A White House of ill repute

  
 

FROM KLASTV.COM
George Knapp, Investigative Reporter
I-Team Exclusive Interview With Heidi Fleiss
May 26, 2005, 01:11 PM

Nevada's legal brothel business has survived, in part, because it has always kept a low profile. But the industry could be thrust into the spotlight soon with the arrival of a new operator, none other than Heidi Fleiss, better known as the Hollywood Madam. If so, there's only one place in the U.S. where that could happen. "I am coming to Nevada and I am going to open up a brothel," she states.
Heidi's first foray into Nevada's legal bordello business came a few years ago when she hooked up with an Australian company that wanted to build a mega-brothel in Nye County. The plans fizzled but Fleiss was hooked. Unlike Nevada's brothels, there isn't much about the former Hollywood Madam that's low key. Her trial was front-page news. She's published two best selling books, has been the subject of two movies and a documentary, sold a DVD of sex tips and would easily rank as the highest profile figure in Nevada's brothel industry. To do that, she will probably have to convince potential rivals that her place would complement, not compete. Fleiss says, "The other brothel owners will benefit tremendously, because, look it, I have so many women trying to work for me, and you can only have so many. They will benefit from the fallout. I guarantee their numbers will quadruple." She makes this boast based on her business plan. Fleiss will cater to the same mega-rich clientele that she served in Hollywood. She expects to set a minimum for walk-in customers, say $5,000. Customers who can't afford that would be expected to visit other bordellos in the neighborhood. "I am coming like a social worker to make everyone happy. I'm not threatening to take anyone's territory or cornering the market. I'm just bringing more to the community." She clearly has a business sense and has made a lot of money in all of her other ventures. Some Nevada brothel owners told us they're impressed by the homework she's done in preparing for a Nevada project. And others who work with Fleiss say every day is a learning experience. In the early 90's, before her operation was busted, her working girls were dispatched to the richest people in Hollywood. These weren't seasoned hookers, but rather, beauty queens and wannabe starlets who decided to make a pile of money in a short period of time. It's the same sort of work force Fleiss says she will recruit to work in her Nevada brothel. Heidi Fleiss says, "I get the finest. I get the cover of Seventeen magazine, the pageantry winner, the most beautiful girls on earth. I get everyone's dream girl. I get your dream girl." If she can get a Nevada brothel opened, Fleiss says she will go on a worldwide recruiting tour, looking for fresh faces who are willing to work in a brothel for a short time, then use their earnings as a springboard to something else. "I don't recommend prostitution as a career. If I had a daughter, which I don't, I wouldn't want her to be a prostitute. But look at these girls -- they go out all night, sleep with different guys every night. Why not? Hey, I guarantee you, living in Hollywood you have a better chance of getting into the movies through my White House brothel in Nevada than through CAA," Fleiss states. She has a long way to go before her brothel becomes a reality. Fleiss has spent months looking at other bordellos and properties in Nevada, from Reno to Pahrump and in between. Because of her criminal record, she will need to latch on with an existing licensee for a period. She's talked to several but hasn't reached a deal. Interviewed at her Little Shop of Sex in Hollywood, Heidi hinted that her customer base would likely include names from her little black book, names she never made public even during her legal troubles, customers who might pay a huge membership fee for her brothel. The steep fees mean she would not be a direct threat to other brothel owners. "They're smarter than me. With what they're selling, everyone can afford. I cater to a very elite market. Not everyone's going to be able to afford a $5,000 entry fee, but everyone else can afford what they're selling."
Fleiss knows that government officials in rural counties will have their doubts. It's why she's quietly been meeting with many of them, to let them know her intentions. "My lesson was learned. I paid a very high price for the crime I committed. I did learn a lesson. I'm going to do it legally, not illegally."
In order to stand out from other brothels, and from the all-but-legal hooker rackets in Las Vegas, Fleiss has a grand design in mind -- a replica of the White House. She'll even call it the White House, but isn't trying to make a political statement, just a marketing one. "It will work. They have the Eiffel Tower there, the Pyramids. So it's time for the White House. You build the White House and it will work. You want something the way it should be. Natural, beautiful, and that's what it is. It's just sex." Fleiss says she has backers who are willing to invest millions of dollars in her venture, but she hopes to launch the business with her own money. She was expected to meet Tuesday with Nye County officials but has not yet decided if she will build her place in that county because she's been offered land and a building up near Reno.