Ashley Alexander Dupre, the 22-year-old call girl linked to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, filed a lawsuit against Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis on Monday for $10 million. Dupre claims that Francis exploited her name and image in advertisements for his video series, and that although she signed consent forms before posing before Girls Gone Wild’s cameras while on spring break in Florida in 2003, she was drunk, only 17-years-old, and should not have been bound to the contracts.
What the commentators said
Is Ashley Dupre really claiming to be “a victim”? said Sean Hackbarth in the blog The American Mind. She “knew all about Girls Gone Wild when she strutted her stuff for them.” It seems obvious “she’s trying to get more than the $1 million” that “slime ball” Joe Francis offered her to pose in his new magazine. “If we’re lucky, when both Dupre and Francis go to court, one of Florida’s famed sinkholes will swallow them both up, never to be heard from again.”
Dupre’s suit “sounds exactly like the one other girls filed against Francis, which landed him in jail,” said the blog Hollywood Grind. But this time, “Francis made sure everything was legal before using the Ashley images and footage. Now Ashley will have to prove her claim in court, which won’t be easy since she herself committed fraud by lying about her age, and is a known prostitute.”
“Is there no honor among oversexed, drunken teenage girls?” said Howard Gensler in the Philadelphia Daily News. “To think that when she was a teen looking to catch some rays and an STD during Spring Break,” Francis “let her sleep on his bus. And this is the thanks he gets? “Yes, she was old enough to strip nekkid and frolic for the camera, but she was not old enough to give herself permission. And if she really was 17, Francis may have another problem.”
Miami: Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the call girl in the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring that banged and demolished the New York's former governor Elliot Spitzer, had agreed to be filmed in 2003, revealed the video released Tuesday by founder of "Girls Gone Wild" – Joe Francis.
The video was released one day after "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis and his companies were sued for $10 million in Miami federal court by Ashley Alexandra Dupre. Spitzer’s high priced prostitute on Monday claimed that she was just 17 at the time when she was filmed nude; she was too young to sign a binding contract. Dupre, who is 22 now, accused Francis of exploiting her image and name on various Internet sites.
In the video released in self-defense, Ashley Dupre appears covered by a terrycloth towel and gives her name as Amber Arpaio to an unseen questioner, who asks if she is 18.
"Yes I am," Dupre answers in a strong Southern accent.
The questioner asks, "Do you know what 'Girls Gone Wild' is?"
"Yes I do," she replies with a laugh.
The questioner asks, "Can I use this on 'Girls Gone Wild'?"
"Of course you can," Dupre answers.
The video released by Joe Francis also shows a New Jersey driver's license with the Amber Arpaio name and a birth date that shows that she was in her 20s at that time. The lawyer and public relations firm representing Dupre did not immediately return telephone calls and e-mails seeking comment.
In her lawsuit, Dupre stated that she was on spring break in Miami Beach in 2003 when she was approached by "Girls Gone Wild" producers, given alcoholic drinks and then signed a release agreeing to appear. The series depicted her nude in various provocative poses or topless, often in such party locations as Mardi Gras or spring break beach towns.
In his defense, Francis stated that Dupre was on the "Girls Gone Wild" bus for a week and made seven full-length videos. He said the video of her agreement to appear is proof that her lawsuit has no merit.
In a written statement, Francis said, "It is incomprehensible that Ms. Dupre could claim she did not give her consent to be filmed by `Girls Gone Wild', when in fact we have a videotape of her giving consent, while showing her identification.”
After the Spitzer scandal, Francis made a public $1 million offer for Dupre to appear in one of his videos and go on a promotional tour, but he repealed the offer when he came to know that he already had footage of Dupre filmed in 2003.
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