Sex worker star at HBO’s “Cathedral” reveals ugly truth

The stars in the “tangguan” are clawing.

Twenty years after the headline HBO documentary brought prostitution into the U.S. living room, sex workers appearing on the show are accusing its producers of exploitation and false statements.

“Dangguan”, which aired in June 2005, easily learned about the lives of employees on Moonlite Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel in Moonlite, Nevada. Instant ratings smashed, it ran for two seasons and generated 10 specials.

The PRURIENT program portrays the world’s oldest profession as enhanced power and depicts brothels as temporary mourning homes where charming Gal Pals gain bondage by profiting from horny, harmless, men.

But the reality is even more sinister in the six-part special “The Secret of Rabbit Ranch” premiering on June 12 on A&E.

The documentary portrays a picture of a desperate woman who was humiliated, intimidated and manipulated by the notorious boss of the brothel, Dennis Hof, who later was charged with rape by a former employee.

Several women working at Moonlite Bunny Ranch claimed that the “Dang Hall” by default encouraged young female audiences to engage in prostitution and were inspired by the fun and hoarse tone of the show.

“It attracts these young girls and we do get a lot.” “Principal” star Shelly Dushell told The Post. “As soon as you reach 18, [they] Trying to work there at the time…I mean, the show is really good for recruiting. ”

“I will say to HBO and “Tangguan” [producers] Sad to you.

“It makes you feel ashamed when that’s not reality, makes you look fascinating and fun,” she added. “It’s not fascinating and fun. It’s a disgusting and horrifying piece in the middle of the wilderness.”

HBO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A powerful pimp

Hoff plays the lead role in the “Royal Family”. In the mid-2000s, when the show aired, he was portrayed in mainstream media as a groundbreaking entrepreneur who became rich in view of legal prostitution.

But Ranch Ranch is not a kind boss, but rather a more hove-hore home, where employees say they live in fear of him.

Dushell told Post that Hof, who owns six other legal brothels, often put pressure on her.

“Denis wanted to sleep with me the first night I got there,” she claimed. “I didn’t say no to him, so I wasn’t raped, but I was thought I couldn’t feel like I could say no to him…. So I just went with it and I thought, ‘Okay, okay, maybe he made all the girls do it, ‘I’m right.” I was right. ”

“In most cases, he tried most girls that would make him.” “And then he obviously did the same even if the girl didn’t want him.”

According to the Las Vegas Review magazine, Hoff was accused of raping a prostitute in one of his brothels in 2005. He was also charged with sexual assault on women in 2009 and 2011.

Hof was a Republican candidate for the Nevada Legislature in 2018. He died of a heart attack in October of that year, but his name was retained in the election in the second month. He was elected to a seat after his death.

“If Dennis was alive, he could end up in jail for all the allegations he had against him,” Dusheer said of the pimp-turned politician.

Meanwhile, on “The Secret of Ranch”, several employees claimed that Hoff had used them financially.

He allegedly involved numerous workers, deprived them of their agency and effectively confined them to remote brothels.

Charleston, who worked briefly at Bunny Ranch in the early 2000s, told Post that some employees “have no need to leave at one time and were trapped there for years.”

She said in shock: “I was the only person at that time.”

As for Hoff: “He is just a disgusting, evil man who just profits from someone else’s back and brags.”

Moonlite Bunny Ranch made a statement about the new A&E special special, saying: “Since the documentary series “The Secret of Bunny Ranch” has not aired yet and there is no pre-copy yet, we are going to provide any specific allegations without first reviewing the actual content and statements made.

“Over his life, Mr. Hoff publicly resolved and denied similar allegations through official statements and media responses, including detailed rebuttals available on his website,” the statement continued.

“We found that when Mr. Hoff was no longer alive to respond in person or defend himself from any claim, we found that these matters were now being reexamined. The timing raised serious questions about fairness because the defendants were unable to provide their views or defense.”

Authorization or exploitation?

Hoff isn’t the only one who makes a penny from the Moon Ranch. “Dangguan” quickly became the ratings of HBO, attracting millions of curious audiences.

Dushell became one of the stars of the show and was immediately recognized in public – but fame didn’t work.

“HBO is not much better than a pimp because I barely paid for it,” she claimed in the documentary “The Secret of the Ranch”.

“I made $300 to $350 per sex scene,” Dusheer explained to the Post further. “That’s all they paid me.”

“I mailed my actual salary stub from HBO and W-2, and it’s exciting to see an envelope saying ‘HBO’ on the salary, but the salary is only a few hundred dollars, so it’s really embarrassing to be honest with you,” she said.

Dusheer added: “They didn’t pay for the normal scene, it was just a ridiculous amount of money.

Different times

A year after HBO aired the finale of “Sex and the City”, “Chatouuse” premiered, another envelope-playing series, where women unabashedly discuss their sexual orientations and activities.

In the mid-2000s, pop culture seemed to promote sexual positivity in every way, which allowed women to profit from provocative pursuits, from Britney Spears’s Britney Spears in her undressed video to the infamous sex tape.

But, after the #MeToo movement, many women are reevaluating the agents actually brought to the era.

For the sake of future generations, the New York Post’s 2002 review of the original “House Hall” mentioned in “The Secret of Rabbit Ranch” that age is much better.

Our sour tongue television critic Linda Stasi savagely wrote: “There hasn’t been a portrayal of this one-dimensional and false prostitute since ‘Pretty Woman’.”

“Dangguan” is no longer available on the HBO platform.

“Even if we were filming it, I knew it wasn’t a real representation,” Dushell admitted to the post, saying that the HBO show omitted the real reality of life in brothels.

She further said in “The Secret of Ranch”: “They want to sell the show, want to make money from the show, and want to make money from the girls. They just don’t want to show the ugly side.”

Although the “tangguan” presents a charming and empowering finish, many of the employees are desperate women, trapped in difficult times.

On the “The Secret of Ranch” special, Dushell revealed that she was sexually abused as a child, saying, “If I hadn’t had an old man, when I was a kid, I might never consider working at Ranch.”

Meanwhile, Charleston told Post that she was a teenage runaway when she was in prostitution.

“The vast majority of people who find themselves in prostitution are from poverty-stricken backgrounds, homeless, disenfranchised people from foster care systems,” she said. “I mean, I’m an out-of-control kid living on the street, fragile and hungry, so I think it’s very important to keep that in mind.”

A few years after leaving Moon Ranch, Charleston was arrested for tax evasion and served in federal prison for 13 months. She was later identified as a victim of sex trafficking and was granted full pardon by President Trump in 2020.

She received both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree and is now a public speaker’s awareness of human trafficking.

Both she and Dushel want to raise awareness about not believing in everything you see on TV.

“The House really takes advantage of girls,” Dushell said. “I really expected HBO more. They brought a great show, though. I mean, people love it. It’s not real.”