Every time I hear of a celebrity doing something down right repugnant, I find my self less and less shocked. Why? Because people with talent (I’m using that word lightly) are excused from doing some of the most horrible things. Take R. Kelly for instance. We all knew he was a pedophile. Hell, we’ve seen “the tape”. We know it was him on that. We know the girl was underage. Yet we excuse it. He still makes records, goes on tour and people will say “I don’t like what he did, but he makes great music.” So really, when it comes to celebrities getting away with murder (What’s up Juice?), I’m not surprised. But reading what’s going on with “Pleasure P” from the group “Pretty Ricky” is not only disgusting but it’s leaving me completely shocked. In a startling revelation it comes out that this sick freak has a prior conviction for molesting two children. Not just any children, his niece and nephew. What’s even worse is, the people that went out of their way to cover it up. The documents about the conviction are apparently public record but apparently people who knew about it just kept their mouth shut. Marcus Cooper (Pleasure Pedophile’s real name) was represented by Attorney Goldstein who Marcus decided he was not only going to not pay but also threaten. Goldstein’s daughter struck back by ranting on Twitter about the conviction and then someone sent a letter to blogger Necole Bitchie. Parts of the letter are below:
The incident happened in 2004 going into 2005. He served like 8 months, rehab and community service by time the trial came up. Marcus accepted a plea with the State of Florida and Joseph Smith who is the care giver of the niece and nephew which Marcus “Pleasure P” Cooper molested. These are not the only papers filed against him. These are the first of 3. As part of the plea agreement Marcus plead guilty and paid an “undisclosed amount” to remain free and have the records “sealed” and on the family level for them to remain quiet and not to speak publicly about it. The “sealed document” means nothing other than “we won’t tell anyone it’s here..but if they find it they can have it” basically. The problem also is that Attorney Goldstein (Who represented Marcus “Pleasure P” Cooper in the trial) has a daughter named Laura Goldstein who is also her fathers assistant. Marcus Cooper never completed his payments after the hearing to his attorney.
Attorney Goldstein tried to reach out to Marcus only to be told “Don’t call this phone no more” on several occasions. This caused frustration on Attorney Goldstein’s ends due to the time & effort he put into this “special plea bargain” he negotiated that I don’t think ANY attorney could have done. After Attorney Goldstein threatened to sue Marcus Cooper the “alleged threats” became real from Coopers end. I have personally heard these messages and I know who they are from and they are very disturbing. Especially to an attorney who can use them against you.
Laura Goldstein felt her father was not doing enough to stop the threats as they began to increase so she took to twitter (her twitter is @AGoldsteinGirl) to “expose” Marcus “Pleasure P” Cooper in a way that was sure to make him “go away”. Now all the documents from the initial hearing have been released and there is plenty more evidence out there I assure you. Everyone involved including Spectacular (Pretty Ricky) have commented via twitter on the documents in shock thinking they would never get out.
The next problem is whether Laura Goldsteins father will have to pay the ultimate price of getting disbarred for breaking Attorney Client Privilege or will it be deemed public domain? I don’t know, but I do know both parties and its about to get ugly. I will keep you up to speed if anything else jumps off.
What I’m waiting for is for the actual court documents to hit the Internet. Just as a confirmation of everything being said here. But I find it hard not to believe. Again, the thing that’s most disgusting is the way people covered it up. Let’s think about this for a minute. This man molested a child. Actually, two children. How does a record label not know about it and even worse, if they do know about it, how do you give him a contract? That’s just disgusting, not surprising, but disgusting.
How do we, as a society, even begin to try to excuse this? I mean part of me wants to believe that this pedophile will be crucified but then I look back at how we treat a known pedophile in R. Kelly and think to myself “People really don’t care about our kids.” People are so quick to scream “Think of the children” when a .9 second glimpse of Janet Jackson’s nipple pops up during the Superbowl Halftime Show or when Adam Lambert gets all raunchy at the AMA’s…but then they’re bumping R. Kelly with their kids in the car. How many parents let their kids listen to “Pretty Ricky”? Didn’t Pleasure P have that dumbass song out, Boyfriend #2? This man molested 2 kids (and if I read that letter right, there may have been more) and I’m willing to bet there will be people out there defending him (even when the convictions come to light). Its really sad.
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Watch how many people comment on this article in defense of both Pedophile P and Rape Kelly….that’s what will be really sad. And what’s more shocking is that when that mess with R. Kelly came out and I was dead set against listening to his music and even went as far as throwing out his old stuff, people around me reacted like “well, I still like his stuff and you’re being a prude,” or “well, we don’t know how she came at him.” As if there is any excuse for a man taking up a 14/15 year old kid on any type of sexual advances. I can assure you…there is no excuse for what he did.
People acted as if Kelly’s music wasn’t a reflection of his sick mind. I’m sorry, but I can’t see how anyone can excuse the rape of children in any sense…especially if you have kids. And this is just another sad case of society not caring. It’s not as though Pedophile P and his group contributed to the music world in some great way. And even if they did, there is still no excuse for covering up the rape of his niece and nephew.
What I’m wondering is how/why his sibling went along with this plea and essentially gag order. I would have tried to kill this man if it were my kids and he was my brother. Wow….all the way around…just wow!
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Mediatakeout.com and bossip.com have the documents
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Guess I’m getting ready to take shots for this one….but nevertheless, here’s my two cents. First let me make it clear that, in my opinion, Pleasure P was never much of a talent anyway. He couldn’t sing, the lyrics to his songs were cheesy and typical and he had no “star quality” about him or anything else that would indicate that he”d have longevity as an artist. So, needless to say, I feel like his abscence from the music scene which will follow this disgusting relvelation will be much needed. That being said, while I don’t plan to purchase or download his music, attend his concerts, watch his videos or actually support him in any OTHER way (which is no change from what I was doing anyway…lol) I can’t sit here and say that if I’m in the car and hear one of his songs on the radio that I feel like listening to, that I won’t turn it off. Why? Because I don’t feel like me making the decision to listen to a Pleasure P song makes me a supporter of child molestation any more than you listening to R. Kelly means you think it’s ok for grown men to have sex with underaged girls. On the other hand, I also don’t have any children. If I did, then there would be no question about eliminating this man’s music and image from my children’s (which would also mean my) prescence altogether. Children are impressionable and should be protected by their parents from all things that could potentially have a negative impact on their minds. However, as adults, we are fully capable of distinguishing music from personal life and should not not be deemed a supporter of “all things (insert artist’s name here).” just because we still listen to the music. I personally think all people who commit crimes against children should be considered for the death penalty or at least given in prison without the possibility of parole. And honestly, for the next couple of weeks, I probably WILL turn off pleasure p songs if I hear them on the radio……but I can’t say that I will EVERY TIME….I know that there are people that will though…as they should….but if I, or any other person doesn’t on the basis of music….I think it’s extreme to label them as a “supporter.”
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Normally, I can separate a celebrity’s (or anyone for that matter) personal life from what they do on the court, in their music, in movies…etc. Michael Jordan was (is?) a gambling womanizing asshole…but he’s my favorite basketball player of all time. Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp, great actors…substance abuse issues. But when it comes to pedophiles like R. Kelly and Pleasure P and Roman Polanski…hell no, I can’t do it. Particularly with R&B artist. I can’t listen to their music and them talking about love making, sexing and all this love music…knowing they’ve harmed children. Its just a line I can’t cross. I don’t have as big of a problem with other people listening to the music but I do have a problem if they are buying it or going to this pervert’s concerts. I still have R. Kelly on my iPod. I don’t listen to it but its still there. If I did listen to it though, it wouldn’t give R. Kelly a dime (Never bought an R. Kelly CD). That’s my biggest problem.At the very least we should recognize that they’ve done something that is so horrible that they don’t deserve our support. Hearing that grown ass women are going to an R. Kelly concert repulses me. I can’t separate the fact that his music talks about sexing and he sexes little girls. Just can’t do it.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Kriss, I 100% agree. Especially regarding both of these artists because their music is so highly sexual. And, anytime I hear R. Kelly’s “Seems like your ready” I can’t help but visualize him talking about a 15 year old girl. Honestly…we all like to forget that Kelly was 27 and commenced to marry AND falsify documents for Aaliyah when she was just 15. That’s a problem all around because it shows his interest in young girls that dates back to the beginning of his career (if not prior). Yet, many just keep saying “oh well, the music is good.” But honestly there is no excuse for supporting him financially. None.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Yeah, the Aaliyah thing really confused me as a child. I was like ‘Wait a minute…so we all know she’s 15 right? How is he not in jail’. We just don’t care about our kids. seriously. We as a society don’t.