The Case of The Gay Politico Porn Star

The story broke on the morning of Friday, May 5, 2007, but word didn’t begin to spread until later in the afternoon: Dror Barak, an Israeli consulate staffer, quit after being outed as a gay porn star known as Roman Ragazzi.

The Page Six report explained that an anonymous client had agreed to fly the eager Barak abroad for some “modeling work”. The daily tabloid column also quote’s an email from Barak to the aforementioned source, saying, “I just started doing porn movies. None of my movies is [sic] out yet. I know you mention ‘escort.’ I never did escort, and I don’t do it.”

While some readers may have wondered whether or not the strapping Barak does, or did, escort, others questioned who leaked his name to Page Six. And, more importantly, why?

Page Six’s story published on the morning of Friday, May 4, 2007. Queerty didn’t write on it until later in the afternoon. In fact, our time log marks “Israeli Politico Flees Gay Porn Past”, as being published on May 4, 2007 at 14:53 (2:53 post-meridian, of course). At 3:13am on May 5, 2007, an intriguing note appeared in our inbox: “If you want the whole truth about the Roman Ragazzi story, it is coming soon.” The author identified himself as Barak’s agent and “very good long term friend”, Collin O’Neal.

Born Shawn Loftis somewhere near San Francisco, O’Neal keeps intentionally mum on his past:

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…Let me tell you something about me and then you can infer what you want. I use to live in Lebanon… I neither care to speak about some of my past there or can. Hopefully this explains a bit more indirectly about Dror.

In addition to an International Relations BA – with a concentration in the Middle East – O’Neal also holds a masters in Public Administration. O’Neal ended up in the skin industry at the urging of his then-boyfriend, with whom O’Neal planned on buying a condo.

After training under the likes of Chi Chi LaRue and Hot House founder, Steven Scarborough – for which he acted in such porn classics as, Skuff and Skuff 2 – O’Neal broke off to found his eponymous production house. It’s here that the 32-year old producer and first time director put his international relations background to work, offering viewers such cosmopolitan titles as, London and Lebanon, which has been described thus:

The first ever major porn movie filmed entirely on location in the Middle East!

You loved Arabesque and made it the top movie of 2006, but with Lebanon you get the REAL thing! Other than François and Collin, the cast consists of guys from Lebanon and other countries of the region. None of them have ever made movies before, and most will never be seen again.

This is the Real Deal – hot Arabian studs performing amazing sex just for you! Collin O’Neal demonstrates again that he is THE up and coming new director in gay erotica!

Perhaps its in Lebanon that the self-assured O’Neil first met Dror Barak: the Israeli government aide the world would to know as Roman Ragazzi.

Intelligent, well traveled, exceedingly attractive and equally well endowed, the 230 pound, 5’11” Barak would make a perfect boyfriend. Women and men – especially men – would kill to have a piece of the living, breathing fantasy. No doubt they’d pay to watch him fuck on film – something O’Neal must have realized, because he signed him in February 2007, but quickly points out that Barak’s contract didn’t start until his first scene aired on O’Neal’s website. That scene aired two weeks following the Page Six story.

Before his porn career commenced, however, Barak – who started as a flight attendant for El Al – kept his job at the Israeli embassy, where he held a low level job. It’s while working at the embassy that Barak received an email from a man calling himself Sean Michael Kirkham, the man O’Neal claims leaked Barak’s name to Page Six.

To describe Kirkham’s background as contentious would be an understatement of the largest proportion. Born on August 9, 1973, in a 3,450-strong Northwest Canadian town called Inuvik, Sean Kirkham grew up in Montreal. From there Kirkham traveled to New York, where he studied law at New York University. An online biography says Kirkham graduated in 1992 with Juris Doctorate in law, an academic achievement typically earned three years after undergraduate studies. Kirkham would have been only nineteen in 1992, meaning he started college at age twelve. Quite a feat, to be sure. And wholly unbelievable. But inconsistencies are no surprise when dealing with Sean Michael Kirkham. In fact, his mere existence seems to be an inconsistency.

Kirkham claims to be the adopted son of one of the richest men in England, Graham Kirkham. Graham Kirkham’s furniture company, DFS Furniture, has netted him a reported $620 million fortune. And, as such a wealthy man, Graham’s got his fair share of controversy. Critics claim Kirkham uses his dough to sway politicos and garner social awards, such as his 1996 Knighthood or his 1999 title, Baron Kirkham of Old Cantley. Regardless of their merit, none of the elder Kirkham’s accolades would be possible had he himself not been adopted.

Tom Kirkham – a miner – and his wife, Elsie raised Graham as their own, ensuring he’d never want for anything and sending him to the upper crust Maltby Grammar School, from which he graduated in 1956. Graham meant to serve in the Royal Air Force, but didn’t make the grade and ended up in the furniture business. It’s plausible that a man with such good fortune would want to pass it along to a child. And, in fact, Graham does have children – two of them, in fact. Unfortunately, Sean Michael Kirkham’s not one of them. Lord Kirkham’s assistant told us that she’s aware of a man calling himself “Sean Michael Kirkham”, but vehemently denies he’s Graham Kirkham’s son: “Lord Kirkham does not have a son by that name.”

Sean Michael’s not much of a help, either. He offers no explanation of Kirkham’s denial other than, “I guess you can say I was the first designer baby”. When asked to elaborate, he promises to “send documents later”. Those documents have yet to arrive. We have, however, obtained copies of Kirkham’s correspondence with Dror Barak.

In email dated April 19, 2007, Kirkham wrote to Barak via the actor’s website:

Hi there! I would like to book a model named Roman Ragazzi – My company, The Worlds My Playground, LLC. Is a boutique diamond brokerage firm that also specializes in exclusive special events. We are working on two events both over sea’s. One in Cannes for the Film Festival in May and another event for a nightclub in Budapest.

Kirkham went on to explain that he and his company would like to fly Razazzi out on May 17th for a May 18 event. According to Barak, Kirkham also asked for some pictures of a clothed and unclothed Ragazzi.

Apparently such an unorthodox question didn’t deter Barak, because he proceeded to pretend to be his own manager and asked for more details on the business arrangement. Kirkham complied: Ragazzi would receive $500 per day, plus accommodations, plane tickets party passes, and $250 for his time shopping with celebrity stylist, Rachel Zoe. Kirkham then sent Barak another email asking if they could chat on the telephone. Barak agreed and, according to him, Kirkham called him from a European phone number, but had an American accent. The men had a brief conversation during which Barak gave him his real name and address. Kirkham then called again to finalize the deal. It’s during this call, Barak says, that Kirkham brought up the business of escorting. Barak – who grew up in Israel – wrote to us:

During our conversation on the phone, he tried to implied [sic] that I am an escort boy. I couldn’t talk freely when he called, so I sent him an email and told him I am not an escort never [sic].

Page Six quoted that email in their coverage of the scandal. They did not, however, include all of it. Here’s Dror’s response in its entirety:

[It] was nice talking [on the phone] to you too. It is very impressive i am openly gay. but unless i tell most people will assume i am striaght. just to put the record straihgt , i just started doing porn movies, none of my movies is out yet. i know you mention escort. I never did escort and i dont do it. I will be glad to work with you and be a host at the party , and make sure your clients are happy. [all sic]

Nine minutes later, at 9:16am, the man claiming to be Kirkham counters:

I should not have used the word Escort. I also don’t want you to think that I will exploit you in any way. That’s [sic] not mine or my companies [sic] style. Believe me though we do amazing parties for select very interesting clients. Men and women who buy Diamonds in large quantities. [Dean] mentioned you have a day time job. what do you do?

“Kirkham” then went on to inquire about Barak’s relationship status. Again, hardly the kind of behavior one would expect from a boss interviewing a potential hire, but, then again, the interview process already qualified as unorthodox.

Unaware that the information would be used against him, Barak wrote back:

I am single. I work at the United Nations in New York. They don’t know about my other job and that’s how it should stay.

Unfortunately for Barak, his work at the Israeli consulate would find out the truth soon enough. Before that, however, O’Neal, who was traveling in China at the time, caught wind of Barak’s behind-the-curtain deals. And he did not approve.

Worried about losing his exclusive, O’Neal told Barak to break the deal. Barak, however, saw no problem with Kirkham’s arrangement. He wrote to O’Neal:

I was very faithfull [sic] for the contract and you. The guy don’t want me to do porn or escort or take any pictures or to use my porn name… They approach me not as a porn star but as a model to host the party. True they saw me on your site, but no one going to know that.

O’Neal shot back a strongly worded message:

I will terminate your contract and all residuals if you do not comply. The fact is that someone wanted to contact Roman Ragazzi and not Dror Barak. I am serious and this is a violation of my management contract.

The porn peddler went on to tell Barak to make sure his name stayed out of it. Following orders, Barak sent Kirkham the following note: “I just want to make sure you understood you did NOT talk with Collin O‘Neal or his agent, you are speaking directly with me.” O’Neal, meanwhile, did a little digging on the mysterious business man, Sean Michael Kirkham.

In addition to finding the aforementioned online entry, O’Neal came across a woman named Julie Ann’s MySpace blog. In an entry on her since defunct blog, the Illinois woman recounts nearly being raped by a man named Sean Michael Kirkham, who also attempted to take her and one of her daughters to Europe. Julie Ann refused to go, however, and called the cops, who identified him as a man named Richard Lawrence Kottmeyer. We asked the “real” Kirkham about Kottmeyer and he explained:

Richard Lawrence Kottmeyer has been a thorn in my side for a while. He’s from the Midwest originally and has assumed my identity for a long time now. He has been arrested twice and has a warrant for his arrest in three states.

Fairview Heights Detective Jim Krummrich confirmed that Kottmeyer’s been investigated for assuming Kirkham’s identity, but did not elaborate on the so-called arrest warrants.

In his attempt to take control of the Kirkham situation, O’Neal sent Julie Ann’s story to Barak. Trusting his manager’s word, Barak passed the correspondence on to Kirkham. Wiley as ever, Kirkham responded with his email correspondences with Julie Ann. In an email dated February 12, 2007, Kirkham writes: “I just read your blog after googling my name… Im [sic] the adopted son of Lord KIrkham and I live in Whistler, Canada.” He later writes: “Im [sic] concerned that someone is using my identity…” Perhaps there’s a bit of truth in this story. As we said, Detective Krummrich verified that Julie Ann had been targeted by someone claiming to be Kirkham. The young lady, however, did not return our repeated calls.

In light of these suspicions, Barak called Kirkham’s bluff:

I need to know that I ma not wasting my time here. [sic] and this is for real. I will need you to purchase a ticket for me on line…and send it to me. And then I will need to meet with Rachel [Zoe] as soon as possible…

Kirkham did not reply. Barak remarks: “At this point he disappear [sic]… but it doesn’t worry me. Another trouble [sic] soul in the world. What’s new?” Barak may not have been worried, but he should have been.

In the days that followed, according to Barak’s recounting, someone called the Israeli Embassy and attempted to sell them a story on one of their employees. The Embassy refused, but apparently the person gave it to them for free, because three days after Barak’s letter to Kirkham, he got a call from his boss. Barak explains:

My boss call me to her office, her is boss is there, too. She ask me to close the door and to lock it. VERY strange. She tells me that they heard about my out of work activists as a porn star. My boss is holding a full nude pictures of me in sexual position, looking at me.
…
My boss agree that what I do in my free time is my own business, that I didn’t do anything illegal, but I can’t work in the consulate anymore. I resign and the consulate decide not to tell it to anyone and that will all keep it as a secret and let it die.

The next day, Barak says, he received a phone call from Page Six, but doesn’t take it seriously. And then received this email: “Read tomorrow’s Page Six. You made the news.” Too bad the good-hearted Israeli isn’t familiar with Page Six and figured it meant the actual page number of a newspaper. He went to bed fret free and woke up a bold-faced name.

Barak has not been enjoying his new found fame:

I still don’t understand why they need to put my full name [on] the article or to publish it, remember I am still not doing porn since nothing was published, not even one movie, and none where [sic] to publish until I will leave my current job.

O’Neal and Barak had agreed that Barak would leave the UN in mid-May, right before his first film hit the internet. Unfortunately, someone beat them to the punch. And, what’s more, took great pleasure in Barak’s new found infamy. On the morning the news broke, he received this message:

You are a sucker. You were forced to quit your job because you are a prostitute. That is hilarious. Shame on you. You are pathetic.

Barak suspects Kirkham’s behind the electronic taunts.

Looking for guidance, Barak sent the article along to his agent, Collin O’Neal. O’Neal had no sympathy for Barak. He wrote from China:

I am sorry all this has happened to you, but you need to really start sending all conact with you via me. It is too bad you semed not to trust me or my decisions enough to contact me when this scam artist originally contacted you, but I guess this was a very hard lesson to learn. Once again, the only people you can really trust besides your long term friends…are Rich and myself… Let me know what info you can gather on [Kirkham] so I can let the whole industry know…

Not trusting his young star’s detective skills, O’Neal took matters into his own hands.

O’Neal first contacted Paula Froelich at Page Six, but hit a brick wall when Froelich refused to reveal her source. She also informed O’Neal that his allegations – namely that Kirkham attempted to hire Barak as an escort and lied about his identity – were akin to libel. Determined to find the truth, O’Neal took his quest to the Internet, where he found Sean Michael Kirkham through MySpace.

In an exchange with Kirkham dated May 6, O’Neal asks, “…You are not the one that contacted Roman Ragazzi or the one that sent his story to the NY Post?” Kirkham insisted he didn’t know anything, “I’m sorry, I don’t even who Roman Ragazzi…” We also asked Kirkham about his relationship with Barak, to which he retorted, “I never met the guy. We don’t exactly travel in the same circles.” And Kirkham claims to travel in some pretty impressive circles.

In addition to his company’s parties, Kirkham also works with a bar called Berghain and Panarama Bar, in Berlin. It’s in Berlin that Kirkham first met a German DJ named Philip, a man who inadvertently implicates Kirkham in Barak’s “outing”.

The ripped, tattooed Philip tells us that he and Kirkham became such good friends, that Kirkham traveled to Dresden to pay Philip a visit. Kirkham then invited and paid Philip’s flight to Montreal’s White Party. When asked if he and Kirkham had a sexual relationship, Philip replies:

No, we did not have sex. In fact, he has a boyfriend who he has been with for several years. I didn’t even stay at his place instead I stayed at a hotel and I met two guys there who I ended up spending the last day and a half of my trip with…

Unfortunately, Philip didn’t hit it off with Collin O’Neal, who found Philip on – where else – MySpace.

In a message to Philip’s since deleted MySpace page, O’Neal optimistically asserted,

If he [Kirkham] wants to clear his name, then he better step up to the plate, stop being nasty with me and find out who this person is… The gay community and press is 100% behind myself and Roman.

Philip didn’t take too kindly to O’Neal’s tone and sent a snarky, telling reply:

I heard about how the press is all behind you when you called Page Six today…and the reporter basically told you [that you] had no story and that what you were saying is libelous and that you could be sued.

Philip sent that message at 10:37am on May 7: the Monday after Barak’s story broke in Page Six’s Friday edition. Someone obviously told Philip about O’Neal’s phone call. And Philip wasn’t having it.

In the same message, Philip wrote to O’Neal: [

Y]our [sic] a pimp[.] if you truly cared about your [sic] friend you would have taken down his website…instead you’re still capitalizing off him and using this medium (‘the press’) to generate additional publicity for you. Sad.

Philip’s criticism of O’Neal’s so-called self-promoting didn’t stop him from posting a blog 33 minutes later cleverly entitled, “Collin O’Neal is a BIG PUSSY!!”

When asked what he had to say about Philip’s notes on the Page Six story, Sean Michael Kirkham wrote from Budapest:

I have attorney’s who called Paula on my behalf. She filled them in on some details, some of which I can’t tell you because of a pending suit against O’Neal, however she confirmed in emails to me that he had tried to get her to write a follow up article on the matter. She refused and she told him the statements he was making were libelous and could get him and the paper in trouble.

Five minutes later, however, he refined his response: “Let me clarify. She [Froelich] forwarded all correspondence with the email address [redacted] to my lawyers.” Kirkham’s referring to the email with which Barak corresponded. We asked Kirkham – who had already emailed us from two accounts, as well as the aforementioned MySpace account – whether he used the referenced email, to which he replied, “I currently have only two email addresses, not including my work email.”

Ah, yes, Kirkham’s “company”: The World’s My Playground. The company’s since shuttered website listed eight international locations, including Shanghai, Budapest, and New York. In an attempt to contact Kirkham, O’Neal called all the numbers associated with Kirkham’s company. Kirkham started with Shanghai:

When I asked if [it] was the office of The World’s My Playground I received a confused response until I mentioned that I was looking for an event planning company. After a bit of back and forth, the gentlemen said “Oh!!! Now I understand!!! Yes, we have spoken with them but as of yet we have no contract signed with them, and don’t know when we will.”

Someone in Shanghai knew Kirkham, however, because two hours later, the reputed diamond broker sent O’Neal a warning that fishing for answers in China would do him no good.

Kirkham’s threats didn’t worry O’Neal, however, and the porn producer continued his calling crusade. The Buenos Aires number turned out to be a Colombian number, but not a working one. One number that did work, however, connected with a company called Diavik in Invuik, Canada: Kirkham’s alleged birthplace.

Diavik, a diamond company, prides itself on its socially and eco-friendly approach to the notoriously wasteful and harsh industry: principles The World’s My Playground also espoused, suggesting a link between the two companies. A company spokesperson, however, insists that neither Sean Kirkham, nor The World’s My Playground is in any way affiliated with the company.

Another working number leads to Budapest, where Kirkham’s company’s suspended website has been registered. And, in fact, to Sean Michael Kirkham, who speaks with a smug, somewhat bored American accent. He’s been in Budapest on business, he explains. We asked him if he’s the same Sean Kirkham who has written and taken photographs for Eurocheapo, a virtual European travel guide. He concedes that he has worked for the website in the past, but only to supplement his income. He also insists that he’s been supplementing his income in other ways, namely working with Barak’s agent, Collin O’Neal.

Kirkham first asked if we’d pay for the information, but we refused. He must have been feeling generous, however, because he ended up giving it away for free. In an email prior to our phone conversation, Kirkham writes:

You know what the real story is? You got played by Collin and I. It’s kind of a little tired at this point, he asked me to out Dror to keep him working for him. We set it up perfectly, it created the publicity, I got paid, Collin (Shawn) got paid. Even if Dror found out Collin set him up, he won’t believe it…

Kirkham also alleges that he and O’Neal created “Philip”, Worlds My Playground and sent phony messages to make the story seem real.

Not surprisingly, O’Neal denies the allegations that he set up his new born star to get ink.

He is a complete liar and it appears he is a thief too! I am sure he was paid by the New York Post for the story and he also asked [sic] money from Roman’s employer, but the Israeli Consulate refuses [sic]. This person is trying to turn the tables on me… I never asked for press, but rather press to uncover the truth about this guy.

Barak did not return our inquiries into the matter. Kirkham, however, pressed the issue and produced this Pay Pal receipt, which he claims proves O’Neal paid him to leak the New York Post story:
When asked why he’s giving up the ghost, he says, “I’m bored and I think we have taken it as far as possible in terms of media.”

Like so many so-called facts in this incredibly queer case, this too seems plausible. O’Neal has just started his company and an international scandal would certainly help boost its sexual standing, not to mention its bottom line, something O’Neal may be struggling to maintain. He recently traveled to the Dominican Republic for a porn shoot, a shoot to which he invited Barak to late last month, before the Kirkham scandal hit Page Six. O’Neal writes:

If you would like to come be part of my Dominican Republic shoot, let me know. I can get you one scene, but cannot pay for about 2 months or will pay little by little over the next 2 months.

It’s hard out there for a person some have called a pimp. Drumming up publicity would certainly help matters along. Creating a fake character, company and an elaborate website, however, would be taking the matter to an obsessive, nearly pathological degree.

Fortunately for O’Neal, the file came up on our computer as a .png image (portable network graphic), which means it may have been overlaid with the text. Thus, it’s potentially a forged document. Could it be that Kirkham’s simply out to trash O’Neal’s reputation? That’s certainly a possibility. Kirkham has sent us numerous emails plugging a site called, Collin O’Neal Sucks. On this site – which has been registered in Davis, California – a mystery blogger writes some less-than-unflattering comments on Mr. O’Neal, including this nasty bit:

Collin O’Neal it seems once worked as a waiter in a South Beach bar until he was fired for stealing. According to the Miami Beach Police Department’s police report, Shawn Loftis a.k.a. Collin O’Neal was charged for petty larceny for under 500 dollars. The manager of the nightclub he worked for as a waiter said “he wouldn’t have lasted long anyways, Collin was incompetent and screwed up things as simple as drink orders.”

After calling the M.B.P.D. we were told there still is an outstanding warrant for his arrest. According to Detective Ortega who was on duty, Loftis had given a fake address and Social Security Number when applying for the job. Ortega believed that Loftis had committed other crimes and has so far alluded capture.

The site also alleges that O’Neal nurses a nasty meth habit.

We spoke with O’Neal today and he vehemently denies the drug charges, as well as the thievery and arrest warrants. O’Neal also claims that Miami Beach police are looking into the blog’s allegations.

So, who leaked Barak’s name to Page Six? Was it the mysterious – and suspect -diamond dealer, Sean Michael Kirkham? Or did Collin O’Neal set the entire scandal in motion? Considering the web of lies, deceit, allegations and accusations, we may never know.