Hey, NY Post -- is that Marilyn sex tape real or not?

It's been more than a week since the NY Post got worldwide attention with a tale of a sale of a Marilyn Monroe sex tape. A day later, Defamer offered the first debunking, which our own blog, Web Scout, had a bit of fun with. (Web Scout had to close comments on its post, and so did we.)

Then came The Smoking Gun and Radar, and the Philly Daily News, offering a recap of the purported sex tape scam. (The New York Daily News, the Post's arch-rival, seems never to have touched the story.)

... New York collectibles dealer Keya Morgan came forward earlier this week with a wild story involving a 15-minute "French-type" silent reel, the FBI, Marilyn Monroe, a secret $1.5 million sale and the thwarted vengeance of J. Edgar Hoover.

The story as told by Morgan: The film, of a pre-fame Monroe performing oral sex on an unidentified man, was in the possession of the son of a former FBI informant who had worked under Hoover during the Kennedy administration. Hoover obtained the film in the '60s, hoping that the unidentified man in the film was JFK and that it could be used against him.

The Marilyn tape may be imaginary, so far there's no way to know, but the men laying claim to the Monroe legacy are very real. Mud slinging, name calling, threats and counter-threats -- reading the comments on Defamer is quite the education. The one media outlet staying mum so far? The NY Post, who got the whole thing started. Hmmm...

-- Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Milton H. Greene