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Burlesque Vixen Bristles At Porn Association
By
John Del Signore
Published May 30, 2009
Modified May 30, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 30, 2009
Modified May 30, 2009
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You do not mess with burlesque dancers—we learned that the hard way when a passing comment about the pervasiveness of cellulite on some performers sparked a mini-avalanche of irate emails. Now it's The Learning Annex's turn; they're being sued by Veronica Varlow, a big-name neo-burlesque star who taught a class there about seductive dancing. She also did instructional videos for the company's affiliate, oneminuteu.com, and her lawsuit accuses them of misrepresenting her online as a "Young Sexy P0rn Star Stripper Dancer How to Put Lipstick On" and "Big [Breasts] Sexy Teen Girl Love Sex Advice How to Be Flirty."
While those keywords are sure to boost traffic (welcome, fellas; there's hot video below!), Varlow—whose real name is Tara Heffner—says the descriptions were "false and defamatory," hurt her reputation, cost her burlesque gigs, and brought "great mental pain and anguish" upon her. Varlow's lawyer tells the Daily News, "She's a burlesque performer and she takes it very seriously as an art form. She's purposely avoided nudity her entire career to avoid being harmed in this way."
After her husband discovered the offensive titles on YouTube, she contacted the Learning Annex, which referred her to the website's producers. They offered to change the titles, but Varlow says that by then her career was already damaged. Because really, who wants to see some big breasted sexy teen dance erotically? Below is a NSFW video of Varlow in action, which you surely won't have any interest in after hearing her described as a porn star. Which she's totally not!
Tagged
burlesque
lawsuit
learning annex
not porn
suing
veronica varlow
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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