Proof of Life

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Over the last three years SM has slowly gained in readership, and other news sources and blogs often link to us. These links are one part of the formula that search engines like Google use to rank pages for relevance. That means that very often when you search for a desi related story, celebrity, etc., you’ll end up here at our humble site. Sometimes the people we write about love that fact! It is free publicity for them from a source whose intelligent (yes you!) readership they $value$. Other times we get celebrities threatening to sue us for embarrassing them (see our FAQ as to how we respond to those emails). I won’t mention which celebrities save one. Indian born fashion designer, Anand Jon.

Almost two years ago our Anna, a fan of ANTM, mentioned him in a blog post. In fact, she quoted from an article over at Nirali Magazine (link is broken) in which former ANTM contestant Julie Ann Titus made some rather disparaging comments about Mr. Jon. Here is a quote by Ms. Titus from Anna’s post:

I respect him as a fashion designer. But he was very, very rude to some of the girls. He seemed so boring to me. I asked him what part of India he was from, and he asked me, what part of India are you from? So I said I’m from Kerala, and he looked at me kind of crazy. He’s Malayalee , too. He asked me if I knew any Malayalam, and I said I only knew the bad words. Then he says, “Shouldn’t you be serving us or something?” [Titus and the other cast members had to serve four of the girls who won that week’s model challenge.] So I walked away, cursing at him in Malayalam. He said, “Oh, so now you know it?” And he smelled bad. The girls looked at me and were like, are all Indian guys like this? And I was like, nope, just this fool right here. Later, my parents told me that they know him through family friends.

Well, it turns out that one of the top Google hits on “Anand Jon” was our site…describing how he smells bad. “Jon,” or someone pretending to be him emailed us about a year ago, begging that Anna’s post be deleted. His mother had seen it and people were unfairly talking smack about his sister as well. Anna would have none of it. If a celebrity can’t take a little bad press then they shouldn’t be celebrities Anna gently (and correctly) explained to me. Always trying to be a good boy however, I told Anand that we would not delete Anna’s post but I would delete some of the especially nasty comments that followed the post, corroborating that he did in fact smell (allegedly). Partly as a joke however, I told him that he had to prove he was the real Anand Jon and not a prankster. “How,” Jon asked. Well, I once saw a movie starring Russell Crowe as an ex-SAS soldier whose new job was to become a hostage/ransom negotiator, and if need be, a hostage rescuer. When a person is kidnapped the first thing you do is to ask the kidnappers for “Proof of Life.” Typically, this is a picture of the victim holding the day’s newspaper. That way you know he/she is still alive. Since I’ve always thought of myself as a bit Russell Crowe-ish (Gladiator not Insider), I asked Jon for very specific “Proof of Life,” before I would delete the nasty comments. See below:

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Anand Jon, posing with the day’s news. That is SEPIA MUTINY on his screen.

Now, I promised Jon that I wouldn’t post this picture of him reading his favorite website, and I know I will burn in the fiery pits of Mt. Doom for this. But…we here at SM can confidently say that allegedly smelling bad is no longer the worst of Mr. Jon’s problems. See after the jump.

Via TMZ:

Fashion designer to the stars, Anand Jon, was arrested and jailed after cops say he raped two people.

According to the felony complaint obtained by TMZ, Jon allegedly committed a variety of horrific acts on four separate victims between October of 2004 and March 5, 2007. Along with two counts of forcible rape, Jon is also facing charges of “sexual battery by restraint, attempted forcible oral copulation and two counts of committing a lewd act upon a child.”

In the document, police claim that Anand, 30, used an accomplice during the alleged sexual battery and forcible copulation. The investigation into that person is ongoing… Jon is currently behind bars in Los Angeles County Jail, as reported earlier by New York Daily News, with bail set at $1,365,000. Jon is due back in court to face a judge on April 4. [Link]

Yeah, now if you search “Anand Jon” the first thing that will come up is a story about multiple rapes and 15-year-olds (all alleged of course). Jon denies the allegations:

“Anand Jon maintains his innocence,” said a spokesman for the designer. “It is a false accusation. Lawyers completely expect that he will be exonerated in court, if it goes that far,” said a spokesman for designer. [Link]

Bottom line? Don’t ever complain to us if you are a celebrity. DO send us flowers though.

92 thoughts on “Proof of Life”

  1. The photo and his fashion taste are funny, and the exponential rise of his image concerns are funny, but I would caution people making truly topical jokes or taking the opportunity to berate him, even when couched with “if he did” or “allegedly”—if he ends up with dropped charges or a not-guilty verdict, you might feel bad, and if he pleas guilty or is convicted you will have all the time in the world to savage him. Innocent until proven guilty, friends, innocent until proven guilty!

  2. Innocent until proven guilty, friends, innocent until proven guilty!

    For crimes against good taste, the English language, sartorial elegance, and the respectful appropriation of South Asian design elements, however, he has already been judged and proven guiltier than Orenthal Simpson with a fitting glove in one hand and a hypothetical memoir in the other.

  6. His website is ridiculous, looks like it was designed by a high school student..

  7. His website is ridiculous, looks like it was designed by a high school student..

    A vast majority is already down. It says “Site suspended” though you can still go thru his photo gallery. I saw highlights earlier about this on the 10:00 news so I think it will probably make it on most of this evening’s news.

  8. I don’t know. That looks like a Tennessee hat to me, not Texas… Can someone comment on the exact shade of orange?

    I think he may be wearing this Tennessee Volunteers Cap , but from the picture the color looks a bit darker and thus suggesting more towards the LONGHORN’s color and thus it could be this Texas knit . This is a mystery.

  9. Ooooh, this is exciting! I have links to the LA/DA’s office. I’m going to look into this…and perhaps be at his next hearing. I hate it when Indians don’t act properly.

  10. while i love your writing (and despise anand’s “designs”), i’m a little disappointed you chose to break journalistic integrity by posting information about this guy despite your promise to him to not do so. regardless of his extremely high douchebag rating, or what he has/hasn’t been doing with kids, revealing material about a source, after you gave you word not to, goes against everything we learn at j-school.

    i know it seems as though i am making a mountain out of a molehill, but if i recall correctly, sepia was on the lookout a while ago for sources on the inside in dc and nyc. if you cannot maintain secrecy for a subject as small/trivial as this, what makes you think those with larger stories to tell would trust this site as a confidant?

  11. ‘i’m a little disappointed you chose to break journalistic integrity by posting information about this guy despite your promise to him to not do so. regardless of his extremely high douchebag rating’

    I don’t think that because someone has a private blog, they are therefore ‘a journalist’. Is Perez Hilton a journalist that is breaking integrity? I thought about this too and decided -Bah! It’s more of an entertainment post…

    Just my opinion. And as Abuela Diesel used to say, Las opiniones son como assholes. Todos tenemos uno.

  12. having encounterd this dude a few times, i can say his cruel, snobby, condescending attitude was so extreme as to make these charges almost predictable. clearly his behaviour was a signal to a greater pathology.

    not that i thought he was a rapist. i just assumed he suffered from status anxiety, and was behaving in the manner he thought the rich and famous behave. clearly he has issues with his own power.

  13. Las opiniones son como assholes. Todos tenemos uno.

    this is the funniest line… kudos miss diesel, ready for the macaca parade :)?

  18. Not to threadjack here but mi espanol no es bueno. It’s very nuyorican but with poor grammar as I haven’t been home in a long time. I do think language should be fluid since it’s ever evolving.

  21. CP – A bitter bean will never sprout, or at the very least produce bitter hummus. It might be a Tennessee hat as well (“the other UT” as we refer to them).

  22. CP – A bitter bean will never sprout, or at the very least produce bitter hummus. It might be a Tennessee hat as well (“the other UT” as we refer to them).

    sorta like the joke i have with south carolina.. the lesser sc..

    bitter beans have sprouted. (check) quinine tasting hummus produced (check) awaiting 2007 football season..(check)

    well actually awaiting the final four. (check).. march madness has officially begun..

  23. while i love your writing (and despise anand’s “designs”), i’m a little disappointed you chose to break journalistic integrity by posting information about this guy despite your promise to him to not do so. regardless of his extremely high douchebag rating, or what he has/hasn’t been doing with kids, revealing material about a source, after you gave you word not to, goes against everything we learn at j-school.

    Believe me, I’m my own worst critic when it comes to ethical standards. Still, every now and again even I slip up 🙂 In my defense I never went to J-school.

  25. I conducted that interview with Julie Titus for Nirali, and I have to say there was a lot more that Julie said about Jon that we chose NOT publish due to libel concerns and the like. But let’s just say the latest developments don’t surprise me much.

  27. We knew this guy in Madras (India), before his mummy paid for him to go to Parson’s fashion school in NYC and then gave him the seed money to start his fashion business. There were accusations of this type even then, relating to young girls. We always thought in his latest incarnation (over the last 5 years) that he was a bi-sexual bottom-feeding procurer of sexual favours for wealthy associates. Obviously he was operating in an immoral grey area, and he has now been caught out.

  28. there was a lot more that Julie said about Jon that we chose NOT publish due to libel concerns

    you know, the level of protection the US provides the press regarding libel is rather large (i think you need to prove intent to harm above and beyond actual hrm, which is difficult) but are you online publishers (SM, nirali, nytimes) concerned about being sued in a foreign court? Who has jusrisdiction?

  30. Can someone define “libel” for me? While I understand it’s general sense, how far can it go with a public figure? I don’t think it’s a fair statement to say other things were said by AJ, after the fact. If Julie had other comments to make, where does Nirali draw the line between smelling bad and now not being surprised at his accusations?

  31. Only if the defamed is a public figure.

    true, but in the Warholian world of the interweb, Anand, Abhi, you or I, could all be considered public figures.

  33. ethics= taking down the post when you promised to..it’s really that simple, one doesn’t have to go to j-school for that. SM intern…that’s what you get for messing w the mutiny…sounds suspiciously close to being hapy that he’s accused of rape

  34. Nisha said:

    ethics= taking down the post when you promised to..it’s really that simple, one doesn’t have to go to j-school for that.

    Woah – go back and read what Abhi said. He never promised to take down the post at all:

    I told Anand that we would not delete Anna’s post but I would delete some of the especially nasty comments that followed the post, corroborating that he did in fact smell (allegedly).

    The issue about ethics involves Abhi’s use of the “proof of life” photo at this point, not anything to do with the original post.

  35. I think some people are still unclear about this post. That picture is a picture of Anand Jon reading OUR website to prove that it was in fact Anand Jon and not some prankster who could simply copy a stock picture of Jon and send it in to us. It is true that I told Jon I wouldn’t use the picture. I did and that is unethical and I do feel a little bad about using it. But really, after you’ve been accused of raping several women including a child, is a picture of you reading Sepia Mutiny really all that embarrassing? In any case, it’s my karma, and I will work it off like I work off the rest.

  36. You know I got a lot of flack from not only my family but a lot of other indians as well about what was said in the interview I gave a few years ago. I don’t feel like I said anything that wasn’t TRUE, at that time. I have to be honest and say I’m not surprised by these accusations at all; whaddaya expect from a guy who’s got an entourage of underage underfed white girls?! Oh well…

    • Julie Ann

  37. I’m proud Julie Ann had the balls to say what she felt about this jerk. Can’t believe other Indians would give you flak for that, such hypocrites. Just shows how much we need to grow up as people. It’s only an interview for crying out loud. Heck, I’d have gone on to make a website http://www.anandjonisadickhead.com and really gotten his goat!

  39. Okay, I have been following this story for a few days now. I learned of this guy a few years back via the internet when he first burst onto the scene. He seemed pretty descent and humble. I was actually proud that he was repping Indians. Then a few days back I see his name all over the place, even on the Indian news channels. Curious, I did some research and came across his story on TMZ.com which has all the up to date info. ( http://www.tmz.com/2007/03/19/four-more-accusers-hit-celeb-designer-with-sex-charges/#comments ). The most bothersome aspect of this story, on a personal level, is the Indian bashing that’s going on at TMZ’s forum. It is abs ridiculous!!! I cringe at some of the hateful remarks people are making towards Indians as a whole. After replying to a few vulgar statements about our country, I finally gave up. He is a complete embarrasement to our people moreso because he was very much associated with Hollywood celebs and dignitaries. In closing,I have 2 questions. 1) is this guy really related to Yesudas?? 2) where is his father. all you see in the pictures… his mother and sister.

  40. Anand is my friend and I don’t appreciate all the horrid remarks everywhere about him. I am not expecting my post here to make any difference; however, unless you know him you’ll never understand the pain I feel reading comments about him everywhere. He is generous, kind, has a great sense of humor, shows genuine interest in people from all walks of life, is an insanely talented artist. I could go on forever. My heart is broken for him. I cannot imagine him in jail alongside real criminals who could possibly harm him. These women THROW themselves at him – there are THREE SIDES TO EVERY STORY! Your’s, their’s and THE TRUTH. THE TRUTH WILL PREVAIL!

  41. “anandsfriend”. Let’s get real. There are 20 counts of sexual indiscretions against him and at least 4 victims. He was charged a few years back for disorderly conduct and send to “sex-therapy” for 52 weeks. He continued with his sexual exploits. (mind you, he is still working on his green card. So this guy obviously had balls to do what he did and continued to do). This guy is a really sick preverse idiot. 20 COUNTS including lewd act on a minor is not a joke and I believe the charges. It seems from what people are saying on this forum that he was like this even in India. God only knows what he did in India…Whether these women threw themselves at him or not does not mean you sexually abuse a minor!!!! That is a sick. He is where he should be with criminals just like him. Anandsfriend, you would think differently if it was your little sister he did this to. There are about 6 billion people in this world, do yourself a favor and find another friend.

  42. Anandsfriend??? Reaaallly???? I would be interested in knowing if you are actually his friend or you just THINK you are. Are you a wannabe-underage-model that is looking to make it big and think he is going to take you there? ( sounds that way ) Or do you know him in the celeb or socialite world where he treats you with kindness because you may be “useful” to his networking? Lets be real honey. If you were really his actual friend, you would know all sides to the man..the fact that you DO NOT shows those who do that you havent a clue. Baby, its sweet that you wanna protect him but grow up and open your eyes. There is more to the story than meets your little rose-coloured-glass covered eyes. You are right he is a sweetheart, it is very sad, but you are wrong if you think the girls made these stories up. They are only the one’s who risked coming forward. Go back to your little pretty bedroom and count those sweet little sheep, dreamland awaits your return.