Latest news with #HeidiFleiss
New York Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Ex-Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss refuses to watch Aubrey Plaza play her in upcoming biopic: ‘No one can do what I did'
Famous former madam Heidi Fleiss doesn't want to relive her life on the big screen. Fleiss, who was arrested in the 1990s for running an upscale prostitution ring, reacted to the news that Aubrey Plaza is playing her in the upcoming biopic 'The Heidi Fleiss Story.' Speaking to TMZ on Wednesday, Fleiss stated that while she believes Plaza, 41, is 'a great choice to play her,' she won't watch the film because 'the past is dead' to her. 8 Heidi Fleiss in a portrait in 1996. Getty Images 8 Aubrey Plaza at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2025. Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images 'No one can do what I did,' she told the outlet. Fleiss, who said she watched Plaza in 'The White Lotus' Season 2, added that she wants the team behind the biopic to succeed, but she thinks they have 'their work cut out for them.' 8 Heidi Fleiss in Santa Monica. Sygma via Getty Images 8 Heidi Fleiss during her trial in August 1993. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images She also told TMZ that she's not involved in the project. The Post has reached out to Fleiss for comment. Variety reported that Plaza will star in 'The Heidi Fleiss Story' and produce it through her company Evil Hag. It is Plaza's first major project since her husband Jeff Baena died by suicide at age 47 in January. 8 Aubrey Plaza attends the 2024 Gotham Awards in New York. WireImage Leah Rachel, who created the Netflix horror series 'Chambers,' will make her directorial debut with the biopic. Rachel is also co-writing the film with Rachel Sennott and Travis Jackson. The film, which begins production later this year in Los Angeles, 'follows Fleiss before trial, scrambling around Los Angeles trying to blackmail and leverage various connections to get the case dropped, with the help of an aspiring young writer named Jaclyn,' per Variety. 8 Heidi Fleiss at Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images Fleiss was arrested in 1993 for pandering and tax evasion after she was busted for running a prostitution ring in LA, which led to her being dubbed the 'Hollywood Madam.' Her clients were some of the richest and most powerful men in the world, including Charlie Sheen. She spent 20 months in prison of a seven-year sentence. 8 Heidi Fleiss visits SiriusXM in New York City in 2011. Getty Images 8 Heidi Fleiss in a selfie. officialheidifleiss/Instagram Fleiss' notoriety was such that she became the subject of 'Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss,' a 2004 TV movie starring 'The Sopranos' star Jamie-Lynn Sigler. In December, Fleiss told People that she now lives on a ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, and she is dedicated to rescuing caged birds from captivity. 'I lived a life of adventure and excitement, but out of my whole life, the most beautiful thing I ever experienced was watching these birds not only go from solitary confinement but then adjust to freedom,' she shared. 'Maybe even find a mate and raise a family.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rachel Sennott will make a madam out of Aubrey Plaza
Aubrey Plaza has landed her next starring role courtesy of Rachel Sennott. Sennott has co-written a script about Heidi Fleiss, the infamous 'Hollywood Madam' who became a television personality after running an upscale prostitution ring. Per Variety, Sennott's co-writers on The Heidi Fleiss Story are Travis Jackson and Leah Rachel, who will make her directorial debut on the feature. Plaza, who will also produce the project, will play the madam herself, natch. In the '90s, Heidi Fleiss made a fortune managing a sex work operation that reportedly catered to famous and powerful clientele. She was convicted on charges related to prostitution in 1994, though her conviction was later overturned. (She ended up serving time for tax evasion later in the decade.) Variety reports that the script 'follows Fleiss before trial, scrambling around Los Angeles trying to blackmail and leverage various connections to get the case dropped, with the help of an aspiring young writer named Jaclyn.' Sounds like a perfect part for Rachel Sennott, though there's no word if the writer-performer will also appear in the film. Fleiss was the subject of a 1995 documentary appropriately titled Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam; the 2008 doc Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam Of Crystal (about her failed attempt to open a brothel catering to women in Nevada); and the 2022 podcast series HeidiWorld: The Heidi Fleiss Story from the journalist Molly Lambert. Maggie Cohn (The Staircase) was reportedly working on a drama about Fleiss, but last year the ex-madam told The Hollywood Reporter that the project wasn't moving forward. Instead, yet another documentary series about Fleiss was announced from director Andrew Renzi (The Curse Of Von Dutch: A Brand To Die For, Untold). Apparently, she was excited to do the project as a way to fund her efforts to create a sanctuary for herself and the more than 30 macaws in her care. The doc will reportedly range in topics from her time as a madam, her battles with addiction, and her commitment to rescuing exotic birds. 'I think people are sick of the docs that are infomercials—and I'm not an infomercial,' Fleiss told THR. 'I don't care if someone likes me or hates me. I'm not now trying to reinvent myself or be seen as someone I'm not. People will see and hear the truth. Some [of] it is humiliating.' More from A.V. Club The delightfully nasty Weapons spirals in the wake of unimaginable loss Jussie Smollett joins up with Special Forces in TV return Rachel Sennott will make a madam out of Aubrey Plaza Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Aubrey Plaza to star as Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss
Aubrey Plaza is set to star as Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss in a new biopic. Titled The Heidi Fleiss Story, the dark comedy will follow the final days leading up to Fleiss' 1993 arrest, when authorities exposed her high-end prostitution ring operating in Los Angeles, Deadline reports. Plaza will star in and produce the film through her company, Evil Hag. The project marks her first major role since the death of her husband, filmmaker Jeff Baena, in January this year. Fleiss rose to prominence in the early 1990s for allegedly running a secretive operation that catered to celebrities, media executives and other powerful figures. She was said to have taken over the business from her mentor, convicted madam Elizabeth 'Madam Alex' Adams, and expanded it into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. That empire collapsed in June 1993, when Fleiss was arrested and later charged with pandering, tax evasion and money laundering. Prosecutors alleged she laundered more than $1.5 million (£1.1 million) through shell companies and false records. The case drew national headlines, fuelled by speculation over a list of high-profile clients. The list remains sealed to this day. Plaza has been gradually returning to public life following Baena's death by suicide. In February, she appeared on SNL50: The Anniversary Special, wearing a pink tie-dyed T-shirt - a subtle tribute to the couple's wedding-day attire. The pair had been together for more than a decade, but had separated in the months before Baena's death.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Aubrey Plaza's new biopic role as Heidi Fleiss leads Hollywood madam to break her silence to warn the star
Aubrey Plaza 's fans were surprised on Wednesday to learn that the White Lotus actress had been tapped to portray the infamous Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss in an upcoming biopic. And now Fleiss, 59, is speaking out about the 41-year-old actress' plans to play her in The Heidi Fleiss Story. The former madam told the Daily Mail she was 'pleasantly shocked' that the Parks And Recreation actress will be playing her in the biopic. 'It sounds fantastic,' Fleiss said on Wednesday. 'I've never met her and never even heard about it, but wow!' But she also shared a note of caution for Plaza in the wake of her legal and reputational setbacks. 'She's got her work cut out for her,' Fleiss said. 'You know, I hate to have to live with me, and now she has to play me.' However, Fleiss added: 'She's going to be great.' Fleiss has been open about her early career, in which she briefly worked as a prostitute. After she was mentored by another madam running a prostitution ring in Beverly Hills, Fleiss went solo in 1990 and launched her own prostitution ring catering to wealthy clients in Hollywood. But the organization was short-lived, as Fleiss was arrested in 1993 on charges of pandering, tax evasion, and money laundering after prosecutors accused her of laundering $1.5 million through a series of shell companies with falsified records. She was eventually convicted of federal tax evasion charges in 1996. She was sentenced to seven years in prison, but only served 20 months of her sentence at a federal correctional institution before she was released to a halfway house, where she began the rest of her sentence, which included a requirement to complete 370 hours of community service. When asked what advice she would give to Plaza, Fleiss said: 'You know what? I'm confused by the things that I do, so I don't know how to give anyone advice.' Plaza will be stepping into the role after acclaimed turns in season two of HBO's The White Lotus, as well as the crime drama Emily The Criminal and the coming-of-age dramedy My Old Ass. She shared a note of caution for Plaza. 'She's got her work cut out for her,' Fleiss said. 'You know, I hate to have to live with me, and now she has to play me'; pictured on Celebrity Big Brother UK in 2010 Plaza will next be seen in the crime comedy Honey Don't!, which is written and directed by Ethan Coen and co-written with his wife Tricia Cooke. The actress spent time out of the spotlight earlier this year after her husband, the filmmaker Jeff Baena, died by suicide. She made her first public appearance after the tragedy by briefly appearing on the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special in February, during which she donned a tie-dye shirt as a tribute to her late husband, as it was similar to the tie-dye shirts they wore at their wedding in 2021. Fleiss also gave Daily Mail an update on several projects she's working on, including a new site and app for content creators that she hopes will rival OnlyFans. It's called The List by Heidi Fleiss, and the former madam is already in talks with web developers to create it. 'OnlyFans take 20 percent of what these creators make, and very few are making money because they take so much,' Fleiss said. 'Most of them aren't making $3 million a month — they make $2,000. Creators should have more control of the money they make from their content. The List will be more favorable for the creators.' Fleiss, who lives in Pahrump, Nevada, says her priority remains on taking care of her precious birds and continuing her rescue efforts. She currently has between 30 to 40 Macaws and smaller parrots, many of which had been neglected by prior owners or breeders, and she hopes her efforts to care for them can counteract negative forces in society. 'Humanity has had one purpose, and that is to destroy everything as quickly as possible. That's our only purpose,' Fleiss claimed. 'That's how I truly see humanity, and I've always been misanthropic. But with these birds, it's so much more.' Since her release, Fleiss has been open about her past work running a prostitution ring, though she has largely stayed mum about the identities of her high-powered former clients, even as some of their identities were hinted at during her salacious trial. In 2010 she made a foray into mainstream television when she appeared on the UK's Celebrity Big Brother. In recent years, Fleiss has been the owner and manager of a private airport in Pahrump that caters only to small aircrafts. But the former Hollywood madam is also stepping back into the entertainment industry by filming a documentary directed by Andrew Renzi, who was a producer on the HBO reality series Paul American, which delves into the exploits of brothers Jake and Logan Paul.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Bethenny Frankel admits embarrassing mistake she made at debauched party while discussing Diddy's freak-offs
Bethenny Frankel recalled the mortifying mistake she made at a party in Los Angeles, long before the #MeToo movement fundamentally changed Hollywood. While discussing Sean ' Diddy ' Combs' ongoing federal trial, the reality star, 54, spoke about how easy it is to walk into the wrong room as someone working their way up in the entertainment industry. 'I remember back in the day in LA being invited to a pajama party and I was wearing, like, cow pajamas and people were there... not in cow pajamas,' the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum said in an Instagram video, uploaded on Thursday morning. The mother-of-one went on to describe the gathering as a 'creepy freaky LA party.' 'LA was freaky,' she emphasized as she implied everyone else was wearing little to nothing or lingerie. In her post, Frankel never explicitly said she ended up at a sex party, but did describe some of the intriguing individuals that she crossed paths with that night. This included two associates of the infamous, former Hollywood madam, Heidi Fleiss, who was arrested for running a high-end prostitution ring in 1993. 'I hauled a** out of there,' Frankel. 'I also remember being approached by one of Heidi's girls. But it wasn't in a traditional sense. It was a girl asking me to come out to a night club.' Frankel noted that the woman, who approached her, was surrounded by older men, which she thought was 'strange' and made her feel 'uncomfortable.' Later, the TV personality claims to have realized the woman was one of 'Heidi's girls.' 'Things happen slowly... you have to have a strong constitution, I don't know where the hell I got that from, probably from basically raising myself, to kind of fight through things,' she explained. Frankel went on to say her message for young women out there, like her daughter, is to have the courage to leave a situation that doesn't feel right. Even if it means going against someone who has 'something on you' or makes 'you feel shame.' Frankel, then, speculated on why Casandra Ventura stayed with her ex Diddy as long as she did. 'He did have something over on her. And, in a time, when she wanted to be an entertainer, even if she had gone to one of these freak-offs, that would be enough for someone to have on you,' she claimed. Frankel stressed that 'these trials are so important because they push society forward and make it so something like that can never happen again.' Combs is currently faces charges of sex-trafficking in Manhattan federal court and his relationship with Ventura is at the center of the horrific allegations. The music mogul's staggering downfall began when Cassie, real name Cassandra Ventura, filed a bombshell lawsuit in 2023 detailing terrifying claims of sexual abuse and violence. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount just a day after it was filed, but it was too late for Diddy's reputation, and the rapper was then hit with dozens of lawsuits including similar claims.
