Courtney Love’s Latest Release More Phoned-In Than Usual
If you haven’t been following the case of jailed Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano…well, forget it, because you’re never going to catch up. But here’s the quick thumbnail: For years, Pellicano was hired by very well-to-do celebrities to take care of their dirty work, and he had a nasty habit of recording their phone conversations. Today’s New York Times has excerpts of many of these tapes, including a 2001 chat with Courtney Love:
She was fighting to get out of her record contract, fighting the surviving Nirvana musicians over control of the estate of her late husband, Kurt Cobain, and supporting her producer and boyfriend, James Barber, in a child-custody fight. She also feared that a disgruntled former assistant who had hacked into her e-mail account might publish her correspondence with friends like Drew Barrymore, Russell Crowe and even her psychic.
Ms. Love complained to Mr. Pellicano that previous private eyes had turned out to be overpriced frauds, wimps or geeks. She wanted someone who could do it all, she told him, who would use whatever tools it took to get results — from refinement to “baseball bats.” “And I need them all under one roof,” she said.
“Listen, Courtney, if you come to me, that’s the end of that,” Mr. Pellicano said. “My clients are my family, and that’s it.”
Ms. Love indicated her approval.
“There is no other way around it,” he said. “I’m very heavy-handed, honey.”
“I need heavy-handed, baby,” Ms. Love said. “I like talking to an Italian.”
“Sicilian, honey,” he corrected.
“Well, that’s even better.”
The tapes do not tell what Mr. Pellicano ultimately did for Ms. Love, who declined to comment for this article.
You can listen a brief MP3 of the conversation here; we expect “I need heavy-handed, baby” to become sampled for a hit French electro-pop song by mid-summer.
