Several top adult industry players including Vivid’s Steven Hirsch, tape broker Kevin Blatt and Red Light District President David Joseph were interviewed to get their views on why celebrity sex tapes are so popular and what fuels viewers’ insatiable appetites for them.
“It was a good interview,” Blatt told XBIZ. “I gave a lot of candid responses and if they leave in 90 percent of what I said, there will be a lot of people talking at the watercooler.”
“I think the interview legitimizes me and the industry,” he added.
Blatt said he doesn’t believe there will be another sex tape like Paris Hilton.
Red Light District put out the Hilton sex tape. Joseph told Nightline that the tape has shown staying power.
“It’s still selling,” he said.
Joseph added that he knew from the second he saw it that sales would be off the charts. But he did have his reservations, saying at first he was afraid of the Hilton name and that Donald Trump was going to get involved to stop the tape’s release. So, Joseph said he had to be careful on how the situation was dealt with.
Since its release, the Hilton sex tape has made roughly $20 million in sales. Joseph says celebrity sex tapes are the biggest money maker for Red Light District.
"Usually what happens is you will be approached by an agent, a manager of a celebrity or a boyfriend who did it with a celebrity," Joseph explained. "Usually it's a girl, sometimes it's a guy. But mostly it's a female. And it's never normally the actual female. It's an agent that approaches the adult companies."
And that agent is usually tape agent Kevin Blatt, who says he either returns tapes to their rightful owners or brokers deals to get tapes out to the public.
“In many cases, celebrities are more than happy to offer to buy the tape back,” Blatt said.
He says celebrity sex tapes, such as Hilton and Kim Kardashian, usually catapult celebrities’careers to new levels.
Another reason Blatt says celebrities release sex tapes in a strategic move to revive a sagging career. While others honestly don’t want their sex tape released and go to court to keep it private.
Steven Hirsch of Vivid, the company responsible for releasing the Mindy McCready, Kendra Wilkinson and other sex tapes, says he gets offers everyday and that he’s always on the lookout for the next big thing.
Hirsch says most people keep their sex tapes locked away “but for those few that don’t, we’re here for them.”
The full story airs tonight on Nightline at 11:30 p.m. EST.
