Daily Archives: August 31, 2009

Former Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss Plots Dirty Dog Deeds with Porn Star Homey in Las Vegas

The former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss enjoys doing most anything dirty in Nevada.  Her dirty empire is now morphing, going to the dogs, with grandiose plans to grow it leaps and bounds.  Heidi Fleiss

dirtylaundryFirst, Fleiss gave a boost to Pahrump, Nevada tax revenues in 2007, and since, by opening her very successful Dirty Laundry coin-op laundromat business.  Now, she’s got a new plan– taking dead aim at cleaning all the dirty dogs in Las Vegas. 

Fleiss is the new owner of a small dog grooming business located in a Kmart shopping center at Sunset and Sandhill roads in Las Vegas that offers everything from doggy dye jobs, nail polish pet-icures, to self-service stations where, if so inclined, you can wash your own dirty ol’ pooch.

They’re calling their business Dirty Dog, though the sign above the door still bears the business’ old name, Little Buddy Bath. 

Kendra RossiFleiss’ business partner in the venture is Kendra Jade Rossi, left, a porn star and recovering sex addict who said she plans to regularly commute to Las Vegas from her home in Los Angeles.  

Their place is open for business, but it’s a bit of a mess right now as Fleiss and company remodel with calming colors and distressed antique furniture meant to give it that “shabby-chic look.”  When they’re done, Fleiss hopes, their doggy salon is going to look like something you would find in a ritzy Los Angeles shopping area. 

“But it’s going to feel in your pocket like you just went to Kmart,” Rossi said. 

Fleiss got the dirty dog bug and decided to get into the grooming business after she attended PetSmart Inc.’s annual meeting in June and learned how much money people spend on their pets each year– to the tune of $6 billion! 

“I wish I’d known about this before. I never would have gone into the sex business or any other business,” Fleiss quipped. 

Fleiss went to the PetSmart meeting in New York City to speak on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which has called on the retailer to phase out the sale of live birds. 

Fleiss has always had a true, enduring love for all types of flesh, feathered and furred animals.  She developed a passion for parrots almost immediately after she moved to Pahrump in 2005 and inherited a menagerie of 26 of the exotic birds from her elderly neighbor.  She now shares her home with her feathered friends, letting them fly free without confining cages. 

Fleiss originally moved to the town 60 miles west of Las Vegas to open a unique brothel for women called the Stud Farm, but she later abandoned that idea amid political pressure and excessive government red tape.  [Feb. 13 Las Vegas Backstage Access article.] 

Fleiss and Rossi struck up an amiable friendship recently when they appeared together on the VH1 rehab reality show “Sober House,” where Fleiss went after soon-to-be-televised treatment for drug addiction. 

“We formed our own little clique,” said Rossi, who runs an animal rescue in Los Angeles. 

Fleiss said they bonded over their love of animals. “The way I am about birds, she is about dogs,” she said. 

They are already talking about expanding the shop and adding boarding services and dog nutrition counseling. And that’s just the beginning. 

“We don’t want one Dirty Dog, we want 100 Dirty Dogs,” Fleiss said, adding the pet industry looks like a can’t-miss proposition.  

“Anything with animals does really well. Come on, people buy their dogs $8,000 Gucci sweaters,” she said. “People get over their mother or brother dying. They never get over their pet dying.” 

So why should people trust their beloved pets to a madam and a porn star who just happily met each other in rehab? 

“I changed my whole life for animals,” Fleiss said, adding her past is just that- the past.

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Michael Jackson Celebrations ‘Round the World

Pop music icon Michael Jackson died on June 25 from a potent cocktail of sleep and pain sedatives, although the Los Angeles coroner’s office is holding firm, not releasing the complete autopsy and toxicology reports pending completion of the homicide investigation currently in progress.   And, of course,  Dr. Conrad Murray, the central figure in the investigation, is mum on commenting further, save his recent YouTube video of self-exoneration. 

Despite the lack of closure, Saturday celebrations for Michael Jackson were heard around the world for the King of Pop.    

Saturday, Aug. 29 would have been Jackson’s 51st birthday. 

 Although the true era of Michael Jackson was mostly over decades before the singer died, a curious and strange eerie aura pervaded the celebrations– it was like he never died. 

With Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman declaring Aug, 29, “Michael Jackson Day,” almost 20 Las Vegas entertainment acts responded in kind by performing a “Las Vegas Celebrates the Music of Michael Jackson” concert at the Pearl Theatre in the Palms Casino & Hotel, spearheaded by Jersey Boys star Erich Bergen, as a tribute to Jackson and his music before a sell-out crowd of 2,600, while raising more $100,000 for music education programs throughout Clark County, Nevada.   

Michael Jackson would most likely have loved it, expressing before his death the desire to perform a thank-you concert to Palms owner George Maloof for enabling him to use the venue earlier for his recording sessions and a secluded family R&R retreat.

 Family patriarch and dad Joe Jackson said he was unable to attend Saturday’s memorial concert in Las Vegas for his son because of a prior commitment, but a friend said it was more a case of the event being too emotional.  He was on hand, however, on Saturday night for a celebrity star dedication at the Brendan Theatres at the Palms. 

Some of the biggest ovations at the Pearl Theatre performance went to:  11-year-old Elijah Johnson of “The Lion King,” performing “Dancing;” the cast members from “Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular” and “Jersey Boys” combining on “Theme from Free Willie,” the Australian groups Human Nature (“I Want You Back”) and Signature (“Billy Jean”) and the Las Vegas Mass Choir, decked out in black pants, white shirts, black fedoras and, of course, the glove on the right hand, singing “Man in the Mirror.” 

Other Las Vegas tribute performances included the American Superstars at the Stratosphere, Hawaiian Tropic Zone, and the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. 

But Las Vegas was just the tip of the iceberg for worldwide Jackson tributes on Saturday.  A group of Michael Jackson fans in Leicester, England attempted a world record for the most number of people dancing to the singer’s ‘Thriller’ in one place on his 51st birthday. Some 475 people dressed as zombies packed into Orton Square participate in the event. 

Not to be topped, a Michael Jackson impersonator named Hector Jackson (not related) really kicked the competition into overdrive and led what is purportedly the largest gathering of people dancing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” in Mexico City, with reportedly 12,937 people dancing and wearing red and gold sequined jackets.   

The current record for a group “Thriller” was performed in May by 242 students of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Guinness Book of World Records will determine if the Mexico City performance breaks that record. 

Although the bulk of birthday celebration tributes are largely completed, speculation continues to swirl on what’s next in the after-life career of Jackson. 

Talks reportedly continue on moving parts of Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara, California to Las Vegas.  Other plans call for Jackson-themed show, with the Hilton being considered.   Some even say a Jackson-themed Las Vegas casino would be appropriate.   The great news is that any of these ideas have the potential impact of reviving a sputtering Las Vegas economy. 

But, whoa there, partner, let’s not get the cart before the horse- Jackson hasn’t even been buried yet!  He will be finally laid to rest after two months of patiently waiting this Thursday, Sept. 3 at Forest Lawn Cemetery near Los Angeles, California at 7 p.m. in a private service. 

R.I.P, Michael.

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