Jessica Cutler
{{short description|American journalist (born 1978)}}
{{for|the cyclist|Jessica Cutler (cyclist)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jessica Cutler
| image = Jessica Cutler 5.jpg
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| birth_name = Jessica Louise Cutler
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1978|5|18}}
| birth_place = Monterey, California, U.S.
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| alma_mater = Syracuse University
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| occupation = Author, blogger
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| spouse = {{marriage|Charles Rubio|2008}}
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| children = 1
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Jessica Louise Cutler (born May 18, 1978) is an American blogger, author, and former congressional staff assistant who was fired for detailing her active sexual life, including receiving money for having sex (prostitution), in her blog.
Career
=Education=
Cutler was born on May 18, 1978, in Monterey, California. She attended Syracuse University, and was a photo editor at the student newspaper, The Daily Orange.
=Washingtonienne=
In 2004, while a staff assistant for Senator Michael DeWine, Cutler published a short-lived blog called Washingtonienne describing her life in Washington, D.C. which included graphic details of her sex life.
Cutler justified receiving money from her lovers by saying, "I'm sure I am not the only one who makes money on the side this way: How can anybody live on $25K/year??"
Her identity was revealed by the blog "Wonkette" in May 2004, which resulted in a scandal on Capitol Hill.
{{cite news
|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48909-2004May22.html
|title=The Hill's Sex Diarist Reveals All (Well, Some)
|newspaper=The Washington Post
|date=May 24, 2004
|accessdate=March 28, 2007}}{{cite news
|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54736-2004Aug10.html
|title=Blog Interrupted
|newspaper=The Washington Post
|date=August 15, 2004
|accessdate=September 25, 2007
|first= April
|last=Witt}}
On May 21, 2004, Cutler was fired for "unacceptable use of Senate computers" by Senator DeWine. Media treatment of Cutler was harsh, the Philadelphia Daily News going so far as to label her a "DC slut".{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/02/usa.features11 | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Pass notes | date=June 2, 2004 | accessdate=May 6, 2010}} Cutler, though, has been relatively accepting of her notoriety:
{{blockquote |Public embarrassment is really very liberating. You really stop caring about what people think, which is something only the elderly seem to able to accomplish with great aplomb. So I am way ahead of everybody. And those of you behind me can kiss my ass.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/02/usa | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Senator sacked me over tales of congress | date=June 2, 2004 | accessdate=2010-05-06 | first=Jessica | last=Cutler}}}}
In summer 2004, Playboy.com featured an interview and nude pictures of Cutler.{{cite web|title=playboy.com / features / jessica cutler|url=http://www.playboy.com/commerce/email/cyberclub/08_31_04/story/dcintern_pop.html|publisher=Playboy|date=August 31, 2004|accessdate=March 8, 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040903211900/http://www.playboy.com/commerce/email/cyberclub/08_31_04/story/dcintern_pop.html|archivedate=September 3, 2004}}
She wrote a novel based on her experiences and blog: The Washingtonienne: A Novel, selling it for a reported $300,000.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/02/blogger_book_deal/|title = Washington sex blogger signs book deal|website = The Register}} A reviewer for the Washington Post wrote, "The Washingtonienne gives hints of being lively, funny and agreeably in-your-face."{{cite news |title=Jonathan Yardley, - Capitol Hill Siren's Tell-All Fiction |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326065826/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/23/AR2005052301809.html |archive-date=2018-03-26 |url-status=live |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/23/AR2005052301809.html}} Judy Bachrach of The Weekly Standard wrote, "This is a novel of uncommon candor, humor, and perspicacity, and I loved every page of it."{{cite web| url = http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/765cgzjv.asp?pg=1/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051023021121/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/765cgzjv.asp?pg=1/| archive-date = 2005-10-23| title = She's Come Undone}}
=Steinbuch lawsuit=
In June 2005, Robert Steinbuch, who says that he is the person Cutler referred to as "RS" on her blog, filed a lawsuit against her,{{cite news|url=http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0517051blog1.html |title= Hill Aide Sues Over Sex Blog |work=The Smoking Gun |date=May 17, 2005 |accessdate=March 28, 2007}} seeking over $75,000 in damages. Steinbuch's complaint and related filings, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., describe the case as for "defamation," "false light," "invasion of privacy for public revelation of private facts," the "intentional infliction of emotional distress," and "other causes of action."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/14/AR2005081401034.html |title= Online Lessons on Unprotected Sex |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 14, 2005 |accessdate=March 28, 2007 | first=Andrew J. | last=McClurg}} Cutler is represented by Atlanta lawyer, Matthew C. Billips,{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16366256 |title= Steamy D.C. Sex Blog Scandal Heads to Court|work=NBC News|date=December 27, 2006 |access-date=March 28, 2007 }} and D.C. lawyer, John R. Ates.{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}} On May 30, 2007, Cutler filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to protect herself from potential debts. Listed among potential creditors were some of her former attorneys, as well as Steinbuch. At the time she filed for bankruptcy, staying the case in the DC District Court, a motion to dismiss—as a sanction against Steinbuch for refusing to comply with Court Ordered discovery—was still pending.{{Cite web |title=MOTION for Sanctions And , MOTION for Protective Order And Memorandum Of Law In Support by JESSICA CUTLER for STEINBUCH v. CUTLER : |url=https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2005cv00970/114962/69/ |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=Justia Dockets & Filings |language=en}}
Steinbuch also filed a $20 million suit against her in Arkansas, where he lives and works as a law professor.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/10/AR2006071001451.html |title= We Love You. Now Get Out of Here. |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 10, 2006 |accessdate=March 28, 2007 | first1=Amy | last1=Argetsinger | first2=Roxanne | last2=Roberts}} The lawsuit was eyed closely by privacy groups because it could establish whether bloggers are obligated to protect the privacy of those they name in their online public blogs.{{cite news|title=Sex Blogger Files for Bankruptcy|url=http://newsok.com/article/3061315|agency=Associated Press|date=June 1, 2007}} The Arkansas case was dismissed for forum non-conveniens by the district court. However, the United States Court of Appeals reversed the district judge in Arkansas, holding that he abused his discretion and ruled incorrectly. Eventually, after the case was sent back to the district judge in Arkansas, the district judge transferred the case to another judge.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/07/AR2007020702697.html|title= Miss America, With Poise to Spare in Wonkland Central |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 7, 2007 |accessdate=March 28, 2007 | first1=Amy | last1=Argetsinger | first2=Roxanne | last2=Roberts}}
It was reported in 2007 that cable television channel HBO and entertainment company Disney, whom Steinbuch also sued, are working on a TV series about Cutler's story.
According to the New York Law Journal, Steinbuch was ordered to reimburse discovery expenses regarding a deposition to Cutler's attorney Billips in June 2009. Billips has filed an affidavit requesting over $14,000 in fees and expenses.{{Cite web |title=Law.com {{!}} The Premier Source for Global Legal News & Analysis |url=https://www.law.com/?id=1202431492392&slreturn=2025051963701 |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=Law.com |language=en}}
Personal life
In 2008, she married Charles Rubio, a lawyer, in New York City. She gave birth in August 2009 to a daughter, Jessica-Louise.[http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/jessica_cutler_a_mom/ Jessica Cutler a Mom!]
Books
- The Washingtonienne: A Novel. Hyperion Books (2005). Hardcover: {{ISBN|978-1-4013-0200-9}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4013-0847-6}}.
- Sexe au Capitole. Plon (2006). {{ISBN|978-2-259-20172-8}}.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Commons category|Jessica Cutler}}
- [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/books/review/26JACOBSL.html New York Times book review]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051023021121/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/765cgzjv.asp?pg=1/ Weekly Standard book review]
- [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/23/AR2005052301809.html Washington Post book review]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, Jessica}}
Category:People from Monterey, California
Category:American people of Korean descent
Category:21st-century American novelists
Category:Syracuse University alumni
Category:Journalists from Washington, D.C.
Category:Employees of the United States Senate
Category:American women novelists
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:Journalists from California
Category:Novelists from California
Category:American women non-fiction writers
Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers