Kari Ann Peniche Enjoying Her Moment in the Sun
There are winners and losers of every sex scandal. Eric "McSteamy" Dane and wife Rebecca Gayheart have lawyered up over their filmed hot-tub adventure, but their hostess Kari Ann Peniche seems to be enjoying all the new attention.
We caused an internet sensation yesterday after posting the video of Peniche romping naked with the Grey's Anatomy star and his former Noxzema girl wife, apparently in some sort of altered state. While Dane and Gayheart aren't talking (though their lawyer is!), Peniche hasn't shied away from the spotlight. TMZ has a video of her denying she had sex with the famous couple — they were just hanging out naked, y'all! — and saying the she was "just having fun with my friends." Oh, it looks like they're having fun, alright!
Also, when the cameraman asks if she's going to sue her former roommate and fellow Celebrity Rehab patient, Mindy McCready, she laughs it off. It's just another night out for Peniche! This impromptu interview contradicts an earlier story on the gossip website, which claims Peniche said that the footage was stolen off her laptop by McCready.
Kari Ann says she got into an argument with McCready over money and believes the singer took her hard drive when she moved out. Kari Ann freaked out about certain personal information about her on the hard drive and filed a stolen property report with the LAPD.
Last month there was a summit between Eric, Rebecca, Kari Ann and Mindy. Their reps hammered out a deal as to who got what on the hard drive. Eric got full rights to the video and everyone assumed that was that ... until the tape surfaced on the Internet yesterday.
So, where does Kari go from here? Her name will be in the press for a couple weeks until the heat from the tape wears off. Assuming that the LAPD doesn't nab her — though they're trying — there are only a few tried-and-true post-sex-tape career options. Rule out legit film or television work right off the bat. She's already done Playboy and a D-List reality show, so it's not like she can give those another go-round. Porn is always an option, but there is no coming back from that. Maybe a tell-all book, but that's only if she's willing to dish on celebrities and talk about her work as a Hollywood madam—but even then there will be no teary repentance on Oprah (maybe Tyra, but not Oprah).
Otherwise, she can get ready for a slow fade into obscurity as "the girl in the sex tape with Eric Dane and Noxema girl."