I mostly like looking at the National Enquirer for the shots of magnified cellulite on stars wearing bikinis. Yet the September 26 issue pulled me in with its provocative cover text: "Brad Caught in Vegas Brothel—What will Angelina Say!" Accompanying the headline was a photo of a woman with her face blacked out, dated September 2005. Most people probably had a different reaction to that cover but my first thought was, "Pitt went to the Chicken Ranch again?" You see, back in June I learned about Brad Pitt's brief and uneventful visit to the Chicken Ranch for a photo shoot while I was reporting on a story about the behind-the-scenes life of the brothel.
Here is how the story was told to me: Back in February, Pitt hooked up with the husband of Honey, one of the prostitutes. The husband is a motorcycle expert and Pitt wanted his help for a photo shoot to promote Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Honey's husband knew of some good spots nearby, they did the shoot and then dropped by the brothel afterwards. Pitt got a tour, was invited to stay for dinner, posed for some photos and left. No sex, no booze, no partying. Yawn. If he hadn't been Brad Pitt, that man, beyond the dinner invite, would have been just like one of dozens of daily curious tourists I saw arrive—without any desire to partake of the wares—to check out one of the nation's only legal brothels. I asked no more questions about Pitt's visit.
So, I turned to the Enquirer's story (easy enough to find with its all capital-letters title: "BRAD'S BROTHEL SHOCKER!") to learn about Pitt's return trip to the Chicken Ranch. But there was no return trip. The September date under the cover photo aside, it is the February visit that's recounted, and to the modest facts I already knew, the tabloid's investigation managed to find out that in the photos, two girls posed naked behind a fully clothed Pitt, and, wait for it, he kissed them on the cheeks afterward. Not that I can be sure the National Enquirer has those facts right. For example, they only name two working girls in the story yet still manage to get one of their names wrong, spelling Kristy as Christie throughout. Well, it probably isn't her real name anyway.
As for Brooke, the other prostitute named—and the one interviewed in the story—she is no longer listed on the Chicken Ranch website. Knowing the premium the brothel places on privacy, my guess is that the National Enquirer interview has something to do with her departure, just as no one at the Chicken Ranch would talk to me on the record about Brooke, Pitt or the Enquirer (though one former worker in a position to know confirmed Brooke was fired).
Too bad, because in addition to ratting Pitt out to a tabloid, Brooke proved caring enough to fret in the story over what Jennifer Aniston would think if she found out about Pitt's visit (the very visit Brooke made sure everyone at a supermarket knew about). Of course, if you believe the National Enquirer, that same cover declares that Aniston's got her own problems ("Jennifer Aniston linked to RAPE SCANDAL").
Richard Abowitz much prefers the Weekly World News over the National Enquirer. E-mail him at
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