Secrets of the Bunny Ranch Season 1 Episode 2
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00:00Cat House was my first introduction to, like, prostitution.
00:14I arrived while they were filming Cat House on HBO.
00:18Cat House put the Moonlight Bunny Ranch and Dennis Hoff on the map.
00:22Suddenly, everybody in America knew what the Bunny Ranch was.
00:25The show flaunted the amount of money that girls can make.
00:29I'm a businessman. I'm a partner with these girls.
00:31You see the girls making money on the show, and then you're like, let's go for it.
00:38Younger women were being drawn in by the show itself.
00:44They're coming because they bought into this idea that this is this hidden gem of a career opportunity.
00:50Cat House definitely made it seem like it was the Playboy Mansion.
00:56It wasn't like that at all.
00:57I was like, oh, f**k.
00:59It was sold as this illusion of power.
01:01They're independent contractors. They don't have to work unless they want to.
01:04But that's not the reality.
01:07And you become constantly trying to pay off your tab.
01:11I felt I'm never going to be able to leave here because I can't pay that debt off.
01:15It's debt bondage.
01:17This is brutal out here.
01:18Debtist owned all of us.
01:21If you don't do exactly what they want, they become violent.
01:25Once you're there, you're not allowed to leave.
01:28I was trapped.
01:30Because it was no longer safe.
01:34You put me under the covers for all the world to see.
01:46But I never recovered.
01:50You never cared about me.
01:52So now you're being a girl that I can't over see.
01:59You and all of you are rising to see.
02:04Interviewed Dolly Hart.
02:15Around the time that I caught a glimpse of Cat House, I want to say I was probably like 11, 12.
02:22Being something that was on late at night that my parents didn't really want me to watch.
02:27And as a kid that only makes you more intrigued, they would go to bed.
02:33And I would sneak out of my room, go downstairs, and I would watch with the volume turned down low.
02:40The girls looked like they were having fun.
02:44I think what got me the most is like the camaraderie between the women.
02:50Just that, seeing how you can make friends there.
02:55I'm over here thinking, like, when I grow up, I'm going to visit the Bunny Ranch.
03:00I just thought it was like the coolest thing.
03:03Like, damn, getting paid to just be gorgeous?
03:06Like, yes.
03:08That sounds amazing.
03:10So I decided I'm going to go to the Bunny Ranch.
03:18After the first season of Cat House had been on the air,
03:22young women wanted to live in the glamour image of it.
03:28And so the show began to attract younger women to the Bunny Ranch.
03:35It kind of grew on me as we were working there,
03:38that people were being drawn in by the show itself.
03:42It became clear to me that we were part of the recruiting system for the Bunny Ranch.
03:51I did not feel good about it.
03:53I did not feel good about it.
03:59In the early 2000s,
04:01Cat House, the television series,
04:03focuses on the prostitutes at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch.
04:05It is a phenomenal success.
04:09It's seen by 2.6 million people in its first airing.
04:13Dennis Hopp is getting free advertising,
04:16and HBO is also getting a moneymaker.
04:19Once mainstream got a taste of us,
04:23oh, it was just golden, right?
04:26They wanted more because their ratings went through the roof.
04:29It was like full-blown celebrity-ism.
04:33I didn't think that it would be all over the place like it was.
04:41I had no idea until I saw the show dubbed in Spanish,
04:45and I realized, wow, this is actually a big deal.
04:49We've taken my house, my cat house,
04:52into the homes of people in 27 languages in 49 countries,
04:56and you know what they do?
04:57They look at it and say, that ain't so bad.
05:00Dennis Hopp is a multimillionaire.
05:02I don't recruit girls.
05:04They come to me.
05:06The Bunny Ranch name has become so successful,
05:09it's now a highly-watched series on HBO,
05:12appropriately called Cat House.
05:14And the biggest cat of all, Dennis Hopp,
05:17says this is just the beginning of a budding bunny empire.
05:20The Bunny Ranch was Dennis' first brothel.
05:24It was in a little circular area,
05:26almost like a little strip mall,
05:28and it was all brothels that had different brothel owners.
05:31Dennis didn't like having his competition right outside his front door,
05:35so he started buying them up.
05:38His whole focus was on getting these girls to make him
05:41really insane amounts of money.
05:44He was like the Monopoly man of all the brothels.
05:49He would just buy them off of people,
05:50and he'd buy one, and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next.
05:54In northern Nevada, where the Bunny Ranch is,
05:56I have four places up there, but you fly into Reno.
06:00I have three places in southern Nevada that are one hour from the strip.
06:04He was very successful.
06:06He was making money left and right.
06:09He just started transforming them.
06:12He cleaned them up.
06:13He was like the remodel king.
06:15I mean, pull that carpet out, make this bigger.
06:19He just completely renovated everything
06:21and turned them into multi-million dollar investments.
06:24So there's this constant need for new ladies to be entering the industry,
06:29not to mention that there's a certain appeal to fresh faces,
06:33and Dennis loved the new ladies.
06:36These are the girls from the new season right here,
06:39all these hot blondes.
06:40How do you recruit the women?
06:42We don't recruit the girls.
06:44We recruit the girls by them watching our TV show on HBO.
06:49They'll hear me on Howard Stern.
06:51They'll see us in magazines.
06:54That's how we do this.
06:56People wanted to be on the show.
06:59Oh, my God, people came from all over.
07:01If you look at the mechanics of how it is that they wind up there,
07:06it's because of Cat House.
07:08Women trust women.
07:09So when they see them on HBO and then apply for a job there,
07:15it's part of the exploiter's marketing toolbox
07:21to make sure that you normalize an atrocity.
07:26Cat House was promoting a very enticing message for the viewers
07:31that was really nefarious.
07:34What it says to us, frankly, is that it can't be that bad
07:37if so many people are interested in doing it.
07:40These are all applications in New York, Dartmouth, Massachusetts,
07:43Clarksville, Tennessee, Miami, Florida.
07:45Some of the good ones do slip through.
07:47That's why it is good to be consistent
07:50and keep going and keep emailing me.
07:54Many more young women from places like Indiana and Ohio
08:00learned about the Bunny Ranch and came.
08:05I just saw, like, the velvet couch, the pink bunny house,
08:12and I was like, this is so cute.
08:14As a girl, I was having trouble making friends
08:18because I'm, like, this first-generation little Mexican girl
08:20getting bullied left and right
08:24and being labeled the ugly duckling.
08:26I have extremely curly hair, and so I guess I was very racially ambiguous,
08:33so I was being called the N-word.
08:35It was brutal, and I didn't come from a privileged background.
08:39So I was working the 17-hour days, six days a week.
08:42You're tired. You're burnt out.
08:44And you see the girls making money on the show,
08:48and then you're like, let's go for it.
08:53Let's do it.
08:56Cat House really packages prostitution
08:59in this neat little cute package,
09:02and it makes it very marketable to young women.
09:05The story really comes together in the editing booth.
09:08Those decisions that are made by HBO,
09:11the design and music,
09:13and of the opening credits of Cat House
09:15feel like a sitcom.
09:17And when we think of sitcoms,
09:29we automatically think about something that is happy,
09:32that is fun, that is light in tone.
09:34It predisposes young women to like these characters,
09:38and I find myself rooting for the people
09:39that I'm supposed to root for, according to the show,
09:42and I know better, and yet I still feel that pull.
09:46Yeah, we did get a number of girls
09:49who came after seeing the show, like Brooke Taylor.
09:52In episode one of the second season of Cat House,
09:55the young woman, Brooke, we see her for the first time.
09:58She has pigtails.
09:59I find it disturbing because it's making it cutesy
10:11and infantilizing them.
10:14It's making it as if they're little girls,
10:17as if these women are not now about to go
10:20and do very, you know, like, adult work.
10:23Here, pretty kitty here, pretty kitty here,
10:28pretty kitty here.
10:31Yes, hi.
10:32It's nice to meet you.
10:33We would lean toward music that could be kind of cheeky.
10:37You are going to be a cat in the Cat House,
10:40and that's the name of the show, is Cat House.
10:43So here comes kitty, kitty,
10:46but I didn't think of it as come one, come all.
10:50There wasn't a snidely whiplash, you know,
10:52here, kitty, kitty, you know,
10:54come to destroy your life or anything like that.
10:58It's, I guess, a testament of my naivete.
11:01This was the kind of avalanche of girls
11:03who had found out by seeing the first season.
11:08Oh, I do see it.
11:09Oh, my God, I remember filming this.
11:13The bunny ranch.
11:15What are you doing?
11:16Do you think there's anything wrong with that,
11:19with HBO putting out this sex show
11:21and having young girls come and work there?
11:24Well, I...
11:26If a girl's of age, you know, I mean,
11:31we ended up getting, you know,
11:32after the show started airing,
11:34getting a lot of people that came in,
11:36you know, some girls.
11:37But, yeah, I mean,
11:39I guess I never thought of it that way
11:41as a recruitment thing.
11:44Cat House definitely made it seem
11:46like it was the Playboy Mansion
11:49with bunny playmates
11:51jumping on each other, tickle fighting.
11:55But it was nothing like that.
11:56Not everything you see on TV is a reality.
12:05I love your show on HBO.
12:07I've been watching it.
12:08It's great at the bunny ranch.
12:10Yes.
12:10At the time I was at HBO,
12:12HBO was really at the top of their game.
12:15They were very, very popular,
12:16very, very successful.
12:18You had shows like The Sopranos.
12:19And HBO always wanted to be a little edgy,
12:22and so there were a number of programs
12:26that were very edgy sexually sex sells.
12:30HBO were among the first of television
12:33to really bank on that notion.
12:37But Cat House was glamorizing the sex trade.
12:41It was glamorizing pimps.
12:44It was not looking at the suffering
12:47of the women who are in these brothels.
12:49So after four years, I left HBO.
12:54I went to this organization called Equality Now.
12:58And when Cat House aired for the first time,
13:03we wondered at the time
13:05how we would deal with sexual exploitation
13:08as entertainment.
13:10I try to make it as nice as possible
13:12so they don't really want to leave.
13:15They want to stay here and have fun.
13:16There's free-flowing alcohol
13:20and everybody's laughing.
13:22There's a pool.
13:23I mean, it's a beautiful marketing ploy
13:26to recruit young, vulnerable women
13:29to try it out.
13:30Dennis had underage girls
13:32who weren't quite 18
13:33sending him nude photos and things like that.
13:36He loved the idea of hiring a girl
13:39and having her start when she was 18 years old.
13:42He loved young girls
13:43because you can control them.
13:45It's all about control.
13:48He had people that worked for him.
13:50They would sit outside Dayton High School
13:52and Carson High School.
13:54Tried to recruit young women.
13:56There's a restaurant
13:57really close to the Bunny Ranch.
13:59He would host teen nights.
14:01He would talk to the girls.
14:04Like, you're so pretty.
14:05When you get older,
14:06I would like to have you come and work for me.
14:08It was grooming, absolutely.
14:11100% grooming, manipulation.
14:14So, when I first got onto the Bunny Ranch website,
14:19I was looking at all the girls
14:20and seeing who was there.
14:22And, of course, the famous ones were there.
14:24Um, and then I noticed their sister brothels
14:29and I was like,
14:29well, okay, maybe I should apply to one of these.
14:32I actually applied for a Kit Kat
14:35because I'm like,
14:36the Bunny Ranch is kind of intimidating.
14:38And, on the day that I was traveling
14:43towards Nevada and the brothels,
14:46I was definitely nervous,
14:49but more than anything excited.
14:52But, upon, like, arriving to the actual location,
14:57at first I was like,
14:58wait a minute, like,
14:59we're out here in the boonies.
15:02Like, you know,
15:03it doesn't look like that on the show.
15:06When I arrived at the Bunny Ranch,
15:10it was this little, like,
15:11almost trailer-looking house.
15:13And I got there
15:14while they were filming Cat House.
15:17It was really eerie.
15:19There was all these young girls there.
15:21And I remember
15:22when they were filming some scene,
15:24it was like,
15:25I remember hearing the loud footsteps
15:26as they were kind of running
15:28through the halls playfully
15:29with the cameras
15:30and trying to make it out
15:31like it was this playful time.
15:36And I had already been a prostitute
15:38for about five years
15:40when I arrived at the Bunny Ranch.
15:42So I knew that these kids
15:43had no idea what it's really like.
15:46They had no clue
15:47what prostitution takes out of you.
15:50Your dignity,
15:52your worth as a human being,
15:53your treatment in society,
15:55it is not.
15:57Like Cat House.
15:58The first time I met Dennis,
16:03and I was like,
16:04holy s**t,
16:04this really is Dennis
16:05from, like,
16:06I seen this man on TV.
16:08And he welcomes
16:09the new group of the week.
16:12And that's where he does the rundown
16:14of how, like,
16:15money splitting works
16:17and to follow the Bunny Bible
16:20and don't be disrespectful.
16:22The house rules
16:23definitely made sense to me.
16:25Yeah, I remember the Bunny Bible.
16:27I remember learning
16:28all these rules.
16:29They definitely tried
16:30to just legitimize
16:32prostitution in the brothels,
16:33that this is a normal
16:34employee workplace.
16:36Like, this is HR.
16:39The Bunny Bible
16:40was all the rules.
16:41There's always a lot of rules.
16:43Condoms are required.
16:45There was no drugs allowed.
16:49You could choose
16:50who you slept with.
16:52Don't do anything sexual
16:53in the parlor.
16:55But the rules
16:57didn't apply to Dennis.
17:01These rules
17:02are from the perspective of
17:03this is to keep you safe.
17:05But it felt like
17:07just a way to control
17:08all the women.
17:09I'm a businessman.
17:10It supplies a place
17:11and an opportunity
17:12for ladies to work.
17:14And we share the proceeds.
17:15The last thing I am
17:17is a pimp.
17:18I remember standing
17:23at my first lineup.
17:24It was so, so weird.
17:26You know, the bell rings
17:28and you know
17:28that a customer has showed up
17:29and everybody has to hurry up
17:31and get there for the lineup
17:32so he can look at each person.
17:36And it was always
17:37like a nerve-wracking experience
17:38because you're standing there
17:40in a lineup of just
17:41the most beautiful woman
17:42on the face of the planet.
17:43And I am four foot eight inches
17:46and I have colleagues
17:47that are like six foot two
17:48and I'm like head level
17:50with her boobs.
17:51My first lineup,
17:53of course I was nervous
17:54so I had no idea
17:55like would I even be good
17:55at this?
17:56Dennis always said
17:57that sex work
17:58empowered women.
17:59The power is in the negotiation.
18:01You are merchandise.
18:07You negotiate prices
18:08based on
18:09if I knock my price down
18:12$50
18:12and he thinks I'm pretty
18:14maybe he'll go with me
18:15instead of her.
18:16The first time
18:19that I ever
18:21did the full service
18:22sex work
18:23I thought
18:24what if this dude
18:25starts off good
18:26but then halfway through
18:27switches up
18:28like what if he attacks?
18:30Men are scary.
18:30and I was like
18:31ooh this job
18:32is going to be
18:33a little harder
18:34than I thought.
18:39I learned very quickly
18:40in this line of work
18:42they really don't give a
18:44what you look like
18:45as long as you're
18:46blonde and white.
18:47So that was
18:49very disheartening
18:50and it was very difficult
18:51for me to make money
18:53at first.
18:54What Cat House
18:55doesn't say
18:57is that
18:57it's much easier
18:59to get in
19:00than it is to get out.
19:01It's very very hard
19:02to get out.
19:07Prostitution is not
19:08a common job
19:10like any other.
19:11Having some
19:12hot sweaty dude
19:14hunching over you
19:15and trying to get
19:16whatever rape fantasy
19:17he has in his mind
19:18played out
19:19by choking you
19:20or whatever position
19:22that his wife won't do.
19:23this is access
19:25to your body
19:26to your soul.
19:28There's no work
19:30that takes out of you
19:31what prostitution
19:33takes out of you.
19:41Look
19:41Dennis' world
19:44was buying
19:45and selling
19:46people.
19:47Dennis traded
19:50human bodies
19:51just like he would
19:52have a used car.
19:53You are a product
19:54that is to be
19:55bought and used
19:56and then discarded
19:58and women
19:59are just commodities.
20:01People are working
20:02developing new product
20:03for me right now
20:04in the backseat
20:05of a car somewhere.
20:0618 years from now
20:07they'll be coming
20:07to work for me.
20:08Dennis Hoff took
20:10whatever rules
20:12he used
20:13in his timeshare practice
20:14to prostitution
20:16in Cat House.
20:17You see every single
20:18one of these rules
20:19in practice.
20:20It's the customer's job
20:21to get you
20:22to do this free
20:24or for very small money.
20:26It's your job
20:28to take their house
20:29and their car
20:30and their 401k plan.
20:32Now somewhere
20:32in the middle
20:33you've got a happy buyer
20:34and a happy seller.
20:35It's really important
20:38to note that
20:39when Dennis is
20:40giving the women
20:41advice on how
20:42to negotiate higher rates
20:43that it also
20:44is self-serving
20:44because the brothel
20:46has a 50-50 split
20:47meaning that the house
20:48gets 50%
20:49and the women
20:50get 50%.
20:51But the women
20:52don't even take home
20:5250% because they
20:54also have to pay
20:54for supplies.
20:57Dennis does the rundown
20:59of how we split it.
21:00He was doing the 50-50
21:01and I was like
21:02okay that's fine
21:03and then he said
21:04oh well that includes
21:05tips
21:06and I'm like
21:07that's horse
21:08and then he's like
21:09that includes gifts.
21:12So he's had a girl
21:13split a car
21:15that one of her
21:15clients gave her
21:16made her like
21:18pay out the other
21:19half of the car
21:19and I'm over here
21:22like why did you
21:23tell him?
21:24Why did you tell him?
21:27They booked
21:28a thousand dollars
21:29maybe on a good day.
21:31When they got paid out
21:32the brothel took
21:33their 500
21:34now from the girls
21:36500 they're given
21:37a card that shows
21:38all the money
21:38that was deducted.
21:39They don't explain
21:40that your room
21:41and board is going
21:42to be coming out
21:42of your 50%
21:44of the money.
21:46$45 a day
21:47seven days a week.
21:50So is all
21:51your supplies.
21:52We had to buy
21:54our clothing
21:55we had to buy
21:55the condoms
21:56get our hair
21:59and our makeup
21:59done
22:00we had to buy
22:01the lube
22:01we had to buy
22:02the sex toys
22:03pay the photographer
22:06$80 for the sheriff
22:09card
22:10you have to
22:10pay if you want
22:11to do your laundry
22:12you need to tip
22:13the housekeeper
22:14you need to tip
22:15the staff
22:16the cashier
22:17expects a tip
22:17everybody's got
22:20their hands
22:21in that money
22:21they take
22:23as much money
22:24as possible
22:25your little 50%
22:26just basically
22:27dwindles down
22:28and that was
22:31the norm
22:32and you would
22:33sit there
22:33at the cashier
22:34when the money
22:34came in
22:35and you would
22:36hear over
22:36and over again
22:37is that all
22:38I've got
22:39you could go
22:40days without
22:41having a client
22:44but the tab
22:45grew
22:46and it grew
22:47and it grew
22:48and you become
22:49constantly trying
22:51to pay off
22:51your tab
22:52that's why
22:53it was called
22:54debt bondage
22:54there are
22:59many girls there
23:00that are falling
23:01in debt
23:01and that's a
23:03position you don't
23:04ever want to be
23:05in at the brothel
23:05that means that
23:09whenever a customer
23:10finally does pick
23:11them
23:11they have to do
23:12whatever he wants
23:13no matter if they
23:14want to or not
23:15the brothel
23:19is designed
23:20to make money
23:21for the pimp
23:22for the house
23:24it's not at all
23:25in favor of
23:27the women
23:27that work there
23:28and the brothel
23:30owner always wins
23:32I saw women
23:34come in
23:34to the brothel
23:35and they had
23:36a certain set
23:36of boundaries
23:37for instance
23:37they didn't do
23:39certain types
23:40of sex acts
23:41but as they
23:42became more
23:42and more desperate
23:43and they needed
23:44money
23:44their personal
23:45boundaries changed
23:47suddenly they were
23:48doing things
23:49that they didn't
23:50feel right about
23:51they lost
23:53themselves
23:54when you're
23:56desperate
23:57you don't have
23:58a choice
23:58you're gonna do
23:59what you can
24:00to survive
24:03and that's not
24:04empowerment
24:05at all
24:05I learned very
24:11quickly that
24:12it wasn't like
24:13the show
24:14that a lot
24:15of the men
24:16that would come
24:16through there
24:17were very racist
24:18and I was like
24:20oh no I should
24:20totally be making
24:21more money
24:22but I know
24:22why I'm not
24:23it made me angry
24:24and then I just
24:26started talking
24:26to the men
24:27and they'd be like
24:28alright sold
24:29it was weird
24:30I had to be mean
24:31to get bookings
24:32the meaner I was
24:34to them
24:34the more they
24:35booked
24:36because it's like
24:37they wanted to see
24:38a brown girl
24:40get riled up
24:41or something
24:42it just sucked
24:43again that I had
24:44to work harder
24:45than I should have
24:46and then meanwhile
24:47you could see
24:47the white women
24:48walk out with
24:49just their PJs
24:50and get picked
24:50the reality
24:52isn't the same
24:53as this show
24:55HBO
24:56the network
24:56set
24:57HBO
24:58you've hit a new low
24:59Cat House
25:00has got to go
25:01so when Cat House
25:03first was being aired
25:05we decided to
25:06protest HBO
25:08HBO
25:09the network
25:09set
25:10the protest
25:11was in front
25:12of HBO headquarters
25:13in Manhattan
25:14it is absolutely
25:16critical
25:17that HBO
25:18take a very
25:19close look
25:20at the types
25:20of programs
25:21they put on the air
25:23that actually
25:24degrades and
25:25objectifies
25:25women and girls
25:26I just remember
25:28people walking by
25:29like they
25:29didn't quite understand
25:31like why we were
25:32protesting
25:33or what
25:33sort of what
25:35the problem
25:36was with
25:37Cat House
25:38like what are they
25:38talking about
25:39so
25:40it was the
25:41only way
25:41to raise awareness
25:42about abuse
25:44and what the
25:45impact
25:45of mainstreaming
25:46violence
25:47does to
25:48human beings
25:49especially
25:49women and girls
25:50the show
25:51was mainly
25:52produced by women
25:53that is
25:54Sheila Nevins
25:55was at the top
25:55and
25:56and everybody
25:57under Sheila
25:58on the HBO
25:59side
25:59were all women
26:00and Patty Kaplan
26:02who was the
26:03the director
26:04producer
26:05of the show
26:05the New York Post
26:07gave you a bad review
26:08they said
26:08this is a bad
26:09infomercial
26:10for hookers
26:10they say
26:11it's not
26:11journalistic
26:12it's trite
26:12it's phony
26:13maybe even more
26:14damning
26:14they say
26:15it's boring
26:15were you trying
26:16to do sort of
26:17a journalist
26:18oh so not
26:19boring
26:20right there
26:21we see a business
26:22transaction
26:22I mean the guy
26:23looks like he's
26:23ordering off the menu
26:24at McDonald's
26:24it's something
26:25nobody's seen
26:26nobody's seen
26:27and only HBO
26:28can do this
26:28kind of a program
26:29why is Sheila
26:31Nevin of HBO
26:32leading this culture
26:35in her
26:36network
26:37can someone
26:39please call
26:40Sheila Nevins
26:41down here
26:42now
26:42Sheila
26:43can you hear me
26:45Sheila
26:45can you come
26:47down here
26:47there's a few people
26:48that want to talk
26:49to you
26:49we want to know
26:51why
26:51you think
26:53this is the way
26:54to build a successful
26:55network
26:56the people
26:57who make money
26:59from the sex trade
27:00they are
27:00unbelievable marketers
27:02they wanted
27:03prostitution to be
27:04mainstreamed
27:05they wanted to be
27:06normalized
27:07and Mr. Pimp
27:09Dennis Hoff
27:10the ultimate marketer
27:11tried to do that
27:13hello
27:14thank you for having me
27:16here at the
27:16world's oldest university
27:18to discuss
27:19the world's oldest
27:20profession
27:20prostitution
27:21it's the oldest
27:23profession
27:24that's a slogan
27:25it means nothing
27:26it's the oldest
27:27form of oppression
27:28you know what the
27:29exploitation is
27:30the exploitation
27:30is on us men
27:32who don't get
27:33enough variety
27:34quality
27:35or type of sex
27:36that we want
27:37that's exploitation
27:41I was a high school
27:48dropout
27:49and I mean
27:49I was homeless
27:50and so I was forced
27:52into prostitution
27:53at 17 years old
27:54my pimp had forced me
27:56to get a fake
27:56identification
27:57that showed me
27:58as older
27:59the reason
28:00I went to the
28:01bunny ranch
28:02was because I had
28:03another pimp
28:03I was forced
28:05to go work
28:06at the bunny ranch
28:06because my pimp
28:07would send us there
28:08we were getting
28:09arrested too much
28:09in Las Vegas
28:10and our face
28:11was getting too
28:11known by the vice
28:12I was being
28:13pimped out
28:14by one man
28:15to be pimped out
28:16by another man
28:17Dennis Hoff
28:18I had first
28:20hand knowledge
28:21of Dennis and Suzette
28:22working with pimps
28:23who supplied them
28:24with women
28:25if a pimp
28:26has a reputation
28:27of having very
28:27well trained women
28:28who aren't a problem
28:30they're probably
28:31the best working girls
28:32are some of the
28:32ones with pimps
28:34they're terrified
28:35they're controlled
28:35they've been trained
28:37they've been indoctrinated
28:38that's a lot less
28:40work for the brothel
28:41Suzette and Dennis
28:43both knew
28:44all the girls
28:45that were being trafficked
28:46that had pimps
28:47outside of the brothel
28:48do you know
28:49the girls
28:49that are getting beaten
28:50I mean the branding
28:52that we would have
28:53you know
28:54we would have
28:54the same matching tattoos
28:56it was my pimp
28:58his initials
28:59that's where
28:59all of our brands were
29:01was on the back
29:01of our neck
29:02so I wound up
29:03covering that
29:03with a big treat
29:04they didn't care
29:06about my situation
29:07at all
29:08all they cared about
29:09was was I performing
29:10I never felt like
29:12there was somebody
29:13that I could have
29:14said anything to
29:15it just felt like
29:16no one cared
29:17management did not care
29:19if you were being called
29:21some type of slurp
29:23but if
29:24one of the black
29:26or brown girls
29:27said anything
29:29to hurt
29:29one of the little
29:30white girls feelings
29:31like we were seen
29:32as the aggressor
29:33and we would
29:34immediately get us
29:35talking to
29:36in the office
29:37that's where
29:39I was like
29:39man
29:40this is brutal
29:41out here
29:41our system
29:43is flawless
29:44we just don't
29:46have any problems
29:47and that's why
29:47we don't have
29:48any underage girls
29:49in here
29:49the brothels
29:50try to say
29:51like oh well
29:52there's no trafficking
29:53that takes place
29:53in brothels
29:54that is simply
29:55not true
29:56when I had to go
29:58to the local
29:59sheriff's office
30:00to get your local
30:01sheriff's card
30:02to work at
30:02the bunny ranch
30:03I had my fake
30:04social security number
30:05my fake address
30:07my fake birthday
30:07my fake name
30:08and here I was
30:09in this state
30:10licensing agency
30:11getting a work card
30:12to go work
30:13for this legal pimp
30:14the whole system
30:16just encouraged
30:17itself
30:18I was constantly
30:21checking in
30:22with my pimp
30:22over the phone
30:23via text message
30:24letting him know
30:26kind of how much
30:26money I had
30:27and he would tell me
30:29if I needed to go
30:30put X amount of money
30:31in the bank
30:31it felt like
30:34I was kind of free
30:34for a moment
30:35I almost felt like
30:42I was back
30:43to being normal
30:44in a way
30:44that I was able
30:45to drive my own car
30:46and go and do something
30:48but then
30:51I had to go right back
30:53I had to turn around
30:54and go right back in
30:56through the gates
30:57and that is the moment
30:59I realized that
31:00while I was at
31:01the bunny ranch
31:02I gave Dennis Hoff
31:0350% of the money
31:04and I gave my other pimp
31:0650% of the money
31:07I was literally
31:09having sex
31:10with strangers
31:11for nothing
31:12Dennis was notorious
31:20for just partying
31:22which meant
31:23have sex
31:23with whoever he wanted
31:24and not giving them
31:25any money
31:26my pimp told me
31:28that if he ever
31:29tried to party with me
31:31to just stay
31:31as far away from him
31:33as I could
31:34because of course
31:34he wasn't going to let me
31:36free f*** someone
31:37right
31:38so I knew
31:39anytime Dennis was
31:40around in the parlor
31:41or wherever
31:41I would try to kind of
31:43stay away from him
31:44I'm sure Dennis is
31:46very capable of assault
31:47because he is a man
31:49who was rarely told no
31:51he definitely
31:52is a predator
31:54he just knew
31:55who he could
31:57like coerce
31:58and who
31:59he can manipulate
32:00he could be a real
32:01piece of s***
32:02he ever propositioned you
32:04for sex
32:04oh yeah absolutely
32:06the last one
32:08was at his birthday party
32:09he expected me
32:10to have like a threesome
32:11with him
32:12and this other girl
32:13I went to go say
32:14happy birthday
32:14and he's like
32:15hey would you be down
32:16for a threesome
32:17and I was like
32:18am I getting paid
32:19and he's like
32:20no it's my birthday
32:21and I was like
32:22like no
32:23Dennis was intimidating
32:25you can never
32:27trust these dudes
32:28but I've never
32:29been a fool
32:30I'm like money first
32:31money first
32:32I saw the absolute
32:35worst of humanity
32:36as a prostitute
32:37my pimp taught us
32:39how to protect ourselves
32:40because violence
32:41is so common
32:43if you don't perform
32:44if you don't do
32:45exactly what they want
32:46they fly into a rage
32:48they become violent
32:50around the time
32:52that I was there
32:53Vince Neil
32:53from Motley Crue
32:54came to visit
32:55Dennis
32:56at the brothel
32:57I would appreciate
32:58if you could read
32:59this police report
33:00followed by
33:01an Andrea Terry
33:03about what happened
33:04to her
33:04he tried to get me
33:06to touch his penis
33:07I reminded him
33:09that we had to pay
33:10before any sexual acts
33:11could take place
33:12with such a rage
33:14in his eyes
33:15he grabbed me
33:16by the throat
33:17and pushed me
33:18against the window frame
33:19holding me there
33:20yelling at me
33:21then yanked me down
33:23towards the bed
33:23he was more angry
33:25than I've ever
33:26seen someone
33:26what offends me
33:33the most
33:33about this story
33:34is that
33:35instead of Dennis
33:36kicking Vince Neil
33:37out for assaulting
33:38one of his employees
33:40he took him
33:41to the bar
33:42bought him
33:43another drink
33:43and then paid
33:44for him to party
33:45with some other girl
33:46I mean
33:47they
33:49they don't
33:50protect you
33:51in the end
33:53the police
33:54actually charged
33:55Vince Neil
33:55and he pleaded
33:56no contest
33:57but
33:58if
33:58the bunny ranch
33:59and Dennis Hoff
34:00had their way
34:01no one would have
34:02ever known
34:03I hadn't booked
34:08in like
34:09two weeks
34:10two three weeks
34:11and
34:11you still have to
34:12pay room and board
34:13even if you're not
34:14booking
34:15that was just
34:16adding up
34:17and
34:18I was like
34:18I know this is not
34:19my fault
34:19because
34:20my regulars
34:21are still coming
34:22but
34:22no new bookings
34:24no
34:24what
34:24like
34:25something's
34:26happening
34:26so
34:28I noticed
34:29emails
34:30a bunch
34:32of emails
34:32client emails
34:34in my inbox
34:34I was like
34:35oh great
34:35I go to
34:37refresh
34:38they're gone
34:38they're gone
34:40I caught
34:42my emails
34:43being rerouted
34:44but
34:45now
34:46I was like
34:46I'm gonna be a target
34:47the big difference
34:49I did see
34:50between Cat House
34:51and the reality
34:52of it
34:52is that
34:53the women
34:54don't have your back
34:55all the time
34:56it isn't
34:57this big
34:58sorority
34:59it's
35:01very manipulative
35:02conniving
35:03and
35:04we had to
35:06fight harder
35:07I mean
35:07the women of color
35:08had to fight harder
35:09when
35:09somebody was
35:11messing with
35:12our money
35:12every time
35:16I needed
35:16to go
35:17into town
35:18I had to
35:18talk to Suzette
35:19and have to
35:20ask permission
35:21to be able
35:22to leave
35:22my workplace
35:23like
35:24I didn't have
35:24control over
35:25my own movement
35:25and I remember
35:27having to
35:28argue with Suzette
35:29for just being able
35:30to leave
35:30the premises
35:31the bunny ranch
35:37it's a fortress
35:38you cannot go in
35:41without being
35:41buzzed in
35:42you cannot leave
35:43without being
35:44buzzed out
35:45you have multiple
35:47gates
35:47there's security
35:48cameras
35:49I saw numerous times
35:51that girls
35:52would be on the phone
35:53trying to borrow
35:54from other girls
35:55trying to
35:55get money
35:56for a ticket
35:57to get out
35:57of there
35:58sometimes
35:58they didn't
35:58even have
35:59cash to pay
35:59a driver
36:00to take
36:01him to the
36:01airport
36:02if you do
36:02owe money
36:03to the
36:04brothel
36:04you can't
36:05just walk
36:06away
36:06you can't
36:07just say
36:07you know
36:07what
36:08I'm going to
36:08call a cab
36:08and I'm
36:09going to leave
36:10like that
36:10that's not
36:11possible
36:11people try
36:14to say
36:14it's a regular
36:15job
36:15who doesn't
36:16leave their
36:17job
36:17you're literally
36:26there 24
36:277
36:28that's not
36:29normal
36:29it's like
36:30they're being
36:31kept in
36:31captivity
36:32this is an
36:40opportunity
36:41for you
36:41either to
36:42make a lot
36:43of money
36:43in 4 or 5
36:45years
36:45invest it
36:46properly
36:46and never
36:47have to
36:47work another
36:48day in your
36:48life
36:49or to make
36:50a good amount
36:51of money
36:51in a short
36:52period of time
36:52every month
36:53so you can
36:54be with your
36:54kids
36:54work on your
36:55writing or
36:56acting career
36:57or your
36:57studies
36:58I get a lot
36:59of girls
36:59that are paying
37:00off their
37:00school loans
37:01it's a myth
37:02that there
37:03would be
37:03a lot
37:04of millionaires
37:06of women
37:07in prostitution
37:08the minute
37:09they leave
37:10prostitution
37:11they are
37:11in abject
37:12poverty
37:12and it's
37:13very very
37:14difficult
37:14for them
37:14to rebuild
37:15their lives
37:16without
37:16extensive
37:17medical
37:19psychological
37:19psychiatric
37:20assistance
37:21started getting
37:25a little
37:25rougher
37:25and very
37:27unfair
37:27and having
37:29quite a few
37:29debacles
37:30with like
37:31racist girls
37:32in the house
37:34and racist
37:35clients
37:36it was no
37:37longer safe
37:38the women
37:47who had no
37:47family
37:48who had no
37:49one to help
37:49them
37:50they got stuck
37:51there
37:51the women
37:52who could
37:52get out
37:53of the brothel
37:54got out
37:54of the brothel
37:55with their own
37:56money
37:56or have family
37:57get them out
37:57or a pimp
37:58would pull
37:58them out
37:59my pimp
38:01finally let
38:02me come
38:02back to
38:03vegas
38:03when he
38:04felt like
38:05he had
38:05punished me
38:06enough
38:06when he
38:07had taught
38:08me a lesson
38:08that i better
38:10be smarter
38:10out there
38:11in the streets
38:11and stop
38:12getting arrested
38:12i felt relieved
38:14even though i was
38:16going to stay
38:16in prostitution
38:17i didn't want
38:18to be at the
38:19brothel
38:19anymore
38:20and i remember
38:22packing my stuff
38:23up and getting
38:24in my little
38:24car and i put
38:26the bunny ranch
38:27in my rearview
38:27mirror
38:28my pimp
38:29as horrible
38:30as he was
38:31at least
38:32let me leave
38:32that prison
38:33i wasn't
38:37able to
38:37get away
38:38from my
38:38pimp
38:38until the
38:39federal
38:39authorities
38:40finally became
38:40involved
38:41he was
38:42racking up
38:42credit card
38:43debt
38:43in my name
38:44so i had
38:44about
38:44fifty thousand
38:45dollars
38:45of credit
38:45card debt
38:46i had a
38:46six hundred
38:47thousand dollar
38:47home
38:47in my name
38:48that got
38:48foreclosed
38:49i had two
38:49eighty thousand
38:50dollar cars
38:50that got
38:51repossessed
38:51they arrested
38:53me and they
38:53thought maybe
38:54i would snitch
38:54but because i
38:55was too afraid
38:56to testify
38:57against him
38:57i wound up
38:58taking a
38:59charge
38:59and serving
39:01thirteen months
39:02in federal
39:03prison for
39:04conspiracy to
39:04commit tax
39:05evasion
39:06i served my
39:07thirteen months
39:08in prison
39:08and so i
39:10moved back
39:10to texas
39:11january 7th
39:12of 2012
39:12and started
39:14my life over
39:14so i wound up
39:15going back
39:16to school
39:16lo and behold
39:17i'm actually
39:17pretty smart
39:18i wound up
39:19getting my
39:19master's degree
39:20in criminology
39:21and criminal
39:21justice
39:21in 2013
39:23i launched
39:24becca speaks
39:25out
39:25i train
39:27law enforcement
39:27officers
39:28social workers
39:29nurses
39:29across the
39:30country
39:30on human
39:31trafficking
39:32education
39:32my name
39:33is becca
39:33charleston
39:34i spent
39:35some time
39:35working at
39:36the moonlight
39:37bunny ranch
39:37for dennis
39:38hoff
39:38and they
39:39like to
39:39claim that
39:39that prevents
39:40trafficking
39:40from happening
39:41but it
39:42doesn't
39:43and then
39:44one day
39:44i remember
39:45i was out
39:45at dinner
39:46at a work
39:46event
39:47and cbs
39:47called me
39:48on my
39:48phone
39:49it hasn't
39:49really sunk
39:50in yet
39:50becca charleston
39:52says receiving
39:52a full pardon
39:53from president
39:54donald trump
39:55is a gift
39:56and so to
39:57finally have it
39:58happen the day
39:59before christmas eve
40:00is just surreal
40:01and now i have a shiny piece of paper that the president signed that says he forgives me for being a victim of human trafficking
40:08honestly it takes so much strength to be vulnerable enough to begin the healing process
40:15it's a really hard shift that a lot of people are never able to make
40:20you know dennis hoff he has definitely gained financial power and control off of like women's autonomy and our labor our
40:33and let's be our talents and let's be our talents to maintain like clients you need to have personality and there's a reason why there's returning clients he thinks that it's all because of him
40:47i finally
40:52i finally
40:54started
40:55to detach from
40:59the brothels
41:00because they were messing with my money
41:02and that's when i was a lot of money and that's when i started like packing up and
41:06yep
41:07i left
41:09if i could talk to my 11 year old me
41:13watching cat house
41:15oh man
41:16sorry if i get emotional on this
41:19what i would say to that little girl is don't let
41:23any of the things thrown your way break you
41:28don't diminish yourself to make others comfortable
41:31be comfortable being
41:33you
41:34i was a working girl for dennis hoff
41:47i just thought oh god it's gonna be so much fun
41:49he said you get to pick and choose who you have sex with
41:54i don't make anybody do anything ever
41:56i know that there are allegations of rape and violence the job of the documentary was not to do an investigation into the bunny ranch
42:06the job was to create a good time series
42:09we're at the bunny ranch we're having fun
42:11i just thought oh god it's gonna be so much fun
42:13and i thought it was safe
42:14but it wasn't safe
42:16he was a very sick man
42:18he hurt a lot of people
42:20i'm a straight guy
42:21i pay my taxes
42:22i do the right things
42:23he's a monster
42:24i was molested and beaten and raped
42:27on a regular basis
42:28girls come in shut the door
42:30put a blanket over you and beat the out of you
42:32the bunny ranch is kind of like walmart or church
42:35you don't have to go unless you want to
42:36if you make dennis unhappy he's gonna hurt you this feels like organized crime he was sort of a degenerate tony soprano
42:44he thought he could do whenever he wanted
42:46he had gotten so big that he couldn't be contained anymore
42:51he had gotten so big that he couldn't be contained anymore
42:56he couldn't be contained anymore