What a public relations headache. As if the Sofitel Hotel “kiss and tell” alleged rape of a NYC maid wasn’t enough of a spotlight for Dominique Strauss-Kahn, now, he’s really gone and done it. The French law is on his tail for running a prostitution ring. Did the former IMF chief ever think he’d see the adjective “pimp” before his name? I bet he thought he’d see the title President much sooner.
Though prostitution is not illegal in France, this is way beyond Jimmy Carter’s “lusting in his heart.”
DSK’s lawyer said, “Everyone can say whatever they want about the moral side of things. But that doesn’t mean it’s forbidden anywhere in the penal code.” Maybe that should be penile code.
Oy! I think the publicist standby of sending DSK off to rehab, then pairing him up with a couple of name brand charities is off the table at this point. It’s very hard to take someone who makes you want to throw up and turn him into Pat Boone.
Coincidentally, these new charges come in a week where DSK is back under fire in New York too, with hearings beginning in a civil case brought by the maid who claimed he raped her.
So, what to do? DSK is now unemployed and lives behind closed doors. I hope his wife leaves him very publicly so we see lots of video and he rots in some small apartment in a not-so-nice French town. It’s too late for PR to come to his rescue.
And yes, truth is stranger than fiction. Hollywood writers are coming up with their next episodes based on DSK as we speak.