Rehashing Your 'Coke Whore' Past for Fun and Profit
We tracked down Kevin Maher, the former FBI informant and ex-husband of Danielle Staub of Real Housewives of New Jersey, whom he called a "coke whore." He's under a "contract" with Star for the exclusive to his story, so couldn't really talk. But he thinks Danielle's life is in danger.
"I've decided to give an exclusive to Star," Maher said when we called him. "That comes out Tuesday, so I can't talk until then. But yes, I was married to her. She did a lot of things that I think will put her life in danger. She was involved with the drug cartels in Cali and Medellín." That much is already clear from the promos Bravo has been running for Tuesday night's episode and Cop Without a Badge, the 1995 book about Maher's life as an informant.
Speaking of which, copies of the out-of-print title are currently going for upwards of $100 on Ebay, and Maher says negotiations are underway for a new paperback edition. And Maher's exclusive interview with Star comes out on Tuesday, the day of the next episode of Housewives. Everybody wins!
A representative for Bravo did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails asking for a comment as to why a television network would gleefully (and profitably!) air details of the woman's life under the pretense of a "reality" show when those details may piss off some of the violent people Staub used to run with. On the other hand, it's likely that all those details have already been aired, by Maher himself, in Cop Without a Badge (we haven't seen a full copy yet).
Bravo's bio on Staub says "she prides herself on being one of the first women in New Jersey (and 14th person in the country) to have a Black American Express Card and her history of celebrity hook-ups is one for the record books." She was also the millionth woman in New Jersey to be a stripper and get involved in the cocaine business. Other details of Staub's past are set to be revealed on the show next week.
UPDATE: A Bravo rep got back to us with their stock response to the Staub controversy, the most delightfully absurd work of flack lunacy we've encountered in a long, long time: "Bravo does not comment on the personal lives of our talent." Eleven words, three lies: Guess what they are!