WEBVTT - 5: A Predator's Playground 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:06.840 Novel. 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:13.720 Hey listeners, this is Ellie Flynn. Before we get started, 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.320 I just wanted to let you know that this episode 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:20.159 contains swearing and explicit sexual language and a scene that 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:24.720 raises questions around consent, which might be distressing. It's also 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:28.040 a story of female empowerment and camaraderie thanks to the 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:31.240 women who have shared their stories with us. We contacted 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:34.280 the photographer mentioned in this podcast multiple times for comment, 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:37.200 but we never heard back. He has not been charged 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:39.680 with any crimes and is presumed innocent under the law. 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:44.440 We also contacted Playboy USA. They state that they've asked 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:47.600 their licensees to blacklist the photographer mentioned in this series 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:50.680 and that they prohibit paid to play the practice of 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.240 charging models to appear in magazines. Our research into his 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.320 association to Playboy and their statement can be heard in 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:04.039 episode four. What do you do when you're a young, 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:08.919 green glamor model who's desperate to make it in the industry, Well, 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:13.280 you go to a shoot camp, all inclusive, week long 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:16.759 events in exotic parts of the world where models and 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:21.760 photographers come together to take photos and party. And the 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:25.600 biggest one of all is the IBMS. And no, that's 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:29.279 not a medical condition. It's the International Bikini Model Search, 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:31.000 the super Boys floor. 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.880 Rouder, catching me at the Miss Miami, I be Miss. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.200 We are so happy to be here for Playboy. I 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.320 got chosen, should be published Playboy Mexico. 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:41.240 On everywhere I. 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:47.120 Go, it's just IBMIST, IBMIST. I've seen it promoted everywhere 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.000 on social media, and I've been told time and time 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.720 again to go to the IBMS. I'm told it attracts 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:57.880 huge models and amazing photographers. If I want to find 0:01:57.880 --> 0:01:59.960 the glamour, that's where it's going to be. 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:05.840 I am here today to tell you about the IBMS. 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:07.320 Bahamma's event coming up. 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:08.720 Let's get your books. 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:10.240 This is the one. 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:14.079 This is the glitz and glam. Everyone knows about it, 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:20.560 a big event of the year. Crucially, we know Luis 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.120 Gomez is not going to be at this event. I'm 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.679 not ready to make myself or my investigation known to 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:28.560 him just yet. So it's a perfect opportunity to get 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:32.200 to know this world better. From speaking to our sources, 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.640 I feel like I understand Luisa's m O. It appears 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:38.000 that he tends to work with models new to the industry, 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:40.760 who are more likely to be swayed by his reputation, 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.400 but I do still have some questions about the industry itself, 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:47.440 what's left of it, what being a glamor model today 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.079 is really like, and what it looks like to make it. 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:52.560 I want to walk in the model's shoes. 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:55.480 So that's why my producer Eleanor and I decide to 0:02:55.480 --> 0:03:03.160 go to the IBMS. We contact the organizer, a guy 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:05.040 called Patrick McKinney, to ask if. 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:05.400 We can come. 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:08.560 They know that we're journalists, they know that we're covering 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:10.600 the glamour industry for a podcast, and they know that 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:12.720 we're going to interview people, but they don't know that 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.400 we're looking specifically into Luis, and they don't know much 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:18.160 about the kind of dark side that we're investigating. So 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:20.800 we're hoping that we can get some answers there and 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:23.680 we can get a bit of a better understanding of 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:26.600 the industry. He says he's happy for us to come, 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.600 but asks us to pay one thousand US dollars each 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.600 to cover food and board. We pay, book our flights 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:39.840 and start packing our bikinis. Oh my god, we're going 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:41.840 to be in an all inclusive resort in the Bahamas, 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:44.280 living it up, having the time of our lives doing 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.520 a bit of reporting. But two weeks before the trip, 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:49.320 Alana gets a call from Patrick. 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:52.440 There's been a bit of a change of plan and 0:03:52.480 --> 0:04:06.920 the event is no longer happening in Bahamas. 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:05.840 Now a much smaller event in Florida, in Orlando, which 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.920 is where the organizer lives. We've been told that there 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:11.360 still will be Playboy models and it will be held 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:15.360 in a mansion, but Orlando is not quite the Bahamas. 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:17.560 So I don't know how to say this all like 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:20.040 sort of causing offense to all of our American. 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:22.800 Listeners, but like so much looks the same. It's kind 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:28.320 of like it's these kind of soulless parking lots with 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:34.840 like Owend's and Denny's, an ihop a Hampton in We're gotted. Yes, 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:39.839 So that was obviously a real blow. Yeah, I'm furious. 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:41.640 I wanted to go to an all inclusive in the 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.479 Bahamas and I'm never going to get that opportunity on 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:49.800 a reporting trip again. It's still exciting, though, this is 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:52.960 my first opportunity to see the glamour world up close. 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:57.640 Is it really just victim after victim, scam after scam? 0:04:57.839 --> 0:04:59.719 Or am I finally. 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:03.760 About to enter the glamorous world of so many models fantasies. 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:10.120 Can here we go, Oh my god, I actually can't 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:11.760 believe that that we're doing this. 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.479 I'm Ellie Flynn and from the team at Novel. This 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.200 is the Bunny Trap, episode five, The Wild West. 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:07.159 So we're here. We are here, pulled up. That's knock 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:12.400 on the door. Completely not what I'm originally. 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:17.240 We've arrived at the IBMS and our first impressions are underwhelming. 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:20.679 This is not the mansion Patrick described on the phone. 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:24.279 It's actually a neat, mid sized suburban house identical to 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:25.159 the others on the street. 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.160 Where's the playboy mansion of my glamour dreams? 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:37.120 The door and once we ring the doorbell and go inside, oh, 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:45.800 we're greeted by what can only be described as a 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:50.120 motley crew. There's about seven people here. Three half made 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:52.800 up models mill around the room in massive high heels, 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.800 while the photographers are padding around the open plan living 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.880 room and flip flops or bare feet, wearing T shirts 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.520 and board shorts. It look like they've wandered in off 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.240 the street. Some of them are playing with their lighting equipment. 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:05.960 One of them is in the middle of baking a 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:06.800 batch of cookies. 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.560 I have four kinds of cookies that I bake, and 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:13.320 I wanted to see what you were if you have 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:14.480 any dietary restrictions. 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:16.080 I don't have any dietary restrictions. 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:20.960 Alongside the cameras and leads crowding the kitchen table, there 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:23.120 are bowls of scrambled egg left over from a home 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:26.760 cooked breakfast. Top forty hits blare out of the wall 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:31.760 mounted TV. This doesn't seem like a professional glamor modeling event. 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:36.000 In fact, it feels more like a family get together. Patrick, 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:38.560 a fit looking guy with biceps straining out of his 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.240 T shirt, greets. 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:42.360 Us with a warm hug, like we're long lost relatives. 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:58.080 The only clue as to where we are is the 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:01.800 baseball cap on his head and blazing with the letters IBMS. 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:05.520 Patrick's apologetic about the fact that we aren't in the Bahamas. 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.160 He says it's because the beaches aren't ready. 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:12.480 There was a hurricane Hurricane George, like five six years 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:17.920 ago and infected the Obamas, and before the hurricane we 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.160 were there, like three hundred of us. We're all there 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.960 for the event and it was beautiful. 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:27.720 So instead, the next IBMS will be in Costa Rica. 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:31.560 I was like, okay, so move it to Costa Rica, 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.680 and that's what we did, and everyone moved to Costa 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.920 Rica with me. We don't have problems there. 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:40.880 So looking around this room, I've got no idea what 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:42.040 we've spent two grand on. 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:43.680 When I ask where. 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.120 The Playboy models are, Patrick tells me they're running late 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:47.320 and we'll be here tomorrow. 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.920 He tells us not to worry. There's another glamorous site 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:51.679 for us to observe. 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:55.160 Someone's going to shoot in the Mermaid thing today. 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.000 Draped over the back of a kitchen chair. It's a 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:01.400 gigantic loan mermaid tale. 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:02.600 Just check this out. 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:06.839 Yeah, okay, you don't kill it? Wow? 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:09.679 Oh heavy? 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:16.600 What the fuck am I doing here? When I meet 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.920 the event headliner, I realized things aren't going to get 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:24.320 any better. He's a photographer called Bob Womack, or, as 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:25.400 he prefers. 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:26.960 The infamous Bob Womack photo. 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.800 I've never heard of Bob, but the model's here assure 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.320 me he's a big deal. Like Bob is who he's 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.199 at editing skills for days. He's one of the top 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:37.960 photographers in the industry. 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.280 Bob is tall and wiry, puffing hard on a vape. 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:43.800 He looks like he's in his late sixties, and he's 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:47.720 wearing a homemade T shirt with his business name, email address, 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:51.360 and cell phone number printed on it front and back. 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.320 I've been a firefighter par mat for the last thirty 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.480 eight years. I retired from the fire department a year ago, 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:00.840 and I'm traveling around the country and around the world 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:05.040 and shooting the hot girls in bikinis and lingerille on 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:10.120 the beach or I'm pretty happy with that. Retirement doesn't suck. 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:15.679 By and large, the models here are a lot younger 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.760 than the photographers, and while I don't see anything on 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:22.000 toward happening, this strikes me as the kind of environment 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.200 where something bad could happen with the wrong photographer present. 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.720 I ask the models if they've ever experienced bad behavior 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.920 from glamor photographers. Is that's something that you've seen photographers 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:33.880 trying to kind of push push boundaries? 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:36.600 Yes, yes, all the time, all the time. 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.719 Oh yeah, they will try, But with Patrick, no. 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:42.520 They know better. 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:48.800 I'm mean that we have rules like well, big one 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:49.480 for me. 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.760 Is just protecting the marrs like a big time. 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.360 Have you had to fand people, Patrick? Oh yeah, really, 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:03.240 lots of people, how many people are Sometimes. 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.839 You know, you just tell people what's not allowed and 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:09.559 they listen. But every once in a while people don't listen, 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:14.360 so not allowed to come back, you know. 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.760 I mean, as a model, I can't imagine how difficult 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.160 it is to navigate your way through this safely, because, 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:23.960 like as journalists, we're trying to work out, you know, 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:26.679 who who are the good guys and who are and 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:34.839 it's and it's hard. They're all bad guys. It might 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:37.680 have been a throwaway line from Patrick, but it rings 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:44.680 true for me. Unsurprisingly, Eleanor and I don't stick around 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:45.439 until the end of. 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:46.040 The event. 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:48.440 To meet you. 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:50.800 Okay, bye h. 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:56.880 We paid nearly two thousand dollars to spend time with retirees, 0:11:57.120 --> 0:11:59.240 a woman in a mermaid toe and a man who 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.719 is making bad after batch of cookies. I'm feeling the 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:04.720 way a lot of the models I've spoken to have 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:06.240 felt scammed. 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:11.400 You're okay, you look absolutely pained. I'm just so confused. 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:15.040 It's really really suspect to me. 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:19.080 There is a sense of glamor and luxury on their 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:24.400 website that I don't think translated to today. Maybe this 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:26.760 is the reality of these events. Maybe It is a 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.440 few models and a few photographers banding together to try 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.679 and find something in a bit of a dying industry. 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:36.480 And if the magazines don't exist anymore, then really, what 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:39.840 are you doing it for? They all just kind of 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:45.559 seemed happy to be there. Yeah, it's just I'm struggling 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:49.640 to find where the glamour is in this industry. 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:54.040 And we've asked about a refund, you know, partial refund, 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:58.280 and Patrick said yes, so that's something that will chase up. 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:04.800 I contact some of my sources to ask what they 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.640 know about Patrick. I hear that he's used the hurricane 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.720 excuse before to cancel events in the Bahamas, and that 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:14.200 he'll never return our money. Then I find out something 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:18.600 much worse. I'm told that the IBMS was the event 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:22.120 that Luis Gomes was banned from and then invited back 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:26.600 to because of his supposed playboy connections. Remember the one 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:28.800 we told you about where the girl allegedly ran out 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:31.720 of a shoot with Luis crying. We put all of 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:35.160 this to Patrick in writing, but he never responded to us. 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.880 He said it himself. They're all bad guys. 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:41.800 Fuck me. It scares me that you just have no 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:45.040 idea who you're meeting, or what kind of position you're 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:49.320 putting yourself in, and that could be a dangerous situation. 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:52.480 There just appears to be no regulation whatsoever. 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.320 So now we're stuck in Florida, not sure what to 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:01.920 do next, and more confus used than ever about whether 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:06.480 there's anything remotely glamorous about the so called glamour industry. 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:10.280 We've heard from so many models chasing dreams of stardom, 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:13.800 but what does it really mean to make it? We 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:16.320 decide to head south to try and find out to 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:21.479 the glamor capital of the USA. 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:25.560 New York is all about work, La is all about entertainment, 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:27.240 and miamis all about fun. 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:34.920 South Beach Miami, blue sea, white sand, and beautiful people. 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:39.520 Everyone here is gorgeous, tans, glowing sous and music spilling 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:45.080 out of boomboxes, beach bars, margaritas and crystal glasses. It's expensive, 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:46.200 it's luxury. 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:48.720 I can't believe it. So gorgeous I am. 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:49.560 You're going to cry. 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:51.080 We've found the glamour. 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:53.600 When I thought of this world, when I imagined where 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.680 this podcast would take me, this is what I've been 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:59.760 looking for this whole time, and I've not found it. 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.600 Anywhere until I got to Miami. 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:05.400 Okay, well, now I can. 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:07.920 See why everyone wants to live the high life, because 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:09.880 I'm sorry. 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:12.440 I'm never leaving. I live in now. I need to 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:16.200 tell the father of my son and my son I 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:17.680 won't be returning to a lot of day. 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:20.000 Sorry. 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:24.280 I love you, boy, Daly. I live in Miami. Now. 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:30.760 I've lined up an interview with a model who seems 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.560 to be living the glamorous lifestyle I had in my head. 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:38.320 Her name's Melissa Laurie, and she's a big deal. She's 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.680 been in the industry for ten years and she's got 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.359 nearly half a million followers on Instagram. 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:45.640 I wanted to be a superstar. I wanted to be 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:48.960 a celebrity. It was sex, drobs, rock and roll. 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:49.760 You know. 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:52.760 It was just all the glitz and the gleam, the yachts, 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:54.240 just I want it at all. 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.280 The thing I really want to know from Melissa is 0:15:57.280 --> 0:15:59.440 how she makes money in a world that seems to 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:03.000 be full of gammas and dodgy operators. Unlike most of 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:06.080 the other models I've spoken to, Melissa gets paid for 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:06.680 her sheets. 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:10.560 I have actually never ever paid a photographer in my 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.840 entire life. I have never paid for a photoshoot ever, 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:15.120 not once. 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:19.520 The reality of the industry today is worse than I thought. 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:22.560 Melissa says one of the only ways to make money 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:25.040 is to travel around to be photographed by guys with 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:28.120 cameras who are willing to pay to photograph a big model. 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:33.320 Traveling models, you're going city to city mostly to work 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.200 with amateurs, and amateurs are the ones that are willing 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:37.600 to pay usually. 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:40.600 But photo shoots alone don't pay the bills I know. 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.400 For me and like most models that I know, this 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:46.280 is not our only source of income. There's times that 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.080 I can't even book a photo shoot for a month 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:51.560 or two months. It's not reliable. 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.000 So Melissa and all the other big models she knows 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:56.720 have a second source of income. 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:00.960 I do have only fans. That's like my pacid income. 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:04.639 The only fans culture down here is massive. The sugar 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:07.520 baby culture is massive. I used to be a little 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.200 naive to it. I found out some of my friends 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.520 were doing that kind of stuff. I'm like, oh, that's 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:13.320 what you do. I had no idea. 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:15.480 Do you feel sometimes like your pressure to kind of 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:17.919 take things further, to be more explicit on there than 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.040 maybe you first envisioned, you would be. 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:26.159 Absolutely I do feel pressured. I have felt pressured being 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:29.840 freely nude on the internet. Once you open that door, 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.640 people want more, they want to see more, and they're 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:39.000 tempting and taunting and teasing, and it's hard. I feel 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:43.000 like people are judging me because it's considered sex work. 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.520 I had this conversation I think with my roommate. She 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.719 didn't understand why girls like turn to stripping and porn, 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:53.280 and it's money survival. People have to survive. If you 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:55.399 don't know what it's like to have nothing in your 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:58.760 bank account and your survival mode, you will do things 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.080 for money that you might not have done. 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:07.040 So that's glamour today. 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.240 There is still money to be made, but not in 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:15.480 the pages of Glamor magazines. It's online on new platforms 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.520 that blur the lines between modeling and sex work, and 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:21.360 this opens models up to ever increasing demands for more 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:26.520 explicit content. That's fine for models who want to enter 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:30.760 the sex industry, but plenty don't. Lots of the models 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:34.040 I've spoken to say they'd never consider having an OnlyFans account, 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:37.720 and so it feels even more depressing that they're striving 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:41.760 for a dream that died with Hugh Hefner. But the 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:45.520 Playboy dream does still exist for many young green glamour 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.439 models who don't know any different, and whether or not 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:51.720 that dream is realistic doesn't seem to matter to Luis 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.679 Gomez as long as there are still models willing to 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:58.080 pay for the fantasy. And back in the UK, I 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.280 learned that he's still coming up with new ways to 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:00.879 cash in on that. 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:06.720 Oh so depressing. He's still out there, like, how many 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:33.160 models is that? And this fine where is going to be? Okay? 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.879 So I'm just on the universe one three seven website. 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:40.920 By now, Luis's website has become a permanently open tab 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:44.679 on my laptop. There's usually nothing news to report, the 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:47.679 same mix of Playboy covers and posts of Luis shredding 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:51.399 on his guitar. But today is different. A new section 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:54.000 has appeared, and it's called Events. 0:19:57.400 --> 0:19:58.720 What the actual fuck? 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:03.520 Louise's ad advertising his very own shoot camp taking place 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:07.000 in Puerto Ayata, a popular Mexican resort town on the 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:10.520 edge of the Pacific Ocean. So this event is Fashion 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:16.680 Beach Mexico Experience. Another amazing brilliant title We've been trying 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:19.280 to piece together, Luise is, whereabouts and what is up 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:23.000 to now? The most recent allegations I've heard about Luis 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:25.760 are from twenty twenty, when the group of models in 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:29.480 the UK called him out. There is Louise still claiming 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.800 to be a playboy photographer? Are there any new allegations 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:36.240 of abuse? This shoot camp is our first opportunity to 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:36.760 find out. 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:43.919 Can you hear me? 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:44.800 Yes? 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:46.680 Now I can, Now I can. 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:49.560 We're talking to a freelance journalist who's agreed to attend 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:51.000 Luis's event undercover. 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:55.119 I'm we outside of town. There's vultures circling in the 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:55.800 air overhead. 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:58.200 God, that's ominous. 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:01.040 We're calling him Mark, but that's not his real name. 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.679 He's an American based in Mexico, one of the world's 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:07.880 most dangerous places to be a journalist, so he doesn't 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.919 want to be named in the podcast. Mark's going instead 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:12.840 of us, as we thought sending a guy would give 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.639 us the best chance to get close to Luis. So 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.920 Mark's in Poersevata, getting ready to talk his way into 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.520 the hotel where Luis Gomez is hosting his event, and 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:25.840 we have the perfect idea to help him blend in a. 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:30.120 Goofy guy who just happened to stumble upon a photo shoot, had. 0:21:29.960 --> 0:21:30.720 My camera on me. 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:32.439 A guy with a camera. 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:35.960 Mark's going to see how close he can get to 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:38.680 Luise and send us voice notes along the way. 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:40.000 Okay, good luck. 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:46.760 Mark enters the hotel. It's a massive complex a five 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:49.280 minute walk from the beach. He heads out into a 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:50.719 courtyard filled with people. 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:54.600 I'm in the back part of the resort, concets for 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:55.080 the beach. 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:58.520 I've got on of goes names Infinity. 0:21:58.000 --> 0:22:02.359 Pools ah whatever. It looks like the horizon of the 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:03.399 pool explosion. 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:07.400 The crowd seems mainly to be Mexican families on holiday, 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:09.840 but Mark soon spots Luise. 0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:15.520 A Black Star Wars baseball cap, a Black Star Wars 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:21.440 T shirt, black shorts, black socks, a little sling bag 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:26.760 around his shoulder, and he's wearing the big heavy kneepads. 0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:30.960 And I guess for getting down and taking pictures. I 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:32.080 think I'll make an approach. 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:39.080 The guy with the camera act works a treat. Luisa. 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:39.960 Mark hit it off. 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:45.280 I shook hands with Luis. He did a weird I've 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:47.280 never had this happen before. He shook my hand and 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:51.520 then snapped his fingers like around my hand. It's a toy. 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:57.399 One of the weirdest things. He gives me bad vibes. 0:22:58.400 --> 0:23:02.439 That's how you that much. But he's friendly in a 0:23:02.480 --> 0:23:04.080 superficial way. 0:23:04.840 --> 0:23:08.120 Louise has an entourage. There are three photographers and five 0:23:08.200 --> 0:23:12.439 models from all over the world. Guatemala, Canada, the US, 0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:13.280 and Argentina. 0:23:14.200 --> 0:23:15.440 Yeah, we're all hanging out. 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:22.120 There's a photo shoot wrapping up in the fountains and meat. 0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:24.960 I've got to know a few of the mines. 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:27.720 Everybody's very nic. 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:29.960 Mark captures the action on his phone. 0:23:30.600 --> 0:23:32.800 Louise is soaked to his waist, kneeling in the pool 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:35.360 taking photos of a woman in a blue bikini. 0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:37.520 We go. 0:23:39.080 --> 0:23:42.639 Hiks now, I'll give back to it. 0:23:42.640 --> 0:23:45.240