Naked Truth About A&E’s Explosive New Doc

When A&E greenlit Secrets of Celebrity Sex Tapes, they called Kevin Blatt. A celebrity sex tape broker and fixer not afraid to get his hands dirty in the spirit of a good deal. He has worked both sides of the fence, whether it’s acquiring an asset, facilitating a transaction or making something go away. 

In short, Blatt is among the talking heads uniquely qualified to lend his insight on this particular subject. The docuseries uncovers the naked truth behind some of the most scandalous and headline-grabbing stories including Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, Kim Kardashian, Colin Farrell, Farrah Abraham, Mimi Faust and others. One of Blatt’s, shall we say credits, was 2004’s 1 Night in Paris between Paris Hilton and Rick Salomon. 

The premiere episode on September 8 centers on A-lister Rob Lowe and Jayne Kennedy, a trailblazing sports reporter on CBS’s The NFL Today. Kennedy’s career took a hit after footage of her getting intimate with then husband and actor Leon Isaac Kennedy was leaked. 

Ahead of the premiere, Blatt digs into what’s to come. 

Kevin Blatt

What were your first impressions when you found out A&E was doing a docuseries on celebrity sex tapes? 

Kevin Blatt: My first impression is I was pissed because I was trying to sell the same exact show for four years. Every time I would get with a different production company, they’d tell me they love me, and I was great. The typical Hollywood story. “Love you babe, we’re going to do this thing.” Then they’d say someone was doing something on OnlyFans or the porn thing. Then the pandemic happened and this happened. I thought, “Of course, A&E is going to do something.” They do it right. If you’ve seen The Secrets Of shows like I have seen the Playboy one and the Bunny Ranch, so I thought it was a good fit. These guys know how to tell the story the way it’s supposed to be told. 

What are your thoughts on the first episode? 

I will say the series is so well constructed. They really go to the beginnings with Rob Lowe at the Democratic National Convention, getting caught with the underaged girl. It was never commercialized or put out for distribution, but ultimately, everyone thought that was going to end Rob Lowe’s career. He became one of the bigger, most wealthy guys in Hollywood. That didn’t slow him down at all. The other one was Jayne Kennedy, who I grew up watching on CBS. The first episode will be interesting because it predates my time in the sex tape world. 

As you said, Rob’s career saw an upward trajectory while Jayne’s suffered in comparison. It’s mentioned in the docuseries how the women are perceived differently than the men in these instances. 

It’s a double-edged sword. It’s unfair because women were definitely more victimized over the years…or were they? Tune in to watch the show to see who was victimized and who wasn’t. Who profited from it? Whose career really took a hit? To be honest with you, to this day, I don’t know of any celebrity who had their celebrity fall as a result of a sex tape. It’s only helped and enhanced everybody’s careers. 

It’s interesting because when you think of sex tape, you don’t think of production and how it’s shot. However, there are instances where that may or may not have been considered. 

Look, everybody wants to look good these days. The true essence of the celebrity sex tape  going back to the Pam [Anderson] and Tommy Lee thing is it was something you weren’t seeing. The allure of the sex tape was that it was looking through a keyhole and seeing something you weren’t supposed to see. When it started to become a business model and people realized they can enhance their celebrity and really profit off of it, that’s when “final cut” comes into play. Then they have a first look at it and have a final say on how they look. Maybe they don’t want their ass shown because they are self-conscious about their ass or want to wear more makeup or they don’t want anything that would be too sexual in nature. That’s when some of the celebrities were able to sit down with some of the video companies and say, “Take this out. Leave this in.” 

What are some of the stories you’re excited for viewers to see? 

All the ones I’m in. I saw Pam and Tommy. It was so accurately depicted. The talking heads that A&E was able to get for this are really what blew me away. People who knew the story from Amanda Chicago Lewis, who profiled me for a story in WIRED Magazine. She wrote the actual TV show Pam & Tommy that was on Hulu. That was based on her Rolling Stone article, which was the quintessential story for the Pam and Tommy tape. I loved revisiting that one. I will say the Kim Kardashian one will have people talking. I know this is going to be the water cooler talk of the week after they see a couple of things. They will see me break down the legalities of putting out such a tape and also get a little education of what was not shown in the original tape. I think people will go, “Wow.”

It’s so interesting to hear how you recount your experiences being blindfolded to meet someone at an undisclosed location. Have you ever felt your life was in danger? Do you look over your shoulder these days worried about your life? 

It’s a good question. All my friends, people that I meet and girls I date, when I tell them what I do, the first question is that. It really never came into my head how dangerous this could be. Even when they put a bandana around my eyes and put me in the back of a Honda Accord. They didn’t want me to see where I was going as I was going to see this Colin Farrell sex tape. I met with Suge Knight. I met with underworld figures in Los Angeles that were pretty scary people. Gangbangers. Again, maybe it’s my naivete, but I never carried a gun, had a knife or carried pepper spray, I just kind of met with these people figuring I’m a real person. That if you treat people I like to be treated, like real people, you’ll get their respect. Suge Knight and I, that was a really interesting conversation. Looking back on it, I was a little bit out of my mind. I would do things a little bit differently these days. 

Speaking of which, was there one deal you missed out on that you beat yourself up about? 

Frank Zappa once said if he had to live his life over again and do everything differently or learn from mistakes and not repeat it, he said he wouldn’t change a thing. The deals I missed out on all happen for a reason. I don’t really have any regrets. The Tila Tequila thing was a little disappointing because I really thought I had something at that time really in the zeitgeist. People would have really gone, “Wow, she is so cute and so sexy. Of course, she has later become a star that has fallen. The initial tape I got of hers was really good and had exactly what I was saying to you. It had that allure because you were looking at a vacation sex tape you weren’t supposed to see. 

The docuseries goes into the impact technology has had. With OnlyFans, internet in general, where do you think we are in this business? 

The reason I agreed to do this for A&E to begin with was because it’s over and done. With the advent of Pornhub and all the tube sites that came out years ago, the ability to profit off a sex tape now is virtually null. Unless you own Pornhub or one of these places where you get paid upon the amount of eyeballs that view something. Think about it. You can rip within two seconds and have that video up on any tube site for free within seconds. That’s where the business changed. However, there is another business model that is the OnlyFans business model.

During the pandemic, it became way more acceptable, way more profitable. There were so many girls, from the privacy of their own home, making content. It’s the best technology out there because there is no barrier of entry to get into the adult business. All you need is your laptop, a little ring light like I have here and a high speed connection and you’re in business for yourself. Whatever content you want to make in the privacy of your own home, that’s completely up to you. I know a lot of girls who make around five grand a month all the way up to $500,000 a month. There are girls who make a million dollars a month on Only Fans. 

Would you say the Gawker and Hulk Hogan case has made people shy away from this sort of thing as well? 

That’s an excellent question because the Gawker case changed the landscape, not only when it comes to sex tapes but really the media. If you notice, that was really the precipice and where Gawker lost $140 million and was civilly liable for putting out something they didn’t have the rights to. All of sudden you see where TMZ stopped reporting on anything about sex tapes. And all the people they do report on are people that want the press. They want it public. Those people are the ones who call the paparazzi and say they’re going to be somewhere. It’s ninety percent of the people I’ve never heard of, but the beauty about them is those people don’t have the money to sue a TMZ. 

What else do you want to tease? 

I will say the Colin Farrell episode, which I think I’m featured in a lot, had recreations that made me laugh. Just looking at a version of myself walking into these deals and revisiting those memories made me really smile. Again, such excellent talking heads they were able to cast for this thing. From Shanna Moakler to Dr. Drew Pinsky to and a surprise PI in there who I haven’t seen in many years. He was an interesting person to dig up to interview. I’m genuinely interested to see what the general public’s consensus will be because we all know sex sells. That’s given. We all know that eyeballs during sweeps week is another thing, but when a station like A&E gets it right like they got it right on this one. I’ve done a lot of these, and they got it right this time. I can’t wait to see. It’s beautifully shot, stories are accurate, It’s everything you want to see in a sexy, racy documentary. 

Secrets of Celebrity Sex Tapes premiere, September 8, 9/8c, A&E 

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