How Did Levi Johnston Respond to the Gay Porn Offer Letter?

Last week, we wrote about how Levi Johnston, the hunky dad of Sarah Palin’s grandson, received an offer to perform on camera for a gay adult entertainment company, [Not Safe for Work (NSFW)] Corbin Fisher [NSFW].
We showed you the offer letter from Corbin Fisher. Then we asked you to advise Johnston about it, in the comments.
Today we bring you (1) a round-up of our favorite comments on the thread, and (2) how Levi Johnston responded to the offer in real life (through his counsel, high-profile Alaska attorney Rex Butler).
Check it all out, after the jump.


ATL readers: We were impressed by your, um, issue-spotting skills. We’ve loosely grouped comments according to the overall points they were trying to make:

  • “This is not even an offer letter…. It is simply what they ‘envision’ the parties agreeing to at some point in the future.”
  • “Not an offer, right? Finished off with ‘move negotiations to the next level.’ It’s an invitation to negotiate.”
    Fair points. This may not be an “offer letter” is the most narrow, technical sense. But you still get the drift.
  • “Is he required to return the $25,000 if he is unable to masturbate to completion on camera?”
    We suspect that won’t be a problem for Levi Johnston — he’s not shooting blanks. After all, the main reason for his fame is that he knocked up a vice-presidential nominee’s daughter. But still, maybe the contract should address this issue — after all, a good contract provides for what might happen as well as what will happen.
  • “I think many (most?) male, unemployed, straight, and happily married lawyers would gladly accept this offer.”
  • “Wait, this guy is getting paid $100k plus profits for something I do for FREE almost every day? Saying no to this would be absolutely insane.”
    But are you willing to do it on camera, for all the world to see, possibly jeopardizing your legal career? If so, email us. We enjoy writing about law students and/or lawyers who pursue careers in porn.
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  • “5% of DVD sales? Who the hell watches porn on DVD?”
  • “[H]e gets no percent of online sales. Who buys DVD’s anymore?”
  • “A glaring omission from this comp package is percentage of sales for tickets sold in XXX theaters.”
    Very astute. Shouldn’t Levi get a piece of the online and theatrical action too? Just like all other forms of media, adult entertainment is multi-platform these days.
    One commenter asked about in-house opportunities at Corbin Fisher. The general counsel job is currently held by noted lawyer and legal blogger Marc Randazza, who has represented Above the Law before (and who was recently interviewed over at Bitter Lawyer).
    If a job opening does appear, however, we’d expect it to go to commenter 48. Check out this impressive analysis:

    In addition to everything already noted, the letter doesn’t specify where the location of the shoot will be, what class of travel, what class of accommodations…he’ll be sent Air Alaska, coach class with 2 huge “security” guys on either side of him to keep him from escaping, and filmed in a nondescript motel room in the seedy suburbs of LA, from which he will not be allowed to leave (for “security” reasons) until the 5 days are up.

    It also doesn’t address IP rights in the work or whether Corbin Fisher can sell/distribute in ways/means other than as specified, whereas royalties are only for DVD sales.

    It doesn’t specify whether Levi will have any input into the “interviews” or whether they can force him to say what they want him to say or they won’t pay him.

    It doesn’t specify what happens with “out-takes.” Oh, that money shot wasn’t spurty enough for our highly classy erotic film company, try again this evening, we need more footage.

    Also astute was commenter 55:

    If we learned anything from the writer’s strike, we learned that the number of people getting content on physical media is going down (giggity!), not up (giggity! giggity!) — if he wants to get paid, he needs to get on the digital distribution train (giggity! giggity!).

    He should reverse the payouts and get a lump sum on the DVD sales and a recurring percentage on the sales of images and video. He should also get a percentage of new subscriptions directly attributed to his addition to the site (I didn’t look, but I assume membership isn’t free).

    Sadly, it isn’t — trust us on this.
    Commenter 59 was of the view that, legal issues aside, the wad (of cash) simply wasn’t big enough:

    The 5% revenue stream on the sales could be substantial. I’d do some research into what kind of scrilla this could pull in. May not be substantial with piracy and all.

    That said, I’d push for at least 500 large and 20% of revenues. The guy already has a trashy reputation – wacking off on camera can’t hurt too much more.

    And that, dear readers, is what happened in real life. Levi Johnston’s lawyer, Rex Butler, told Corbin Fisher GC Marc Randazza, “Your offer is too low, and you can quote me on that.”
    Brian Dunlap, Corbin Fisher’s Chief Operating Officer, expressed disappointment in the outcome, especially since Johnston previously posed for [NSFW] Playgirl [NSFW]:

    One thing that bothered me was that Levi should have had photos taken of him that showed what an attractive guy he is. Those [Playgirl] photos, with their silly poses and bad backgrounds, did not do him justice. I’m surprised that with a shoot that had so much potential, those are the best that they came up with. Had he taken our offer, we would have made him look much better.

    We suspect that Dunlap isn’t the only one who’s disappointed by Levi Johnston’s refusal not to perform in gay porn. But Sarah Palin is breathing a sigh of relief, you betcha!
    P.S. This wasn’t substantive legal commentary on the letter, but honorable mention to commenter 85: “Lots of junior associates are getting paid 6 figures to jerk off these days — what’s the big deal?”
    Earlier: A Contracts Exam Hypothetical: Review Levi Johnston’s Gay Porn Offer Letter

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