“Nevada’s the last of the live and let live states,” says Dennis
Hof, the self-described “Brothel King” and owner and proprieter of
Nevada’s Moonlite Bunny Ranch, made famous as the setting for the
HBO documentary series, Cathouse
(2005-2008). “I don’t care if you smoke weed. Don’t bother me
because I have a safe full of guns and work in the sex
business.”
Reason TV’s Zach Weissmueller sat down with Hof in his brothel
for a wide-ranging interview about sex, prostitution, black
markets, politics, and more.
Hof acquired the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in 1992 and systematically
pushed it into the public eye through a blend of showmanship,
attention-seeking, and media outreach he calls the “PT Barnum/Andy
Kaufman” school of marketing and publicity. In fact, he claims that
Andy Kaufman gave him the initial idea to buy the Bunny Ranch when
they partied there together in the late ’70s.
”In about ’78, Kaufman said, ‘Dennis, let’s buy this place
and make it our den,'” says Hof (1:30).
Since then, Hof has gone on to acquire six more brothels, giving
him a huge share of a national market that only includes 17 total
brothels. This is because Nevada is the only state in the U.S. that
has legalized prostitution, and only in counties with populations
of less than 400,000. This, of course, rules out Clark County,
where Las Vegas is located.
“It’s illegal in Las Vegas, and look what you’ve got,” says Hof.
“You’ve got 2,000 girls a month being arrested. Lots of guys being
arrested, lives being ruined… Las Vegas is the sexual cesspool of
America.” (24:20)
He also points to the
remarkably high rate of HIV infection among prosititutes in Las
Vegas. By contrast, he says, under the state’s regime of
mandatory STD testing, there has never been a
documented case of HIV among licensed workers in Nevada’s
brothels.
Watch the whole interview above to hear Hof talk more about what
it’s like to run some of the country’s only legal brothels, as well
as stories about his run-ins with Sen. Harry Reid (7:10), his advice for
Anthony Weiner and Elliot Spitzer (17:45), and why he
started the group “Pimpin’ for [Ron] Paul” (18:17).
Click the link below for downloadable versions of this
video.
Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Shot by Sharif Matar and Will
Neff. Approximately 27 minutes.
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