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Girls Still Going Wild

Best Buy, Amazon, BN.com Get Into the Act

Girls Gone Wild • GGW Producer Indicted • "Girls Gone Wild" Producer Fined $1.6 Million • Girls Gone Wild Fined $2 Million Fine for Sexually Exploiting Children • Girls Gone Wild Still Going Wild • Judge OKs Class Action Against Girls Gone Wild • Feds charge GGW producers • Consumer complaints • Best Buy cashes in • GGW producer arrested

October 2, 2003
Despite arrests, lawsuits and threats of class actions, the "Girls Gone Wild" machine keeps cranking out sales, with major retailers joining late-night commercials in pushing the videos that critics say victimize viewers and performers alike.

Lustful consumers are still ordering tapes and DVDs of girls, many of them allegedly minors, "getting naked" for the cameras during spring break and Mardi Gras. Subsequently, the consumers themselves are stripped of their funds at a fairly brisk clip as monthly charges continue to pile up despite effrots to cancel.

"I called and cancelled my subscription. They keep charging my account and sending tapes," said Lance of St. Paul, Minn.

Prosecutors in Panama City, Fla., say the "Girls Gone Wild" staff filmed at least 35 minors exposing themselves during spring break. State Attorney Jim Appleman says additional charges are possible against the producer of the videos, who was arrested in April on racketeering and drug charges.

Producer Joe Francis was taken into custody after parents complained to police he told underage girls to say on camera that they were 18. If he's convicted on all the charges, Francis could face 30 years in prison.

Francis also faces a growing roster of civil suits. Jamie Capdeboscq, featured on the cover of "Girls Gone Wild Doggy Style," alleges that she was only 17 when she was filmed in a steamy scene with rapper Snoop Dogg. Capdeboscq also alleges she was plied with drugs prior to the shoot.

ConsumerAffairs.com has received reports from consumers that indicate the company is not only allegedly exploiting minor girls but also selling its products to minor boys.

"I am only 15 and I keep receiving phone calls that when I call back say, "Hello you have reached Girls Gone Wild," said Mitchell of Orlando. "I know no good can come from this company calling a 15 year old."

Best Buy

Meanwhile, "Girls Gone Wild" is no longer confined to cheap infomercials. Major retailers are getting into the act. Best Buy sells over 70 "Girls Gone Wild" titles on its Web site and features a smaller selection in at least some of its stores, according to www.CNSNews.com.

CNS commentator David W. Almasi reported finding GGW DVDs at his local Best Buy. He also found the titles being offered on mainstream Web sites, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sam Goody. Almasi said that Circuit City, Target and Wal-Mart are not selling the GGW collection.

Snoop's Contribution

Oh, and Snoop Dogg? Standing on principle, the Dogg says he won't appear in any more GGW videos, not because they exploit young women and border on child pornography but because they don't include enough African-American and Hispanic women.

"If you notice, there hasn't been no girls [of color] at all on none of those tapes," Snoop told The Associated Press. He says he'll produce his own series featuring mostly minority women.

"White girls ain't the only hos that get wild," he explained.

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