Does the mafia really run the porn industry?

Author	Post
PornBoy Deactivated User 642 Posts 2/00	Posted - Feb 10 2000 : 2:13PM I recently finished reading The History of X by Luke Ford (http://www.lukeford.com) and he said that the mafia runs about 60% of the porn industry. Is this true? He also said if anyone in any major metropolitan areas want to sell porn they have to pay the mafia a monthly fee. Also is it true the mafia runs Vivid Video? [Link]
Saki At-Large 2087 Posts 11/99	Posted - Feb 10 2000 : 2:57PM Although Luke Ford may be entertaining reading, I always take what he says with slightly more than a grain of salt. While a mafia connection would explain a lot, my lips are sealed--I wouldn't want to end up in a shallow, unmarked grave. Hmmm, I must be watching too many episodes of The Sopranos.... Saki ------------------ [url=455144]My Adult DVD List</A (Updated 2/10/00) \| [url=455145]My Adult DVD Reviews</A [Link]
Drew Black broken crankshaft 8011 Posts 9/99	Posted - Feb 10 2000 : 6:32PM "Uncle Guido" stops by once a week to pick up the insurance payment. Just kidding. Actually, I think that organized crime was invovled in many facets of the entertainment industry in the past. This wasn't only adult entertainment. Hollywood, the music biz and other areas have all had connections to organized crime. I don't think that it's as prevalent anymore these days. It's unfair to say that the industry is controlled by the Mafia but also a bit naive to imply that there might not be a presence somewhere. [Link]
Shadow77 Member San Antonio, TX 56 Posts 11/99	Posted - Feb 10 2000 : 8:42PM Wow! A Mafia connection would make watching adult movies doubly exciting. Just the thought of it makes me want to go on a spending spree. [Link]
DGF Member 122 Posts 1/00	Posted - Feb 10 2000 : 9:30PM The mafia does business in illegal stuff. When something ceases to be illegal they're out of business. As porn is perhaps in a grey area I can see some mafia involvement but not too much in the present. That may well have been the case in the past when porn was more illegal than now. Also where exactly on his site is the history of X? I couldn't get to it. [This message has been edited by DGF (edited February 10, 2000).] [Link]

Drew Black broken crankshaft 8011 Posts 9/99	Posted - Feb 10 2000 : 9:41PM I forgot to comment on the Mafia running Vivid. I have met the owner of Vivid Interactive on a number of occasions. (Vivid Interactive is responsible for the CD Roms, VCDs and DVDs at Vivid.) He's a very nice guy. I doubt that he's part of the Mafia. I don't think they recruit guys with Scottish accents [Link]
torris Senior Member Deep within Mila's anus 1827 Posts 1/00	Posted - Feb 11 2000 : 4:43PM quote:Originally posted by Drew Black: I forgot to comment on the Mafia running Vivid. I have met the owner of Vivid Interactive on a number of occasions. (Vivid Interactive is responsible for the CD Roms, VCDs and DVDs at Vivid.) He's a very nice guy. I doubt that he's part of the Mafia. I don't think they recruit guys with Scottish accents Click to expand ======= Please invite him for a ADT chat so we can ask him why his stupid company feels compelled to edit their titles so readily. I'm serious. No one will respond from Vivid to this obvious customer issue of importance. I don't buy a John Grisham book (I don't really, just using the example) and think that randomly pulling chapters out of it makes an entire read [Link]
HoustonDon Member Houston 561 Posts 11/99	Posted - Feb 13 2000 : 7:17AM This is an interesting question for a number of reasons. I won't go into much detail and will state up front that all information presented is second (or third, fourth, etc) hand. No, I don't believe the "Mafia" runs the porn industry. While various criminal activity is associated with porn, it isn't really "controlled" by any group any more. Once upon a time, primarily in the 70's and earlier, organized crime was very much involved in porn. The short answer why such elements are less involved today revolves around one facet of the industry: popularity. As porn has become more mainstream, the bright lights of public attention have been shone upon those involved in the field. That is exactly what organized crime hates-public attention. On top of that, the RICO Act and related federal statutes make it much easier to prosecute organized criminal behavior in any meaningful way. That means that any involvement by these types which has a criminal aspect can be prosecuted much more readily. For all the movies, television, and books about "The Mob", it really isn't very open and likes to remain that way. There has never been a single group in charge of crime either (it's more of a number of competing groups with similar interests). Porn involvement puts such people in the spotlight and that isn't worth the profit they would make. Some porn financing may well come from these groups (mainly for money laudering) and some theatres and stores may have to pay for crime "insurance", but the overall idea is simply the rhetoric of overzealous prosecutors in a few area's of the country. Porn is a hot button topic and to the gain support of more people in "fighting porn", a number of elected officials think tying it to "The Mob" will assist them. They are correct... DGF: Actually, organized crime likes legitimate activities too. They regularly buy them to either launder money or to show the IRS that they have legitimate sources of income. Sometimes such businesses become nearly as profitable as their criminal ones. My understanding is that some "mobsters" retire (in a sense) to run such businesses. The funny thing, in my mind, is that they often are great at doing so... <all opinions here are based loosely on events that no one is sure about-please don't subpoena me to testify on them > [Link]
jb0911 Member North Hollywood, CA USA 74 Posts 1/00	Posted - Feb 14 2000 : 12:14PM First of all Luke Ford is a strange, troubled individual who made a name for himself by "reporting" juicy, scandalous "news" of the porn industry which also just happened to be a collection of total lies. In other words, he couldn't find any interesting facts to write so he just made it all up with absolutely no regard for truth, feelings or reputations. An all-around lying, greedy, self-loathing, worthless piece of shit. As to the specific question of Mafia involvement in the adult industry, after more than a decade in the industry the most I have ever heard of is that a small number of people, who aren't even around anymore, MAY have had some sort of murky connection to organized crime. The connections were always tenuous at that. Porn is something that is sold openly to the public with a company name on it, and has been open for obsenity prosecution. The mafia would never have gotten involved with the industry in the first place. Doing so would have given every DA in the country carte blanch to issue arrest warrents. Does the mafia have anything to do with the industry today? Quite simply, no. Might there be stores paying protection money someplace? Probably. However, that's not being a "mob-run" business, that's being the victim of extortion. [Link]
Cereal-Killer Member The Dark Side of New Jersey 15 Posts 11/99	Posted - Feb 15 2000 : 10:07PM This thread got me thinking. Notice in the show The Sopranos that Tony's "office" and hangout is littered with posters of Vivid films? Makes ya wonder don't it.... [Link]
Drew Black broken crankshaft 8011 Posts 9/99	Posted - Feb 17 2000 : 8:19PM Cereal - Your post mode me curious. I jsut received my copy of the Sopornos yestereday. I'm going to go look for those Vivid posters. [Link]
PornBoy Deactivated User 642 Posts 2/00	Posted - Feb 18 2000 : 5:44PM Cereal said Sopranos NOT Sopornos. Sopranos is an HBO show. And they do have Vivid posters in the background. I always notice the one for Masseusse #3 starring Taylor Hayes. [Link]
Janitor Retired Porno movies, sexy videos, xxx. Adult DVD Talk at your service. 6409 Posts 11/99	Posted - Feb 18 2000 : 7:03PM I should say that I've spent a lot of time with industry folks and haven't seen one shred of evidence that the mafia is at all involved. The adult industry is the nicest group of folks I've ever worked with. Part of the reason that I started ADT is because I like the people in the biz so much. As far as Luke Ford goes, never believe anyone that has 'gossip' as one of their keywords. [Link]
Haze Deactivated User 769 Posts 7/04	Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 4:31PM Kind of intersting but a friend was telling me his roommate dated a stripper and the strip club was run by the Russian Mafia. They would entice big feature girls to dance their with unlimited drugs and and take about 25% of their tips however they didn't have to pay for a hotel or anything while they were dancing at the club. One morning he went down to the kitchen and found three girls and Jenna Jameson on his couch in sweat pants drinking Red Bull and doing lines. I've met his roommates girlfriend a few times a parties and I think she still dances but this was about three or four years ago. [Link]
christianx Senior Member 1883 Posts 9/04	Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 8:56PM wow, you just dug up a thread that was 5 years old! is that a gravedigging record? [Link]

imak Adult Film Legend 3345 Posts 2/04	Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 10:05PM Im pretty sure the mob only runs porn if there is a Jewish mob [Link]
Haze Deactivated User 769 Posts 7/04	Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 10:43PM There is a Jewish mafia actually. [Link]
green-toke Member Loc: Kyoto, Japan 159 Posts 4/05	Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 11:42PM PornBoy wrote: I recently finished reading The History of X by Luke Ford (http://www.lukeford.com) and he said that the mafia runs about 60% of the porn industry. Is this true? He also said if anyone in any major metropolitan areas want to sell porn they have to pay the mafia a monthly fee. Also is it true the mafia runs Vivid Video? Click to expand Yeah, we runs it. You gots a problem with thats? Well thens, I guess we'll just have to deactivates your account and then we can send some goombas over to deactivates you... hows about that? You should have kept your mouth shut snitch. Edited by - green-toke on 8/25/2005 1:59:36 AM [Link]
SpongeWorthy Member pacific NW 410 Posts 5/04	Posted - Aug 25 2005 : 1:56AM Maybe in certain European countries. [Link]
Lazerus Member 187 Posts 9/03	Posted - Aug 25 2005 : 3:12AM I'll tell you what I know about this topic. Beginning in the 1940's, when stag films became more commonplace and cheaply made, mafia-types were involved in production and distribution--both at private clubs and out of the trunks of station wagons. This was a time where, if you knew the right people, there were little backroom casinos and blue rooms in most cities. My grandparents, who lived in Chicago, went to them all the time. Organized crime ran all these rackets. Another example would be the stags from Cuba made between 1945 and the end of the pre-Castro era. These stags were prized items in those days (a few are classics; most of the 1940's Mafia-made stuff is among the worst porn ever shot, however). When the peep-shows became popular in the 1960's, organized crime owned most of the business. When porn went to public theaters in the early 1970's, organized crime owned a lot of those theater chains, particularly in New York. Naturally, they put up the money as producers to stock those chains with locally made features. A lot of the early Damiano and Costello features were reputedly financed by Mafia people. When the theater business died in the 1980's, most of these old Mafia-types got out of the racket. Video was a lot more trouble and a lot less profitable than theaters, plus interstate mailorder sales were an excuse for the feds to snag them. A few mafia people tried to get into video, but not many. Today, organized crime would laugh at the bottom-line of most video companies. Cable, on the other hand . . . Lots of strip club chains have had mafia connections over the years. But really, legit operators and corporate America have run organized crime out of most facets of adult entertainment--porn, gambling, even the top-line escort industry. Why? Well, because drugs are more profitable, I suppose. [Link]
Hurrab Member Denmark, EU 256 Posts 3/03	Posted - Aug 25 2005 : 4:19AM I don't know if the mafia runs the porn industry (I doubt it, though). The trafficking industry is a different story, though. Russian, Albanian and Serbian mafias (among others) dominate the European sex industry (or so I've learned from movies and tv series) [Link]
green-toke Member Loc: Kyoto, Japan 159 Posts 4/05	Posted - Aug 25 2005 : 5:33AM PornBoy now sleeps with the fishes. [Link]
scipio Senior Member 1901 Posts 2/00	Posted - Aug 25 2005 : 10:34PM Like Troy McClure? Also, good job there Haze rezzing a 5-year-old thread with a story about what "my friend's roomate's girlfriend's saw once." [Link]
dvddude Deactivated User 45 Posts 3/05	Posted - Aug 26 2005 : 2:24AM Drew Black wrote: I forgot to comment on the Mafia running Vivid. I have met the owner of Vivid Interactive on a number of occasions. (Vivid Interactive is responsible for the CD Roms, VCDs and DVDs at Vivid.) He's a very nice guy. I doubt that he's part of the Mafia. I don't think they recruit guys with Scottish accents Click to expand I met a guy named Dave many years back that use to own Vivid, but I thought he sold it to Hustler. [Link]
ZeegMan Member 269 Posts 3/20	Posted - Feb 12 2021 : 1:43AM Wow [Link]