Day o' jerks continues

LA Times reporter Claire Hoffman has written a hella good profile of "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis that has to be one of the most damning personal pieces I've ever read. The story is long, but every word is a must-read.

Here's how it begins:

Joe Francis, the founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" empire, is humiliating me. He has my face pressed against the hood of a car, my arms twisted hard behind my back. He's pushing himself against me, shouting: "This is what they did to me in Panama City!"

It's after 3 a.m. and we're in a parking lot on the outskirts of Chicago. Electronic music is buzzing from the nightclub across the street, mixing easily with the laughter of the guys who are watching this, this me-pinned-and-helpless thing.

Francis isn't laughing.

He has turned on me, and I don't know why. He's going on and on about Panama City Beach, the spring break spot in northern Florida where Bay County sheriff's deputies arrested him three years ago on charges of racketeering, drug trafficking and promoting the sexual performance of a child. As he yells, I wonder if this is a flashback, or if he's punishing me for being the only blond in sight who's not wearing a thong. This much is certain: He's got at least 80 pounds on me and I'm thinking he's about to break my left arm. My eyes start to stream tears.

Dude, if a reporter from The LA Times is following you around, maybe it's a good idea not to assault her. Might affect your coverage, after all. Have I mentioned that Francis appears to have a raped a drunken 18-year-old right under Hoffman's nose? Yeah, he's real media savvy, this Francis guy. If this is how he acts with a represenative of one of the country's biggest newspapers on his tail, how does he act when he's on his own? Yikes!