Breaking: Jessica Cutler Files for Bankruptcy
This news is a bit mystifying to us. From the Associated Press:
Jessica Cutler, the former Senate aide whose online sex diary landed her a book deal and a Playboy photo spread but got her kicked off Capitol Hill, has filed for bankruptcy....Cutler has spent much of her time [recently] fending off a lawsuit by ex-boyfriend and fellow DeWine staffer Robert Steinbuch, who claims Cutler's blog publicly humiliated him. He is seeking more than $20 million in damages.
In court documents filed in the case Thursday, however, Cutler says she can't even pay her American Express bill, legal fees and student loans. She submitted to the judge a copy of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition filed in New York dated Wednesday.
The lawsuit is being closely watched by online privacy groups and bloggers because the case could help establish whether people who keep online diaries are obligated to protect the privacy of the people they interact with offline.
Our advice to Jessica: retain William P. Smith to represent you in bankruptcy court. You can pay his fees in "Happy Meals."
On a more serious note: How did the Washingtonienne wind up in this financial predicament?
We're not so good with math, so please help us out. We run some numbers, after the jump.
Okay, here's how we see it. Jessica Cutler, aka "Washingtonienne," landed a $300,000 book deal in the wake of the blog scandal. Her book was picked up for possible conversion into a half-hour HBO comedy (Sarah Jessica Parker producing) -- presumably more moolah. And, according to rumor, Cutler earned a six-figure payday for posing nude in Playboy.
So where did all that money go? Is it possible for one person to blow that much on, as Cutler says on her personal website, "slutty clothes and drugs"?
Update: Maybe we've been overly optimistic. Per Ted Frank:
What money? Assume $300k for the book deal and $100k for Playboy (the latter seems high). The agent takes at least $40k. Taxes gobble up another $100k (she lives in DC). Switching lawyers all the time can't be free, and it's been three years since her last big paycheck.
Sex blogger files for bankruptcy [Associated Press]
(23) Comments
Unfortunately, Steinbuch used the law to get revenge against someone. He got revenge, not because Ms. Cutler did anything illegal, but because it costs so much money to defend a lawsuit.
The transaction cost of the legal system is obscene. In most cases 80% of money paid by a liable defendant goes to attorneys.
This is why the modern legal system is not a tool to remedy harms, but rather a tool for retribution and vengeance.
Perhaps this is her strategy to stay the proceedings in Staubach's civil case against her?
Happens all the time, not that I have to tell this crowd.
are those her boobs?
I read in another article that she's already in the hole for six figures of legal fees. So even if Steinbuch loses his case, he still gets his revenge.
Nice knockers. I share 1:41's question.
1:41 & 1:47 -
She claims the shot on her "personal website" (linked to by Lat) is her boobs
I believe it. Any professional would have airbrushed the wrinkles out of the cleavage.
this is why you should have two-way fee shifting in non-public interest cases (i.e. the English rule on fees). there is no reason legislatures cannot introduce such a rule by statute
that way if what's his name's lawsuit really is baseless then HE pays those fees at the end
mind you, half of us would be out of a job if the law discourages baseless lawsuits (ask yourself how often you get paid to defend such a lawsuit)
What makes anyone think she's "paying" her legal fees in cash?
This is what she deserves. It seems courts can deliver justice long before the gavel strikes.
Maybe she will have to downgrade from publicity whore status.
Did somebody say "nice knockers?"
http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/more_on_jessica_cutler/
Not safe for work
"She looks like she's been rode hard and put away wet." That's terrific.
Given the nature of her case, I'd think groups/firms interested in free speech & Internet would take the case pro bono.
Given the nature of her case, I'd think groups/firms interested in free speech & Internet would take the case pro bono.
Hey david I think jessica actually lives in New York.
At least that's what your old friends say.
Getitright:
1. That was Ted Frank's comment, not Lat's comment.
2. The question is when Cutler moved to NYC relative to when she got her book deal $$$. It's possible that she still lived in DC when that income came in (because it was a few years ago).
Given the nature of her case, I'd think groups/firms interested in free speech and Internet would take the case pro boner.
are her fake tits property of the bankruptcy estate?
1:25 -
"In most cases 80% of money paid by a liable defendant goes to attorneys."
What planet do you live on, where plaintiff's attorneys take an 80% contingency fee?
3:14: It's all a matter of presentation.
9:28, I think she's including money defendant pays defense lawyers.
Look at this picture of Jessica. http://www.jessicacutleronline.com/i-love-jamaican-patties.jpeg (or click on my name.)
Kinda busted.
3:03, Steinbuch will get what he deserves too: a big fat nothing, not to mention professional disgrace. LOSER