The Pellicano Brief - H to N

The list of crimes hurled at Pellicano's doorstep roll on.

H is for Hollywood

The list of names from Hollywood reeks of misused fame and fortune, entangled around the bloody ham fists of the Big Sleazy as he was once dubbed.

• Bert Fields - Accomplice: Wiretapping
• Chris Rock - Client: Got him off the rape accusation charges
• Elizabeth Hurley: Victim: Recanted claims he was involved in investigations relating to Steve Bing's paternity
• Elizabeth Taylor - Client: "Located" ex-husband's, Mike Todd's remains
• Dustin Hoffman - Client
• Farrah Fawcett - Client
• Garry Shandling - Victim: Threats and smear campaign 
• Jeffrey Katzenberg - Client
• Jerry Springer - Client
• John Tiernan - Crony: Lied about his association with The Big Sleaze
• John Travolta - Client
• Keith Carradine - Victim: Wiretapping in divorce case from Sandra Will Carradine who became Pellicano's girlfriend later
• Kevin Costner - Client 
• Kevin Nealon - Victim: Accessing confidential police records (see picture to figure who he is =>)
• Michael Jackson - Client: Assisted in settlement of child molestation case
• Mike Myers - Client
• Nicole Kidman - Victim: Wiretapped during divorce from Tom Cruise
• OJ Simpson - Client: Tailing Nicole Brown
• Roseanne Barr : Client & Victim:  Sold her out to National Enquirer 
• Steven Seagal - Client: Threatening investigating media
• Steven Spielberg - Client
• Sylvester Stallone - Victim:  Had his phone allegedly tapped
• Terry Christensen - Accomplice: Wiretapping of Kerkorian case
• Tom Cruise - Client
• Warren Beatty - Client

Special mention although not a Hollywood royalty:

• Bill Clinton - Client: Investigating dirt on Monica Lewinsky other than the one on the blue dress
• Hilary Clinton -  Client: Discrediting Gennifer Flowers

I is for Indictment

He faces 110 counts of federal charges. 

 

J is for Jail

He has been in prison since 2002 on a 30-month sentence for possession of hand grenades and plastic explosives.  He is broke and representing himself.  Badly.

K is for Kirk Kerkorian

The billionaire's lawyers were sued by his ex-wife, Lisa Bonder, for allegedly hiring Pellicano to wiretap the telephone conversations for the embattled ex-spouses during their bitter divorce and child custody proceedings.

Prominent LA entertainment lawyer, Terry

 Christensen was indicted on wiretapping and conspiracy charges in connection with Pellicano.  The 2-count indictment alleged that Christensen paid the Sleaze more than $100,000 to wiretap ex-tennis pro, Lisa Bonder in 2002.  

L is for Lurie

Rod Lurie, then a Los Angeles magazine investigative reporter was the target of Pellican attacks when he did an expose on the National Enquirer.  He was threatened by the PI to drop the story and when he refused, received Scientologist-like phone calls from Pellicano who extended his evangelical messages not only to Lurie but his family, friends and even his editors.

He was also accused of bribing one of Lurie's research assistants to purloin the latter's notes.

According to lukeford.net, it gets even more Soprano-like.

In 1989, Lurie got a hold of a list of the Enquirer's paid tipsters. Soon after, Anthony Pellicano called Lurie, and according to Rod, became "very threatening [and] told me in no uncertain terms that he was working for the Enquirer and he was being paid a lot of money to get this file back."

Pellicano called Lurie's editor Nancy Griffin and warned, "Bad things can happen to nice lady editors."

Kim Masters writes in the March 2003 issue of Esquire: "In March 1990, Lurie was knocked from his bike by a hit-and-run driver, breaking some bones. He doesn't claim that Pellicano was somehow involved in the accident, but Lurie says Pellicano may have wanted him to think so when Pellicano called him shortly afterward.

 "Pellicano knew about it awfully fast," he says. "But that could be drama-queen stuff - on his part or mine."

On March 11, 1990, Lurie was riding on a motorcyle near his home in Pasadena. A car drove up behind him and hit him. Lurie wound up in the hospital with two broken ribs and a busted back.

 "It was no accident," he Lurie. "That car hit me on purpose. There's absolutely no doubt about it ... I saw the the guy veer over and go right for me. The tabloids warned me if I didn't back off I'd be sorry. I think they just made good on their threat." (tabloidbaby.com)

M is for Michael Ovitz

Pellicano is an equal opportunity shakedowner.  He did not limit his strong arm tactic to just his targets but to his clients as well.  The eternal opportunist, he could turn on his clients as fast as he wiretapped his victims.

In 2002, supermarket billionaire Ronald W Burkle accused Pellicano of shaking him down for $100 to $250K on behalf of Michael Ovitz, then a talent agent and a partner in one of Burkle's many ill-fated business ventures.

Burkle's testimony to the FBI threw light on the PI's business development tactics and self styled broker status for the movers and shakers in Hollywood.  In this role, he was further able to suck them into his dark web of wiretapping, blackmail, strong arming and violence.

In essence, you either hired Pellicano or you became one of his victims.  Either way, you had to deal with him in some form or other.

The Burkle/Orvitz saga reads like an episode from a sordid soap opera with Orvitz relating to the FBI that he had been investigated by Pellicano on Burkle's behalf and had also in turn, hired the turncoat PI $75,000 to did the dirt on 15-20 targets, including Burkle himself.

In an interview with The Times, Pellicano is shown to have played the two against each other to his increasing financial advantage.  Very clever of him, I must say.

N is for Needle in Arm

Which is what Chris Rock said he preferred to being caught with than being accused of rape.  

The audio tapes regarding the comedienne's rape accusations case were released to the public and they are pretty hilarious.  Rock had hired Pellicano to investigate the female accusing him of rape after a brief fling and of fathering her child.  

The Huffington Post said it best, so I will not reinvent the wheel:

Ms. Virtue testified that while she was working for Mr. Pellicano, Chris Rock contacted the investigator to find out information on Monica Zsibrita. After a one night stand with the comedian in late 1998, she first claimed to be pregnant with his child (which proved to be false), then alleged her one-night stand with Mr. Rock had not be consensual. This conversation between Mr. Rock and Mr. Pellicano is alleged by prosecutors to have been recorded by Mr. Pellicano.

Rock married wife Malaak in November 1996 but claimed the two were separated at the time of his liaison with Zsbrita. During the call Rock admits taking Zsibrita to LA’s Ivy restaurant for dinner, taking her to Guy Oseary’s for a dinner party with Madonna, Elisabeth Shue and Shue’s baby, and to having consensual sex with Zsbrita at the Beverly Hills Hotel. At the time the below conversation took place, there was still a dispute over DNA testing, as she had kept a Kleenex in her freezer with what she claims was Rock’s semen on it.

During the call, Pellicano reads a police report with Zsbrita’s side of the story and assures Rock the police aren’t taking her seriously. No charges were every filed. As Pellicano reads, Rock can be heard interjecting with his side of the story, which contradicts hers. Highlights, in addition to Pellicano calling Rock terms like “honey,” “brother,” “buddy” and “babe” include:

8:15
CR: “I know the night we went to the Ivy she had on white pants. I only noticed cause my wife’s real classy and subdued and I’m out with a girl with big tits and white pants. It’s just, I know people were like, ‘heeey’.”

14:00
Pellicano (reading from report): “He tried to pull out and ejaculated on her thighs. She immediately got up and went to the bathroom where she cleaned up with a Kleenex. She put the Kleenex in her pocket.”

14:55
CR: I’ve been so set up…
AP: Did you come on her thighs?…
CR: I had a rubber on. I probably took it off right when I was getting ready to come. I probably came on her ass.

22:00
AP: Did you stick it in her? Without a rubber?
CR: No

24:45
AP: Now we got to go get this thing legally, which means we gotta subpoena it.

25:50
CR: It never stops
AP: It’s gonna stop. I’m going to make it stop.

27:25
AP: [On Richard Pryor] I know of him trying to kill himself at least 5 times.

29:05
AP: We’re going to get her one way or the other… Does your old lady know what’s going on?
CR: No. She thinks it’s over, put it that way. She knows of it.

30:05
CR: Rape is just fucking, buzz, you know?… Once you’re accused of rape, you’re just FUCKED, you know?
AP: That’s why i want to blacken this girl up, totally. I want to make her out to be a lying, scumbag, manipulative cocksucker… Stupid bitch
CR: I’m fucked. I’m better getting caught with needles in my arm. WAY better. Needles, with pictures, there’s Chris Rock shooting heroin. Much better blow to the career.

The Ms Virtue referred to in the Post article is Tarita Virtue, part of the squad of glamour puss techies he hired to run surveillance.  The Angels to his Charlie.