Defamer's bunk debunk of the Marilyn Monroe sex tape

Defamer posted a length entry yesterday titled "Exclusive: Debunking The Marilyn Monroe 'Sex Tape' Hoax" in which the blog's editors essentially hand over the microphone to a group of three Monroe experts -- in this case, a Monroe author and two memorabilia vendors led by Mark Bellinghaus. The experts then lay out their case for why the purported sex tape can't be real.

As a disclaimer, I'll say that I too doubt the existence of the tape -- more so than my insufficiently skeptical post of the other morning reflected.  But debunking a claim means proving it's false -- not just speculating about it or attacking the source's credibility -- which is all this very long Defamer post manages to do.

Instead of getting to a smoking gun in the first paragraph, the post spends a few hundred words clearing its throat and reprising older Monroe nudie photo or film scandals, as if this latest naturally fits into that tradition.

Then the hatchet job begins, and the posters begin their ad hominem attack on Keya Morgan (see CBS interview here), the collector who claims to have brokered the sale of the sex video. Bellinghaus, a man who uses words like "criminal,"  "retard" and "gerbil" to describe his foes in intemperate screeds on his website, gives this fact-less account of his interview with rival Morgan:

In general Mr. Morgan was a name dropper, especially when it came to those notorious for supporting the conspiracy theories involved with the story of Marilyn Monroe. However, he wove into our conversation his claim that he dated Mariah Carey and Renée Zellweger.

The Morgan-bashing goes on for several paragraphs before the Defamer posters get to their tripartite dismantling of Morgan's claim.  Problem is, the three parts are not pieces of evidence or assertions of fact exposing the falsity of the story. They're just questions.

Here's my take on each of the three:

1) Defamer asks, if the alleged film is supposed to have been filmed before Monroe was famous, why would the Feds care?

My answer: Documents listed on the FBI's website explicitly mention a film in which Monroe was "committing a perverted act upon an unknown male," and that the film was being "furnished to the FBI Lab." (Doc.2, pg. 70)

2) Defamer says, Keya Morgan mentions a mole on the face of the woman in his film.  Just because the person in the alleged film has a mole, that proves it's Monroe?

My answer: Absolutely not. But, uh, it doesn't prove it's not either.

3) Defamer asks, if Morgan's film is supposedly a bootleg copy of a classified FBI footage, why would the FBI have allowed the sale to have happened?

My answer: Who knows? Maybe in the post-9/11 world, the FBI has better things to do than conduct stings to prevent the sale of copies of 60-year-old Hollywood sex tapes.

And that's the end of their proof, and Defamer's exclusive.  Which is less a proof or an exclusive than Defamer offering some Monroe-mabilia peddlers a chance to smear a competitor.

NOTE: I've closed comments on this post because it's become something of a flame contest.  Thanks.

Comments

[Mark Graham]

Thanks for the coverage! The main point of our post was to do something that no media outlets (including yourself) bothered to do when they reported the Monroe sex tape in the first place. Namely, to put a spotlight on Keya Morgan. Everyone just took this guy at his word, despite his very shady past and almost complete lack of credibility. I think this situation is representative of so many facets of MSM media these days -- in an effort to get stories out the door, the old tenets of journalism (like, say, asking for a second source to verify someone's claims) have been thrown out the window. We are working on a Keya follow-up, I will certainly copy you when we have completed (and sourced) the story.

And, fwiw, we offered Mr. Morgan the opportunity to comment on the story after they contacted us. We have yet to hear back.

[Tyler]

IMO a slightly more intelligent read on whether the Marilyn Monroe sex tape is real or not: http://www.len-sousa.com/news.htm#20080415-03

[MMFANNER]

I don't know if the tape is real or not but the one thing that bothers me is how a group of 3 people that have no knowledge of it besides what the read in the papers can say for sure it doesn't exist!
Now, I know these three people and have supported them in the Queen Mary case and the June DiMaggio case but they seem to take everything a step or two to far.
I love how these three have become the world's leading experts on ALL things Marilyn Monroe!

[KKnoll]

I do not know if the tapes are real or not, what I do know is that the Mark Bellinghaus group believe that "some day Marilyn will be bigger then Jesus" and have started the Church of Marilyn Monroe. Their claims about June DiMaggio are untrue and statements that they shut down a 15 million dollar movie project is a desperate attempt to boost their credentials. June DiMaggio was recognized as a DiMaggio back in the late 40's prior to Joe meeting Marilyn by the Hollywood Reporter. A copy of the paper can be viewed at www.marilynjoeandme.com and the movie project, budget undetermined, is moving forward as fast as any movie project moves forward. Any person who takes Bellinghaus seriously has not really looked into his past actions or understand his motivations.

[Chris]

Keya morgan is a highly respected expert on identifying all types of photography. He has authenticated photographs of Lincoln to Bush and everything in between. He can explain the photographic process from the very beginning of photography to the present.

He has a reputation of finding national treasures hiding in the most obsure places. His ability to chase down every clue, and almost obsessive attention to detail has always amazed me.

Unfortunately the public does not always want to hear the truth about historical events. I believe Keya has and always will be a steward of historical information

[Charles M.]

Mark Bellinghaus is a known cyber-harasser and has zero credibility among legitimate Monroe collectors. Jennifer Dickinson is a self-appointed Journalist whose only authorship belongs to blogs about "Things I learned at 36." And saddest of all is Ernest Cunningham who, at one point in his legitimate career as an author, penned a few featherweight books about movie stars and whose latest venture in writing is exclusive to a Xerox machine. The three are at worse cyber bullies making their name off the back of Marilyn Monroe and at best a lethal combination of idiocy. Welcome to the 21st Century where we all get more than our 15 minutes of fame.

[C.P.]

This L.A. Times blog post is senseless, and you all seem slighted because Defamer got the edge over you on this story. As they say, you snooze, you lose. Applauds to Defamer for coming on here to support their story. I'd vote theirs hands down as much better than this snarky and attacking piece. The Defamer piece has guts and it tells the truth and your's here doesn't say much of anything intelligent.
The L.A. Times also seems to be engaging in a game of the pot calling the kettle black. Here they are hypocritically attacking Mark Bellinghaus after they made these claims about him! Reading the story on Defamer it appears that Mark Bellinghaus and his colleagues are stating the facts since they spoke to the Morgan guy. Mark Bellinghaus and his fellow writers share the facts with professionalism unlike the writer here. It doesn't seem that the L.A. Times has even gone that far and is just writing a slanderous piece since they are ticked off that they missed the boat on that one.
The Morgan guy does name drop and did you see his IMDB? Those pics look doctored!
Not to mention you all are allowing spam on your blog here with the link from that KKnoll person who if one Googles him, participates in excessive self-promotion for his movie. What is this blog, an advertising site? Sounds kind of like a Keya Morgan scenario in itself. Knoll also seems to be bashing Mark Bellinghaus unnecessarily left and right online.
Googling the DiMaggio lady, she's very questionable herself, and the Long Beach Press Telegram article here: http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_3717809 shows how the DiMaggio lady tried to fool the public with her story and Knoll was backing her up. This lady also claims that Monroe was murdered.
Can Keya Morgan and the Knoll person even be working together? Can they be the same person? Birds of a feather flock together, especially in this case, where it appears there are dodo birds and vultures.

[J.P.]

C.P. = Mark Bellinghaus

[Won DiBra]

I smell some good ol jealousy through those lines, especially since the blogger who posted this tomato and egg is jealous himself. He did in an obvious attempt to debunk a trio of MM lovers who seem to have made their homework say yes but no yes and then okay.
If you talk about a bet in the end of your first article, you assume that footage is as real as Pamela's hooters!

[My heart belongs to Ikea Morton]

"This just in: Keya Morgan has brokered the sale of a secret, illicit, FBI tape of Keya Morgan to an unidentified fan of Keya Morgan who prefers not to be publicly identified as Keya Morgan."
a comment from the defamer.com site.
He is the master of hoax. And I mean HOAX, just like the 2007 movie with Richard Gere as the caught forger. I bet if someone goes to the loft of Mr. KM, they can find a totally used DVD of 'HOAX.'
I wonder why?

[Bret Ludwig]

Several things are verifiable here. First, there is not a "tape" as even audio tape was a scarce commodity then and videotape was not invented until several years after the time. It is a film, a black-and-white film, and it does exist. Stills from the film were printed in magazines in the 70s and 80s, and a video transfer of part of the film is in some circulation, as I'm pretty sure I've seen (explicit) clips.

Is it in fact Monroe in the film? Uncertain, although the answer is probably yes. There is definitely room for doubt, pending a detailed frame-by-frame analysis with accurate photogrammetric face mapping. The teeth, if sufficiently visible, would likely provide a positive ID, as throughout her life MM's teeth were her own, straightened but uncapped. I know of no such documented effort.

Does it really matter? Not to most mature, serious MM fans. Lots of young women made such films, simply out of an effort for survival in the world of a Hollywood unknown at the time. It's interesting to note that by contrast, prostitutes will not do films, so this does not make her a prostitute. It makes her a woman determined to survive and continue to be able to live in Los Angeles and further her career. For her, life onscreen was life: Hollywood not only didn't kill her, it was what kept her alive.

[KKnoll]

CP I suggest that you go to www.marilynjoeandme.com and view the articles that show June DiMaggio was in Hollywood in the forties and was recognized back then as a DiMaggio. Also I suspect you are a follower of the Church of Marilyn ("someday Marilyn will be bigger then Jesus") because you are using tactics of the leader - Bellinghaus - like stating the article shows that I was backing June DiMaggio. My name is not mentioned in the article. If any bashed any one it has been Bellinghaus who has attacked June DiMaggio and Mary Jane Popp.

[Rob]

I believe it's real.
I have seen a reel to reel on several occasions that shows what looks like a young Marilyn having sex with a fellow and then smoking a cigarette.
I've seen it on a few occasions, and i am sure it's her.
I'm no forensics guy, but to me it looks exactly like her, she walks like marylin, etc.
But, said film is in the hands of a guy i didn't know was a collector (turns out he has amassed some amazing footage), so who knows what else is out there?
You'd be amazed what is caught on film...

[Mark Bellinghaus, CEO, MARILYN MONROE PRODUCTIONS, LLC]

I absolutely 100% stand behind our story that was endorsed by Defamer. In fact, we are receiving new information about Mr. Morgan from various sources, which prefer to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal in some fashion from Mr. Morgan himself. These sources have contacted us since our Defamer story to back our claims.

I have never made any threats and I can assure you that Mr. Morgan has filed a false police report with the NYPD. I have witnesses who can vouch for my whereabouts. I have only spoken to Mr. Morgan on the phone once and it was regarding the books in his Marilyn Monroe Collection. If anyone has been threatened it has been me, time and again, because of my exposure of fraud. I am constantly followed on the internet by various groups and individuals, as are my colleagues. I have witnessed time and again, that those who are defensive are the ones who fight back with the lies and the C&D's. Yet it stops there because these parties who address us for protecting the legacy of Marilyn Monroe are the ones are exploiting her, and they know it.

My colleagues and I stand behind our credibility. Major auction houses have contacted me on a consulting basis to authenticate Marilyn Monroe memorabilia. I have stopped a $100 million fraud with the Queen Mary Exhibition, an exhibition which defrauded thousands and thousands of people – the largest exhibition fraud in history. I was appointed expert witness in the case against the Queen Mary, and Ernest W. Cunningham the plaintiff. I am constantly contacted by news agencies for interviews and for questions about Marilyn Monroe. Mr. Ernest W. Cunningham is a leading expert on Marilyn Monroe, versed in her life, and is a respected author. Many individuals and websites have credited his book as a source of their information and creation of their sites, as well as their knowledge of Marilyn Monroe. Jennifer J. Dickinson may be a newer journalist and author, but she is a journalist and author, having written in various media, and having had a recent story published nationally in a magazine.

We are sources that individuals turns to regarding our knowledge of Marilyn Monroe. We are complimented and thanked daily by Marilyn Monroe admirers worldwide, for our continual protection of the late screen legend's legacy.