British Lord Done in by Male Escort

[Luv2play]

Lord Browne, head of BPOil, and a personal friend of Tony Blair, was forced to resign yesterday when a British newspaper published a story that he had been shaken down by a Canadian male escort. Lord Browne, who was elevated to the peerage (House of Lords) by Blair, had a four year relationship with Jeff Chevalier, a young Canadian living in London.

 

Chevalier had worked for http://www.suitedandbooted.com, an online male escort agency, to supplement his income. When the relationship fell apart, Jeff appears to have wanted a large amount of money to keep quiet. Apparently he didn't get enough so he went to the press and told all.

 

This is a cautionary tale for any high-flying executive who engages a male escort IMO. Unless that person is out to everyone, he is courting trouble. In this case, Lord Browne had kept his private life just that, private. He had lived with his mother until she died four years ago. He had a four year relationship with Jeff and treated him to the high life. The guy even ate at 10 Downing Street. You can't get any higher in British society.

 

When Lord Browne tried to dump him, apparently an apartment in Toronto and money to go back to school was not enough. The kid wanted more, much more. When Browne didn't come through, he went to the press and spilled the beans. Browne tried to get a court injunction, but unfortunately for him, lied to the court about how he had met Jeff. Too bad for him. So the court refused to order the injunction and Browne went down in flames. :o

[buzz]

This is another sad story of how gay men feel they have to hide the truth of their lives in order to succeed in the power world. The former governor of N.J., James McGreevey, is another example. The fact that the young man was taken to dinner at Number 10 indicates that Tony Blair knew and didn't care that Brown was gay. So many of us are ambitious enough to want to succeed in politics or business or the military (in the U.S.), and thus decide that to do so it is necessary to downplay, to hide, even to deny our sexual natures until the compromises we make to achieve this finally trip us up. We can only hope that the increasing openness and acknowledgement, if not acceptance,of gay life will make it possible for future generations of gay men -- and lesbians -- to be open about their personal lives and still succeed in their chosen field.

 

When I finally started coming out to straight friends, after years of living somewhat closeted, the reaction was generally "well, of course, we always knew...and so what?" In several cases, it strengthened my relationships with straight friends.

[JT Brooklyn]

This is Definitely a "Cautionary Tale" to all the High Roller's and just how they have to conduct their End of the Business!

 

This is One reason why Most Prefer Working Guy's who "Fly Under The Radar", as opposed to Advertising everywhere at every opportunity!

 

Diggin up the Dirt apparently isn't quite as easy! LOL :P

[Doe Be Doe]

">The guy even ate at 10 Downing Street. You can't get any

>higher in British society."

>

>

 

I am not British, but I would think Buckingham palace would be higher in British society. (Just a tangential quibble!)

 

Who was the British lord or politician who, when threatened with the publication of the story of an affair unless he paid them off, replied with "Publish and be damned?"

[Luv2play]

Dining at Buck House may be glamourous but I imagine the real prestige is to be where the power is and that is 10 Downing Street. After all, the Queen takes orders from Tony Blair and not the other way round. He writes all her speeches! (Well, the important ones, at least.)

[+ Cash4Trash]

What with Mike Jones/Haggard, Palfrey in Wasington D.C. and now this

in London wonder how it all will impact business for escorts.

 

Celebrities, business tycoons and sports stars everywhere must be having second thoughts about hiring.

 

In this past year the promise of anonymity has been blown out of the water.

[sf traveler]

In the early nineteenth century a retired madam sent letters to former clients advising them that they could have their names deleted from her forthcoming memoir for a substantial fee. All but the Duke of Wellington, former prime minister and victor of Waterloo, paid. He replied "Publish and be damned!" SF Traveler

[Guest TorontoJared]

That's horrible!

 

I can't believe that he did that. It sounds like the gentleman treated him with respect and gave him experiences and opportunities that he otherwise could not and would not have had. It is abominable that he would have tried to blackmail him into paying to keep his mouth shut. It is rude, shows no class, and is just not the way to end a relationship. I assume that he was paid for his time and that was all that he should have expected. The entry into high society was a perk as were the fancy dinners and whatever else he received. When his client decided to end the relationship he should have said thanks and let his client lead his own life. Part of the whole idea of escorts is the understanding of being discreet. This is yet another example of why escorts have a bad reputation. It's too bad that individuals like this escort soil the image of others with their actions.

[Juan Vancouver]

Bread and circuses

 

Jared,

 

I wholeheartedly agree. It is really sad the way in which this escort reacted and destroyed his client's profession for good. Unfortunately he is not the only person with responsability in this sad scenario.

 

Yesterday, in the morning my phone rang and it was a woman asking for Juan, so after telling her that it is indeed me, she went asking on whether I knew the two people on the newspaper. Of course I was only waking up and hadn't seen the papers yet, so I answered that I didn't know, but it would be unlikely since I had just gotten to London. After asking whether I came from Canada or not, she begged me and reassured me that she would find a way to protect my confidentiality and my good name as an escort, and that there was "really big money" waiting for anyone who would give extra information about this two gentlemen.

 

"Should you change your mind and decide that you want to receive a really big sum for a small discreet interview, please contact me." She said.

 

As long as there is a public for that sort of publication, there will be a desperate need of such news.

[Luv2play]

RE: Bread and circuses

 

London newspapers, especially the tabloids, have a repuation for paying large sums for sensational news stories. Too bad you didn't know this escort as you really could have cleaned up!!!

 

Well anyway, now that his picture has been published and his real name is known, I think he is finished with wealthy clients at least.

He probably got a fair bit for publishing his story but I doubt it will last him a lifetime. He'll have to find a job and now he is notorious. Good luck and he is only 25. :-(

[Karl-G]

Jeff Chevalier

 

It may be a bit more complicated.

 

Mr. Browne resigned not because he hired a male escort and it became publicly known, but because Mr. Chevalier was going to claim in print that Mr. Browne spent BP money on him for travel, an apartment, and other things. That would be illegal. Mr. Browne also lied in a formal legal process (about how he met Jeff, a minor point) in a deposition in January. That would be breaking the law also.

 

BP conducted an internal investigation about the finances charge and concluded there were no grounds for prosecution, although NOT that Mr. Browne had not spent company money on Jeff. The wording is careful and interesting. They obviously don't want to start a precedent for prosecuting high company officials for using company money for private purposes. It appears to be a question of how much and why.

 

The Globe and Mail of Toronto reported that Jeff is 27 and had a picture of him from Facebook. They also quoted various things from the website entry before it was removed. He's cute, but does not seem to have much between the ears except a button nose.

[Steven_Draker]

That's so wrong what the escort did, but I believe this is not the first time we hear a similar story.

 

Steven Draker ~

http://www.hotsexystud.com

[+ ArVaGuy]

RE: Jeff Chevalier

 

I read the WSJ article and it appears the BP board had more issues over the fact that Lord Browne lied to the court about his relationship rather than the other actions. When he then disclosed that he had lied, they took that as very serious. According to the WSJ it was very common knowledge in BP of the relationship and the escort was almost considered as his spouse.

 

Further, BP has been in serious trouble of late related to its refinery fire in Texas City and the Prudehoe Bay pipeline maintence in Alaska. While Lord Browne was good at the PR side fooling a lot of people that BP's "an environmentally friendly oil company" the truth is a lot more complex than that and they are not as clean as they claim. He was on the way out and set to retire by summer 2008, that was moved up to July 2007 and then this mess happened with the escort.

[Luv2play]

RE: Jeff Chevalier

 

It's interesting that Lord Black, also a Canadian (altho he relinquished his citizenship, he is trying to get it back), is on trial in Chicago for among other things, spending his company's money on his wife's lavish birthday party in Bora Bora. Why this guy Lord Browne, who was single and had an annual income in the 8 figures, would bother to use any company funds to pay for his boytoy is beyond me. How stupid can these guys be! Obviously he must have been thinking with his little head! I think BPOil is better off without him, as brilliant as he was supposed to be (he had engineered the takeover of Amoco among other things).

[JT Brooklyn]

RE: Jeff Chevalier

 

Well as we all say..I Hope He was "Worth his Rate"! :P

[+ deej]

And not the last, either. x(

[Louis]

Well a closeted person runs a risk of exposure by anyone. If a person had a hidden relationship with another person who is not an escort he could still get exposed.

Obviously the escort is not what we would call a class act, and he is doing a diservice to credible escorts, by playing the "I need more routine". Maybe there's two sides to the story, and we have only heard the one side.

I never cease to be amazed at how people with sizeable incomes still skim money from the companies they own or work for.

[Guest]

RE: Jeff Chevalier

 

That's what really irks me. It's not enough that they're filthy rich. They expect things for free in addition to their obscene salaries.

[+ glutes]

A song came to my mind after reading about the Lord finding this cretin at Suited and Booted:

"Looking for Love in All The Wrong Places"

[JT Brooklyn]

RE: Jeff Chevalier

 

Unicorn..That can work both ways. There are those Working Guys who expect an "obsene" Rate and also want thing's for Free! LOL :P

[BigD]

closeted seems the best way to handle escort relationships. One need not tell the escort everything.

[Luv2play]

It's actually quite funny and appropriate, "Suited and Booted" just about describes what happened to Lord Browne. He filed a suit in court (the injunction) and was rejected (booted) by same. Really quite hilarious!!!:7

[Guest]

RE: Jeff Chevalier

 

Well, what I agree with is that some escorts demand ridiculous fees for a job requiring almost no training or talent. I somehow doubt that there are more than a few who really get the $1000/day+ which they request on their websites. I do feel it's even more galling, however, when people who make 8-figure annual salaries can't even pay for their own escorts. I mean, if anybody can really pay for someone at $1000 per day, it would be someone earning an 8-figure salary (not that any escort merits earning over $300,00 per year). I do know very well a certain someone who earns an 8-figure salary, and this person constantly gets tons of freebie VIP perks merely on the basis of his/her position, such as obscenely good opera seats, Olympics seats, etc. (because his/her company sponsors these people, not because of his/her personal generosity). The greed and sense of entitlement truly shocks me. Quite frankly, these positions are often obtained due to greed and politics rather than to any extreme brilliance on the part of the person pulling in these salaries.

So I really have absolutely no sympathy for someone pulling in that kind of income who gets caught using company resources for his escort escapades (or even for a spouse).

[Luv2play]

RE: Jeff Chevalier

 

It is more common than we think. Take the example of Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank who is trouble for promoting his girlfriend to a tax-free $195,000/year job. I have seen the same thing in my own career; it's nepotism pure and simple and if you complain about it your own career gets side-tracked. Nobody wants a troublemaker, especially the boys at the top who like to do as they please, especially if somebody else is paying for it.

[+ ArVaGuy]

RE It's not what you can do for the Company, its what the Company can do fo you

 

I work in the non profit sector in DC and have seen things on a scale that would make many people stop donating to charity if they knew what was going on in these places. It's mainly in the small to mid sized groups where there are fewer controls and no internal audits.

 

One group I worked for had a CEO who hired his boyfriend as "Director of Development". These two traveled the world on the association's dime for years. Every employee knew about it, the board of trustees was informed more than once and did absolutely nothing. Even the guy's wife had an inkling of what was going on but everyone came to the conclusion that the marriage was an "arrangement" to inherit the family money.

 

Back in college I worked in a small restaurant to earn beer money. The place had two cash registers, one that a couple of employees ran and the other was only operated by the owner. She opened that regster only when the place as busy as hell and we needed two lines to clear people out quickly to facilitate the table turn. She kept the key, never let anyone balace it at the end of the day, and strangely enough proceeds from that register never entered the books. She always complained about how poor she was running the buiness. Her son put it this way: "Its not what you can do for the company, its what the company can do for you."

 

Now, let me turn this around to this board and our little community. More than a few of us travel and do a lot of our hiring on the road. Has any client here hired an escort for the evening, gone out to dinner to a nice restaurant, and then filed an expense report as "dinner with so-and-so re: such-and-such"? Would this not be the same on some level as Lord Browne using BP funds to keep his boytoy?