Garrett Lubben Unemployed; Can Shelley Afford the Mortgage?

It’s known in porn industry circles as a “suitcase pimp tuxedo” – a black t-shirt, True Religion jeans and slick shades. The tall man wearing this familiar ensemble who stepped up and introduced himself at a Hollywood porn event this past June was Garrett Lubben, husband of ex-prostitute and failed porn performer Shelley Lubben. For over a year and a half, I’d been Mrs. Lubben’s fiercest critic. Garrett Lubben was no fan of mine, either.

I informed Garrett that an exploration of the couple’s early “wild” years together would be included in the third episode of my documentary, ‘The Devil and Shelley Lubben,’ and he said something that startled me:
“I was a great drug dealer,” Lubben bragged, “and now I’m a great salesman.”
As The Monkees once reminded the world, that was then and this is now; great salesman or not, Garrett Lubben’s online LinkedIn profile now confirms reports that, in October 2012, Lubben was ‘let go’ by his long-time employer, and has been unemployed since.
Garrett had worked in medical device sales for Boston Scientific since late 2003, and last year he had boasted to a reporter that the couple was psyched about the European vacation they’d be taking as a result of Garrett being a top salesman. God had blessed them, the Lubbens proclaimed, for being faithful and dedicated servants who do His good work. It was with palpable pride that these flashy Champions for Christ displayed the indicia of what Joel Osteen and proponents of the Prosperity Gospel would call “favor” with the Lord — including jewelry, matching ‘his and hers’ SUVs, and a $480,000 home in Bakersfield with all new furnishings. In photo after photo, life’s finer fripperies sat well upon them.

Here is a snapshot of Boston Scientific's share price since the firing of Garrett Lubben:



MAMMON
It wasn’t all that long ago — back in July 2011, nearly one year before boasting to me of his sales prowess — that Gary and Shelley had moved into their McMansion, and re-christened their previous home in Bakersfield the “Pink Cross Recovery Home” for “victims” of porn. The future looked rosy, and the fact that they had no license, no training in psychology, psychiatry or addiction counseling, and no qualified staff constituted insufficient deterrent for God’s chosen champions.
photo
Later that same momentous July, Boston Scientific, which had been struggling since its acquisition of heart stent manufacturer Guidant Corp in 2006, announced a round of job cuts. The timing could not have been worse, but ultimately the Lubbens surely breathed a sigh of relief when, after the corporate axe fell, Garrett still retained his job, as well as his six-figure salary. Somebody up there liked them after all.
Then August brought truly indigestible news: Shelley’s benefactor, Michael Weinstein of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), had kicked her and Pink Cross Foundation, the anti-porn group she and Garrett had founded in 2008, to the curb with a thud. Since joining up with AHF’s anti-porn crusade in 2009, Shelley’s endorsement by Weinstein’s well-financed organization had resulted in a boost to her credibility and ability to draw donors’ attention to her organization. Under Weinstein’s tutelage, wild-eyed Shelley almost passed for a reasonable spokesman for health and safety.
But Lubben’s disastrous appearance at a debate on pornography at Cambridge University in February 2011 (after which, according to Pink Cross insiders, Lubben spent time in a psychiatric ward), marked the beginning of a months-long downward spiral of PR missteps and what Weinstein termed “outrageous behavior” by Mrs. Lubben — such as being photographed having her breast autographed by porn star Ron Jeremy outside the toilet of a Burbank bar (after bidding $600 for a “date” with him) in April 2011, and being videotaped that summer praying in her backyard with a prophet’s 8-foot staff pointed at the sky.
Then, Shelley was publicly humiliated at a June 7th Cal/OSHA meeting in Los Angeles. Scores of adult performers, the group Lubben had long claimed as her constituency, turned up to shout her down and deride her, casting doubt upon all the claims and representations of AHF, which had endorsed her participation.
Weinstein recognized that Shelley was “a lightning rod for criticism,” and by August she had become more trouble than she was worth. Losing this association with AHF meant no more national press attention for Shelley and Pink Cross. It was a devastating blow, because the Lubbens’ Pink Cross fundraising efforts were dependent upon the broadest possible exposure.
By September 2011, things started to get even worse: the sole porn star in “recovery” at the Lubben house, Michelle Avanti, fled Bakersfield, and, in a video interview released the following month, charged abuse, exploitation and neglect by Shelley Lubben, whom she called a “con artist,” “manipulator” and “addict.” In the wake of the resultant negative publicity — compounded by a devastating YouTube video produced by Shelley’s own brother, posted on October 10th — and with no one actually “recovering” at their old house, the Lubbens decided to sell the property. Although they’d paid $300,000 for the house in 2004, and performed many thousands of dollars in renovations and improvements, the Lubbens listed the house for the bargain price of $189,000 on October 19th.
The house eventually sold in March 2012, and in April, Mrs. Lubben took to Facebook to attack her critics, whom she described as ‘enemies”:
“Some of you have been writing me to ask me if what my enemies say about me is true,” Shelley wrote. “I would lovingly advise you to look at the FRUIT. One thing my enemies have in common is that they have accomplished very little in life… Most if not all do not have a degree or even a steady job…. Examine the fruit my friends and you will know the truth!”
“Look at the FRUIT!” she commanded. “My enemies can’t hold a candle to all the Christ has done in my life.”
In other words, the proof that she was blessed, honorable and truthful, while her ‘enemies’ were accursed, evil and dishonest, lay in the fact that the Lubbens were prosperous.
Then, in August of this year, as if by karmic clockwork, Garrett’s employer announced a second round of cuts and restructuring, specifically targeting Boston Scientific’s cardiac divisions. Now, surely the Lord knows that the mortgage is due; does this turn of events mean that he has rescinded his blessing?
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Does Garrett the breadwinner’s lack of employment explain why it took the Lubbens’ a month and a half to get the Pink Cross website repaired after it became infected with viruses?
CODA
At the end of June 2011, on the cusp of that glorious month when everything seemed to be going so right for the house of Lubben, outgoing Pink Cross team member April Garris was at an all-time low. “Not only was I financially destitute, getting kicked out of my home and about to lose my car,” she recalls at her blog, The Healing Diaries, “but I was struggling with severe depression, and the worst part – I was completely alone. Eight months earlier, I had packed up everything and basically dropped my whole life to move out to Bakersfield to work full-time for Pink Cross Foundation. By the end of my 8 months in Bakersfield, I was confused, hurt, and spiritually exhausted. What I was expecting to be an amazing experience serving God turned out to be a time of great distress, full of broken promises, spiritual confusion, heartache, and loneliness that I never would have imagined could be possible in ministry.”
Garris remembers that whenever she came to the Lubbens with her financial concerns, she would be told that she didn’t have enough faith. Shelley would remind her of “how God had blessed her and Garrett, and cited their great faith as reason for this.” Garrett and Shelley claimed they “were wealthy because they trusted God, and if we would just have faith, all of our needs would be met….”
Have faith, Mrs. Lubben. And when it comes to Garrett Lubben, look at the FRUIT!



When Gary Met Shelley:

Shelley Lubben Attacked by Porn Star ‘Animals’ in Hollywood; Julia Ann Comments


Originally posted, June 3, 2012

Today was not a good day to be Shelley Lubben.
The scandal-plagued anti-pornography crusader attended a Hollywood Pet Adoption event to “raise awareness about porn” while promoting the documentary ‘After Porn Ends’, only to see it overrun by people who despise her and everything she stands for.
Kiki D'Aire, Alex Chance, Samantha Phillips, Ron Jeremy and friends
Led by Michael Whiteacre, creator of the documentary ‘The Devil and Shelley Lubben,’adult performers clad in shirts that read “Shelley Lubben Treats Porn Stars Like Animals,” quickly drove Lubben from the spotlight of the “Porn Stars for Puppies” gathering.
The sentiment on the shirts referred to Lubben’s recent attempt to explain away the abject failure of her sham organization, Pink Cross Foundation, by claiming that porn stars who reject her “help” are so sick they’re like wild animals who will bite you when you try to help them.

See the video

Attendees of today’s event included Ron Jeremy, Kiki Daire, Danny Wylde, Guy DiSilva (who, tragically, had to endure performing two porn scenes with Lubben back in the day), Alex Chance, Mary Carey, and Penthouse Pet turned Los Angeles radio personality Sam Phillips (who also narrates Whiteacre’s documentary). The heavy-lidded Lubben brought along her husband Garrett “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” Lubben; her two youngest daughters/victims; a Pink Cross volunteer named Scott Smith who hid like an old woman; and Shelley’s assistant/Pink Cross director Melanie Dzierba.
Danny Wylde
Among the day’s highlights: two bizarre shouting matches between former drug dealer Garrett Lubben and Whiteacre (both instigated by Garrett “Mr. Wonderful” Lubben, and caught on video) in full view of the assembled press.
Guy DiSilva
Back in the real world, adult film superstar, timeless beauty and dedicated animal rescuer Julia Ann was kind enough to share her thoughts on today’s events — during which a vile woman whose stock and trade is the dehumanization of adult performers got her due:
Julia Ann
I woke up conflicted today knowing there was a pet adoption event that I wanted to be a part of but not wanting to feel anxiety over the particulars surrounding the event (the ‘Anti-Pornography Infant’ Shelley Lubben saga continues). When I was informed that this person was going to use an event that is to be about the saving of little lives to promote her negative, biased, fear-driven opinion (note I said opinion and not fact) I was insulted and, needless to say, disgusted.
For those that follow the animal holocaust that is happening on a daily basis in US animal shelters (gas chambers and all) with a staggering 5 to 6 million animals being murdered every year, that’s around 700 an hour. In the time it takes you to eat lunch 700 dogs and cats are killed because no one wanted them. 1 out of every 10 dogs and 1 out of 12 cats will find a permanent home. 10,000 people are born every day and 70,000 animals are born every day so do the math. There just aren’t enough good, loving homes.
Now that I’ve explained this heartbreaking truth I’m sure you can understand why some anti-pornography crusader using this event (where a select few critters may actually find love for the rest of their lives) to promote her baseless agenda makes me incensed. For her to show up and act like porn actresses are treated like animals in the shelter (the adult industry isn’t gassing any of us) is preposterous. These two events should never be equated to each other.
Shelley, how dare you make light of animal overpopulation and suffering? My home is constantly filled with these injured, sickly and betrayed creatures while we search for their forever homes, and the adult Industry is what pays for their medical care. Shame on you!
On a slightly different note, If it weren’t for the constant fight that the Porn Industry is engaged in, you (Shelley) might have lost the free speech rights that afford you the platform to spew your venom. What or who would you even be if you didn’t have the industry to hate so much, and who would even hear you? We are your entire identity.
Honestly, you should just say thank you to the Porn Industry and be about your way.
Sincerely,
Julia Ann

Mr Wonderful & Mr Whiteacre

Alex Chance, Kiki Daire and Sam Phillips

Garrett Lubben watches impotently

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See Pink Cross co-founder Garrett Lubben caught in his own lies:

Shelley Lubben: Drug Withdrawal or Demons?

Originally posted April 19, 2012:

Today on Facebook, Shelley Lubben attacked one of her former employees, a whistle-blower named April Garris. Garris is a Christian anti-porn advocate who fled Lubben’s cult-like Pink Cross Foundation and dared contradict and criticize the crazed “Rebel Prophet.”
 Lubben wrote:
She has written distorted lies about me and Pink Cross and we have been very kind not to retaliate or expose her. I knew her and loved her for many years and have over 300 emails and facebook messages that tell a much different story. I would ask her to show us some of these messages to prove her claims.
Well, ask and ye shall receive, Mrs. Lubben.
After returning to the US following her disastrous appearance at the Cambridge Union porn debate of February 17, 2011, Shelley Lubben dispatched an email to her Pink Cross “team,” including Garris.  It is reproduced below in its entirety.
Sent: Feb. 21, 2011
It’s 1:23 am in the morning and Garrett and I have been up all night battling hundreds of demons. But the Victory is Christ’s. Garrett and I have committed to obeying Christ perfectly and so we will NO LONGER listen to words of doubt, selfishness or anything at all that comes to us from the pit of hell.
My health and my family and my anointing and my marriage has been battered by those around me and I NO LONGER will allow it. Period.
Tonight, I threw out all of my medications and came against every vile evil spirit from hell that has been tormenting my family for seven years, since we first began this ministry. And we are SO DONE with being tormented day and night.
So, you my dear loved ones have a choice to make. Either you are with us or against us. Either you are with Christ or against Him. Either you deny yourself and bear up your Cross and place your utter trust in Jesus Christ Who gave Himself for you to live and to live victoriously, or you give up and miss what the Lord Jesus has for you.
But as for me and my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.
Anyone, who hurts me or my family or who becomes a burden to us will be released from Pink Cross.
I love you. I have labored in prayer for you. I have mentored you. I have given ALL of you my life, the Word of God, Wisdom, Encouragement, Love and more and so now I will no longer hold you up but you will hold my family up.
If you are unhappy with how things are going with Pink Cross, then you probably don’t belong here. Garrett and I have mentored you all so much and by now if you aren’t sure you belong, then you probably don’t belong. NO MORE DOUBTING!!. This ministry WILL trust in the Lord God Almighty Yahweh and the sacrifice of His Precious Son and we will fight the good fight and we WILL endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ! And anyone involved in this ministry will do the same. You have no excuse. You have been mentored. You have the Word of God. You have the sacrifice of the Precious Blood of Jesus. You have good Christian brothers and sisters. You have the INTERNET where you can listen to powerful sermons by powerful people of God OR you can waste your time facebooking and complaining to others on the internet about how hard your day was.
But make your choice. Choose this day whom you will serve. Will you serve yourself and continue in your infancy or will you RISE UP and be the Champion the Lord has called you to be. Then, once you have made that choice, we will hold you accountable for it.
Please send me back and email if you choose or don’t choose. We love you. We labored all night and are still laboring in prayer for you. We have prayed for years for all of you. But now you must rise up into your high callings and CHOOSE this day if you will run the race to win or allow satan to steal your destiny from you.
I am preaching to myself as I write this. But I am taking action and showing God I am DEAD SERIOUS that I trust Him UTTERLY and I threw out my medication that I have been on for five years. The devil has attacked my health long enough. The number one way satan has attacked my health is through faithless complaining negative people.
But no more. So, as I recover and walk in restoration, I will need my team more than ever to hold themselves up and to hold my family up.
THAT IS WHY YOU MOVED HERE AND JOINED PINK CROSS. TO HOLD THE LUBBENS UP. We are not to hold you up. That is not our call.
But that’s what we have been doing and we can do it no longer.
I don’t want to hear ONE MORE WORD about finances or any complaints. Either you trust in the Lord and obey Him or you don’t. He is MORE THAN ABLE to sustain your family and to provide for you. You only need to examine yourselves whether you are in faith and obedience to the Lord.
But my family WILL trust in the Lord and RELY on Him to provide. We will not rely on the Lubben Family to provide. The Lord can and WILL provide for all of us through Pink Cross and if you are having a money problem, GO TO THE LORD. We will keep our monetary commitments to you that we have all agreed on.
But no more than that. We can’t do it anymore. You all must rely on the Lord like THOUSANDS of other missionaries who literally have gotten on boats with seventy five cents and went to Hong Kong. Read missionary books to see MANY who have sacrificed even more than you have.
You are not alone.
So, things are going to change now. I will be stepping away from people as be consecrating myself unto the Lord for His service so I can continue in the work He has called me to do. You, also, separate yourself and BE HOLY FOR I AM HOLY SAYS THE LORD.
It’s time to walk in maturity in Christ and realize your high calling and that you are called to be a LEADER in an international movement, in a world movement, in an Earth movement. Stop complaining. Stop grumbling. Stop doubting. There is no place for that here anymore.
Overall, this remarkable passive-aggressive screed speaks for itself, but one thing is particularly striking: Lubben admits that the foundation of her story, and the premise of her ministry, is a lie.
Lubben’s long-standing claim, as found on the website from which she solicits donations, has been (and remains): “The Lord has completely restored me. I am totally free from drugs, alcohol addiction, bad memories, mental illness, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, and everything from the old life… I am totally healed!”
That story of healing and redemption supposedly establishes her standing, and the validity of her personal mission. Yet here she is admitting that she has been on medication for five years – and not just any medication, medication that she felt she had to throw away rather than simply set aside.
Her entire myth — and now her livelihood — relies on donors believing that she is indeed who and what she says she is. But, the sad reality is that Shelley Lubben is a fraud and a train wreck of epic proportions.
The historical context of this email is also important.
Immediately following the Cambridge Union debate, the internet was abuzz with talk of Lubben seeming under the influence of something at the event. Then, Lubben reportedly had what could only be described as a complete breakdown following her flop at Cambridge, to the point that those accompanying her, including Garris, had doubts as to whether they’d even be able to get her on a plane back to the U.S.

Sindy And Shelley, at Cambridge
Upon her return, it was abundantly clear that people believed she was on something, and it would make sense that she would want to get clean.

April (center) And Shelley, at Cambridge
Shelley And Gail Dines, at Cambridge
The other thing worth noting is that, at the time of this email, Pink Cross team members were having severe financial problems largely because of pay cuts that Lubben had recently placed on them.
As April recalls at her personal blog, The Healing Diaries :
In October of 2010, Shelley Lubben contacted me via e-mail and told me that Pink Cross wanted to hire me. This was no surprise. For several months beforehand, Shelley had tried to convince me several times to quit my job and move to Bakersfield to help Pink Cross. I had the desire to, but I had concerns about my financial situation and my daughter…. So, I continuously declined Shelley’s offer – but when she contacted me in October, offering me a salary of $25,000/yr., and a position as her “executive assistant,” I figured that this was God opening a door for ministry. Shelley promised me the world. She told me that I was training to take over for her as president of Pink Cross, and that I would eventually be making more money as Pink Cross became more established.
Shelley painted a rosy picture, but my main concern was reaching out to hurting women, and this is why I decided to accept her offer. I wanted to make a difference. I told Shelley yes, quit my job, and packed up and moved to Bakersfield. By this time, I had been ordained as a chaplain, by Shelley, and I thought I saw God’s hand in this situation. Although Shelley said and did many things that I did not agree with … I went along because I truly believed in the mission of Pink Cross, even though she often told me that a person should never question a person in leadership.
So, against my better judgment, I packed up my life and moved to Bakersfield. Things began to turn sour almost from the very beginning.
According to April, before the new year, Shelley Lubben reneged on her obligation to her.
Shelley e-mailed me and told me that she could no longer afford to pay me what she had promised. In an e-mail, she said that donations were down, and she had “not really put enough thought into”  what she agreed to pay me, and unfortunately had to cut my salary –  not only mine, but that of another Pink Cross employee [Roger Niccum – ed.] – by a substantial amount. For Shelley, it was no big deal, but for me, it was huge. I was already struggling financially with what Pink Cross was paying me, but this pay cut made it almost impossible for me to support myself. Because I was on salary, I was expected to work the same amount of hours. Shelley suggested that I get a part-time job in order to supplement my income, but this was not realistic. As her “executive assistant,” I was expected to attend ministry events, and accompany her to speaking engagements, which necessitated my being out-of-town for days at a time.
Indeed, when I was employed with Pink Cross, great emphasis was put on money. It was ALWAYS about money and donations with Shelley, and it put enormous stress on me. In December of 2011, Shelley sent an “urgent message” to the Pink Cross team, telling us that donations were way down, and that if we did not step up to the plate, and work harder raising funds, she would have to stop paying us altogether. I took this as a threat. She explained to us that our position as Pink Cross employees were impingent upon our ability to raise funds. This took me by surprise, as fund-raising was NEVER brought up as a requirement for employment in her initial e-mail to me. Now, she was telling me that fund-raising was an essential duty as a Pink Cross employee.… This now became the central focus of my ministry.
 I kept hoping that Shelley would see my financial situation and offer to help me, but that never happened. Shelley and Garrett lived in luxury, yet they could not afford to help me. We were told not even to approach her with our financial problems, but to trust God, as she was too busy battling Satan and “thousands of demons” to worry about our problems.
Shelley would continually boast about how the Lord had blessed her, and her family, because they were special to God and mighty warriors for Him. Meanwhile, I was contemplating going on food stamps. Eventually, I did.
In January of 2011, Jenni Case (one of the girls that Pink Cross reached out to and helped years earlier) re-located from Colorado to Bakersfield, California, [at her own expense – ed.] and moved into my 2-bedroom apartment with me….
In February, I accompanied Shelley on a speaking engagement to Cambridge. Shortly after we returned, I expressed to Shelley and Garrett my desire to go on a 2-week mission trip, reaching out to prostituted women in Israel. I almost didn’t ask, for fear of what Shelley’s reaction might be. Shelley was very controlling. I saw how Shelley went off on another Pink Cross employee, for over an hour, for wanting to go out of town for Christmas and New Year’s holiday, demoralizing him and telling him that he was abandoning her and Pink Cross. In spite of this, I asked anyhow. I figured that 10 months was adequate notice, and that the most they could say was “no.” So, I e-mailed Shelley and told her about the trip, and my desire to go. A few days later, Garrett e-mailed me telling me that they didn’t want to stand in the way of my “missions calling,” and decided to demote me from a full-time to a part-time employee, and paid an hourly wage “to be determined.”
It was at this time that they told me not to come to the office any more. Instead, they had Jenni come over there every day for training, which consisted of doing the duties that they previously had me doing. Without being told directly, I was basically being replaced by Jenni, who was now deemed the “Pink Cross Recovery Specialist.” I was told that I would no longer be reaching out to the women, as that was now Jenni’s job. This absolutely broke my heart, as this was my whole motive for moving to Bakersfield in the first place – to reach out to the women in the industry.
Once Jenni Case came on board as an employee, in March 2011, Case’s salary equaled about as much as had been cut from Garris’ pay.
Shortly after writing this email, Lubben was reportedly checked in to a psychiatric ward. It is now clear that her problems with booze and prescription medication continued until at least August 2011, when, according to Pink Cross refugee Michelle Avanti, Lubben quietly spent time in a deluxe rehab facility.
A final note about the financial situation of the good people of Bakersfield: while their employees were going on food stamps to make ends meet, Shelley and Garrett Lubben were preparing to purchase a second, larger, $480,000 home with all new furnishings. The plan was to retain their old house to use it as a “Recovery Home.”
More details of the questionable finances of Pink Cross Foundation and the Lubbens will be forthcoming shortly.


Shelley Lubben: Drug Withdrawal or Demons?

Originally posted at: http://therealpornwikileaks.com/shelley-lubben-drug-withdrawal-or-demons/

Shelley Lubben: Online Predator



Anatomy of a serial online stalker: Shelley Lubben, as seen through the eyes of four young women who were unfortunate enough to have crossed her path: adult stars Sierra Sinn, Taryn Thomas, Michelle Avanti, and former teen amateur porn performer Diamond.

When the rabbit screams, the fox comes a-runnin' -- but not to help.

Interviews and video by Michael Whiteacre


Porn Star Sierra Sinn Interview: “Shelley Lubben Ruined My Life”


The term “seasoning” has been used to describe what happens to a victim after being harmed. Predators, it is said, can sense the vulnerability of a previously-harmed “seasoned” individual, and use it hone in on potential prey. Then, with open arms and warm smiles, the victim is lured in. Many anti-porn advocates like to speak ad nauseum about “pimps” in the sex industry, sniffing out their “seasoned” prey the way animals do.
However, in the case of Shelley Lubben, her caricature of a predatory pornographer hs been revealed to be nothing more than a projection of her own mindset and tactics.
She identifies adult performers in distress or conflict, and inundates them with emails and messages via social media offering guidance, invitations to her “beautiful home,” and a shoulder to cry on. They’re told they’re special, they’re destined for something better, and made a seductive offer of assistance and fame. But first they’re asked to pose for photos with Shelley and record testimonial propaganda videos which she will use as fundraising tools.
On June 6, 2007, the following message greeted adult performer Sierra Sinn when she logged in to MySpace:

Hi Sierra,
My name is Shelley Lubben and I am a former porn actress who MTV Producers have been filming speaking to porn stars who may want to get out of the industry. Their plan is that the project will turn into a TV Show where the tv network would help the girls leave the industry and try something different in life. Could you imagine a tv show like that with all of America watching?
Anyway, please let me know if you are interested in possibly leaving the industry and being filmed. Could be an awesome opportunity for you. We will be in the SFV area June 7, Thursday, filming as well as the following week.
Blessings,
Shelley

So began an acquaintanceship and association that would inure greatly to Lubben’s benefit. To Sierra Sinn, not so much.

Sierra Sinn, XXX star, says anti-porner Shelley Lubben ruined her life


Sierra now lives in Pennsylvania, and I interviewed her earlier this month by telephone and Skype….

Tell me about Shelley Lubben – did she save you from porn?
I don’t feel “saved” at all. She had me all caught up in everything, and then she just pushed me aside. She treated me like a poster child and dropped me like a habit. And now there are pictures of her getting her boobs signed by Ron Jeremy, so she’s obviously just a blatant hypocrite.
I read the MySpace and email communications between you and Shelley that you forwarded me. Her introductory message is very similar to ones performers like Taryn Thomas and Eve Laurence received around the same time, and right out of the gate she indicates that you’d be receiving “help” from MTV should you participate in this reality series she is dangling in front of you.
Yes, reality show about her helping girls get out of porn. That’s really why I took her bait. I wanted to get out, but, not to just fall by the wayside.
Shelley claims performers in the adult industry are, quite literally, slaves – people in “modern day slavery” – or trafficked individuals. In your reply to that initial message, you wrote: “I have been wanting to get out but it feels sometimes like a trap that I can’t walk away from…this email came @ a very good time.” What did you mean by that?
It’s a financial trap. Once you make a certain amount; once you’re accustomed to a certain way of living, it’s hard to go back to not having such money. That’s how I felt — that I didn’t know what I was going to do from there.
I’ve read that during that time in 2007 you’d also had a relationship issue, and there were other things going on in your life.

I had been dating a director/producer, and shit went weird with him. It was insane. I felt like he set me up to be in a crazy scene that was beyond what I was able to do. They never released that scene, but it scared me and it turned me off, and I felt like I went into a downward spiral. At the end of it was Shelley, with her arms open wide [laughs] luring me into her world.
To what extent did you want to leave or take a break from the adult industry, and to what extent were you anti-porn?
I’ve never been anti-porn. My problem in porn was the back-hand deals where I was getting revenge-fucked, basically, by certain individuals. There was shady stuff that went on, and that was my problem. I don’t think that porn should be abolished, I don’t think it should be regulated by the government.
You once wrote on MySpace: “I am over bullshit, liars, shit talkers, theives, [sic] and just about every negative influence in my life.” You had a problem with people you knew that you felt were unethical in how they treated you?
Yes. I really feel Shelley preyed on that, and she found my moment of weakness, and tried to use and exploit it. She exploited me worse that porno [did].
What’s your impression now regarding Lubben’s practice of using social media sites and reaching out to performers?

She’s very predatory. The fact that she doesn’t go for the girls like Belladonna or Jesse Jane – she doesn’t go for the ones in their high times, she goes for the ones that she sees, from their MySpace posts or whatever, that they’re not feeling it. She preys on them and gets them while they’re weak and tries to manipulate them. Honestly, I feel more used and tossed aside by her than I ever did from the porn industry.
Had you been posting on MySpace about your problems and frustrations before she contacted you?

Yeah, there was a lot of posts. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but the other day when I was looking through them for you, I was reading my blogs and I was like, “I was out of my mind back then!” I was partying a lot and it was very apparent, and I really feel that she pounced on that.
One thing that you pointed out to me in her MySpace messages to you is where she says, in reference to the fact that she was communicating with you while you were still on good terms with adult industry people, “I will NOT say a word [a]bout our ‘secret.’” That sounds like classic online predator language: this will be our little secret.
Yeah, it is a little creepy.

The subject line of her first MySpace message to you indicates that MTV Producers were filming her. Who did the actual filming of her video with you? Was it MTV?
She had a dude with her. It wasn’t her husband, Garrett
Did you ever meet anyone who identified themself as being from MTV?
No. I never met anyone from MTV. When she showed up at my house she had some random guy with her with a video camera. I think it was just one of her Christian people.
Where were you living at that time?
I was living in an apartment in North Hollywood.
Did you have any roommates?
Yeah, I had a roommate there. She was there the day that Shelley came, and thought that Shelley was a little weird.
How much time did you actually spend with her? How often would you meet in person?
It was rare, because she lived in Bakersfield. She would come in every couple of months, and we’d go to, like, a lunch. She was always like, “I love you so much!” One time we didn’t even eat anything, we just kind of talked for a minute and then she had to run. I was like, “Wow, way to make me feel special.”
Another thing that Shelley wrote about you is that, after meeting with her, you announced you couldn’t “do porn anymore,” and decided to “clean up” your MySpace page. However, from the MySpace messages from Shelley that you forwarded to me, it’s clear that she’s telling you that you should clean up your page.
Absolutely. The MySpace thing, I didn’t think there was a big deal with – that was her decision. I thought, whatever, I’ll do it. It was never my idea to change my MySpace photos. She just wanted her donors to see a “better side” of me.
I just wanted help to get out, and she totally made it some Christian crusade. I’ve never been that person, you know. I don’t care what religion people are and I’ve never been one to force my opinions down someone’s throat. She really turned it into something that it wasn’t, with the whole Christian campaign.
Regarding the subjects and personal details that were covered in your videos for Shelley, you mentioned to me previously that there were certain things she wanted you to emphasize.

Shelley told me to talk about, like, the rough stuff that happened, and the STDs; focusing on the negative. She never wanted to talk about money or anything positive about it, or even parties and fun times that we had. It was always focusing on the negative, like, “Tell us about how you caught gonorrhea. Talk about your first scene and how you didn’t like that.” She wanted me to focus on things that were not perfect.
I was mad at the time, at some people, so I was hurt, but she totally was like, ”You need to say this…” because she wanted us to get the show.
Did you ever compose a ‘testimony” for her site?
I don’t think I did; I don’t remember. I doubt it, because I was still partying then. Somehow I don’t see me sitting down, like, “I’ll write this out.” [laughs]
In her MySpace messages to you, she makes it clear that the videos are being produced for an MTV reality show. Did she ever tell you she planned to put them up on YouTube as part of her anti-porn campaign?

No, I was never ever informed she was putting my videos on YouTube. I was told they were promotional videos for trying to get a show, a reality show. She told me TLC, MTV, and BRAVO – she was always “shopping around” our reality show.
You’re saying your shoot with her was presented to you as, essentially, a kind of demo?
She wanted to get a reality show and she needed to “pitch” it with something — like she was taking all these little videos of the girls and she was going to put it in some show, like showing us in a reality show setting… getting out. And that I was down for. And the next thing I know she’s burning me up on the internet.
A friend of mine, actually, told me that they saw that video online. I didn’t even know about it, and I was like, “Oh my God, that’s embarrassing.” I wouldn’t have put that out there.
Shelley writes, in one of her MySpace messages to you, that after “the tv show happens … you can afford not to work in the porn industry anymore.” Was it your understanding that she was assuring you a comparable standard of living if you signed on with her?
Yeah, and then she turns around and tells me to get a job at a grocery store. She wouldn’t even give me a cut of the donations until I went an applied for jobs like the grocery store, and stuff like that. She even told me that she had donations for me that she wasn’t going to give me until I was proving that I was “doing my part.”
That’s not unreasonable in itself. I know you did take a job bagging groceries — what did you end up receiving from her?
Gift cards, and some Dollar Store boxes.
You mean a box full of Dollar Store items, such as candles, a crucifix bookmark, pink lip gloss and such?
Yes. ‘Everything’s better now, I got something from the Dollar Store!’ Those made me so angry. It was just so patronizing.
One of the most interesting things you forwarded me is the invitation to her Ordainment from February 2009.
Oh yes, “Come Celebrate.” We weren’t even speaking that much anymore. I had already gone home to Pennsylvania – and pretty much after I got home here they ceased contact with me completely. I didn’t get any more of the happy little dollar store boxes, nothing. Then all of a sudden she’s inviting me to see her get ordained as a minister.

And at your own expense, too. You’d have to pay for your own travel and she would recommend a hotel. [Here’s the invitation in full]:

Guess what? I am being ordained as a Chaplain on April 4 and want to invite you to join my family at my home where we will have lunch and fellowship after the ordainment. I realize not you may not be able to fly here but I wanted to extend the invitation anyways.
If you can swing it and you want to come please message me and I can let you know which hotels are available, etc…
I would LOVE to have you by my side as this is a very special moment for me, my family and for Pink Cross. I will be able to do Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals and anything pertaining to the spiritual needs of the people we are reaching out to. Heck, we could do Baptisms at the porn conventions! Now, THAT would be cool! My area of service will be to the porn industry. Pretty cool to go from ex porn star to Chaplain to the porn industry!!
I am getting ordained by the leader of the Southern California Chaplains Association and will be part of the order of Saint Martin. This is very significant for me as the Lord told me 6 years ago that He put a Spirit of Martin Luther King on me and I didn’t understand what He meant. Also, Martin Luther King was named after Martin Luther, a great reformer of the church who was named after Saint Martin de Tours, a powerful man of God who only a few hundreds years after Christ’s death was doing many great miracles by the power of God. The order I am with is in honor of Saint Martin who is from Scotland and during the first three years of my Chaplaincy I would have to go to Scotland. How cool is that? Anyway, I’ve always felt Kindred with the Martins used by God.
And what is so cool is that I’m getting ordained on the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was killed and it’s like He is passing the bar to me saying “Go Shelley, and set the captives free and end the sex slave trade.”
So, it’s a very special moment in my life and want to share it with all of my loved ones. If you can come, plan to come for a few days and we can spend time together as a family in California. Who knows, maybe Disneyland one day? Not to mention, we need a serious Pink Cross Family picture!!

It’s now March 2012, and I can find no record of Shelley having visited Scotland. [laughs] What did you think when you read that invitation?


At that point I was irritated with her; I just skimmed it. I was already feeling cast aside. This was before I needed help again, but it was after I’d al ready been kinda like pushed aside, like, “We’re done with you now.”
I think the reason she wanted me there was to showcase – “look at this awesome girl that I helped!” You know what I mean, it would have been like, “This is the trophy. This is my little puppet that I helped out.”

In April 2009, two months after that invitation, you wrote her back:

I’m less than ok. I’m in love but I’m broke. I have a job but ends aren’t meeting!!
I don’t even have a cell phone anymore!! and now I’m crying again!
I’m applying for a second job so we will see how that goes…

You don’t even bother to ask her for assistance. Her reply to you is classic:\

Ah girl you need to let me know so me and my close team members can be praying for you. Is your boyfriend nice and helping you? Did you apply for state aid yet and foodstamps?
I want you to check out www.fasfa.gov as you can apply for financial aid and go to school full time and they pay for your daughter’s daycare if needed AND you can get student loans at no credit check which could totally support you.
Otherwise if you need help with a resume let me know. Why not work at Starbucks? My daughter Tiffany works as a supervisor in Lancaster Pennsylvania so maybe I can ask her if there is an opening near you so you can work.
Sorry it’s so hard but it was REALLY hard for me and Garrett the first 8 years but I never give up and either will you. It’s real hard for Jan and her family right now too. She has three kids and they live on a military pay which is nothing, and they are donating plasma just to make it.
All the girls who left porn are all struggling but it is building their character and they are learning to trust in God and He continues to bless them and help them.
He loves you Julie. I encourage you to cry out to Him and to seek Him with your whole heart. You can’t do it on your own sweetie.
I would love to find you a good church you can go to so they can help you. Let me know if I can help you with any of these things.
Love,
Shelley

She writes, we’ll pray for you, you should get on foodstamps, and at least you don’t have to donate plasma like my other success story, Jan Meza. She sends you a link for a financial aid website. That’s marginally helpful …

Not really –

But does that accord with what she had assured you initially?

No! She promised me that everything was going to be fine. When I first started talking to her, I was going to be able to still live in L.A., and my life wasn’t really going to change that much, and then the next thing I know, I’m, like, thumpin’ bibles and shipped back to Pennsylvania.

Speaking of your trip back to Pennsylvania, not long before your move you did an appearence with Shelley for XXXChurch, and a short time later Shelley wrote that you “want[ed] to thank the Esther Fund set up by XXXChurch for donating a large amount toward [your] living expenses.” What’s your understanding of the amount of assistance that came from XXXChurch vs. Pink Cross?

I heard her say something about the Esther Fund. I know that the day I left she gave me an envelope of cash, and it was barely enough to cover the gas. I had to find a friend to help me out with the hotels.
She likes to speak very loudly about the very, very little things that she does, if you know what I mean. She likes to put it out there like, she’s doing huge, big, awesome things and really, really helping people, when she’s doing the bare minimum, barely-get-by kind of thing. Half-assing it.

Do you ever look at your old movies now, and what are your feelings about them?

I looked happy. It’s funny, I looked happier then than now. I miss it, I miss porno, honestly. I hope I can come back because I feel right now that she kind of ruined my life and I really wanna stick it to her.

In what way do you feel Shelley Lubben ruined your life?

Her putting videos up with my real name and my face and all that, it’s made it really hard for me to find a normal job. Any time someone Googles my name, all of this stuff comes up. People don’t wanna hire that, you know? It’s drama, it’s an H.R. nightmare. It’s made it really difficult. She says she wants us to be normal people, and have healed lives, well then, why are you putting me on blast on YouTube? That way I won’t get a real job. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Did you ever hear of donations being made in your name by fans, and did you receive those monies?

I’m friends with some of them, and I know for a fact there were donations. [One fan] stopped making donations because I talked to him about it. He didn’t know how I felt about [Pink Cross] for a long time, because it’s something I just don’t talk about; it pisses me off so bad. So, for years after I quit, he was making donations. I told him about this last year, so he stopped making donations.

So, just to be clear, you never received any part of those donations?

I haven’t gotten shit from her for years. I haven’t even gotten one of those little happy boxes.
People told me about donations they had made, and I don’t feel like I received them. She gave me gift cards. I was like, “I can’t live on gift cards.”

In the second half of 2010 you reached out to Shelley for help –

I lost my job, I got laid off from a credit card processing job, and I called her, “Hey, I kinda need some help, I’m having trouble getting by week to week. I’m looking for another job, but in the meantime I need some help.” I started with emailing, and all I got back was the auto-response emails, like, “If you’re a porn star in need make sure you get in touch with us.”

I emailed a couple more times, and finally I got something back from one of her assistants telling me that Shelley was super-busy with her book, and that she wishes me well. Too busy with her book? She wasn’t too busy to put me out there…

I let them know that, hey I need some help, and finally her husband got back to me, after like a week or two of me trying to contact them, and informed me the only way they would be able to help me is if they put me back out in the spotlight, and if they put my story back out there – the exact opposite of what I was looking for. I was trying to stay under the radar, I wasn’t trying to get back out there. They were trying to tell me that the only way these people that “did so much to help me before” can help me now is if I put myself back out there, and I just thought it was a huge slap in the face, and I still do. It hurt.

The Mission Statement on the Pink Cross website doesn’t read, ”We help porn stars who give us propaganda.”

Yeah. I didn’t see that asterisk on there.

I remember when I first met Shelley – oh, I was her savior, and I was helping her out so much, and I was helping so many people, but then when it turned around and I needed a little bit of help she turned her back on me. The ‘good Christian woman’ wouldn’t even talk to me.

Then she sent me a copy of her book, and I wanted to fucking burn it. That was right after I’d asked her to help me.

Looking back on it now, would you have done things differently regarding Shelley?

If I would have known the way that it is right now, I would have not have even talked to her in the first place. She twisted things around. I don’t think I would have ever associated with her if I would have known she was going to put me on blast, and out all my business out there. I feel embarrassed I ever did it, honestly.

If she hadn’t contacted me, then I probably would have just taken a break and not made such a huge la-di-fuckin’-da about it. And, it wouldn’t have been such a struggle.

You mentioned you’re considering a comeback…

She makes me so mad, with her whole campaign, that it makes me want to go back and do a “Fuck you, Shelley” porno.

When are you coming to L.A.?

As soon as possible. I need to talk to an agent, and see what they say.

Article and interview by Michael Whiteacre

Originally posted at: http://therealpornwikileaks.com/exclusive-porn-star-sierra-sinn-interview-shelley-lubben-ruined-my-life/