I don't think anybody missed the scandal when New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught using the high priced call girl service NY Confidential for his favorite call girl, Ashley Alexandra Dupre. Ultimately Jason Itzler and all of the principles of NY Confidential were arrested and the ring was broken, but before the bust the ride was certainly wild. What makes The Price so interesting is that the author, then known as "Natalia," helped train Dupre into the professional escort life of sex, drugs, and designer clothing.
Natalie McLennan grew up in Montreal, Canada and left for New York City after high school to become an actress. And she did find work - the problem was that most of it didn't pay well or involved having to sleep with gross producers and casting agents. I mean, she loved sex, but a girl does have her standards. Then one night she was introduced to pimp extraordinaire Jason Itzler. And she fell in love. Itzler immediately drafted her into his high class escort service as Natalia.
"What Jason was selling, and I was providing, was more than a lay. It was the GFE (The Girlfriend Experience). ... Jason would make all the girls repeat this mantra three times before they walked into the hotel room to meet a client: 'This is my boyfriend of six months, the man I love, I haven't seen him for three weeks... This is my boyfriend of six months, the man I love."What did Natalia get in exchange for this? Fifty percent of the cash (which started out at about $450 per hour to her and grew to $1000 per hour), lots of Manolos and Jimmy Choos, and a bad drug addiction to coke and heroin. While the life was fun for a while, Natalie was not stupid enough to ever buy the story hook, line, and sinker. So when it all fell down she managed to pick herself up, dust herself off, get on the cover of New York magazine, and land a nice book contract.
Don't get me wrong, I was drawn in by this story - the sex, the drugs, the cash, the luxury hotels, the celebrities, athletes, and generally wealthy men. And I am happy that McLennan ended up making some legitimate money from the experience. But it's hard to feel any kind of emotion towards someone who willingly set aside every virtue she had for money, plain and simple, and that's where The Price let me down.
Article comments
1 - Peter
Get your facts straight. Spitzer was busted using The Emporer's VIP, not New York Confidential.
2 - Lynda Lippin
Mea culpa!
However, Dupre did work for Itzler at NY Confidential (he discovered her waiting tables at the Gansvoort Hotel) and Natalie McLennan claims to have helped train Dupre.