Spitzer call girl drops Girls Gone Wild lawsuit
MIAMI (AP) - July 5, 2008 Ashley Dupre voluntarily dismissed the $10 million federal
lawsuit, according to court documents filed Thursday. She said she
was only 17 when she signed a binding contract giving permission to
appear in the "Girls Gone Wild" video.
Telephone calls and e-mails to Dupre's lawyer and publicist were
not immediately returned Friday.
Francis said in a statement issued late Friday night that "the
truth invariably comes out, as I knew it would in this case. I am
happy to, once again, be completely vindicated."
In her lawsuit, Dupre said she was on spring break in Miami
Beach in 2003 when she was approached by "Girls Gone Wild"
producers, given alcoholic drinks and then signed a release
agreeing to appear. The series depicts women in provocative poses
or topless, often in such party locations as Mardi Gras or spring
break beach towns.
Francis has said Dupre was on the "Girls Gone Wild" bus for a
week and made seven full-length videos.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Francis released a video
where Dupre appears covered by a terry cloth towel and gives her
name as Amber Arpaio. An unseen questioner asks if she is 18 and if
the footage can be used on "Girls Gone Wild." She says yes to
both questions.
The video also displays a New Jersey driver's license with the
Amber Arpaio name and a birth date that would have made her appear
to be in her 20s.
Dupre rocketed to fame in March when she surfaced as a
high-priced call girl in the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring
that involved then-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned soon
after the scandal broke. Dupre, going by the name "Kristen," met
"Client 9" - later identified as Spitzer - at least once at a
swanky Washington hotel, according to court documents.
After the Spitzer scandal, Francis made a public $1 million
offer for Dupre to appear in one of his videos and go on a
promotional tour. But he rescinded the offer after realizing he
already had footage of her.
Francis has other legal problems, including federal tax evasion
charges pending in California and lawsuits by filed by women in
Panama City, Fla., claiming they were victims of underage
exploitation. Francis spent a year in jail and was released in
March after pleading no contest to child abuse and prostitution
charges for filming underage girls in that Panhandle beach town.