Holly Madison calls Penthouse founder Bob Guccione a “horrible person” for publishing explicit content filmed for the 1979 erotic drama Caligula in his adult magazine.
The sixth episode of Madison’s true crime series Lethally Blonde on Investigation Discovery focuses on former Penthouse model and actor Anneka Di Lorenzo and her tragic experience in the adult industry.
After modeling in Penthouse, Lorenzo starred in Caligula, alongside Helen Mirren and Peter O’Toole. The raunchy movie was financed by Guccione, who encouraged Lorenzo to act in multiple unsimulated sex scenes.
Caligula was poorly received upon its release and Lorenzo’s participation in the explicit scenes seemingly ruined her acting career.
In 1981, the former Penthouse Pet-of-the-Year sued Guccione for sexual harassment and claimed that she was forced to have sex with his business associates. Lorenzo was awarded $4 million in the legal case, which she later lost in an appeal, during which it was alleged that Lorenzo was a stripper and engaged in sexual activity for payment before her association with Guccione.
Following the legal case, Guccione released explicit content filmed for Caligula in Penthouse without compensating Lorenzo. According to Yahoo News, the content featured Lorenzo in a lesbian scene.
“After the trial, in a very petty and spiteful move, Guccione dug up some really explicit footage from the Caligula movie and published it in Penthouse without paying [Lornezo] a penny,” Madison says in the episode. “That says so much about what a horrible person he was and his character. That he would go out of his way to humiliate someone like that, it’s just disgusting.”
Lorenzo was found dead in 2010 after her body was washed up at Camp Pendleton Beach. Her autopsy revealed multiple abrasions, as well as fractures to her back and neck. Lorenzo’s death remains a mystery with circumstances pointing to either suicide or homicide.
“Unfortunately the power imbalance between Anneka and Bob Guccione is not entirely uncommon in the entertainment industry,” Madison says. ” I think a lot of powerful men take advantage of the young women who come to Hollywood and have these big hopes and dreams and sometimes it doesn’t always pan out for those women”
Lethally Blonde airs Mondays at 10:00 p.m. ET on ID and streams on Discovery+.
