Babeland quickly responded on its blog, which reported "Censorship rears its ugly head all the time in our line of work. Yesterday it resulted in journalist Joel Stein abruptly pulling out of teaching."
Babeland marketing coordinator Mae Schultz told XBIZ that the store's "The Art of Giving a Blowjob" seminar, scheduled June 26, is one of its most popular. Its related how-to on the store's website also is one of the store's most trafficked educational pages, and when Schultz brought up the idea of teaching the workshop to Stien, he said he was game.
"He was like, 'Yeah, everyone loves blowjobs,'" Schultz said, and because Stein writes about almost anything for his L.A. Times column, the two thought it might be fun to write an article about his experience in front of a curious audience.
However, a day after Babeland announced Stein's workshop in a press release, Schultz said she received a call from Stein who told her his editors were "freaking out" about the workshop and eventually canceled both the seminar and his column.
"The Times said they didn't want him to have anything to do with the workshop at all," Schultz said, adding that the publication also requested its name not be posted anywhere on Babeland's website.
"I think it's a bit excessive," Schultz said. "They're just categorizing us as porn peddlers [but] I'm only speculating; I really don't know what the L.A. Times editors are thinking. I'm sure we'll find another way to get into the L.A. Times and they'll love us and we'll love them."
Members of the L.A. Times editorial department had no comment.
"The Art of Giving a Blowjob" will be held June 26 as planned and will be taught by Babeland sex educator Kelly Arbor.
Schultz said Stein has frequently written about Babeland in other publications, including a January 2004 article in Time Magazine.
