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Dr. Laura Leaving Radio; Interview with Linda McMahon
Aired August 19, 2010 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDITH REGAN, GUEST HOST: Hello and welcome to the JOY BEHAR SHOW. I`m Judith Regan, sitting in for Joy.
Tonight, we begin with Dr. Laura, who this week announced she`d be leaving her radio show at the end of the year, the result perhaps of using the N-word 11 times within five minutes on the air. Or as Dr. Laura herself put it, she`s leaving because she wants to regain her First Amendment rights.
Well, late last night, another outspoken woman came to her defense, Sarah Palin. She posted this on Twitter, "Dr. Laura, don`t retreat -- reload. Steps aside because her First Amendment rights ceased to exist, thanks to activists trying to silence. Isn`t American, not fair."
If you haven`t heard what Dr. Laura said, here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. LAURA SCHLESSINGER, RADIO HOST: I did not spew out the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)-word. Right, I said that`s what you hear.
CALLER: Everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: Yes, they did.
CALLER: I hope everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: They did, and I`ll say it again.
CALLER: So what makes it OK for you to say the word?
SCHLESSINGER: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is what you hear on HB -- why don`t you let me finish a sentence?
CALLER: OK.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
REGAN: So, is Palin right? Did Dr. Laura`s First Amendment rights somehow disappear or did Dr. Laura cross a line?
With me now is Erich "Mancow" Muller, radio host of "The Mancow Radio Experience"; Rachel Sklar, editor at large for Mediaite.com; and Stephanie Miller, host of "The Stephanie Miller Show."
So, Mancow, what do you think?
ERICH "MANCOW" MILLER, RADIO HOST: Yes.
REGAN: What do you think?
MULLER: Well, Dr. Laura`s a dear friend of mine. I love her. And I don`t know, it almost seems like career suicide.
REGAN: Why do you say that? Why would she want to be committing career suicide at this point?
MULLER: Well, look, it`s like a mistress you grow to hate, honestly. I do it 25 hours a week. I`m sure Stephanie feels the same way sometimes where you just -- you just go a little crazy sitting in that room. I don`t know. I don`t know what person on radio today -- excuse me -- what white person on radio today thinks they can say the N-word 11 times.
REGAN: All right. So, you think she went a little crazy. You think what she did was wrong, Mancow?
MULLER: I don`t know if she want -- does she want out of her contract or what? I don`t know.
REGAN: But what do you think of what she did?
MULLER: I think it`s -- look, you`re talking to me in Obamaland, Judith. And the double standards here are ridiculous. There`s a long list of words that we can`t say on terrestrial radio, you know?
And yet, I have, you know, Reverend Farrakhan artist and the Reverend Jesse Jackson and his son who tried to buy the Senate seat, triple J, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Reverend Wrong -- all these guys love to race-bait. And when anyone else says it, they`re real offended.
I have urban radio stations here in the city that, you know, it`s misogynistic and it`s violent, it`s vile. And you can`t say anything because then you`re racist. There is a double standard. But it is what it is and I think she knew better.
REGAN: So, Stephanie, do you think that Dr. Laura made a racist comment? Do you think what she did was racist?
STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO HOST: Oh, I don`t se how you can say that any other way. I mean, and please, Judith, quitting her multimillion dollar a year job is losing her First Amendment rights. Who`s taking her First Amendment rights away from her?
REGAN: Yes, who? Who? Can you explain that to me?
(CROSSTALK)
MILLER: Exactly.
REGAN: Media Matters.
MILLER: Exactly.
REGAN: All right. Well --
MILLER: And I love, by the way, that -- excuse me, is Sarah Palin telling someone else not to quit? I love that. But, secondly, it`s like, yes, the Tea Party needs one more racist. That`s what they really need. Like, if the people who that sign of the president with a bone through his nose was too subtle, they need someone who will shout the N-word at rallies. That`s what they need.
REGAN: All right. So, Dr. Laura says her First Amendments rights were taken away -- by whom, where are they and what is she talking about?
RACHEL SKLAR, MEDIAITE.COM: Well, I think I`d reverse the order of that and just start with, what is she talking about? It`s exactly as Stephanie said, she doesn`t have a First Amendment right to have a wildly popular radio show. She has a First Amendment right to speak whatever, you know, her mind is and not have those rights trampled on by the government. That`s obviously not what`s happening in this case.
I think that Dr. Laura and also, Sarah Palin, are a little confused by what the Constitution says.
REGAN: What does the Constitution say?
SKLAR: Well, the Constitution --
REGAN: You know, a lot of people don`t really understand what it means to have a First Amendment right. They don`t even know what the definition is. Can you explain that?
SKLAR: Well, I mean, it is the right basically -- with some reason, I`m not going to get into the complex body of case law that might veer into hate speech and stuff like that. But it`s basically the right to have freedom of expression that is not abridged by the government. So, it would have to be the government and some government body that was abridging the free speech. Here, that`s not happening.
REGAN: All right. Let`s listen to what Dr. Laura said when she announced that she`s leaving radio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHLESSINGER: I`m here to say that my contract is up for my radio show at the end of the year, and I`ve made the decision not to do radio any more. The reason is: I want to regain my First Amendment rights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: So, Mancow, what do you think? She`s not going to do radio any more. She wants to regain her First Amendment rights. What do you think of what she just said?
MULLER: I have no idea. And I want to say something -- look, she`s a personal friend of mine. She is not a racist. I think she was trying to illustrate a point, there is a double standard. If you speak out against the mosque, well, Nancy Pelosi says we ought to investigate the 9/11 families. This is a crazy time.
Look, I was on the radio bashing Bushy. I was bashing Bushy and I was never called a racist. But if you say anything about this president, everything is racism. I thought we`re going to get past this in post- racial America.
(CROSSTALK)
MULLER: But certainly anyone -- anyone on the radio knows -- anyone on the radio knows you don`t say that word. I understand it.
REGAN: All right. Rachel?
SKLAR: I mean, forgive me, but I think that this issue existed before we were in, quote, unquote, "Obamaland." I`m not one of these people who has a crazy mistress that drives me nuts. But I think that the gist of the -- not only the use of that word, but the entire conversation that Dr. Laura had with that caller was incredibly dismissive. She interrupted her.
REGAN: But she`s always dismissive. Dr. Laura`s demeanor is to be dismissive.
SKLAR: Sure. Absolutely. Judith, in the context of the use of that word --
(CROSSTALK)
SKLAR: Yes. No, I mean, absolutely that`s how she --
REGAN: She`s condescending, she`s snippy and she`s dismissive. That`s her demeanor.
MILLER: Judith.
REGAN: Stephanie, go ahead.
MILLER: Judith, this is my new dream. Can I just tell you? Rachel is right about the color of my dream is the African-American caller gets a radio show. If you think about it, she was actually kind of a better therapist -- yes, she was kind of a better therapist than Dr. Laura.
She was like, yes, OK, calm down. Yes, you`re not black. OK, I need you to breathe. Yes, you`re not black. OK. Would you like to show me on the doll where the black person touched you?
She was a much better therapist.
REGAN: All right. Stephanie, listen, Dr. Laura in her rant says the following, "Hypersensitivity is being bred by black activists." What do you say to that?
MULLER: It`s true!
MILLER: You know, she -- what does she -- what does she say to the woman, don`t NAACP me?
REGAN: Right.
MILLER: Well, don`t KKK -- don`t KKK me if you don`t want me to NAACP you.
REGAN: All right. Mancow?
MILLER: She`s not going to be offended when --
MULLER: Come live in o-blah-blah land and see how Jesse Jackson, where is his church, how does he make a living. These people are extortionists. They race-bait. Reverend Wright with his hate talk --
(CROSSTALK)
MULLER: They say whatever they want. They say whatever they want. And if you question them, you`re racist. My hairy white pimply butt, guys. Dr. Laura was not racist. She was illustrating with the extreme.
Stephanie, that`s what you do. That`s what good talk radio does. If I say the word dummy, I get a complaint letter from ventriloquists. The word retarded is off limits. Midget offends people. You have to say people of small stature.
Land of the free. Land of the free. Land of the free.
SKLAR: OK. I think dial it back here.
MULLER: I don`t believe in brainwashing any more. Land of the free. I can say something but you can`t.
(CROSSTALK)
SKLAR: Embrace your freedom of expression.
REGAN: Hold on. Rachel, go ahead.
(CROSSTALK)
REGAN: Are we free or not, Rachel?
MULLER: Dr. Laura has different rights than Obama?
SKLAR: What?
MULLER: I heard his book.
(CROSSTALK)
SKLAR: Wow. I mean, there`s so much going on here. I`m just going to cut through and return to the question of hypersensitivity.
MULLER: Truth. Truth. Wow.
SKLAR: Here`s an example of someone that.
(CROSSTALK)
SKLAR: My First Amendment rights being trampled because I don`t have the right to speak in a vacuum with Mancow not shouting over me. But I want to bring it back to the issue of hypersensitivity and who the "they" are that is saying that the hypersensitive are rising up and complaining about everything. I mean, I think this would be a pretty good indication of how the dialogue has gotten pretty off track.
REGAN: All right. Well, it would be interesting to see what happens.
MILLER: And excuse me, Mancow --
REGAN: Thank you, guys.
MILLER: You don`t think it`s offensive to say this woman.
(CROSSTALK)
REGAN: We`re going to have to go. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Former WWE CEO and current Senate candidate, Linda McMahon, is up next. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Coming up later on the JOY BEHAR SHOW: Why do celebrities like Jesse James and Tiger Woods feel the need to cheat? We`ll get some insight from Dennis Hof, star of HBO`s "Cathouse" and owner of one of the nation`s most notorious brothels.
And, comedian Lisa Lampanelli discusses the controversy surrounding her Comedy Central roast of David Hasselhoff. Did the "Queen of Mean" go too far this time?
Now, back to the show.
REGAN: Linda McMahon is used to battles. For 30 years, she and her husband Vince built a billion-dollar business around ill-tempered men and some women pummeling each other. So, maybe she`s perfectly suited for the next arena she hopes to enter, the U.S. Senate.
McMahon stepped down from her role as the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment last year to throw her hat into the political ring. And she is now the Republican Senate nominee for the state of Connecticut.
Full disclosure here: while I was in publishing business, I worked with the WWE.
Earlier today I sat down for one-on-one interview with the Senate nominee, Linda McMahon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REGAN: First of all, congratulations on your recent victory. And I`m looking around your campaign headquarters here, and I see Linda, Linda, Linda. I don`t see McMahon. And I`m thinking Cher, Madonna, Hillary and Linda.
So, what was the decision to just go with "Linda"?
LINDA MCMAHON (R), CONNECTICUT SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I`m the only female running for the United States Senate in Connecticut and Linda was just it was just great. It popped out. It was great on the signage. It had a nice ring to it. It was easy to remember.
So, we just went with Linda.
REGAN: Now, are you named after anyone?
MCMAHON: No, not that I know. I know my mom said that during the time I was born, there was a song out about Linda. And she loved the song.
REGAN: I know that song.
MCMAHON: She loved the song. And my first grade class, there were five Lindas.
REGAN: There you go. Now, where did you grow up?
MCMAHON: North Carolina -- New Bern, North Carolina. I`m a Southern girl.
REGAN: And your family background?
MCMAHON: My family background, both parents were civil service employees. They were at the Cherry Point Air Base in Cherry Point, North Carolina. My father was a shop foreman. And my mom was a budget analyst.
And I`m an only child, so I got to be my father`s son and my mother`s daughter. It was just fantastic.
REGAN: So, you ran this incredibly successful business with your husband Vince. Thirty years, World Wrestling Entertainment. You have two children, five grandchildren, and one on the way.
MCMAHON: Yes.
REGAN: Which is very exciting. So, why go into politics at this point in your life?
MCMAHON: Well, I can tell you, Judith, I wasn`t looking for a career. I`m not looking for fame or for fortune or for a hobby. I absolutely got into this race because I really feel that we need to have a different kind of perspective in Washington.
And what I hear from the people in Connecticut is they want -- they want their representatives -- their new senator to have real life business experience, because they really don`t want the same politics to come out of Washington. They`re tired of the same politics. They`re tired of political rhetoric. They want someone who has run a business, who understands about, you know, putting capital at risk and making a payroll and making those kinds of decisions.
And that`s what I`ve heard all over the state. And I really felt that we had to have a commonsense approach return to Washington. I could not sit back any more and watch where our government was taking our country.
REGAN: So, with that business experience, what do you bring to the table? What do you -- how do you think it`s going to translate into the world of politics?
MCMAHON: Well, growing a business I think from the ground up and even before my husband Vince and I started, you know, in this particular business, we were doing a couple of other businesses. And we went bankrupt along the way. We lost everything. We lost our house, our car.
And so, I really walk in the shoes of a lot of people today who were afraid that they`re going to be out of a job or have lost their job or having to close their business. So, that`s one aspect of my past experience.
But being the CEO of WWE, taking a company from a small mom-and-pop company to a medium-sized and to a larger company that`s now traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the management, leadership skills necessary to do that, negotiating skills, driving the consensus when you need to, but holding the line when you need to, and making payroll.
That`s a --
REGAN: That`s a tough one.
MCMAHON: That`s a tough one, and sometimes wondering are you going to be able to make a payroll.
REGAN: So, how did you come back from bankruptcy when you lost everything?
MCMAHON: We really had to cut back on everything. I mean, we were able to rent, you know, a smaller house.
REGAN: Did you have kids at the time?
MCMAHON: We had one child, Shane. And we had a child on the way, Stephanie, our second child.
As a matter of fact, I`ll digress and tell you a quick story. The day that we were having our hearing at bankruptcy court in Hartford, Connecticut, Vince was out of town. I was meeting him at the courthouse. I go down to get in the car, I`m seven months pregnant with Stephanie, I have a flat tire.
So, I have to call a tow service out of Hartford. If they come, don`t have time to change the tire. Got in the tow truck, he said he was going back to Hartford, pull up in front of the courthouse in this big tow truck with the big hook hanging down the back, the whole deal. Lumber out of the tow truck, file folders under my arm, Vince walks down and he says, "Well, now, all you really need to be is barefoot."
REGAN: Lovely.
MCMAHON: So it was -- that was -- so we had a child seven months pregnant and we chuckle about that story today. But I`ll tell you, it was a daunting experience.
REGAN: So, what ideas do you have about coming out of the financial doldrums that we`re in?
MCMAHON: You have to cut the spending. The spending that has gone on in Washington, the building of the deficit that is going on, our debt is continuing to increase. We have got to stop the spending.
You know, if we -- and, you know, I have some thoughts on that, too, I really do think we need to freeze federal hirings. I think we need to freeze federal pay increases, roll back expenses, you know, to 2008. We clearly need to take surplus money, freeze it, pay down the debt.
And --
REGAN: And what about jobs? Because that is the main issue now. I know you hear that all over.
MCMAHON: I do hear that all over the state of Connecticut. They`re so concerned about their jobs. That`s what you hear all over the country, it`s getting people back to work. And --
REGAN: How do you do that?
MCMAHON: Well, I think you have to create more of an environment of certainty for our small businesses and entrepreneurs to want to put their capital at risk, to want to grow. Right now, with not understanding what rules and regulations are going to come down, what new taxes are going to come down, how this health care plan is going to impact them, if taxes are going to go up after the first of the year, you have businesses that are just afraid now to hire, to grow or to start.
REGAN: I`m going to talk a little bit about what your critics have to say about your record running the World Wrestling Entertainment Company. Many of them criticize the fact that a lot to wrestlers didn`t have any health care benefits or retirement benefits. There`s been a lot in the news recently about, sadly and tragically, last wee, one of the wrestlers passed away at the age of 29 from heart failure, and many others have had serious health issues related to steroid abuse.
And health care is a huge issue for the retired wrestlers who were injured, who have many, many problems, who continue to have problems.
What do you say to your critics who say you ran this organization and you didn`t provide these people with health benefits?
MCMAHON: One of the things I think that WWE -- and I`m proud of the WWE is that over the past couple of decades, in changing an entire industry, you know, from a really a traveling road show to a whole different kind of industry and making improvements all along the way, all of the men and women who are the performers in WWE are covered for any kind of job-related injury, if they`re hurt in the ring, whatever. Whether it`s surgery, whether it`s rehab or whatever, through that entire time and however long it takes them to recover, they`re fully covered for that.
And approximately, once a year, we bring in health care planners, financial planners in to meet with those members of WWE to sit down with them and their families to talk about how to plan for their retirement, you know, and for health care outside of WWE. And many of the performers who are married have health care under their spouse`s plan.
So, we do think that we provide an opportunity for them to plan, to take advantage of health care offerings that are in the marketplace, to educate them, you know, about doing that.
REGAN: Right.
Stay right there. I`ll be right back with Linda McMahon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REGAN: I`m back with Linda McMahon, the Republican Senate nominee from Connecticut.
Any surprises in terms of the political world? Did anything surprise you going out there and talking to people and how it all works?
MCMAHON: With all due respect to the media, it`s very difficult to be expected to be 100 percent informed and up on everything that is going on in the world on a moment`s notice and be prepared to give a response -- which ought to be able to be, you know, contemplated and deliberative. But it`s a 20-second sound bite. And if you change your mind because you then become better informed, you run the risk of flip-flopping.
REGAN: Uh-oh!
MCMAHON: And so, I find that to be the most difficult thing is to be informed and to be up to speed on things.
REGAN: Yes. And do you --
MCMAHON: But to be held accountable for your, you know, decision on that on a moment`s notice. I`m deliberative and I`m contemplative and I`m a pretty quick study. But --
REGAN: It`s tough.
MCMAHON: Sometimes, that`s the tough part.
REGAN: And the scrutiny -- the scrutiny now. Everything you say is remembered and repeated endlessly on the Internet. So, you have to be so much more careful as a politician because anything you say can and will be used against you.
So, do you become much more measured in your response to things? Do you have to -- do you worry about everything that you say? Are you more guarded about the things that you say?
MCMAHON: I try to be thoughtful about the things that I say when it`s relative to policy, you know, those kinds of issues. But, you know, if you -- if you`re just out in a group and the press is following you, you know, you`re being yourself. And so, I`m pretty much who I am.
REGAN: So, Linda, if you had a wrestler`s name, what would it be?
MCMAHON: Oh, wow.
(LAUGHTER)
REGAN: Oh, wow?
MCMAHON: No, I don`t think -- I`ve never thought about that. I`m not quite sure what that would be.
REGAN: And is there any move --
MCMAHON: And it was --
REGAN: -- that you would be famous for?
MCMAHON: I think it would have to be a submission hold.
(LAUGHTER)
REGAN: I love it.
MCMAHON: I was asked one time, you know, about being Vince McMahon`s wife and, you know, being in this particular industry. And I said, well, I said, you know, I`m not a professional wrestler, but though I have put a couple of submission holds on Vince McMahon.
REGAN: How have you managed to stay married for 44 years?
MCMAHON: A great sense of humor.
REGAN: On your part or his?
MCMAHON: Both. Both.
REGAN: That`s a long time, because you`ve been together from -- what age?
MCMAHON: We`ve just grown up together. I was 13 and he was 16 when we met.
REGAN: Where did you meet?
MCMAHON: In, believe it or not, we met in church in North Carolina.
REGAN: Now, that`s a good place to meet a mate.
MCMAHON: So, it`s either ordained, or, as he says, the devil made him do it, he`s not sure which.
(LAUGHTER)
REGAN: And at this point, what do you say you value the most?
MCMAHON: I value my family. And I -- that is one of the driving reasons I got into this race. It`s -- I do have five and almost six little grandchildren and I really looked at them and said, you know, what is the world going to be for you? What kind of opportunity are you going to have?
And it is that drive that really wants to make me jump in to this and to see if I can contribute in some way that will help turn things around and make things better for them.
REGAN: Well, thank you, Linda McMahon.
MCMAHON: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up a little later on the JOY BEHAR SHOW, comedian Lisa Lampanelli drops by to talk about the controversy over her Comedy Central roast of David Hasselhoff. Did comedy`s queen of mean go too far this time? Now back to the show.
REGAN: It`s been quite a year for infidelity. And now a cheating hall of famer is back in the news. Jesse James, Sandra Bullock`s ex, is reportedly dating reality star Kat Von Deet. So why would Kat Von Deet wade into such shallow water. Here to answer that question and others you might be afraid to ask are Dennis Hof, star of HBO`s "CATHOUSE" and owner of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada. And his "CATHOUSE" co-stars Bunny Ranch working girls CAMI Parker and Jazzy Jones. And we are going to start with you, Cami. Why would a woman want to be, Jesse at this point?
CAMI PARKER, MOONLITE BUNNY RANCH WORKING GIRL: Well, I wouldn`t. But I guess a lot of people they want someone that they can fix. I`ll tame him. Like -- he`ll be good for me but --
REGAN: All right well there is a new study, and this is interesting, men are more likely to cheat on their high earning female partners and also high earning men are more likely to cheat on their women. So Dennis, how do we win given that?
DENNIS HOF, MOOLITE BUNNY RANCH OWNER: Well I don`t know because that`s pretty stupid to be cheating on a high income earner. I think that`s --
REGAN: Well that`s what Jesse James did.
HOF: I know but it seems like it should be the other way around. At least if you have a respect for her place in life and the show business and don`t cheat on her. I mean don`t embarrass her. That`s what people don`t want. They don`t want to be embarrassed.
REGAN: All right so why do men cheat? Why do they go to the Bunny Ranch?
HOF: Well they cheat for a lot of reasons. Variety. They`re afraid to ask their sweet little wife to do something that the girls might do. OK?
REGAN: Is that true?
PARKER: Oh definitely.
HOF: It`s variety, asking them to do different things and it`s having fun. Fun`s what`s missing in men`s life any more. They want to go back to the time when they were in college dating the little cheerleader like Cami and not the reality of raising kids and working for a living and those things. That`s not fun. Fun is dating Cami and Jazzy.
REGAN: All right so Jazzy what have you learned about men in the Bunny Ranch?
JAZZY JONES, MOONLITE BUNNY RANCH WORKING GIRL: At the bunny ranch, that it`s more than just sex. They like to --
REGAN: You know, that`s actually what this new study says, 92 percent of men who cheat said it wasn`t about sex. Which shocks me. So what`s it about?
JONES: It`s about this mind stimulation, the fact that they can --
REGAN: Mind stimulation, look at the two of you. Come on. Mind stimulation? Come on. Mind stimulation from looking at beautiful women?
JONES: Yes. We are beautiful women. We`re intelligent also.
REGAN: Yes but what do they want? What have you learned, Cami, about what men fundamentally want when they come to the Bunny Ranch?
PARKER: I think the most important thing is the male ego. They want to feel like the man, like you`re listening, you care, like you`re so amazing, you`re so awesome. I haven`t heard your stories before. So to me, they`re interesting. I haven`t met you. To me, you`re a fascinating new person. Everybody lines to feel that.
REGAN: So why do they pay? Why do they pay for sex?
PARKER: Because I`m not going to call your wife. I`m not going to give you a disease. I`m not going to pop up when you least expect it. See Jesse James should have come to the Bunny Ranch.
HOF: He`d still have his lovely little wife Sandra.
PARKER: Right.
REGAN: No but seriously, Dennis, why do men pay? In this world where we now live in, where it is everywhere, it`s free, it`s all over the place. You know there`s all this sexual liberation. Why are men paying for it?
HOF: They pay for anonymity, they pay for privacy, they pay for discretion, the girls not to get pregnant and not to call their wives. And you know what, the money they pay is a small amount compared to what Jesse and Tiger have paid.
REGAN: Oh, yes. Speaking of money and the economy that we`re now in, has it changed anything at the bunny ranch?
PARKER: It really has. The business is booming. We`ve will the best year we`ve ever had at the Bunny Ranch. And we think it`s a lot to do with sexually transmitted diseases. They`re rampant in America. Especially in the Las Vegas area. And it`s -- the guys need a release. They need to have some fun. They want to have fun. That`s what`s missing in most people`s lives.
REGAN: Now what about the women who apply for jobs? Has that changed, the nature of the women? Because with more sexual freedom and with the economy collapsing, are you getting different kinds of women?
HOF: Well we are getting a thousand -- the Ranch gets a thousand girls a month that inquire. And send in pictures and all that. And they`re from all walks of life. Girls, what do some of the girls that you`re friends with, what do they do?
PARKER: Oh my gosh, one girl was working in a bank for 13 years, people who were school teachers, people who were secretaries, Wall Streeters, people who were nurses, people who just had normal jobs.
HOF: A lot of housewives where the husband lost his job. Soccer mom, husband lost a job at the county. Now she`s in there making a six-figure income and he`s the soccer husband.
REGAN: That`s incredible. Now legal versus illegal prostitution in Nevada. What`s the difference between what happens at the Bunny Ranch and what happens in Vegas? You know I know what you`ve said to me what happens in Vegas doesn`t always stay in Vegas. So tell me what that means. I was shocked.
HOF: Absolutely, the viewers don`t realize that prostitution is not legal in Las Vegas. It`s not legal in Reno or Lake Tahoe. The rest of the counties, it is legal in. Now what we`re seeing is a real outburst of STDs in Las Vegas, 400 girls now that have been arrested for prostitution mandatory STD test working with HIV. So what happens in Vegas doesn`t stay in Vegas. It goes home to the wives, and that`s why I`m opening up two places right outside of Las Vegas. I just got the licenses yesterday.
REGAN: Now, what`s the difference between legal -- what do you have to go through to run a legal brothel?
HOF: Well I have to go through a lot of scrutiny by the state and the federal government with background checks, financial checks. And then we get a license, and then the girls are mandatory health checks. And that`s why --
REGAN: And how often does that happen?
JONES: Once a week.
REGAN: Once a week. And what does that involve?
JONES: just a regular STD screening for Chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV, once a week.
HOF: Weekly. That`s why in 30 years, 30 years of mandatory testing, there hasn`t been one case of HIV in our system. And in Las Vegas, in one year, the HIV rate went up of incidents 47 percent.
REGAN: Now what about Craigslist. You know people are always advertising on Craigslist. But we obviously know that this is an incredibly dangerous thing. But with the internet and access to everybody, it`s changed the sex business.
HOF: Yes, and sadly, it`s got a lot of trafficking. In fact, there`s some things out there now about Craigslist survivors. Because what they`re seeing is that any pimp can grab an underage girl and with a laptop have her to work in ten minutes. And the FBI stepped in. Everybody`s trying to control this, but the trafficking of women in Las Vegas, the mayor`s now said there`s 3,000 active pimps working with 30,000 girls, all untested, all doing illegal activities and underage.
REGAN: Dangerous, very dangerous. All right, I want to address these questions to you two. Does your mother know what you`re doing? In both cases?
PARKER: Yes. Absolutely.
REGAN: And what do your mothers think of what you`re doing because you`re 19 and you`re 20.
JONES: Yes.
REGAN: And you`re 20 -- 21.
PARKER: Twenty one.
REGAN: OK so what was your mother`s response when you told them that you were going to work at the Bunny Ranch?
PARKER: My mother -- my mother`s from Canada. She`s kind of like a hippie, well, as long as you`re happy. You know she met Danny and she liked him very much. Because she knows it`s nothing dangerous and nothing bad. And I`m really happy. And that`s what`s important to her.
REGAN: And what about you, Jazzy?
JONES: My mother`s okay with it now. When she first found out -- I didn`t tell her. She found out. And I think that`s what made her more upset than anything is that I hid it from her. Because she thought it was a bad thing because I hid it from her. We have at the Bunny Ranch and you know, I grew up less than what we have at the Bunny Ranch. There`s hot tubs and swimming pools and sauna`s. OK, you`re safe.
REGAN: But you had a very religious background, right?
JONES: Yes.
REGAN: You come from a very religious background.
JONES: Yes very religious.
REGAN: Is it against your religion?
JONES: It is against my religion.
REGAN: How do you reconcile that?
JONES: I pray every day.
REGAN: The Bunny Ranch limo pulls up in front of the church every Sunday with a bunch of girls.
REGAN: All right very quickly we live in a really transactional era, you can sell your eggs, you can sell your sperm, and now you can sell your virginity. Which is shocking, women are now selling their virginity. Tell me about that.
HOF: We did that. And it was a worldwide story. And now I got over a hundred girls that want to sell their virginity. And they come from all walks of life, all social economic backgrounds.
REGAN: What kind of money are they looking for?
HOF: You can get a million dollars and above for that.
REGAN: Why I mean what does that say about men that they`re willing to spend a million dollars for someone`s virginity.
HOF: We`re all crazy.
REGAN: You`re all crazy, there`s no doubt about that.
HOF: We are all crazy.
REGAN: And now in China they`re doing a lot of going back to being virgins. They do hymen reconstruction.
HOF: Re-hymenization.
REGAN: Re-hymenization, you know it`s a crazy world we`re living in.
HOF: It`s a crazy world.
REGAN: No but seriously, why?
HOF: I get virgins all the time. Over a hundred right now. In fact, I thought we`d come up with a new website. America`s next top virgin.
(LAUGHTER)
REGAN: But do you ever feel you`re exploiting anyone?
HOF: I`m not because the girls come to me. And we`re partners. I`m not a pimp. We`re partners.
REGAN: And you two. Do you ever feel exploited?
PARKER: Nah ah.
JONES: No.
PARKER: Absolutely not.
JONES: Everything is a choice thing. We`re not forced to do anything. And we love what we do.
PARKER: I feel like -
REGAN: Jazzy, Cami, we have to go. Thanks --
HOF: Thank you, happy birthday.
REGAN: Thanks, everyone.
You can see the new season of "CATHOUSE" on HBO in December.
Up next, the queen of mean, Lisa Lampanelli tells me what it was like to roast the Hoff and not Dennis Hof.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA LAMPANELLI, COMEDIAN: It`s no coincidence George Hamilton loves the sun. They were born in the same year. The difference is the sun is actually a star.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: That was the queen of mean. Comedian Lisa Lampanelli from the comedy central roast of David Hasselhoff. She`s here with me now.
LAMPANELLI: Hi. Good to see you.
REGAN: I love you so much.
LAMPANELLI: I love you Judith Regan.
REGAN: I have to love you so you never roast me.
LAMPANELLI: That`s true. That`s true, we only roast the ones we love.
REGAN: So you`ve never roasted me.
LAMPANELLI: Not yet.
REGAN: My day will come, right?
LAMPANELLI: Yes.
REGAN: What was it like roasting David Hasselhoff?
LAMPANELLI: He was great. He`s the one guy who said there`s nothing off limits. And there`s so much to make fun of.
REGAN: That video of him on the ground drunk eating the hamburger.
LAMPANELLI: His liver is so big, it`s dating two of the Kardashian sisters. He`s big in Germany. That`s something to be proud of. They`ve always been known for their sound judgment. He was an easy target. He was a gentleman, he was great.
REGAN: After the thing was over, what happened?
LAMPANELLI: He hugged me and said thank you.
REGAN: Is he a masochist?
LAMPANELLI: Yes.
REGAN: Seriously, there`s something wrong with him.
LAMPANELLI: He total me wanted me. Look. Me and the Bunny Ranch girls, we`re like a mirror image. Thanks for having them on the same show with me. My self-esteem doesn`t suck enough. Thank you.
REGAN: All right so you`re good at dishing out the insults.
LAMPANELLI: Yes.
REGAN: But can you take it?
LAMPANELLI: Yes, I love it.
REGAN: We`re going to listen to what some of the comedians from the Comedy Central roast of David Hasselhoff had to say about you, girlfriend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SETH MACFARLANE, CREATOR, "FAMILY GUY": Oh my God look at this. Pamela Anderson and Lisa Lampanelli in the same room. The most and least downloaded women on the internet together.
GREG GIRALDO: Good to see you, Lisa. I`ve never seen a circus bear in a pantsuit before. You know what Lisa seems -- she seems very confident, but she`s actually not. She`s very sweet. She was telling me last night that she had knots in all four of her stomachs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: And it doesn`t hurt. You can take it.
LAMPANELLI: This is the first roast -- I`ve done like 20 roasts in my life. No joke hurt my feeling this year.
REGAN: Really.
LAMPANELLI: Because they were so good. Make fun of me but make it funny and clever.
REGAN: So if it`s funny, then no matter what they say it`s OK.
LAMPANELLI: My feeling with comedy, there`s nothing off limits as long as you can make it funny. The more they show me laughing, that`s the more ticket sales and that`s more Toyota Camrys for Lisa Lampanelli.
REGAN: So in the past at the other roasts, what hurt your feelings.
LAMPANELLI: Just a joke wasn`t well written. Poor Pam Anderson.
REGAN: The whole night about her private parts. Enough already.
LAMPANELLI: I don`t even have any anymore.
REGAN: I don`t either. I retired them long ago. It`s over. Right? By the way, interesting article. New study claims cougars don`t exist. Says that all nonsense. Older women don`t really want younger men. Do you think that`s true?
LAMPANELLI: I have never wanted a younger man. I wouldn`t know - come on a 20-year-old? I`m 49. I wouldn`t know if I should have sex with him or burp him. It`s not good. So you know what -
REGAN: Not for you.
LAMPANELLI: I like guys my age. I`m engaged to a guy 49 years - old, just like myself.
REGAN: Yes but Mel Gibson you liked.
LAMPANELLI: No, I don`t, I`m very angry with him.
REGAN: Come on, stop.
LAMPANELLI: Oh please, he should bury himself and his career in that rose garden with the girlfriend.
REGAN: Really.
LAMPANELLI: OK. He`s got nothing going on. Isn`t he terrible?
REGAN: Well I don`t get it. I just don`t get it. I mean it must be some weird drug cocktail.
LAMPANELLI: Well there`s something wrong with him.
REGAN: I just don`t` understand. No man has ever said that to me, you need to shut up and - oh I can`t say it. I`m not allowed to say it.
LAMPANELLI: I mean I`ve had that happen to me but I`ve asked for it.
REGAN: Really.
LAMPANELLI: Yes, I like it rough, what can you I tell you? You know what`s funny Mel Gibson, first of all a few years back alienated all the Jewish people. And so he couldn`t work in Hollywood. Now he says the "N" word so B.E.T. won`t even put him on.
REGAN: Oh but you do that, you say things -
LAMPANELLI: I`m a comedy.
REGAN: I know - you`re in comedy, what do you say to your detractors say, oh my god, she says racist things, Anti-Semitic things, blah, blah, blah, they don`t get offended from the joke?
LAMPANELLI: I come from a fine tradition insult comedy. You know I love Don Rickle, one of my heroes is Howard Stern. We know how to do it with love in our hearts. My feeling if I don`t make fun of you, I hate you. So I don`t make jokes about the French.
REGAN: No are insult comics - are insult comics born that way or is it nurtured into you?
LAMPANELLI: Oh I think it is nurtured into you really -
REGAN: By your mother?
LAMPANELLI: Oh absolutely, oh my god, my mother was tough. OH she was.
REGAN: Tough Italian mother.
LAMPANELLI: Let`s put it this way, she would have straightened Precious out in ten minutes flat. My mother is rough. It`s good. And it`s good because it toughens you up and you can scrap around a little.
REGAN: Yes was she funny?
LAMPANELLI: Hilarious. Very funny jokes.
REGAN: Well Perez Hilton, with respect to your David Hasselhoff roast. Here`s what he roach.
LAMPANELLI: You do your research.
REGAN: I did my research, roasts are supposed to be a fun way to take jabs at celebs, but comedian Lisa Lampanelli may have gone a bit too far in her roast of David Hasselhoff last night. She made some low blow jokes that used Jews, blacks and Haiti as the punch lines.
LAMPANELLI: That Haiti joke was hilarious. All I said was we are here to roast a person whose career has crumbled worse than downtown Haiti. Now to me that`s cute. It`s a little compliment to David Hasselhoff. First of all, I got all that publicity because of Perez Hilton. That like helps you.
REGAN: Yes, he`s good, he makes careers.
LAMPANELLI: Yes and a lot of people who commented after he said, is this too far? They said no, absolutely not, it`s a roast. And it`s not a retirement dinner. We`re rough, we`re tough, we have no language restrictions. So you know what, thank you, Perez. I love you.
REGAN: No, no, it use to be that there used to be private roasts that no one got in on that no one taped and that no one recorded and they were even crazier.
LAMPANELLI: Oh at the Friar`s club -
REGAN: Yes.
LAMPANELLI: We still do them.
REGAN: You do.
LAMPANELLI: They have them once a year, we do Jerry Lewis in private. Like they even make the waiters leave the room.
REGAN: Seriously?
LAMPANELLI: It`s awesome.
REGAN: Can you have hidden cameras?
LAMPANELLI: Oh, well, I`ll smuggle one for you. All right seriously, Jerry Lewis was great. Because I didn`t think he was alive any more. We insulted him. And by the way, that`s the year he had the heart attack two days later. I like to take some of that credit.
REGAN: Is anything off limits?
LAMPANELLI: For me, oh my god, I used to think I can`t say this certain word or I can`t say that. And then the better you get and the more you show you really do love your audience, I think you can get away with anything.
REGAN: Yes.
LAMPANELLI: So you know what, I guess, again, unless it`s not funny. If it`s not funny, it`s not funny.
REGAN: Dr. Laura, do you think she`s funny?
LAMPANELLI: Oh my god, no, but she`s just stupid. You know don`t say that word over and over. It`s a bad thing.
REGAN: Unless you are Lisa Lampanelli.
LAMPANELLI: Let`s put it this way.
REGAN: Let`s put it in context.
LAMPANELLI: I`m a Knicks fan and I don`t even say that word. OK? So you know what? Step off, Dr. Laura.
REGAN: So you think she`s a racist?
LAMPANELLI: No, I don`t think she`s a racist. I think she just snapped. Again like the Michael Richards thing. Snapped. But then you don`t recover from that. You got to be careful. You know?
REGAN: scary, scary, scary. So why do people like to be insulted. And why do they come to your shows and sit in the front row so they can be insulted.
LAMPANELLI: I think it`s either extreme self-love or extreme self- hate and either translates to me becoming more famous. So what I say -
REGAN: And that`s all that really matters in life. Let`s face it.
LAMPANELLI: I think psychologically if you have really good self- esteem, you want to be made fun of because you`re part of things. Like insult comedy, we bring people together to show we`re all the same.
REGAN: So the healthy people come and they sit in the front row. Mentally healthy people.
LAMPANELLI: Right, oh my god, well, yes emotionally available.
REGAN: Emotionally available people. All right Lisa Lampanelli. We are going to take a break and then when we come back, we`re going to do more. And you`re not going to insult me.
LAMPANELLI: Never.
REGAN: You are not going to roast me because I love you.
LAMPANELLI: No.
REGAN: We`ll be right back in just a minute.
NANCY GRACE, HLN ANCHOR: Hello, hello. Stay with us friends, we are speaking justice.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REGAN: I`m back with comedian Lisa Lampanelli. I want you to give me your beauty tips.
LAMPANELLI: My beauty tips?
REGAN: Your anti-aging secrets, come on, look at you.
LAMPANELLI: I`ve got none. Listen, the hair and makeup guy came five hours before I had to come here today. Trust me, the minute I retire I`m not getting a manicure ever again. I can`t stand it. I`m totally letting myself go and gaining all my weight back. I don`t care.
REGAN: Really, why?
LAMPANELLI: It`s a lot of makeup.
REGAN: Come on those beautiful hair extensions.
LAMPANELLI: Honey. Oh, my god. These hair extensions, girl`s best friend.
REGAN: Girls` best friend.
LAMPANELLI: Yes.
REGAN: OK now Lindsay Lohan could be leaving rehab next week.
LAMPANELLI: Oh poor Lindsay.
REGAN: You went into rehab.
LAMPANELLI: Yes I did.
REGAN: You had addictions to food -- you were a co-dependent.
LAMPANELLI: Yes, I had addictions to chocolate food and chocolate men.
REGAN: Did you recover?
LAMPANELLI: Yes, from the chocolate men part. The food is impossible.
REGAN: Impossible.
LAMPANELLI: I mean seriously. So but really it took me 28 days to get over men and food. And it only takes her like three days to get over crystal meth. I don`t think this is right, something about that equation is off.
REGAN: So now how did you do it?
LAMPANELLI: Well I went to this co-dependency place. And they taught you how to be alone. I had dated, no lie, from ages 14 to 33 without a break.
REGAN: Stop it.
LAMPANELLI: So I eat pray loved --
REGAN: To the same person?
LAMPANELLI: Eat, prayed and loved. And I concentrated and I got now, a very nice fiance instead of a bad boy because that`s what I was attracted to.
REGAN: All right, so would you rather eat, pray or love at this point?
LAMPANELLI: Oh eat, constantly, yes, you know. Food or sex. I think you know.
REGAN: I know. And you have a nice one, you have like a really nice fiance.
LAMPANELLI: Oh he`s so nice, Jimmy. Jimmy Big Balls. He`s such a nice guy.
REGAN: I know.
LAMPANELLI: Well he`s Italian. Oh, he`s not black. And I`m like he`s Italian. So in the south, he`s considered black. Calm down. OK, I`m not a fake.
REGAN: And now at the wedding, which is coming up in October.
LAMPANELLI: Yes.
REGAN: Are you going to be serving any kind of roast?
LAMPANELLI: No, I hope not, I hope not.
REGAN: Will the toast be a roast?
LAMPANELLI: You know what`s so funny about our wedding, it`s so traditional. People are like really shocked. I`m wearing a big dress and everything. I`m like I don`t care. I`m pretending to be a virgin.
REGAN: You are wearing white.
LAMPANELLI: Oh yes, hell yes.
REGAN: Oh no. So you`re really a romantic at heart, you found true love. With all those insults, do you ever insult him?
LAMPANELLI: All the time. Come on.
REGAN: Oh yes you love him, he sits in the front row.
LAMPANELLI: You know what he said to me, this is pretty funny, he goes, you know, I knew what I was getting into when I met you. That insult humor and an ironclad pre-nup. So it all worked out.
REGAN: Really?
LAMPANELLI: Yes, absolutely.
REGAN: All right we have some facebook questions for you. Which I love who would you like to roast that you haven`t yet?
LAMPANELLI: You know, I would love to roast Oprah. Because I am sick of Oprah because she, I feel, used to help people, now she`s a little fake.
REGAN: You think?
LAMPANELLI: Yes, I do. Because she said she has a thyroid problem.
REGAN: Why.
LAMPANELLI: I`m like, honey, you have a twinkie problem. Put them down. I understand. We can relate to each other.
REGAN: We all have thyroid problems.
LAMPANELLI: Yes.
REGAN: You know what happens after a certain age. Now is there any subject you won`t touch?
LAMPANELLI: No.
REGAN: Nothing off limits. When did you realize you wanted to be a comedian.
LAMPANELLI: Oh my god, age 30. It hit me.
REGAN: Thirty, so old.
LAMPANELLI: I know. I`m ancient.
REGAN: What were you doing before that?
LAMPANELLI: I was a journalist. I worked for "Rolling Stone" magazine. I was a heavy metal. I don`t like to brag but I interviewed Cinderella and Slaughter. All the good bands.
REGAN: I love that and what`s the hardest thing about trying to losing weight?
LAMPANELLI: Oh my god, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Honey what you have to do is not even have it in the house.
REGAN: And your favorite comeback to a heckler?
LAMPANELLI: I can`t say it on the air. I`m so sorry, I can`t get bleeped.
REGAN: OK we won`t bleep you. And we are going to be nice to you. And I don`t want to get roasted by Lisa Lampanelli. Because I love you, I love you so much.
LAMPANELLI: Oh Judith, thank you so much.
REGAN: Thank you for coming. Thanks for joining me tonight. Be sure to check out a copy of her book "Chocolate Please" "My Adventures In Food, Fat And Freaks." And thank you all for watching, I`m Judith Regan. Good night, everybody.
END
