According to a suit filed in U.S. Federal Court, RSVP Vacations and Holland Line hired a handful of Bel Ami models in 2011 to "mix and mingle" with the cruise's gay passengers. But when the Bel Ami models gained too much attention, the cruise allegedly forced the boys off the ship.
From Prague Post.
In a complaint lodged with a U.S. federal court, BAOL says, "Defendant RSVP hired a group of attractive young men to 'mix and mingle' with their gay passengers. … In return, RSVP promised the young men a 'vacation' including food and safe passage from Barcelona around the Western Mediterranean and back to Barcelona and promised plaintiff Bel Ami that it would be permitted to photograph and videograph the young men during the cruise."
"Instead of a vacation, the young men experienced a nightmare," the plaintiff's court document states.
The Czech pornographic movie company says RSVP's entertainment manager requested that BAOL arrange for some models to join its cruise but told the young men not to discuss the arrangement with anyone. If asked, they were instructed to simply say the trip was a "reward from Bel Ami for their hard work."
BAOL says as well as arranging the cruise for its Czech, Slovak and Hungarian models, it paid their salaries, flight and lodging costs in exchange for permission to shoot footage of the cruise.
But the company says as soon as its photographer started taking pictures of the young men enjoying the cruise, RSVP employees asked him to stop, saying the models were getting "too much attention."
"With no reasonable explanation and under threat of arrest and confiscation of their personal belongings and passports, RSVP forced the young men off the ship, disregarding their request to wait at least one additional day when the ship would be in Italy," BAOL said in its court papers.
BAOL and its models are being represented by San Francisco-based Attorney D. Gill Sperlein and are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for breach of contract, fraud, intentional interference with contract, negligence and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
RSVP Vacations, which according to its website is the "originator of the gay and lesbian cruise concept," did not answer questions about the court action when contacted by The Prague Post.
"At this time, out of respect for the privacy of everyone involved, we have no comment," a spokesman told The Prague Post.
