Sex, Lies and the Dirty (35 page)

***

Q: All right. Now the other question I have because I don’t want to—I want to verify it without going through a whole transcript, you spoke about this case on Dr. Phil and we got the transcript.

A: This case?

Q: Well, no, I take that back. You spoke about your work on Dr. Phil, you’re aware of that?

A: Yeah.

Q: All right. Have you seen the transcript from that public interview?

A: No.

Q: All right. Do you stand by everything that you said—

A: Well, Hollywood edited it.

Q: I understand.

A: You know that.

Q: I know that, but I’m talking about what was actually shown on television. Do you—are you willing to acknowledge—

A: Do you have a copy of it?

Q: Uhm, I’ve got—I’ve got a copy of it.

A: Well—

Q: I’m not talking about—I’m not talking about what was not shown on television. I’m talking about what was spoken by you, that was aired on television. Here’s my question: I just want to get this on the record.

A: But, Bulldog, you’re talking about—

Q: Did you—

A: —Dr. Phil, like the most—this is like Springer. You know what I mean? They edit it, like, cut, he said this, cut the word, cut the—like, there was applauses that they edited out.

Q: Okay. Okay. I’m—this is why I’m asking the question. So you’re saying Dr. Phil was highly edited?

A: He basically—he painted me out to be the bad guy, which is fine, it’s Hollywood, that’s—

Q: You are the bad guy, aren’t you?

A: No.

Q: You’re not?

A: No.

Q: All right.

***

Q: I gotta ask you this question. There was a post that said that she had had sex with every member of the Cincinnati Bengals professional football team. When that was posted, did you reach the conclusion that Sarah Jones had had sex with every member of the Cincinnati Bengals professional football team?

A: I didn’t post that.

Q: All right. But you did—you reviewed it and you left it up. I’m just asking you—

A: Where, was it in the comments?

Q: I’m asking you what you decided. Did you decide that Sarah Jones had sex with every member of the Cincinnati Bengals professional football team or—

A: How would I decide that? That makes no sense.

Q: Well, you could—I immediately would say that’s obviously not true, can’t you—

A: Well, was I comment—

Q: Can’t you—can’t you say that’s not true?

A: Was that in the comment?

Q: Here’s my question. Did you believe Sarah Jones had had sex with every member of the Cincinnati Bengals professional football team?

A: No.

Q: Okay.

A: I hope not.

***

Q: Umm, Sarah Jones maintains that she sent e-mails October 29
^th
, November 1
^st
, ’09, November 6
^th
, November 8
^th
, November 9
^th
, November 11
^th
, November 12
^th
, November 13
^th
, November 14
^th
, November 15
^th
, November 19
^th
, November 19
^th
, December 8
^th
, December 9
^th
, December 28
^th
, December 28
^th
, December 28
^th
, December 28
^th
of ’09, asking you to remove these postings about her having sex with every single Bengals player and the fact that she had had these STDs and had sex at work. Isn’t it true that you—

A: These are third-party postings. I didn’t write—I didn’t say any of that stuff.

Q: But you—isn’t it true that in response to these e-mails you—

A: Can I see the e-mails, because I don’t—you have to understand, I have 30,000 e-mails I haven’t even opened. I get thousands of e-mails a day.

Q: Well, here’s one. This is December—uh, this is December 9, 2009—

A: Can I see that?

Q: Yeah, you can see it. I’m going to read it.

A: Okay.

Q:
I
—this is Tim Jones. “I emailed the other night and asked you to remove the post for Sarah J., the Bengals cheerleader.”

A: Who’s Tim Jones?

Q: Her dad. “I don’t know if you have kids or even if you care, but please understand that your website in [sic] ruining the career and a beautiful young woman. Maybe in your mind she’s not very pretty. Pretty on the inside is much more important than on the outside. This girl has lived her life building a strong moral reputation. She’s never had a drink in her life. She’s a strong Christian with high morals and values—”

A: She’s never had a drink in her life? She was at the Pavilion last night.

Q: That’s what the e-mail says.

***

Q: Do you know, uh, what Sarah Jones had to go through in order to remain as a Bengal cheerleader, as a result of the posts?

A: No, I don’t. I don’t live in Cincinnati. Like I said, I don’t even know Sarah Jones.

Q: Okay.

A: But I do know, from what I’ve heard, that she’s the captain, or something like that, and she’s actually trying to cast herself to be famous on reality shows.

Q: All right. Do you know who
onlinecityguide.com
marketing is?

A: No.

Q: All right. This says, “Dear Sarah”—this is dated January 10, 2010—”Dear Sarah,
theDirty.com
WILL NOT,” bold all caps, “be removing those photos and stories about your client, Sarah Jones. Advise your client to get tested for STDs and send
theDirty.com
results. You can sue
theDirty.com
, but you will not win. Many have tried and all have failed. We suggest you find something else better to do with your time. You’re nothing but some punk lawyer who thinks they’re tough for bringing a lawsuit against
theDirty.com
—”

A: Who’s writing—I don’t—

Q: This is
onlinecityguide.com
.

A: What does that have to do—

Q: That’s why I asked you if you knew who it was.

A: No.

Q: “I’ve seen your pictures on the website. You look like someone who was raped up the ass by their father when they were a child. By the way, there’s a brand-new story about Sarah Jones on
theDirty.com
.” Now, you don’t know anything about
onlinecityguide.com
marketing?

A: No.

***

Q: Is it fair—it’s a fair statement, isn’t it, that you—based on what I’ve discerned here today, that you play a significant role in creating, developing and transforming relevant information on
theDirty.com
?

A: No.

Q: You don’t?

A: No.

Q: As the editor, you don’t involve—you don’t play a significant role in creating, developing—

A: I don’t create or develop anything. It’s a third-party platform. People submit stuff and I get it published.

Q: And you edit it, correct?

A: No. I put my line at the end of it. I don’t edit posts.

Q: So you—so you put your line at the end of it?

A: The only thing I edit, I’ll put an asterisk and like if someone says fuck or shit, I’ll put a star and a vowel.

Q: Okay. So you are—you are commenting on this platform about the post?

A: I put my opinion to what I think of the image, yes—

Q: Okay.

A. —or the situation.

***

Q: One of the comments that’s under Nik in the Sarah Jones matter is, “Why are all high school teachers freaks in the sack?”

A: Um-hmm.

Q: Why did you post that?

A: Just, it was my opinion, you know, watching the news and seeing all these teachers sleeping with their students and, you know, just my opinion on all teachers just from, like, what I see in the media.

***

Q: I know that you’re saying that you never did, but you know, Nik, you know that your site,
theDirty.com
, had a post that said that Sarah Jones had chlamydia and gonorrhea, you know that for a fact, correct?

A: Third party, someone else said it and I posted it [sic]
theDirty.com
.

Q: I am going to produce evidence at this trial, Nik, that Sarah Jones never had chlamydia and gonorrhea—let me finish the question.

A: Yeah, but that was before the post.

Q: Well, we’ll sort out all the timing and everything else.

A: Okay.

Q: There’s going to be no evidence that Sarah Jones ever had chlamydia and gonorrhea. There’s going to be evidence—

A: But I never said that.

Q: There’s going to be evidence that she doesn’t and never did have chlamydia and gonorrhea.

A: Okay.

Q: How can you leave that up on a website for the—how many people hit in a month, 600,000, potentially 600,000 people to see on a daily basis, how can you leave that up there, knowing that that is false or not knowing that it’s true?

A: It’s not my job to fact-check every single post, I can’t do that. It’s impossible.

Q: Then why do you let them all come up?

A: I don’t.

Q: You did—you did fact-check these posts, though, because you are the editorial committee of the people—

A: I didn’t fact-check—I can’t fact-check. I don’t even know Sarah Jones.

75
The following dialogue is between Nik Richie and Sarah Jones’ attorney, Eric Deters. Deposition excerpts are taken directly from their transcript.

Broadcast

My episode on
Dr. Phil
airs.

I don’t watch it. I had been seeing previews for it, most of them painting me up as the bad guy with the mentions of suicide and whatnot. Unlike most people, though, if I think someone is saying bad things about me, I can stifle the urge to investigate. Self-torture has never been my thing, which is why I avoid the comment boards if the article is about me. Same with the show. I intentionally miss it, but people are calling and texting. I’m getting recognized on the street. The reactions are mixed, but I’ll take that over the definitive negativity I got from the studio audience. Most importantly, the site hits record numbers.

All those
Dr. Phil
people that had never heard of
The Dirty
before are checking it out now. It’s cross-promotion at its finest. The episode, I’d find out later, is one of Dr. Phil’s highest-rated. It would air again a month later, and I would sit down and watch it only to find out that it’s as chopped up as it could get.

During the filming, Dr. Phil had given me a ton of flak for my editing (or lack thereof) on the site, so it’s interesting that his episode uses little editing tricks. For the most part, there’s not a lot of dialogue cut out. That’s not the issue. With television, you change the mood of things using the audience. I only realize this because I can compare the show with what happened on the set, but what I’m noticing is that certain points of the interview that were once silent are peppered with applause or “boos” or people laughing. Post-production doesn’t need the audience to do much more than sit there. If things are too quiet or the mood isn’t right, they can mix in the sounds that suit Dr. Phil’s agenda.

So I end up on the receiving end of “the magic of television,” but I can’t deny that Dr. Phil brought in the business for me. He was nice, and he gave me an open invitation to come back. It pushed
The Dirty
more into
the mainstream. Honestly, I get the feeling that Dr. Phil is a little bit of a fan.