So This Just Happened

‘Girls Gone Wild’ Filed for Bankruptcy

The booby-industrial complex has been taking some serious blows as of late: CBS issued a decency code for the Grammys that banned the “under-curvature of the breasts,” Seth MacFarlane’s crude Oscar song about actresses’ boobs (rightfully) sparked outrage, and now that bastion of intoxicated exploitation Girls Gone Wild has filed for bankruptcy. O, Misandry, when will it ever be enough?

In a strategic move aimed to protect the company from multi-million dollar debts, manager Chris Dale put GGW Brands LLC and affiliates GGW Magazine LLC and GGW Events LLC into Chapter 11 protection yesterday. According to court papers, GGW Brands LLC has almost $16.3 million in debt and less than $50,000 in assets.  In an e-mail sent to Bloomberg News, Joe Francis’ executive assistant, Heather Brooks, said the company filed for bankruptcy “to restructure its frivolous and burdensome legal affairs.” Brooks also mentioned that Joe Francis hasn’t owned the company for two years.

GGW Brands’ bankruptcy is Francis’ latest tactical maneuver in a drawn out battle against Las Vegas resort owner Steve Wynn and a St. Louis woman; in both cases, Frances is attempting to keep his opponents from grabbing his assets. The company’s $10.3 million debt to Wynn includes a $7.5 million slander award from 2012 and a long disputed $2 million gambling debt. If you’re interested in the Sparknotes version of the Francis-Wynn legal battle: Francis failed to paid his gambling debt at one of Wynn’s casinos; Francis then told the press that the casino mogul was threatening to kill him; Wynn sued Francis for slander, won, and has been trying to collect the millions of dollars in damages ever since.

The company also owes $5.8 million to St. Louis resident Tamara Favazza who won the damages after Girls Gone Wild used naked images of her without consent. In 2008, Favazza won the $5.8 million judgement after claiming that her breasts were forcibly exposed during a bar filming for the Girls Gone Wild Sorority Orgy series; in 2012, she sued Francis, GGW Brands, and Mantra Films in a Missouri federal court to collect.

In a statement, the company said that the bankruptcy claim won’t have much effect on its soft porn empire: “Just like American Airlines and General Motors, it will be business as usual for Girls Gone Wild.” And Francis, who is reportedly worth $150 million, will probably be just fine. I mean, he’s been morally bankrupt for years; he has to be familiar with this feeling by now. As for Girls Gone Wild‘s many (?) fans, well, it’ll be back to the Victoria’s Secret catalogs and late-night phone chats with “real sexy singles” for them. Oh and don’t worry, barely legal girls who are heading down to Daytona Beach for Spring Break: there are plenty of dudes lingering around bars, just waiting to take advantage of you without explicit consent. We’ll all get through this together. High fives/freeze frame.

 

TAGS: bankruptcy | Girls Gone Wild | Joe Francis | quietly devastating

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