Joe Francis on Sex Tape: Why Was it a Big Deal?

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Due to the nature of his rise to prominence, Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis is often labeled a controversial individual. ET's special correspondent Cheryl Woodcock recently sat down with Francis at his Bel-Air home to hear from him directly on pertinent topics, including the bankruptcy of Girls Gone Wild and his opinions on his sex tape.

After laying out the philosophy that fueled his success and speaking about his original plans with Girls Gone Wild, Francis admits that he partly enabled his public villainization in his early days with the adult entertainment company.


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"I did too good a job in the beginning of playing the villain," the 40-year-old entrepreneur disclosed. "I did it in such a fun way, in my twenties, and I was very unapologetic for my success. I was always up for a good media fight because I looked at it as a relatively benign circumstance."

Although Girls Gone Wild bolstered his career, Francis says he has since sold his personal interest in the company. Amid news of the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier in the year, Francis stresses that his involvement with Girls Gone Wild only spans to his role as a spokesperson and consultant.

While Francis says rumors of personal bankruptcy were falsely tangled in Girl Gone Wild's Chapter 11 filing, he confirms that his name popping up in relation to a recent leaked sex tape with girlfriend Abbey Wilson is warranted.


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Francis verified that he and his girlfriend created a sex tape that was stolen from her iPad, but he can't quite comprehend why the media and public made hoopla out of the news.

"Why would people think that I would not be a sexual voyeur? I don't understand that," he said. "I mean, I've always been a connoisseur of sex tapes, much like the rest of America, based on the Girls Gone Wild sales volume.

"... I never understood why that was such a big deal. It was definitely something that we shot spur-of-the-moment and it was intended to be completely private and erased right after. I guess her iPad was lifted out of her bag right before we were able to do that."


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Although the news of his sex tape is indeed true, Francis maintains that many of the rumors about him that pop up in the media from time to time are false. Attributing his public image to the media, he encourages the public to do their research on him to uncover the truth.

"The media were schoolyard bullies to me. That just became a self-fulfilling prophesy. It was like just 'cause they said it, it was true," he said. "...It just became this snowball, and that's where all these things came from. There's no truth to any of it and I encourage people to look into it...and to see for themselves that it's all a load of B.S."

The public also has an opportunity at a more stripped-down look at Francis by watching him weekly on VH1's Couples Therapy. Check out the video above to hear him talk about the show and his girlfriend's eating disorder.