Heidi: New venture

Los Angeles, Nov. 17: Former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss bid farewell to Los Angeles on Wednesday, and put out the word: she’s looking for a few good men.

Fleiss said she is joining with a Nevada brothel owner to open the state’s first house of prostitution in which men cater to women.

Fleiss, whose partner notified Nye County officials of the plan this week, said they will charge $250 an hour and call it “Heidi’s Stud Farm”.

“Women are more independent these days; they make more money and it’s hard to meet people,” Fleiss said as she packed for what she said would be a permanent move to Nevada.

“You wouldn’t believe the number of women who’ve told me, ‘Heidi, if you do this, I’ll be the first one in line!’ I mean, relationships are harder than dieting, you know what I mean?”

The daughter of a Los Feliz paediatrician, Fleiss became notorious in the 1990s for running a prostitution ring catering to show business people and international businessmen. She eventually was convicted on charges of money laundering, pandering and tax evasion. She was released in 1999, after serving 21 months in prison.

Fleiss ? who has capitalised on her notoriety as a madam ? has been exploring the possibility of opening a legitimate business near Las Vegas.

She soon turned to the oldest of trades again, which is legal in parts of Nevada. Eventually, she made a deal with Joe Richards, who owns three Nevada brothels, in part to prove she would run a clean business. There’s also the felony hitch.

State law allows counties to refuse a brothel licence to convicted felons. County commissioner Candace Trummell said that county attorneys were looking at the proposal, and it was unclear whether the plan would be approved.

Richards said he and Fleiss would remodel and change the name of one of his existing bordellos. Fleiss added that she plans to swap the bordello’s western theme for a more Hollywood look. “It’s gonna be like Leo DiCaprio in The Aviator,” she said, “and I’m going to put out a casting call for about 20 guys ? I bet I get thousands of applicants.”

In an interview, Richards elaborated: “Say a guy gets into an argument with his wife. What does he do? Lot of times, he goes out, gets a drink, goes to a place to be serviced. Now women can say, ‘Hey, if you can do it, I can too’.”