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| Stripper Lynsie Lee [Oregonlive.com] |
But what did we expect from a professional stripper?
Some low-level bureaucrat holding a news conference on the steps of city hall, promptly at 10 a.m., to eagerly announce a 10-point plan about some obscure program that was going to do something important someday for all the citizens of this fair city?
Come on.
This was a red-meat story -- a bit of a pun there that will make sense in a moment -- because it had everything going for it.
No one died.
No family is about to break up.
In a weird way, everyone's career and reputation gets a bit of a boost.
And even though it can't be breathlessly described as a sex scandal, take a look at this lineup: A stripper, a politician and racy photos out there for anyone with a computer to study – for research, of course.
A perfect storm.
And Lynsie Lee -- a smart entrepreneur -- saw an opportunity Thursday and played the media for all it was worth.
Come on in, boys.
Just give me a moment to get comfortable.
Late last night hundreds of reporters from across the United States tried to find her after she became a celebrity -- literally overnight -- when a series of direct Twitter messages between her and Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, N.J. and a U.S. Senate candidate were released.
BuzzFeed first reported Wednesday a series of tweets between Booker and Lee, who works for vegan strip club Casa Diablo, that show the two have struck up a bit of a friendship on the social media network. They apparently began corresponding after both were featured in a documentary called "Follow Friday: The Film".
Among the tweets highlighted include Booker declaring that he will be the president of the New Jersey Star Trek Club and Lee chiming in that if he were to ever be President of the United States that she calls dibs on being first lady.
In a direct message exchange released by Wednesday by Lee, Booker says, "And the East Coast loves you and by the East Coast, I mean me."
"Well now I'm blushing :)" Lee replied.
"Its only fair," Booker wrote back.
Lee's been tweeting about the exchange and the media firestorm it sparked.
Urged by @JazzMusiciansVoice to be "honest please fix this so booker can one day be president," Lee replied, "I have. We did nothing wrong but exchange an innocent flirt almost a year ago. Media is inept."
Gawker picked up the Booker Tweet story and so did Mediaite and New York Magazine, which received this response from Booker's spokesman:
"I think it's pretty well known that the mayor talks with people from all walks of life on Twitter," Booker spokesman Kevin Griffis told Daily Intelligencer. "There have been a couple of stories about that over the years. Really, the most shocking part of this story was learning there is a vegan strip club in Portland."
But no one could get an interview with Lee.
And, please, don't tell me that there are more important stories out there that the media should be covering.
When a New York Times reporter is trying to reach a stripper, you know the story is a big deal.
Lee fanned the flames, by tweeting her reaction to the story.
One, particularly, gets to the heart of the matter: I so don't care about Cory Booker. I so do care about @LynsieLee
On Thursday morning she sent out a tweet that she promised to eventually call reporters.
We waited.
Minutes.
An hour.
Two hours.
Finally, my telephone rang.
"This is Lynsie."
I almost felt like I had to tip her.
She said she knew her life had changed when she started getting direct Twitter messages from reporters all over the country.
"I thought it was funny," she said. "All I wanted to do was sleep."
Lee said the entire matter says more about the nation's attitude toward sex than anything she did.
"Come on," she said. "It was simple flirtation and flattery. The last time we messaged each other was last February. It's not a relationship that people are trying to make it out to be. I've never even spoken to him."
Lee said she did donate $100 to his Senate campaign.
"I support him," she said. "What's the big deal? The only thing that people think is wrong about this is that I'm a stripper. There was nothing explicit and nothing creepy. There's nothing perverted here."
But Lee, who has nearly 11,000 Twitter followers, loved the attention.
"It's beautiful," she said.
Lee, 26, is divorced and the mother of a girl who is 2 1/2. She said she began dancing a little over two years ago as a way to make "good money" and have time to spend with her daughter.
"The owner of the club hires all kinds of women," Lee said. "We're like a family."
Johnny Diablo Zukle, the club's owner, said he expects a packed house Thursday night when Lee takes the stage.
"There's nothing like this club," he said. "Everything in here's vegan. I've been a vegan for 29 years. The dancers are allowed to only wear non-animal clothing."
Lee takes the stage at 9 p.m..
She plans to wear the stars and stripes outfit featured in one of the photos she exchanged with Booker.
But, again, maybe not.
"You'll have to come see," she said with a laugh.
Tom Hallman Jr.
© 2013 oregonlive.com
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