It’s Monday morning, tax day, crummy weather, and lots of work to do, so I’m not going to make things worse by posting here the photo that the New York Times splayed across the front of its Sunday Styles section yesterday, and that made me (and probably many of you) go ICK! EWWWW! EWWWW EWWWW EWWWW! At the very least, the photo, which depicts disgraced “fashion designer” Anand Jon in the company of two very, very young-looking models somewhere out on the party circuit, is the kind of woozy tableau that reminds you that the lower rungs of the fashion and celebrity world are saturated in vulgarity and creepiness whether or not actual crimes are committed. Of course, given the multiplying legal charges of rape and molestation that Jon now faces, the photo’s prominent placement, beneath the headline “The Designer Who Liked Models” and accompanying a spare-no-tawdry-detail article by Hollywood correspondent Sharon Waxman, makes for quite the indictment in the court of public opinion. It does so, in fact, to an extent that made me uncomfortable, though I’ll go out on a limb and say that this brother is clearly a grade-A, bona fide creep and I’d be highly surprised, given what’s coming out, if he was cleared of all charges.
Meanwhile the article has raised hackles in other quarters, as I discovered while checking our news page to see if anyone had posted it. Indeed: an anonymous tipster linked the story as “NY times ignorant report,” quoting this line from the piece: “Mr. Jon is well known in his native India, and national newspapers like The Hindustan Times and Calcutta Times follow every development with interest,” and commenting in response:
Actually he is unknown in India.The is no newspaper called Calcutta Times. And this Jon story has never appeared in The Telegraph. Indian media has not any given attention to Anand Jon.
Now the “Calcutta Times” thing tripped me up too; I chalked it up to shoddy Googling by Waxman to make a point that, while tangential to the story, might give it some extra oomph. I maintain that view, especially upon finding that “Calcutta Times” is the name of the Times of India’s Calcutta supplement (similar to those it runs in other cities); Waxman must have just grabbed something that ran there to support her claim.
But of course, the tipster had to go and assert that the Jon story has not even despoiled the virginal eyes of the Indian newspaper reading public, and that, of course, is a load of bollocks. In fact, the very Telegraph, which the tipster claims has never run a story on Jon, did exactly that on March 14, with a piece by K. P. Nayar that begins as follows:
Washington, March 14: Anand Jon, whose Indian-American success story is the stuff of dreams, is in a Los Angeles jail, arrested on rape charges.
So even if Waxman’s technique was shoddy, you can hardly fault her for claiming that Indians are paying attention to the case given this kind of treatment.
Anyway, this is inside baseball, and I would like to explain for the benefit of any mainstream media or bloggers coming here to find the “official” desi reaction to the latest developments in the Jon case, that the point I’ve just raised is totally tangential to the case itself, and that as far as I know, reaction among American desis remains the same combination of “innocent until proven guilty… I guess” and “EEEEWWWW ICK ICK ICK” that it’s been from the beginning.Meanwhile, Brother Jon and his crew aren’t above using a bit of Ho-rientalism in service of his defense. Here’s Jon’s attorney on why the story of one of the victims can’t be right:
“Why would she change into pajamas?†asked Mr. Richards, Mr. Jon’s lawyer. “Why didn’t she leave when she sees there’s no bed for her? Why didn’t she punch him in the face?†He noted that there were no signs of physical trauma. “My client is 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds. He’s a thin Gandhi-type guy. He can’t overpower anybody. Any girl would kick his butt. It’s not even a close call. That’s what’s so silly about this.â€
The preposterous insertion of the Gandhi reference has already made Gawker, by the way. And this is the same attorney who, earlier in the story, is quoted offering the universal blame-the-victim line: “You can’t fault a man if women throw themselves at him.”
And there’s the story of how Jon picked up a teenager on MySpace (his preferred hunting ground, apparently), offered her a chance to model, and flew to Dallas to meet her parents:
Mr. Jon told the girl’s parents, the father said, “I treasure the feminine being. I got all this spirituality from my grandmother and my mom.â€
Needless to say, there’s nothing spiritual about what happens next. Still, we learn that Jon embraces many religions: on one occasion, his sister/enabler Sanjana, “who works with him and by all accounts does much to soften her brother’s cruder edges,” says he’s unavailable to talk because it’s Passover, and he’s “in temple.” And the description of a possibly coerced sexual encounter with an aspiring model ends as follows: “Afterward she went to clean up. Mr. Jon sat and meditated.”
It would’ve been hilarious if when he landed at the house, the Dateline crew popped out with the cameras
Hilarious.
Hooray! I always cheer when an American uses British slang.
i’ve met anand. he’s not 5-4. maybe 5-8 or 5-9, unless he was wearing some high heals i didn’t notice.
You’ve had some cracking juicy stories of sleaze on your end of the Atlantic recently. First of all, that desi female Humbert Humbert, now this.
We’re relying on you to keep us abreast of the UK counterparts! Then maybe we can organize some kind of transatlantic Sleazy Desi contest. Mudwrestling, perhaps. Too bad MTV Desi folded…
My friend’s wife grew up with him in Florida. And apparently he used to show up at Auntie and Uncle parties with visible hickeys on his neck and be proud of it. What a creep!
What’s even worse is that Indian Life & Style magazine had him as their cover story last month and had this whole spread on him with pictures of him shirtless posing with very young looking models, super cheesy.
What’s amazing is the magazine came out after he had already been arrested. I am SURE the publishers had time and could have stopped the print run and gone with some other cover story. I dont’ know what they were thinking?!?!
this line struck me as odd too. my impression is he cultivated the gullible US press, and the americans have given him more attention than their indian counterparts, as evidenced by the 4-page article by the Paper of Record.
the NYTimes sees Indians as some provincial hillbillys. but no people are more provincial than new yorkers.
I stand firmly in the “EEEEWWWW ICK ICK ICK†crowd. And I hope the court is smart enough to see through the ridiculous Gandhi reference.
I have nothing more to constructively add, other than I hope that – innocent or guilty – Mr. Jon has the good sense to get himself a new attorney!
I don’t know if he had been well known in India, but my impression (Manish, correct me if I’m wrong) is that he’s getting largely “positive” coverage right now – i.e. the Indian press is presuming he’s innocent and portraying these accusations as largely baseless.
tax day is tomorrow.
forced oral sex?!?!?!?!?!?!?
aj has proven adept at shameless self promotion. he is obviously following in the steps of sean combs, shawn carter, snoop dogg, and the various other “bad boys” who wouldn’t bust a grape in a food fight, and going up against charges he has brought on himself. once he is acquitted (forced oral sex !?!?!?!?!?!…wtf) he will be infinitely more famous and equally important to his cause, everyone will know he has been with hundreds of chicks.
As for any girl being able to kick his butt, height is no indicator. I dated a guy 2 inches taller than me (he loomed at a whopping 5’6″), weighing hardly 10 lb more than I did, and I’ve got no doubt in my mind that even if I were taller and weighed more, he’d still be able to easly take me down, one hand behind his back. Most males simply have more muscle mass and are just plain stronger than women. Playing the feeble card should not be an option for his lawyer. Way to undermine the women he’s taken advantage of by reducing this to a “he throws like a girl” playground conversation.
apparently tiny men can be just as scary and domineering as a Goliath if you’re being overpowered.
My client is 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds. He’s a thin Gandhi-type guy. He can’t overpower anybody. Any girl would kick his butt. It’s not even a close call. That’s what’s so silly about this.â€
Pure gold.
There’s lots of it about! I have to say though, nothing as high profile as these two recent stories. I mean these are extra special sleazy because the butter-wouldnt-melt-in-the-mouth Princess Tippy Toes doing a Lolita in reverse is worth extra points for undercover sleaze, and this guy is like a walking stereotype of a sleazy fashion designing predator. I will keep my eyes open and post anything humilating, salacious and sleazy on the news tab, but for now, USA is in front by two goals to nil.
Oh crap I forgot this cracker from a few months ago — a 61 year old Desi High Court Judge in London, married, very religious and respectable, blackmailed by a Brazilian illegal immigrant with whom he was having a threesome affair with another female judge, who discovered sex videos of them together, whilst the woman was snorting cocaine. That was preety good.
It’s even better when you look at his picture — a proper Uncleji.
USA 2 – 1 UK
Sounds super-attractive. This should be their main line of defense, really – aj wasn’t man/attractive enough to get model-types. But given the full circumstances, it would be a double-edged sword.
In any case, the prosecution will obviously focus on the victim’s subjective state – did she think he could overpower her – not whether he could overpower, in fact. I’m very interested to see how this progresses – I doubt he will get his ideal outcome.
but they’re still broadcasting….just channel surfed past them less than 12 hours ago (ok, and paused briefly, but how many times can you watch the same Rasika Mathur/bhangra competition show?)
and I’ve seen Mr. Jon in person too and he sure looked more than 5′ 4″ tall to me…
Red Snapper
You obviously suffer from short term memory loss, How can you forget about Faria Alam 🙂
Its USA 2 – 2 UK
Why would a designer recruit models from Myspace.com? Doesn’t that scream “trouble?”
Also from the brilliant, matchbox lawyer: Defense attorney Ronald Richard said,”When you publicise a defendant, it’s expected that people will come out of the woodwork, that’s just a normal phenomenon when you’re dealing with people that have a predisposition to seek fame to begin with.”
Game on!
badindiangirl at #7
they actually did not have time. and they recognize the terrible terrible timing, too.
What about Anna Nicole’s Dirty Doctor?
USA 3 – 2 UK
Ooh, BadIndianGirl slams it with a beautiful volley into the back of the net! Will the UK have an answer?
Uh, what means this?! Also, I couldn’t get over the Gandhi reference, that’s really messed up. The guy screams creepo.
Holy Crap! Thanks dude I’d totally forgotten about her — it’s not just sleeping her way through the entire English Football Association whilst working there as a secretary, including the Swedish coach of the national team, but also recently charging £8000 a night as a high class hooker.
What an equaliser!
Damn!
Damn! Faria Alam seems to be a ‘Bad Indian Aunty’. Role models anyone? 😉
And who can forget the first desi pron star?
I know she was born in India, but now resides in the USA so that has to count for at least half a point right?
Ref siddhartha it’s your call but for now I’m saying:
USA 4 – 2 UK
Ok, I’m really bored at work… 😛
Hmm. I don’t think the goal is allowable, unless you can supply evidence of SL behaving in an extra-sleazy way beyond the simple exercise of her profession… It’s a judgment call but I think the score remains 3-2.
I cant wait for the next defense he comes up with.
“Your honor, my client is of Indian desecent and it is known that most American brand condom’s are to big for Indian men. He is only 5’4″ and that would make him small in the pant’s, even by Indian standards. In conclusion, having sex with my client would be like having sex with a Ken doll. I mean seriously, he has nothing down there!”
I rest my case.
“I know she was born in India, but now resides in the USA so that has to count for at least half a point right?”
She was born in Canada, according to your link.
And I think Nadia Nyce was the first indian porn star.
Notorious B-I-G and Red Snapper:
Is Master Rajj allowable or out of bounds in this game?
My God Ennis that has to be an equaliser for sure! Desi Policeman Rent Boy exposed in national newspaper. That’s like a freakin’ Thiery Henry scorcher on the left foot following a dribble from the half way line!
3 – 3, it has to be.
By the way people, porn stars don’t count. They’re just doing their jobs. Nothing wrong with it.
I’m talking about high class, high profile sleaze featuring major media humiliation of ostensibly respectable brown people. 61 year old judges involved in cocaine lesbian threesome sex videos. Upper Class Manhattan female predators. That kind of thing.
Well Ennis, I believe if we follow Ref Sid’s rules, then he would be out of bounds because though he was a cop by profession, I think gasian escort counts a a “second job”. I mean he was industrious enough to place an ad and everything…
It stills stands at USA 3 – 2 UK
Offside! That dude was a pillar-of-the-community policeman, used by the Scottish police force in their promotional material of their commitment to multi-culturalism, AND he was a gay rent boy in his spare time, AND was married, AND was exposed in a national newspaper! How dare you! That’s like total humiliation and shame up to him, his family, and by simplified idiotarian values, to all British Desis too, and you’re trying to disallow it? Are you crazy?
You’re just jealous because you don’t have any respectably married bi-sexual cops from California or New Jersey from your community caught with his pants down in suspicious circumstances and working $50 rent boy tricks. Yet. But you wish, oooh how you wish you did.
Isn’t her profession sleazy enough? Also, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that a Malhotra entered the porn industry.
Ah Amitabh, don’t stress about what you can’t do anything about. Either enjoy it, or don’t.
Yeah OK, that sounds reasonable.
Dude, that’s virtually my motto.
Can’t a sleazy exploitative pedophile catch a break? This story is making me so mad I need to go find my inner chakra. Girls!!! Wanna help me look for it?
that indianlifestyle.com website is abhorrently creepy, replete with all the smarmy/chatty/flowery vernacularisms and smugness that makes so much of the indian press in the states really, really hard to to read.
though, given this time and place, the hey-i’m-really-this-much-of-a-douchebag AJ covershot is SO choice. I had the distinct… whatever… to meet him multiple times in ’04 and ’05. Yes.. he’s that smarmy in real life. And i’m a straight guy who’s 4″ taller than him.
What I wonder, though, is how pathetic this story really is… i do not doubt that in the universe of up-and-coming models there are those willing to ‘share the casting couch’ to get a gig. Mix that w/ our little pedophile-in-a-bandanna and you’ve got a really potent recipie for disaster.
Wonder how many times models have TAKEN HIS LAWYER’S ADVICE and kicked ‘im in the nads?
Nice title, Sid Uncle. 😉
how about lovely lina sinha us 4-uk 3 USA! USA! USA!
The official score stands at 3-3.
Payal, Lina Sinha was the first American goal, referenced in Snapper’s comment #5 as “that desi female Humbert Humbert.”
Can we introduce Deepak Chopra into this competition, somehow? He hasn’t been busted for anything, but you know it’s just a matter a time, yeah?
Something coughrentboycough must have inspired him to reinpret http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kama-Sutra-Timeless-Erotica-Spiritual/dp/1852273704.
EWWW—YUCK! Someone commented on Gawker about this being in the Style Section Z(maybe instead of someone burning him in effigy). I met him once– greasy and smelly — mothers have been hiding their daughters from him for some time now in NYC.
I fear that if Sanjaya doesn’t come out of the closet soon he might enter into this competition…he kinda reminds me of Michael circa jackson 5, let’s hope im not right.