[Joe M]

Would have been better off in Thailand...


N. Zealand filmmaker arrested in drag in US prostitution sting
Feb 02 8:42 PM US/Eastern

New Zealand filmmaker Lee Tamahori, who directed the James Bond movie "Die Another Day," has been arrested in a Hollywood prostitution sting while dressed in drag.

Tamahori, 55, was arrested on January 8 when he allegedly sought sex with an undercover policeman while clad in women's clothes, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

"Mr Tamahori was arrested for soliciting. I can confirm he was dressed in women's clothing at the time of the arrest," Officer Jason Lee of the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Prosecutors confirmed they had filed two misdemeanour charges against the Hollywood filmmaker: agreeing to engage in an act of prostitution and unlawfully loitering on Hollywood's Santa Monica Boulevard.

"He was arrested after approaching an undercover officer who was sitting in his car and offering to perform a sex act," Frank Mateljan of the Los Angeles City Attorney's office.

"The defendant was dressed in drag, loitering on the sidewalk," the spokesman said.

Tamahori also directed last year's action adventure "XXX: State of the Union" with Samuel L. Jackson and Willem Dafoe and 2001's "Along Came a Spider" with Morgan Freeman.

He is due to appear in court in Los Angeles on February 24 to be arraigned on the two charges. He is free on 2,000 dollars bail, according to the City Attorney's office.

Tamahori's lawyer, celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, did not immediately return calls for comment on the arrest of the filmmaker.

He started out as a commercial artist and photographer in New Zealand, before entering the film industry in the late 1970 as a boom microphone operator, going on to become an assistant director.

Tamahori got his break in Hollywood directing an episode of the hit television series "The Sopranos" in 2000 and went on do "Spider" the following year, before making "Die Another Day" starring Piece Brosnan and Oscar-winning Bond girl Halle Berry in 2002.

[Pearl of the Orient]

we really should be shown pictures of the arresting officer in these cases so we can ascertain whether this man has good or bad taste.

[clawdaddy]

There is no such thing as bad publicity...it will be interesting to see what happens to this guy's career.

Hugh Grant can cavort with ladies of the evening and become more popular than before. Eddie Murphy finds himself in an embarrassing situation with a trannie and goes on to make mindless film after mindless film for Disney! Whereas Paul Reubens (aka Peewee Herman) gets nabbed polishing his own nob at a Florida adult cinema and he becomes a pariah.



The lesson? Soliciting sex while cross-dressing is no problem in Hollywood as long as you aren't masturbating!

[clawdaddy]

This is from "the Smoking Gun"

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/steveomug1.html

"Jackass" star Steve-O (aka Stephen Glover) was arrested in August 2002 for exposing himself during a nightclub performance in Louisiana. Glover allegedly stapled his scrotum to his thigh and also participated in another stunt during which a bouncer slammed a patron's head on the ground. The 28-year-old Johnny Knoxville sidekick, who was charged with obscenity and being an accessory to second-degree battery, is scheduled to be arraigned December 16.

Isn't a scrotum stapled to thigh punishment enough?

[clawdaddy]

Found a little more detail on this bizarre story:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3561842a10,00.html

Kiwi film-maker Lee Tamahori faces up to a year in jail and a $7200 fine after his arrest in a Hollywood prostitution sting.

Allegedly wearing a black wig and an off-the-shoulder dress, Tamahori, 55, is said to have approached an undercover policeman on January 8 on Santa Monica Boulevard and offered him sex for money.

Under Californian law, the soliciting charge could mean a year in jail, a $US5000 ($NZ7200) fine, or both. "But normally you don't get a long jail time for this."

Prosecutors confirmed to AFP they had filed two misdemeanour charges against Tamahori – agreeing to engage in an act of prostitution and unlawfully loitering.

"He was arrested after approaching an undercover officer, who was sitting in his car, and offering to perform a sex act," Frank Mateljan, of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, said.

"The defendant was dressed in drag, loitering on the sidewalk."

Tamahori was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress and a black wig.

He is due to appear in court in Los Angeles on February 24 to be arraigned on the two charges. He is free on $US2000 ($NZ3000) bail, according to the city attorney's office.

An entertainment website reported that he was being represented by celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, who has defended Michael Jackson, actress Winona Ryder and Roger Clinton, former president Bill Clinton's brother.

However, Mr Geragos' Los Angeles office could not confirm this.

He is due to begin production on Hollywood sci-fi film Next with Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore.


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If you follow the link you can see him out of drag - the thought of him as a woman is truly mortifying!

[I-Nam]

Clawdaddy, do you have jittery claws?