LA Direct Lawyer Calls New Witnesses in Labor Board Hearing

LOS ANGELES—Former adult star Brooke Haven called LA Direct Models owner Derek Hay a “good man” at Wednesday’s administrative hearing at the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, where he is facing charges that he took advantage of women he represented. Special Hearing Officer Patricia Salazar presided over the hearing at the downtown Los Angeles office of the Department of Industrial Relations Division of Labor Standards Enforcement for the State of California, which is looking into complaints filed by adult starlets Shay Evans, Hadley Viscara, Sofi Ryan, Andi Rye and Charlotte Cross against Hay. Called to testify by Hay's attorney, Haven’s remarks served as a contrast to claims by Evans, Ryan and Viscara, who allege Hay retaliated against them for rejecting his advances. Haven, who testified to having been in a year-and-a-half-long relationship with Hay beginning in 2003, said she does not believe the adult industry veteran would violate women or take advantage of them. “He is a good man,” she said during her testimony. “A caring person who really wants the best for the girls he represents and for his agency.” Haven explained that even after she and Hay broke up in 2005, they remained friends and he continued to represent her until she retired from performing in 2014. Haven, who instructed Evans and Ryan on developing their feature dancing technique while they were at LA Direct, said neither starlet told her of any claims of sexual abuse by Hay during the time when the incidents were alleged to have taken place. Likewise, veteran feature dancing roadie Archie Alcantara said that while he worked with Evans and Ryan during feature dancing tours he never heard any complaints about Hay. “That really makes me mad,” said Alcantara, who also serves as a bodyguard for the starlets when on tour. “If I heard something like that happened, I wouldn’t know what to do. That is as honest as I can be.” Sofi Ryan later faced cross examination over her allegations that Hay pulled off the road and demanded that she manually masturbate him during a September 2018 trip to Las Vegas or she would be “left to die” in the desert. Hay’s attorney, Richard W. Freeman Jr., asked if she had flown back with Hay from Las Vegas after the alleged incident, but an emotional Ryan denied she flew back with him. Also taking the stand was Adonia, who reportedly runs the escort agency The Luxury Companion, which the petitioners allege has a close business relationship with Hay. But Adonia denied she has any business arrangements with Hay or LA Direct. “We’re friends. I’ve known Derek for about 14 years and we have a mutual love for steak,” she said. But when pressed about her work and her relationship with The Luxury Companion, Adonia refused to answer and invoked the Fifth Amendment four times during questioning. The Fifth Amendment protects individuals against self-incrimination during legal proceedings. Following the hearing, attorney Allan B. Gelbard, who represents the five petitioners, said he was pleased with the day’s testimony. “We had a vey good day. A couple of the witnesses that Mr. Hay’s lawyer brought in to prove his case actually went a long way toward proving ours,” Gelbard said. “The woman from TLC who appeared this morning took the Fifth on everything that was of any substance and her testimony is likely to be stricken in its entirety, but even if it’s not it’s helpful to us.” But Freeman disagreed: “Today’s testimony went very well for Direct Models and there has already been some very compelling evidence that shows that Ms. Ryan has not been very forthright in her sexual allegations that she has made about Mr. Hay,” Freeman said. “We will continue with evidence to show that her account is very dubious. … I think we have provided some substantial evidence to refute the claims by Mr. Gelbard that Mr. Hay is financially involved or interested in The Luxury Companion. He has repeatedly made claims of these allegations and we think there is now a substantial amount of evidence that there is no such connection.” The hearing resumes Thursday.