Heidi Fleiss

{{Infobox person

| name = Heidi Fleiss

| image = Heidifleiss.jpg

| caption = Fleiss in 2006

| birth_name = Heidi Lynne Fleiss

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|12|30}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, US

| occupation = {{hlist|Procurer|television personality}}

| partner = Dennis Hof (2009–2018; his death)

| parents = Paul M. Fleiss
Elissa Ash

| television = Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew
Celebrity Big Brother

}}

Heidi Lynne Fleiss (born December 30, 1965){{cite web| url= http://www.biography.com/people/heidi-fleiss-9542084#profile | title= Heidi Fleiss Biography: Criminal (1965–) | publisher= Biography.com | access-date= September 20, 2015}} is an American former madam. She ran an upscale prostitution ring based in Los Angeles and is often referred to as the "Hollywood Madam". Fleiss also formerly worked as a columnist and was a television personality regularly featured in the 1990s American media.

Early life

Fleiss was born and raised in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. Her father, Paul M. Fleiss (1933–2014), was a pediatrician and her mother, Elissa (née Ash), was an elementary school teacher. Their marriage ended in divorce.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-fleiss26-2008jun26-story.html|title=Heidi Fleiss ruff|date=June 26, 2008|website=Los Angeles Times}} She has two brothers: Jesse (born in 1977), and Jason (born in 1968), who drowned at age 41 in 2009;{{citation|url=https://obits.oregonlive.com/us/obituaries/oregon/name/jason-fleiss-obituary?id=18783660|title=Jason Fleiss|date=March 3, 2023|website=OregonLive}} and three sisters: Amy, Kim, and Shana.{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-paul-fleiss-20140720-story.html|title=Dr. Paul Fleiss Dies at 80; Father of 'Hollywood Madam' Heidi Fleiss|first=David|last=Colker|date=July 19, 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=July 20, 2014 | archive-date=July 20, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140720081015/http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-paul-fleiss-20140720-story.html | url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-09-tm-52712-story.html |title=Did father know best? |first=Shawn |last=Hubler |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 9, 1995 |access-date=January 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302123854/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-04-09/magazine/tm-52712_1_heidi-fleiss |archive-date=March 2, 2010 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}

Prostitution and tax evasion

At the age of 22, Fleiss began managing a prostitution ring under Madam Alex after meeting her in 1987 via Fleiss's film-director boyfriend Iván Nagy. Fleiss stated in 2002 that Alex and she had "a very intense relationship" and that Alex's view of Fleiss "was kind of like the daughter she loved and hated, so she was abusive and loving at the same time". In the same interview, Fleiss said she worked as a prostitute for a short period to learn all aspects of the trade. At the time she was learning to take over Alex's business there was a labor shortage, as most of Alex's prostitutes were approaching middle age and planning to retire from prostitution. Alex had Fleiss revitalize the business by recruiting a new batch of young, attractive women.{{cite web| url =https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2002-02-08/segment/00 | title = Life and Times of Heidi Fleiss |date=February 8, 2002|access-date= November 25, 2015 | work=Larry King Live| publisher= (transcript) CNN | archive-date= August 6, 2003 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030806080552/http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0202/08/lkl.00.html | url-status=live}}

By 1990, Fleiss severed her links with Madam Alex and began her own prostitution ring. Fleiss has stated that she made her first million dollars after only four months in the business as a madam and that on her slowest night, she made $10,000.{{cite news |url=http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/September-October-2003/feature_fleiss_sepoct03.msp |title=In Defense Of Prostitution |first= Nadya |last= Labi |work=Legal Affairs |publisher=Yale Law School |date=September–October 2003 |access-date=November 25, 2015 |archive-date=September 28, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130928183550/http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/September-October-2003/feature_fleiss_sepoct03.msp |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }} By 1991, Fleiss was so successful that she was able to reject women who wished to work for her. In June 1993, she was arrested on charges including attempted pandering.

Federal charges were filed in 1994, and Fleiss posted $1 million bail; the state trial began the same year and Fleiss was convicted. In May 1996, her state conviction was overturned and her appeal bond was set at $200,000.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/30/us/conviction-quashed-in-heidi-fleiss-case.html | agency= Associated Press | work=The New York Times | title=Conviction Quashed In Heidi Fleiss Case | date=May 30, 1996| access-date= November 25, 2015}} She was convicted of federal charges of tax evasion in September 1996 and sentenced to seven years in prison.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/08/us/heidi-fleiss-given-37-month-sentence.html | work=The New York Times | title=Heidi Fleiss Given 37-Month Sentence | date=January 8, 1997| access-date= November 25, 2015}} Fleiss served 20 months at the Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, California. She was released to a halfway house on November 19, 1998, and ordered to perform 370 hours of community service.{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-nov-20-me-45578-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | title=Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss Placed in Halfway House | date=November 20, 1998 | access-date= November 25, 2015| archive-date= October 18, 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151018144841/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/nov/20/local/me-45578|url-status=live}}

Fleiss's ring reportedly had numerous prominent and wealthy clients. When questioned by British television presenter Davina McCall about revealing the names of her clients, she replied "It's not my style".{{Cite magazine|first=Jill |last=Smolowe |title=A High Price to Pay | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982002,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080608005324/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982002,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = June 8, 2008 |magazine=Time |date=December 19, 1994 |access-date=July 22, 2007 }}

Media appearances

In 1995, Nick Broomfield made a documentary about her prostitution ring titled Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam. In 2004, a TV movie was produced titled Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss.

In 1996, after having been convicted of being a madam, and shortly before her incarceration for such offences, she was interviewed by Ruby Wax.{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892637/ | title=Heidi Fleiss | website=IMDb }}

Fleiss and reality-TV personality Victoria Sellers hosted and produced an instructional DVD titled Sex Tips with Heidi Fleiss and Victoria Sellers in 2001.{{cite news|last=Adams|first=Guy|title=Celebrity children: The troubled world of Victoria Sellers|work=The Independent|location=London|publisher=Independent Print|date=5 October 2006|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/celebrity-children-the-troubled-world-of-victoria-sellers-418766.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/celebrity-children-the-troubled-world-of-victoria-sellers-418766.html |archive-date=May 9, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=19 July 2010}}

In January 2010, Fleiss was the third housemate to enter the final Channel 4 series of Celebrity Big Brother in the UK;{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8438720.stm |title=Celebrity Big Brother 2010 contestants unveiled |publisher=BBC News Online |date=January 3, 2010 |access-date=January 3, 2010}} she was the second to be evicted.{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/01/15/katia-ivanova-and-heidi-fleiss-evicted-from-celebrity-big-brother-115875-21970955/ |title=Katia Ivanova and Heidi Fleiss evicted from Celebrity Big Brother |work=Daily Mirror | location=UK| first=Ann|last=Gripper|date=January 15, 2010 |access-date=January 15, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150619091214/http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/katia-ivanova-and-heidi-fleiss-evicted-195097| archive-date= June 19, 2015 | url-status=live}} She did not return for the finale.

Business interests

In 2005, Fleiss announced plans to open a brothel in Pahrump, Nevada named Heidi Fleiss's Stud Farm"{{cite web |url=http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=3388672 |title=I-Team Exclusive Interview With Heidi Fleiss |access-date=February 8, 2008 |last=Knapp |first=George |author-link=George Knapp (journalist) |date=May 26, 2005 |publisher=KLAS-TV |archive-date=December 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226142349/http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=3388672 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_345213.html |title=Heidi Fleiss eager again to do what she does best |access-date=February 8, 2008 |date=June 19, 2005 |work=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212084921/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_345213.html |archive-date=February 12, 2008 |df=mdy-all }} In 2007, Fleiss opened a laundromat named Dirty Laundry in Pahrump as her plans for the brothel had been put on hold due to a "slight complication".{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/heidi-fleiss-opens-dirty-laundromat |title=Heidi Fleiss Opens 'Dirty' Laundromat |access-date=February 8, 2008 |first=Pat|last= Lalama |date=July 2, 2007 |publisher=Fox News Channel }} In 2009, she said that she had abandoned her plans to open such a brothel because she did not want to "deal with all the nonsense in the sex business". Instead, she said she would focus on renewable energy, which she described as "perfect for Nevada" and "the wave of the future".{{cite news| url = https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/heidi-fleiss-gives-up-on-plan-for-brothel-for-women/ |title=Heidi Fleiss gives up on plan for brothel for women] |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal| date= February 10, 2009 |access-date= May 5, 2017 }} She opened a fashion boutique in Los Angeles after being released from prison.{{Cite news|url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/heidi-fleiss-8217-new-risqu-233-business-1492198/|title=Heidi Fleiss' New Risqué Business|author=WWD Staff|date=2003-12-17|work=WWD|access-date=2018-11-04|language=en-US}}

{{As of|2025|April}},{{cite web|url=http://www.airnav.com/airport/NV54 |title=NV54 - Flying S Ranch Ultralight Flightpark |publisher=AirNav |date=2025-04-17 |access-date=2025-04-25}} and since at least January 2017,{{cite web|url=http://www.airnav.com/airport/NV54 |title=NV54 - Flying S Ranch Ultralight Flightpark |publisher=AirNav |date=2017-01-05 |access-date=2017-02-24}} Fleiss owns and manages the Flying S Ranch Ultralight Flightpark, an ultralight private use airport in Pahrump, with FAA designation NV54.

Personal life

In 2003, Fleiss accused actor Tom Sizemore, her ex-boyfriend, of domestic violence. Sizemore was convicted of the charge.{{cite web |first=Stephen M. | last= Silverman |author-link=Stephen M. Silverman |date=August 18, 2003 |title=Sizemore Convicted of Abusing Fleiss |url=https://people.com/celebrity/sizemore-convicted-of-abusing-fleiss/ |access-date=September 8, 2023 |work=People}}

Fleiss eventually moved to Pahrump, Nevada,{{cite web |url=http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=3382916 |last=Knapp |first=George | title = Famous Hollywood Madam Moves to Nevada |date=May 24, 2005 |publisher=KLAS-TV |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103014111/http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=3382916 |archive-date=January 3, 2014 |access-date=June 19, 2015 }} a small town near Death Valley{{Cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/video/celebrity-rehab-3/full-episodes/acting-out/1632448/playlist.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301074131/http://www.vh1.com/video/celebrity-rehab-3/full-episodes/acting-out/1632448/playlist.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 1, 2010|title=Video of Celebrity Rehab Episode 3.8 ("Acting Out") at VH1.com}} while caring for 25 parrots.{{Cite web|url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/|title=Las Vegas News | Breaking News & Headlines|website=Las Vegas Review-Journal}} Drew Pinsky, who treated Fleiss for substance abuse, performed brain scans on her that showed significant frontal lobe dysfunction, which Pinsky surmised was behind her inability to empathize with people, and her propensity for doing so with birds.{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/feature/addicted-to-rehab-3861.html |title= Addicted to Rehab|access-date=January 30, 2010|first=Margy |last=Rochlin |date= February 1, 2010|work=TV Guide| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100129133014/http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/feature/addicted-to-rehab-3861.html | archive-date= January 29, 2010}}

In 2009, Fleiss was treated for substance abuse at the Pasadena Recovery Center, which was filmed for the third season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. One of her fellow patients was Sizemore, against whom her prior restraining order had lapsed. Both Fleiss and Sizemore consented to appear together on the show before filming began, and their reunion, depicted in the third episode, was amicable,{{Cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/video/celebrity-rehab-3/full-episodes/new-patients/1630618/playlist.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130071416/http://www.vh1.com/video/celebrity-rehab-3/full-episodes/new-patients/1630618/playlist.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 30, 2010|title=Video of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Episode 3.4 ("New Patients") at VH1.com}} though Fleiss subsequently expressed mixed feelings about his presence there.{{Cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/video/celebrity-rehab-3/full-episodes/loss/1631249/playlist.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208073522/http://www.vh1.com/video/celebrity-rehab-3/full-episodes/loss/1631249/playlist.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 8, 2010|title=Video of Celebrity Rehab Episode 3.5 ("Loss") at VH1.com}} During the filming of the program, Fleiss left the center, and she was involved in an accident with her SUV near her home in Nevada. She subsequently returned to rehab.

After completing treatment for substance abuse, Fleiss briefly became engaged to Dennis Hof, owner of Nevada's Moonlite BunnyRanch.{{cite news| url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/fleiss-to-marry-brothel-boss_1107760 | title=Fleiss to Marry Brothel Boss | date=June 25, 2009 | agency= World Entertainment News Network | publisher=ContactMusic.com | access-date=July 28, 2009| archive-date=November 25, 2015| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20151125052347/http://www.contactmusic.com/heidi-fleiss/news/fleiss-to-marry-brothel-boss_1107760 | url-status=live}} Fleiss said in 1994 that she is a vegetarian.

In August 2013, Nevada police found nearly 400 marijuana plants growing at her home in Pahrump, Nevada, but did not arrest Fleiss and submitted their report to the district attorney's office.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/14/us/nevada-heidi-fleiss/index.html |title=Marijuana plants found at 'Hollywood Madam' Heidi Fleiss' Nevada home|first=Amanda|last= Watts |publisher=CNN |date=August 14, 2013 |access-date=August 14, 2013 | archive-date= July 2, 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150702010130/http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/14/us/nevada-heidi-fleiss/index.html | url-status=live}}

In 2022, Fleiss announced that she would be moving to Missouri after someone shot one of her parrots with a pellet gun.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/08/hollywood-madam-heidi-fleiss-leave-nevada-pet-parrot-shot|title='Hollywood Madam' Heidi Fleiss plans to leave Nevada after pet parrot shot|date=8 Jan 2022|work=The Guardian}}

In media

In 2022, Fleiss was the subject of HeidiWorld: The Heidi Fleiss Story, an iHeartRadio podcast produced, written and hosted by Molly Lambert.{{cite news |last1=Krueger |first1=Katherine |title='Heidi World' Is the Deliciously Addictive Story of an All-American Hustler |url=https://www.elle.com/life-love/opinions-features/a39678221/molly-lambert-heidi-world-podcast-heidi-fleiss/ |access-date=16 January 2024 |work=Elle |date=11 April 2022}}

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"\| Notes
1995 \| The Doom Generation \| Liquor store clerk \| film debut
2003 \| Pauly Shore Is Dead \| Herself \|
2004 \| Alien 51 \| Evelda \|
2009 \| Porndogs: The Adventures of Sadie \| Fluffy \| voice
2010 \| Celebrity Big Brother \| Herself \| contestant; placed 11th/12

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable"| Notes

1995

| The Doom Generation

| Liquor store clerk

| film debut

2003

| Pauly Shore Is Dead

| Herself

2004

| Alien 51

| Evelda

2009

| Porndogs: The Adventures of Sadie

| Fluffy

| voice

2010

| Celebrity Big Brother

| Herself

| contestant; placed 11th/12

Published works

{{cite book |title=Pandering |year=2002 |publisher=One Hour Entertainment |location= Los Angeles |isbn=9780972016407 }}
{{cite book |title=The Player's Handbook: The Ultimate Guide on Dating and Relationships |year=2004 |publisher=One Hour Entertainment |location=Los Angeles |isbn=9780972016414 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/playershandbooku00flei }}