Claudine Ko’s notorious 2004 profile of former American Apparel CEO Dov Charney:
“Masturbation in front of women is underrated,” Dov explains to me later over the phone. “It’s much easier on the woman. She gets to watch, it’s a sensual experience that doesn’t involve a man violating a woman, yet once the man has his release, it’s over and you can talk to the guy.” And, Iris adds on another day, “I think it’s really healthy to have an orgasm four times a day. It’s got to be great for business.” In his apartment that night, when he finishes, he promptly turns back to reading the rest of his e-mail. His in-box holds 21,547 messages. He clicks on one that displays a photo of a twentysomething Asian girl wearing tight jeans, lying in bed. Her message reads, “I’m 5’4″, 106 pounds, bust size 32B-C. Plus, I’m professional, artistic…” Dov says he gets an email like this every 48 hours from women wanting to work for him.
Get the Longreads Weekly Email