The Anthony Pellicano trial is underway and the first interesting detail involving one of his famous clients was revealed in court. Pellicano was a private investigator to celebrities and Hollywood bigwigs who was involved in illegally wiretapping targets as well as bribing law enforcement officials and generally scamming, blackmailing and doing whatever he needed to do to get information and cash. He even would double-cross clients and get dirt on them to sell to the tabloids, according to some sources. His high-profile clients included heads of movie studios, directors, and celebrities like Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, Farrah Fawcett and Steven Seagal.
Comedian Chris Rock was a client of Pellicano’s, and asked the PI for help with a woman who falsely accused him of fathering a child with her after a brief fling and then later accused him of rape. It’s clear from Rock’s conversation with Pellicano, excerpts of which are below, that their relationship was consensual and that he was set up.
Rock’s case was discussed by an employee of Pellicanos during her testimony in court, and I think that’s why these audio tapes were made public. It pretty funny when Rock says he would rather be caught with a needle in his arm than been accused of rape. No charges were ever brought against him, and it’s unclear what the outcome of Pellicano’s investigation was or whether he successfully pressured the woman to drop the charges:
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: No24:45
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 f*@%ing, buzz, you know?… Once you’re accused of rape, you’re just F#%@ED, 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 f@#&d. 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.
[From The Huffington Post]
It sounds like Rock had something on the side briefly, and had the misfortune of being with a woman who tried to set him up afterwards. He did nearly divorce his wife at one point, but has since reconciled with her, and this report says he had this affair at a time when they were separated.
The other big case that’s been revealed so far involves intimidation of the comedian Gary Shandling after he sued his former manager Brad Grey for bilking him out of profits and stealing from him for years.Shandling testified that there was a public smear campaign against him around the time he was giving depositions in that case and that his assistant would receive strange calls in the middle of the night. The LAPD also ran illegal background checks on Shandling and several of his friends and employees. Grey is now head of Paramount and surely doesn’t want all this exposed.
What I’m really interested in is the Tom Cruise case. Cruise reportedly hired Pellicano around the time he was divorcing Nicole Kidman and I can’t wait until those tapes become public record.
Pellicano is representing himself in court and is doing a piss poor job of it, according to the Huffington Post’s journalist. He’s was in federal prison since 2002 for possession of plastic explosives and hand grenades, for which he received 30 months. Pellicano got out in February and was transfered to LA County jail to face these charges of racketeering and illegal wiretapping. He’ll probably be put back in prison for quite some time once this trial is completed.
Chris Rock is shown on 2/14/08 at the Rosemont Theater in Illinois, thanks to PRPhotos.
Heroin addict is a laspe in judgement. You go to rehab, get out, do a few low key jobs to prove you can be depended on and back to work you do.
But a rapist? uh uh. No man wants anyone to think he would hurt a woman and certainly not in such a vile way.
Well it seems like Pellicano succeeded in doing what Chris Rock wanted in discrediting the woman – even Celebitchy seems unquestioning in her belief that the woman is lying.
Maybe he didn’t drag her off the street and beat her senseless, but perhaps got her so drunk, or pressurised her into having sex, when she may have changed her mind.
Studies have been carried out that a majority of women have been pressurised into having sex or engaging in sexual acts, when they’re not happy about it, or may feel threatened to say no for whatever reason. I know women are warned against being “prick teases”, but smirking “I told you so” if something bad happens, is unacceptable.
She could be lying of course, and the fact that there was first an accusation of a baby and then the non-consensual sex. But considering how many women and men get raped every year, and how difficult it is to get a conviction, many choose not to continue on the legal course, the police tend to particularly tough on false allegations. So how come she wasn’t arrested for making a false statement?
She had physical proof of an encounter, and the man doesn’t exactly have a stellar recollection of what happened. Only that he’s not guilty. And sure what else do you expect him to say?
Amazing. So many people out there willing to let their morals slide for 15 minutes of fame, for a bit of extra cash and to make someone else’s life miserable.
Whatever the truth is, Chris Rock and Anthony Pellicano comes across as absolute arseholes in that conversation.
Mairead I hear you, and yes this was a judgment call I made that this woman made a false accusation. I really don’t think this was a rape situation. You’re right this was a judgment call based on the facts of this case as shown here.
Christ Rock was originally accused of fathering a child, then when that fell through there was a rape accusation, and the only physical evidence could have been saved from any type of sex. There was no rape kit and she did not go to the police until later, according to this report, which was well after she could not pin the pregnancy on Rock.
Now, maybe you’re right that I am too quick to judge in Rock’s favor and it is skeezy that he went to Pellicano, but I don’t think he did it. Read what he’s saying. He’s not asking Pellicano to smear her, he’s just asking him to investigate her. It’s Pellicano who is saying those things.
I really don’t think he did it, and you’re right maybe this is just based on Rock’s personality or his side of the story, but it does seem like he was set up to me.
Plus Rock claims to have taken her out. Does that mean he didn’t rape her? Not at all. It just doesn’t seem legit to me for several reasons.
To me, it sounds like this woman was attempting to extort Rock. She may not have realized he was separated from his wife at the time he had sex with her but it seems based on her claims, how they changed AND the fact that she kept “evidence” that she was hoping to get some hush money for herself.
What she didn’t count on was Rock feeling like he had nothing to hide. He was separated from his wife at the time and the sex was protected.
I suppose this might be a topic for another time but to me being pressured(without threats I mean) to have sex, drunk sex, or morning after regret is not rape.
You’re forgetting Pellicano’s most notable client– Michael Jackson! Jackson hired Pellicano the first time he was accused of child molestation, back in 1994, to dig up dirt on his young accuser’s family.
The guy’s a scumbag, no doubt about it, but still I think he’s being set up for knowing way too much about way too many people.
he he he… that transcript was so funny! and no, i don’t believe chris rock is a rapist either. that conversation sounded VERY honest!
OOO TinyTom tapes?!?!
Doesn’t sound to me like Rock was guilty of anything but poor judgement. He willingly took the paternity case & said that if he WAS the father, he’d support the child. She only claimed to have been raped after it came back that Rock isn’t the father. It sure sounds fishy
Sorry to be a pest, but I really don’t know that much about this case, and the way Bodhi puts it, it is very suspect. But it’s one of those things that I feel we should try and be fair to all parties.
Doesn’t mean I’m going to throw out my Chris Rock DVD or anything like! 😉
Honestly, how could a man sleep with such an obvious Hollywood Ho and not expect some manipulation, extortion, or gold-digging behavior like this. A false rape charge is reprehensible, but Rock himself described her as quite obviously less-than-classy, so he should have expected some shenanigans.
I think it’s unfair to assume that hiring a private detective is solely for the purpose of conducting a smear campaign. When one is being accused of a crime, it’s human nature to want to find out more about the person leveling the charge. Have they done this before, do they have a history of making false accusations?
People went to Pellicano because he had a reputaion for doing his job well. I’m not sure many of the people he worked for realized what a shady character dude is.
MaiGirl, Liz Hurley constantly wears white jeans in the summer, are you and Chris Rock accusing that dullard of being less than classy? 😉
Headache, I see your point, and you’re right that Rock didn’t hire the PI for a “smear campaign” and obviously went for one who got results; but I can almost guarantee that he was hoping Pellicano wouldn’t reveal that she she was only wearing the “white pants” to the Ivy because her halo and wings were at the dry cleaners.
Did anyone notice the line by Pellicano where he says “ThatÂ’s why i want to blacken this girl up, totally. I want to make her out to be a lying, scumbag, manipulative cocksuckerÂ… Stupid bitch.”? What does it mean to “blacken” someone up? Is that like nigger-rigged?
Thanks CB for clarifying your stance. And just to clarify what I meant, I certainly don’t mean that waking up the next morning and thinking “oh no” is the same as sexual assault. But in this case Chris Rock was trying to prove that the sex was fully consentual, she was saying that it wasn’t.
Falsely accusing someone of rape is the nastiest thing you can do, as Chris Rock was saying “you are f’ed” forever. The way the facts are presented the accusation does look suspicious, then she should have been prosecuted to the highest limits of the law – the police don’t need the consent of either party (in my country) to carry on a criminal conviction.
I know that it’s the PI who comes up with the words that they’re to blacken the woman’s name, but sure why else would he have contacted a PI only to dig up dirt?
It’s convenient to assume that any alleged victim (or their family in the case of the children in the Jackson case) in a celeb case are money grubbing. I remember the same thing happened with Mike Tyson, and as far as I’m concerned he’s a thug and a disgrace to boxing.
CB I appreciate that you were trying to be fair, especially as Chris Rock hasn’t been convicted of anything, and therefore is innocent in law. But I just wanted to put forward the point that there COULD be someone, rightly or wrongly, feels they’re a victim. I’m just concerned that by being so dismissive that this could reiterate the common fear that there’s no point in reporting any sort of attack as the police aren’t going to do anything about it, and if it’s an important person, I won’t be believed anyway.