Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Alicia Jacobs claims that "certain powers" tried-- and failed-- to stop her interview with Danny Gans' ghostwriter



The controversy surrounding the May 1st death of Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans continues to expand as his close friend, beauty queen turned TV entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs, claims that "certain 'powers'" tried to stop her from taping a TV interview with the co-author of Gans' upcoming autobiography.

Jacobs, who transmits her hourly activities on Twitter, kept a running tab of her journey to visit RG Ryan at the Starbucks where he and Gans met to write the book, "The Voices In My Head," which Ryan claims was completed the day before Gans' died.


She posted yesterday:

Just arrived @ the Starbucks where Danny Gans met weekly w/ the writer of up-coming book, "Voices in my Head." About 2 interview @rgryan.

She followed with:

"Just interviewed co-writer of Danny Gans' book. Very emotional 4 both of us. Many tears.Certain "powers" did not want the int.2 happen."

and

"So sad that certain people didn't want @rgryan 2 do interview..he is lovely & has so many touching stories 2 share re: time w/ Danny Gans"


Gans' book became the topic of journalistic controversy when, days after Gans' death from an overdose of Dilaudid, the Las Vegas Review-Journal made a deal with Gans' family to publish it. The Review-Journal's publisher had planned to rush-release the book in June, but publication was delayed unexpectedly by negotiations between Ryan and Gans' family. Ryan gave a hint of the sticking point when he told Tabloid Baby, "The book will be published, I am still credited as co-author."



Alicia Jacobs has been the target of much criticism ever since, by her own account, Gans' manager Chip Lightman phoned her within minutes of Gans' death to tell her firstof the tragedy and she went on the air waving a Bible she said her dear friend of 13 years had given her. In the weeks to follow, before the official cause of Gans' death was announced, she, Lightman and New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author, Michael Jackson "tribute" concert producer and comp queen Steve Friess waged a campaign to spin coverage of Gans' life and legacy away from the inevitable verdict that he'd died from taking too much of the powerful opiate hydromorphone, also known as Dilaudid or "drugstore heroin."

Even the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which maintained a hands-off approach to the Gans story even before it becmae partners with Gans' family, accused her of "bias-in-reverse" in covering the story and insinuated she had lost all credibility in her Gans reports. (The controversy deepened when it was revealed that her executive producer at KVBC-TV News, Miles Smith, is Friess' unofficial husband.

The identity of the "powers"... the reasons for their objections... and why they were unsuccessful in stopping Alicia Jacobs? We have sent those questions to Alicia Jacobs and RG Ryan, and will let you know the responses.

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