Joe Francis

Joe Francis' bumshot

Joe Francis (born April 1, 1973) is the founder of Mantra Entertainment, which produces the Girls Gone Wild and Guys Gone Wild DVD series. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1995 with a double major in Business Administration and Film & Television Production. He founded Mantra at the age of 24, which produces mostly adult films. He has appeared on Howard Stern's radio show in 2002 and again in 2003, and has also appeared on The Man Show, Dr. Phil and The Tyra Banks Show.

According to a recent Radar Magazine article, Francis was videotaped in sexually humiliating positions involving a giant pink dildo and a jeep, allegedly while held at gunpoint; he was then subsequently blackmailed. The tape or a copy of it was recovered by the LAPD for use in the criminal trial of his assailant, Darnell Riley. On 7th February 2006[1], Riley pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in Corcoran State Prison.

On July 24, 2006, Joe Francis was interviewed on The Adam Carolla Show, and stated that he was in fact kidnapped, held at gunpoint, and later blackmailed for the tape. He did say that rumors of him peforming sexual acts on camera were untrue, and he went on to state that he was only forced to say "something like" "I'm a homosexual." on the camera.

In the Radar Magazine article, Riley's attorney, Ronald Richards said of Joe Francis "He preys on underage girls and exploits them for profit, and I have proof of that". The magazine said this charge came from an incident in Panama City Beach, Florida, during spring break 2003, when the parents of a 16-year-old girl claimed that their daughter and a friend had been coerced by Francis and his entourage into appearing topless on videotape. After soaping each other up in the shower of Francis’s motel room, they said they were encouraged to lie about their ages on camera. Briefly jailed for these charges, Francis was released on $165,000 bond and initially faced 71 separate counts, including racketeering, drug trafficking, and child pornography, and his private jet was confiscated. The trafficking charges have been dismissed, but the others are pending. At a July 27th 2006 hearing this judge threw out some key evidence in this case[2], however Francis still has 42 charges against him, some of which include racketeering, prostitution, and conspiring to promote sexual performance of a child. Here are the MySpace pages of Kaitlyn Bultema and Jannel Szyszka, two of his supposed 'illicit conquests'.

In March 2004, a Texas college student claimed that Francis had drugged her in his hotel room in Miami, and although she could not remember the incident clearly, she had then been raped. Francis responded by claiming that the sex had been consensual and that the woman had stayed to order lunch from room service the next day. The investigation was dropped, and Francis in turn filed suit against the woman for $25,000,036 — the $36 representing the cost of the lunch.

In August 2006, a rich (and potentially explosive) article in the Sunday magazine of the L.A. Times follows Joe Francis across the country. Reporter Claire Hoffman witnesses what appears to be illegal activities (such as supplying alcohol to minors.) She interviews a young woman about an alleged rape in the Girls Gone Wild bus. The reporter is herself roughed up, insulted and threatened by Francis.

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