Whatever Happened To Joe Francis, The Creator Of Girls Gone Wild?
Through innovative direct marketing techniques, the "Girls Gone Wild" (GGW) franchise — featuring footage of young women exposing themselves in compromising public situations for the camera — became the biggest hit in adult entertainment since Playboy Magazine from the time the video series premiered in the late 1990s to when the last films were produced some 14 years later. The complete story of Joe Francis and "Girls Gone Wild" is told in the documentary series "Girls Gone Wild Exposed," which premiered on April 23, 2022, on the TNT Network.
That unbridled success of "Girls Gone Wild" made company founder Joe Francis rich many times over. In 2013, Francis, who by that point had spent some time in jail, declared bankruptcy, and under mounting legal issues and clouded by controversy, "GGW" was sold to investors in 2015, as The Hollywood Reporter explains. What's happened to Joe Francis since "Girls Gone Wild" sold is a story of excess, as the multi-millionaire media mogul reached great heights and fell from grace in dramatic fashion.
Banned from Television and Girls Gone Wild
The "Girls Gone Wild" series was not Francis' first success in home video. The University of Southern California graduate made his name with "Banned from Television," or video compilations of explicit footage deemed too much for regular TV, such as executions and fatal accidents, shot as they happened (via IMDb). The mix of graphic violence and shock factor made each volume of "Banned from Television," meant that the series was marketed — much like "Girls Gone Wild" would one day be, on late-night television — a moneymaker for Francis.
According to Joe Francis' own bio on his official website, Meet Joe Francis, it was an episode of "Banned from Television" and footage of young women flashing their bodies at Mardi Gras in New Orleans that gave him the idea for "Girls Gone Wild." After just a few years, Francis produced scores of "GGW" titles, marketed through late-night half-hour infomercials on major networks. Francis' professional and personal life became mixed when he entered into a relationship with "GGW" model Abbey Wilson, with whom he would have two twin children via in vitro fertilization, according to US Weekly.
Disturbing allegations
Shortly thereafter, Joe Francis seemed on top of the entertainment world, mixing with other well-known celebrities such as Paris Hilton and the Kardashians. Before long, though, dark allegations began to emerge about Francis, and with them, several high-profile court cases. To keep "Girls Gone Wild" legal, each woman featured signed a release, or so the show claimed. In 2012, one young woman featured in an installment claimed she never gave her permission (via The Daily Mail). Among complaints, such as filming underage models, several civil and legal cases were brought against Francis, as The Hollywood Reporter notes.
During this period, a multi-million dollar civil case was also brought against Francis by Vegas casino-owner Steven Wynn (pictured). Wynn claimed Francis defamed him when he said Wynn threatened to kill Francis over unpaid gambling debt (via Today). That case was ruled in Wynn's favor. Additional cases, including a federal charge of tax evasion (via the Los Angeles Times) were brought against Francis. Some cases were dropped, but Francis also plead no contest to others, such as a 2015 case involving child abuse and prostitution, as Fox News reports.
Mounting legal troubles
Civil legal issues aside, "Girls Gone Wild" remained strong. But in 2011, Francis was accused of holding three young women in his home against their will, as well as assault and witness tampering, according to FindLaw. As a result, Francis was sentenced to nearly one year in jail, months of probation, and anger management counseling, per TMZ. In 2015, Francis would spend an additional year in prison for the prostitution and child abuse charge to which he pleaded no contest.
Despite these layers of legal issues, "Girls Gone Wild" was a commercial force to be reckoned with, and some trouble with the law was nothing more than a sunk cost of show business, according to Francis. As he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013, the typically family-friendly film director Steven Spielberg, as well as his production company DreamWorks had also been sued many times. Francis seemed at that point to attribute most of his court cases to a conspiracy, and even made the dubious claim he spent time on Florida's death row while awaiting trial on civil charges.
Bankruptcy and blackmail
Further evidence that Francis' days on the top of the pop cultural landscape were numbered came as early as 2004, when a man named "Darnell" Riley Perez, with mafia connections, broke into Francis home and taped compromising footage of Francis in various stages of undress, as LA Weekly reports. It was done as a means of blackmailing Francis. Paris Hilton, who was rumored to be romantically linked at the time to Joe Francis, learned what had happened and reported Perez to the police. Perez served nearly a decade in jail.
Fast forward to 2013, and Francis' circle is closing in on him, forcing "Girls Gone Wild" to declare bankruptcy and sell to investors to purportedly dodge tax issues and prevent Vegas casino-owner Steve Wynn from possibly seizing assets related to Francis' gambling debt (via The Wall Street Journal). By 2015, the end seemed to have come for Francis, and a warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to comply with the terms of his bankruptcy agreement.
Life in Mexico
Before Joe Francis could be captured on that warrant, though, he fled to Mexico where he would be protected against extradition to the U.S. on civil charges. There he lived with his girlfriend Abbey Wilson, and the couple's two children. (In 2010, Francis was married for just one month to CBS journalist Christina McLarty, per Daily Mail). Since relocating to Mexico, Wilson and Francis have also split up. Francis later accused Wilson of kidnapping their two children when she failed to drop them off for a visitation, via The Sun. Wilson denies the charges.
In the aftermath of their breakup, Wilson also accused Francis of physical, emotional, and psychological abuse, as well as illicit drug use, as Page Six explains. Wilson described what her life is like on Instagram, even after her split from Francis, "We live in fear on a daily basis. My ex has not provided financial support in over a year, he does not help with their education, their medical bills, housing, food, or ANYTHING." In 2020, Francis was again arrested for spitting in the face and grabbing the throat of a female houseguest after he tested positive for COVID-19 (via Page Six). He was later released.