Do you remember Girls Gone Wild? You know, that show that constantly thrust their infomercials in your face while you flipped through cable back in the day? The popular show from the late 90s and early 2000s featured deliberately pixelated clips of suspiciously young women flashing viewers. Basically, it allowed you to see the naughty side of the good girl next door – for a price, of course. The sl-azy mind behind the show, Joe Francis, recently claimed his underaged “cast” “victimized” him.
Airing mostly before the popularity of social media, the show has long slinkered deep into the inner recesses of viewers’ minds. However, a new Peacock docuseries, Girl’s Gone Wild: The Untold Story, has inadvertently revealed how unremorseful Francis remains. While trying to make a point that the raunchy show had a hand in shaping today’s culture, they interviewed Francis. This would be the despotic show founder’s first in-person interview in 10 years, although he only agreed to an audio recording. When asked if he “felt bad” for the underage girls coerced into filming nude clips, Francis responded, “No, because I don’t believe they were victimized. They victimized me.”
Francis’ upside-down allegation is about a 2003 incident during spring break in Panama. During the incident, the Girl’s Gone Wild crew filmed four underage girls topless and performing sexual acts. For a decade, Francis has been living in self-imposed exile in Mexico. This is all in an attempt to escape an active warrant for his arrest, issued in 2014. Journalist Scaachi Koul, who provides most of the content for the docuseries, interviewed the 51-year-old at his Mexico residence in 2022.
Per Entertainment Weekly, when Koul reminded him that the women in the incident were relatively young, Francis doubled down, saying,
“No, they were 17, just shy of 18. They were the ones that victimized us. I believe, we all believe that they were put up by the Panama City police, and it was all an operation. So, I believe that was quite orchestrated. I walked into a f – – – ing snake pit, okay?”
The court passed judgment on the incident in 2008 after a long-drawn RICO case against Francis and his company. Some Girl’s Gone Wild crew members are openly remorseful for their part in getting the show’s crude content. Francis, on the other hand, continuously insists on his innocence. In response to a question about the lasting impact of his show, he proudly replied that it loosened things up. He said, “I think it just made for a much more fun generation. I think it created the ability to have the Kardashians and did so much more.”
Joe Francis’ Unending List of Legal and Personal Troubles
Francis’ once profitable empire collapsed epically, under numerous allegations and legal scuffles. This is aside from multiple lawsuits and bankruptcy proceedings. The one-time media mogul has faced allegations of tax evasion, sexual assault, and false imprisonment. In 2013, he got a 270-day jail sentence after being convicted of the assault and false imprisonment of three women. He ran from the United States, settling in Mexico to avoid further legal repercussions.
Despite his controversial past, the disgraced show founder continues to defend his actions publicly.
