Playboy rep says its staff didn’t get sick at party.
The New York Post wrote an article today about the illness outbreak after last week’s DOMAINfest conference. It quotes both Ron Jackson and Elliot Silver.
The story asks if the Playboy Mansion was the source of the illness. (It wouldn’t be “New York Post-worthy” without the Playboy part.)
The article quotes a Playboy rep saying:
There is no truth in the rumor that anyone caught anything at the Playboy Mansion. Nor is there any evidence. None of the Playboy staff became ill, the deejay was in the middle of the fog and she didn’t get ill. We have been contacted by the Health Department and the Playboy Mansion is cooperating fully with the investigation.
It’s good to hear that none of the staff became ill. I’m assuming the bartenders in the tent were part of the staff, and they certainly would have been exposed.
Which is why I wonder if the survey the L.A. County Health Department sent out yesterday is specific enough. Could this illness stem from contaminated ice at one of the event? Isolated to a couple dishes at a meal? Hopefully once the health department gets the preliminary survey info it can drill down.
I know that many people I saw at the Mansion are sick and many aren’t. Different immune systems? Different exposure?
I don’t know. I guess we’ll leave this up to the experts.
Ron Jackson says
Lots of errors and misquotes in that article – unfortunately par for the course for mainstream media. Starts with the headline – there is certainly not yet any proof of an “Outbreak at Playboy Mansion”. Also, as I have written, only one of he Swedish group was diagnosed with legionnelosis – not the four they have me saying. If people want to know what I really said rather than what someone else says I said, please read what I wrote in the articles on DNJournal this week.
Andrew Allemann says
@ Ron Jackson – you expected something else from the New York Post? 🙂
And yes, people should read what you really said.
BTW glad to hear Diana is feeling better.
Andrew Allemann says
Hey Ron, check it out. Now “at least four” people have legionnelosis according to ABC News.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/playboy-plague-12905290?tab=9482931§ion=1206835&playlist=1363742&page=1
Before you know it it will be “700 party goers” have it.
Ron Jackson says
I guess I am never going to learn. For some reason I keep expecting a different result (the definition of insanity I believe) 🙂
Funny that I had just made a comment to you at the DFG breakfast Feb. 2 about how sloppy mainstream media is when it comes to getting quotes and information right. Oh well…at least this proves my point yet again.
Andrew Allemann says
@ Ron – to be fair, it’s not just the mainstream media. A lot of blogs are worse.
Ron Jackson says
P.S. Yes, Diana is back to normal – the antibiotics helped her bounce back quickly.
Kevin M. says
@Ron and Andrew
Let’s not forget ‘who’ owns the NY Post, the biggest forger of biased and misleading journalism himself!!
Glad your wife is better Ron. Me and my wife are coming around too.
David J Castello says
Interesting that someone posted below the article that the fog machine had been the source of sickness there in the past.
Andrew Allemann says
@ David J Castello – yeah, but given the other comments I don’t know how much credence I’ll give to it 🙂
But now I have a new germ phobia that will strike whenever I see a fog machine.
Glad to hear your better as well, David.
Jakob says
If you can’t trust the New York Post, who can you trust?
Ron Jackson says
Agreed – and on the flip side I have to credit the Post editor with getting government health official’s attention. She asked if the CDC had been notified and I said yes but their site said not to expect an answer for several days. She said I will get hold of someone there now. And she did – a short time later I heard from two different doctors at CDC/LA County Public Health. They asked for background on what happened and contact info for the show’s promoters. Within a a few hours they had a list of attendees and their survey of guests going out. So, publicity has its pluses and minuses. In this case, despite the usual errors, I think it was a net plus because now we have the health professionals working on it and should get some definitive answers.
Ron Jackson says
Where I say – agreed – I was agreeing with Andrew’s last post (Jakob snuck in before my post) 🙂
Andrew Allemann says
Glad to see your work made an impact, Ron.
Adam says
Do you get Pneumonia from eating or drinking something contaminated ?
Andrew Allemann says
Adam – not sure. assume Pneumonia basically occurs if bad bacteria spreads. but I suppose you have done more research than I lately 🙂
Dean says
Hope everyone that was ill is faring better.
This gives a whole new meaning to the term “Domain Fever”
David J Castello says
My musician friends in NYC and I will always remember The New York Post for one thing. Back in the 80’s, ANY local musician who got mentioned was always reported to be a “punk rocker” to spice up the story I swear to God, the guy could be the pianist at the Brooklyn Holiday Inn and he would be reported as “punk rocker piano player arrested for pot possession.”
David J Castello says
PS: I just did a phone interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Adam says
david, good morning america will be calling you soon I predict
Andrew Allemann says
@ Adam – oh yeah, mainstream media can’t refuse sick people + playboy mansion
@ David – did your brother get sick too?
heather says
I live in Los Angeles and am surprised it too them so long to wake up. People from away would be definitely slammed because they don’t have local built up antigens. EVERYONE is sick here and that thing has been passed around like crazy. I do think ice could be it. that happened on a trip I went on long ago. Or it coud be as simple as one waiter preparing a tray of drinks and handing it out or sneezing.
I like this idea of the “fog machine” as a metaphor for the way the dissemination of the domain flu in the media is happening. It’ somewhat like the “fog machine” surrounding Egypt now. Nice to see the updates, et al.
page howe says
“mubarak will never step down”
Playboy PR rep
Congratulations Pittsburgh Steelers on your Super Bowl Victory, Playboy PR Rep
Adam says
Andrew No i havent done much research on this topic. As far as I know you can’t eat/drink something and get it , but that’s why I asked.
Donna Mahony says
@David J Castello just read the interview…Glad you are doing better!
ADR says
Wikipedia’s page for legionellosis is now covering this saying at least two hundred people… citing the DNJournal article as well.
Andrew Allemann says
@ Adam – I was thinking if someone sneezed into the food…
Chris Beach says
Did anyone who attended the conference but didn’t go to the Mansion get sick? Or vice versa?
Since there don’t appear to be any non-domainers who are sick, is it possible it was the conference venue?
Adam says
There’s no way we’d know about all the non-domainers other than from PBM and it was no shock that they’d say everyone was healthy.
Every person I know or heard about being sick attended the PMB party, but they likely attended a bunch of other functions and ate the same food, etc etc. That is why there’s a survey from the health department
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HGN3T7N
personal experience says
There is a very bad bacterial pneumonia going around. What makes you think you were not exposed to it?
Really I think the cost of these conferences are really what’s making people sick. 🙂
But anyway I think the pneumonia is to blame. Very catchy.
personal experience says
BTW< This has become a national new story blaming Playboy Mansion and Hugh.
David J Castello says
@Andrew
Michael is fine (the lucky bugger).
Tonight I did interviews by the Fairmont Hotel with Good Morning America, WC, CBS, FOX and ABC. I knew things were starting to get crazy when one of Bree’s girlfriends called from vacation in Mexico to say she’d just seen me on TV – and I was only halfway through my second interview. At any rate, every time a reporter referred to us as techies in their warm-up, I stopped them and said, “We’re not techies. Just call us domainers.”
That alone made the evening worth it.
dk - purposeinc says
I got pissed off enough at the bad journalism to write my own piece of bad journalism. http://www.purposeinc.com/pwp/2011/02/13/playboy-legionnaires-domainfest
@adam pneumonia is used in general to refer to inflamation (swelling) of the lungs. It is commonly an infection, either bacterial or viral of the lungs. There are even bacteria with the name pneumonia in them, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. So to even use the term pneumoniae is quite general, and is better stated with details such as I have fluid in my lungs, or the doctor isolated Streptococcus pneumoniae in my lungs. When people state they have pneumoniae, they usually are not very specific, so it could be a wide range of things going on.
Andrew Allemann says
Also note the footage used in the ABC spot. Makes it look much more dashing than it really was 🙂
the man says
Don’t want to seem judgmental but mixing GOD’s technology with the DEVIL’s sin on earth like at the Playboy Mansion is NOT a good idea!! Bad SPIRIT and KARMA there and against the word of the Lord Jesus Christ! John: 3:16 You must be born again!
John Berryhill says
“There is no truth in the rumor that anyone caught anything at the Playboy Mansion.”
But not for lack of trying…
Jonty says
The workers had developed a kind of immunity from having been previously exposed. The water in the fog machine should have been slightly chlorinated.
heather says
@ D Castello, nice ktla video, i like hearing the word domainers said on TV…..