Penthouse CEO Marc Bell calls lawsuit threat "blackmail"
While Richard Bottoms's sexual discrimination case against Penthouse Media Group continues, the Palo Alto man angry with his dismissal from the company tells us he's now planing a new round of suits against the company, seeking $1 in damages. In an email to Penthouse management announcing his plans to sue, Bottoms alleged that company developers were instructed to copy eHarmony.com when building sites Alt.com and Bondage.com.
"The templates created for FriendFinder that generate the pages have Harmony in their file names," Bottoms wrote. In a reply-to-all email, Penthouse Media Group CEO Marc Bell called his threats "blackmail."
Will someone please contact the local office of the FBI and make this idiot go away. The last time I checked blackmail is illegal. Thanks!
Naturally, Bottoms responded by taking a trip to the local FBI office. He called us after his visit. "I'm leaving the FBI building now, and they said ha ha!" Stay with Valleywag for more on this developing story — and, we promise, no jokes about Bottoms's name. (We have to leave the commenters something to do.)