Was a double standard behind Olivia Black's firing from 'Pawn Stars'?
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Can a gal go from fetish site, to reality show stardom, and back again?
Olivia Black, a cast member on the hit series, “Pawn Stars,” was unexpectedly fired from the show when her past as a nude Suicide Girl was revealed.
(Suicide Girls is an adult-only site that features tattoo’d gals in the nude and revealing lingerie.)
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Fox 411 spoke exclusively with Black, who said that even though she was off the show, she was still welcome to work in the Gold and Black pawn shop.
“I don’t have the actual reason as to why I am not a part of the show anymore,” she explained. “They didn’t state it, and I didn’t ask—I was just in such shock I didn’t think to ask.”
But Olivia isn't in shock anymore. She has returnedg to her R-rated roots with a new racy photo shoot on the fetish site, and she’s also petitioning 'Pawn Stars' to get her onscreen job back.
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“We want to show that America doesn’t mind that I am confident and naked, and I can still be part of the show," Black said.
At press time, almost 2,300 people had signed Black's online petition. So does the tattoo’d shopgirl have a shot?
“I’m not familiar with the particular circumstances surrounding Black’s employment but presumably she has an at-will agreement where she can be terminated for any or no reason at all," said Robert deBrauwere a partner at the law firm Pryor Cashman.
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DeBrauwere said a morality clause may have also been part of Black’s contract. “A morality clause would typically provide cause for termination in the event that the talent participates in any activity that would be deemed to be morally scandalous or improper behavior," he explained. "Certain examples may even be present in the employment agreement such as posing nude but that needed be the case."
But SirusXM radio personality Cristina Palumbo said Black’s firing was just plain unfair.
“I feel like what’s in the past, is in the past, and it’s all part of this thing we call the entertainment business," she said.
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Black has created a petition on Change.org in hopes that her fans can help her get her job back.
“I think that [the petition] will help her name. I don’t know if it will help her to get back on the show but for her personal career and her own future, I think it can help her,” said Palumbo.
DeBrauwere agreed the petition could be extremely helpful to Olivia’s brand new brand.
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“Ms. Black’s dismissal could in fact serve to help her career if she wanted to go in the direction of for example Suicide Girls, where I believe she posed previously. It could increase attention to her and help her out in the future," he said.
Palumbo also sensed a double standard.
“I’m curious to see if we have found out a male had been caught being in the nude in the past if it would have this much impact on his career as it does for Olivia,” said Palumbo.
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Whatever happens with Black, this drama over her firing is just the latest warning to aspiring stars, and really, mankind in general. If you find yourself in the buff, keep the cameras off!