embarassed me. But then I remembered something about glass houses. If you're wondering what Dennis has talked about at those aforementioned institutes of higher learning, he explained he is a vocal opponent of sex trafficking which, he labors to point out, is nothing like prostitution. He strenously objects to the conventional wisdom that most of the women who work as prostitutes are forced into it. "Krissy (Summers) went to the University of Michigan and was $45,ooo in debt," he explained. For her part, in the book, she writes she believes her experience at the BunnyRanch I'm not going to say it was a mistake. I made a choice ... it made me a better person." Dennis also feels he has plenty of business advice that could be adapted to fit almost any industry. "My next book could be, What They Didn't Teach You at Harvard Business School," he said. In his current book Dennis writes: "Prostitution isn't selling yourself. It's selling a service ... Please don't talk to me about exploitation." Moving on. He's also spoken at the state assembly in Nevada about his business, but told me when it comes time to take questions from the floor, the sounds of silence are deafening. "For politicians, prostitution is a death blow. No one wants to say anything." But when it comes to a lively debate on the issue, Dennis said there's never a shortage of talking heads willing to have him on to goose up the ratings. None other than Oprah Winfrey devoted a show to "a look inside the BunnyRanch" and Diane Sawyer soon came calling for "20/20." Recently, MGM optioned The Art of the Pimp to be developed into a scripted series. "I've come full circle." When lunch arrived, Dennis shared pictures with me of his dog, Domino, on his iPhone ("He's my son") and then explained what he considers the simple reason why men go to prostitutes: "Men are weak. They don't want relationships, they want sex." Heidi also chimed in: "Women can't take it so personally." Before I said my goodbyes, our talk turned briefly to politics and Dennis made it clear who he was supporting in the next presidential election. He's registered the domain names hookersforhillary.com and hosforhillary.com. "The girls want to support Hillary," he said. That should make for some interesting dinner time conversations in Chappaqua. Here's the rundown on today's crowd: 1. Dennis Hof, Heidi Fleiss, Judy Twersky, Jennifer Bristol and yours truly 2. Fashionista Mickey Ateyeh 3. Ron Jeremy on his flip phone and Krissy Summers 4. Peter Brown 5. Producer Francine LeFrak 6. Dr. Gerald Imber, Jerry Della Femina, Michael Kramer and Jeff Greenfield 8. New York Social Diary's David Patrick Columbia and The Corsair's Ron Mwangaguhunga 9. Alexis Jasper 11. Bobby Friedman 12. Judy Della Femina, Lisa Birnbach and another lovely blonde haired power gal whose name we didn't catch 14. PR maestro Paul Wilmot 15. Cynthia Lewis and well-dressed gent we didn't get to meet 16. Jonathan Capehart 17. Barry Frey and Maury Rogoff 18. Dr. Rebecka Belldegrun 20. Producer Joan Gelman and Lynn Goldberg 21. Author (Jackie as Editor) Gregg Lawrence 22. Todd Joyce 25. Noble Smith 26. Aerin Brown 27. Leonard Shulman, who, we hear, is a friend of Mel Brooks. 29. The Wall Street Journal's David Sanford and Lewis Stein, back at their usual post after "hibernating" for most of the winter. We completely understand. Faces in the crowd: 'The Bar-ettes" Kira Semler and Vi Huse enjoying their monthly champagne lunch at the bar; Frank DiGiacomo taking in the scene for the oral history he's penning on Michael's for an upcoming issue of The Hollywood Reporter, and Michael Berman, who specializes in fixing companies in distress ("That's why I'm always busy!") with Steven J. Sommer of SJS Consulting Services Diane Clehane is a FishbowlNY contributor. Follow her on Twitter @DianeClehane. Send comments and corrections on this column to LUNCH at MEDIABISTRO dot COM.

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Heidi Fleiss and the Man Behind The Art of the Pimp

The roster of media mavens, moguls and bold face names spotted today at Michael's.

Diane Clehane

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Diane Clehane