Richard Meleski

Stolen Valor

Richard MeleskiTo his friends, co-workers and loved ones, Richard Meleski was a war hero. To hear him tell it, his bravery, strength and selflessness were routinely tested over his six years as a member of the Navy’s vaunted SEAL Team Six. Perhaps his most harrowing mission came in 1984, when Meleski experienced 18 tortuous hours in Beirut, Lebanon.

The Middle Eastern country was then in the midst of a bloody civil war. Complicating this conflict were proxy fighters from numerous countries, including Hezbollah forces backed by Iran. In September 1984, a suicide car bomber associated with Hezbollah attacked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, the second such attack in as many years. Twenty-four people were killed.

U.S. forces were deployed to the region with orders to protect American assets and put a lid on the violence. Shortly after Meleski and a string of fellow SEALs touched down, they were captured, tortured and, in the case of one soldier, killed by an unidentified faction of belligerents. As part of his abuse, Meleski’s hand was smashed with a hammer.

In one brief moment during his captivity, Meleski saw an opportunity for him and three other SEALs to escape out a window and took it. This maneuver brought freedom, and later, a Silver Star. But Meleski fell hard from the window, incurring a traumatic brain injury so intense he couldn’t speak for months.

When he retired from the military in 1986, Meleski had many scrapes and bruises that required attention, including hearing loss, back injuries and PTSD.

In 2010, Meleski sought help from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Due to his status as a former Prisoner of War, he was put in the VA’s Priority Group 3, which entitled him to swifter attention than other former troops. Decades on from his service, he continued to tell his war stories to anyone who’d listen. On his Facebook page, he also inveighed against the unpatriotic: “If you haven’t risked coming home under the flag, don’t you dare disrespect it.”

Yet Meleski had himself never undertaken these risks or served in the military at all. For much of the time he claimed to have been a globe-trotting Cold Warrior, he’d actually been serving a prison sentence in New Jersey.

The VA and federal prosecutors sniffed out Meleski’s fraud, but it took nearly a decade. Over that period, he received VA health care and benefits checks worth in excess of $300,000.

During his trial, which concluded in 2021, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage railed against Meleski, 60, as a “man who lived years in a fantasy.” Clearly, he had a warped need for public acclaim. Meleski’s incarceration in Jersey, after all, stemmed from a similarly mind-bending scheme of faux heroism, one where he quietly set homes ablaze, then helped extinguish them as a member of his town’s volunteer fire department.

“I guess I wanted to be someone who I wasn’t,” he acknowledged in court.

After pleading guilty to numerous charges, including faking a military career, Meleski was sentenced to more than three years in prison.

While wild, Meleski’s tale is far from an aberration. For as long as America has waged war, some citizens have been falsely identifying as fighters. But in 2005, Congress increased the consequences of these lies by ratifying the Stolen Valor Act, which makes it “illegal to fraudulently wear medals, embellish rank, or make false claims of service in order to obtain money or some other tangible benefit.”

They just want the recognition. They don’t want the pain. They don’t want the nightmares. They just want to be somebody’s hero, and it doesn’t work that way.

Yet despite serious criminal and reputational deterrents, stolen valor persists.

These schemes have repeatedly emerged in the political arena, where military service not only confers trust, but protection from attack. And even among those who have actually served, there have been unnecessary embellishments.

One of history’s most egregious cases involved Utah Republican Douglas Stringfellow, who won a 1952 congressional seat by concocting a story strikingly similar to Meleski’s. Specifically, the Army veteran billed himself as a World War II spy, who parachuted into Germany, was captured, tortured and became a paraplegic — none of which was true.

More recently, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who said he’d “served in Vietnam,” actually secured numerous deferments and served stateside in the Marine Corps Reserve during the war, and Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, claimed to be an Army Ranger, when he merely attended the Army’s two-month Ranger School. This behavior has also trickled down into local politics, including a bizarre 2020 Texas sheriff’s race where both candidates concocted fake military stories.

These sorts of stories appear mostly motivated out of a selfish thirst for power. Others include elements of greed, but also seem symptomatic of a deep American discontent with day-to-day life.

Some have stolen valor to buy BMWs or fancy homes. Other run more modest schemes in hopes of securing basic stability. While Meleski clearly enjoyed the respect afforded through his phony veteran status, his assumed valor also gave the forklift driver free health care and a supplemental income.

In a similar case, Kristopher Voyles was indicted last year for falsely claiming to have served. In 2018, Voyles, now 31, ripped off the identity of a real veteran to secure care at a Georgia VA hospital. He later pulled off the same stunt in Tennessee, where he was provided with more than $20,000 worth of psychiatric care.

In June, Voyles was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison. While egregious, his case stemmed mostly out of medical necessity.

A less tangible disorder shows up in the cases of those with a warped need to feel heroic. For decades, and particularly in the post-9/11 era, men are overloaded with militaristic and hypermasculine imagery. These messages make many feel subpar and spur them to buy everything from big guns to tactical diaper bags.

This mindset seemed to have infected Shane Ladner, a cop and former veteran, who in 2018 lied about being injured in a top-secret military mission in Central America to secure a Purple Heart license plate for his Ford F-150. Even the late marksman Chris Kyle, of American Sniper fame, felt the need to falsely bolster his credibility. Despite a legendary military record, Kyle inflated the number of Bronze and Silver Stars he’d received.

These cases offer urgent evidence that the American dream is slipping away, while masculinity is becoming poisoned by militarism. This trend also diminishes the very real and painful impact of war on real fighters.

This was pointed out by Mary Schantag, chairwoman of the P.O.W. Network, who has unmasked hundreds of fake veterans over the years.

“You get these guys that want that status,” she told the military news site Task & Purpose in 2018. “But they didn’t earn it. They don’t have the nightmares these other guys wake up with because of what they went through. They just want the recognition. They don’t want the pain. They don’t want the nightmares. They just want to be somebody’s hero, and it doesn’t work that way.”

Sometimes people completely and totally suck, y’know? If you suspect someone of this sort of abuse, you can try to do something about it. Oddly, people can lie all they want to without committing a crime … but they cannot attempt to profit from that lie. (We have definitely said enough on that subject for now.)

Tech This Way

Walk this way. Tech this way.

The Sense of Self

Tech This Way - FitnessPenthouse offers up a little there-step session with some excellent way to work the body while getting into the mind.

1/ NordicTrack VAULT

The VAULT is a premium personal home gym — an all-in-one unit with a full-length mirror, immersive HD touchscreen, and storage for a suite of dumbbells, kettlebells and other fitness accessories. Featuring a full-length, 60 x 24-inch mirror and 32-inch HD touchscreen display for immediate visual feedback, it allows you to match the form of the iFit trainer for a better workout.

Tech This way: NordicTrack

2/ The Hydrow

Skip the gym membership and get a full body workout with the award-winning Hydrow. Featuring a 22-inch touchscreen, impressive front-facing speakers and realistic visuals, the Hydrow has been designed to be an immersive experience, with each stroke making you feel like you’re out on the water. The Hydrow’s 10-roller system seat has been ergonomically designed, guaranteeing you comfort for your workout’s duration.

Tech This way: Hydrow

3/ Wave Roller

Designed to assist in pain reduction, tension release and improve flexibility, the Theragun Wave Roller, with its five-speed vibration and Bluetooth connection, takes muscle rolling to the next level.

Tech This way: Therabody

Just a couple of clarifications here before we move on. First of all, the NordicTrack Vault differs in some key ways from our own “Tech This Way” Penthouse Vault. Secondly, despite these being truly exemplary fitness tools, made to the highest quality standards, and back by first-rate organizations, there still may be better ways to get sweaty while still building cardio.

The Sense of Others

[Since this article went to press, the company Penthouse profiled changed its name from PORTL to PROTO, for whatever reason. We have updated Jennifer’s article to reflect that change. – Ed.]

Hot Damn! Holograms!

Tech This Way - Road TripChances are if you’ve thought about holograms in the past 40 years, you’ve thought of Star Wars’ Princess Leia being projected by R2-D2, asking Obi-Wan Kenobi for help. More recently, a hologram of late rapper Tupac Shakur played Coachella in 2012, introducing a new generation to the sci-fi technology. But in the decade since, holograms have gone from real life to science fiction once more. However, L.A.-based company PROTO is trying to change that.

Founded in 2019, PROTO has created what founder David Nussbaum calls “holoportation” devices, allowing more than intergalactic royalty and legendary rappers to access the Jetsons-style technology.

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nussbaum’s devices — the Epic, which is PROTO’s original full-size device, and the Model M, or Mini — received three CES Innovation Award honors, with each device being cited in the Video Displays category, and the M adding a second honor for Streaming.

The holograms we’ve all come to know so well, including that 2012 Tupac, were done with Pepper’s Ghost, an illusion technique which essentially shoots an image at a tilted piece of glass, and that glass then reflects the image back to create a free-standing 3D image. But it requires darkness to look crisp and clean. Not so with PROTO. Nussbaum’s creation lives in the light, with the devices using light to create realistic shadows and depth.

“I can’t tell people to turn the lights off every time [they turn on their PROTO],” he says. “I mean, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Another shortcoming of previous holograms? Interactivity. Sure, you could watch a hologram perform at Coachella, but you couldn’t have a conversation with it. PROTO’s devices both include built-in external mics and cameras, so whoever is holoporting in can see and hear the people around them and respond instantaneously. Instead of the hologram being a piece of art, PROTO’s holograms are as close to real people as you can currently get.

That real-life feel is what has made PROTO the hologram of choice for the University of Central Florida’s medical school, where the device is used to beam in patients for students to examine and diagnose, allowing them to interact with a broader range of people and ailments than they might otherwise experience so early in their careers.

“For me, it’s about connecting people,” Nussbaum says. “That’s why we started adding audience-facing electronics like microphones and speakers and cameras, so that the person being beamed sees the audience in real time and can feed off of the energy of the [audience] and interact with them.”

Currently, that interaction is only available for big spenders who can afford the Epic — an eight-foot-tall PROTO largely used by Fortune 500 companies, medical schools and other organizations looking to serve a big audience. But by the time you’re reading this article, the Model M, or Mini PROTO, will have likely launched, allowing anyone who wants a PROTO to get a version fit for the home. And the ability to bring PROTO to the masses is something that Nussbaum is excited about — and not because of revenue.

“I think this is a travel replacement,” he says. “Some of our customers are Fortune 500, Fortune 100 companies, [and they are] saving billions of dollars in travel. But even more importantly, they’re saving the Earth because they’ve seen their carbon footprint shrink to almost nothing because they’re just not traveling.”

While travel was largely cut back because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nussbaum believes that once the pandemic ends, more and more people will forgo unnecessary business travel and simply holoport in when they’re needed, saving time, effort, money and, yes, the planet.

Not looking to give up your frequent flier miles just yet? You still may want a PROTO M, which has a starting price point of $2,000.

“What if we could put a face to Alexa?” Nussbaum proposes, name-dropping Amazon’s AI device. “What if we could make hologram Zoom, but also make hologram MasterClass?

“[We could] make hologram gaming, make hologram life. We can take all of our favorite things and add volumetric effects and depth and dimension and just make it all much more real.”

The home-sized devices, Nussbaum says, can be used as displays for NFTs (non-fungible tokens, or digital art cryptocurrency) or other art, as a Zoom alternative for more engaging meetings, or as a way to attend concerts from the comfort of your couch. Or, yes, you could use it to have an almost in-person meeting with one of your favorite adult performers.

“You could beam in any person, whether it’s the president of the United States or an adult performer, and I find that very exciting,” Nussbaum says. “Anybody can use the PROTO however they like. And if someone wants to use it [adult performers], I support them.”

With end-to-end encryption, PROTO is also incredibly secure, so whether an individual is using it for personal pleasure, or a government is using it to conduct top-secret meetings, only those they choose to beam to will ever know what they’re doing.

“When two people are communicating through a PROTO, it’s like those two people are in a room alone together,” Nussbaum explains.

“If you can’t be there, beam there,” Nussbaum says. Anyone with a camera and the PROTO app can beam into a PROTO device if they’re invited, and because of the all-in-one design, anyone who buys a PROTO can set it up right out of the box with little effort.

So whether you want to display your NFTs, safely visit with grandma during a pandemic, hold meetings, attend concerts, or even get up close and personal with your favorite adult star, PROTO can help you do it. Just remember before you beam that PROTO sees all.

“Sorry, world,” Nussbaum says, “but you have to wear pants again.” 

Yeah, that doesn’t sound scary at all. What could possibly go wrong? … It does sound like grand fun before all that happens, though. … Should you wish to reserve your adventure immediately, you can (currently) do so for a mere $100. We invite you to check it out — and then start thinking about what kind of furniture you need to put between you and the camera. Pants? … They still have those?

2021 POYRU Meaghan Stanfill

POYRU Meaghan Stanfill

Penthouse put out a press release on our POYRU a month or so ago, but operating on the theory that most of you cannot find yourselves on the Penthouse Press Release list, we thought we’d run it here as well. For the record, our press releases are better because we can use pictures and video. (So neener-neener.)

The platinum blonde California model, who originally hails from a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, says she has wanted to model for Penthouse since the age of 18.

Standing 5’8” tall, this statuesque beauty enjoys volunteering at Mary’s Kitchen and the Sweet Paws Animal Rescue, and reveals her secret talent as the ability to create recipes out of anything. With “scuba diving at a wreck site” on her bucket list, she admits the most daring thing she’s ever done is swimming “in open waters with tiger sharks.” Stanfill is a former nationally ranked swimmer who confides she used to dream of becoming a marine biologist. “I’ve always felt a deep connection with the ocean, and growing up this was my dream.”

Stanfill, who describes herself as open, outgoing and kind, held several professional positions prior to modeling full-time — including paralegal, mortgage finance firm manager, and transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy tech, the latter of which she is most proud. “I’m extremely empathic and able to understand other people’s perspectives,” she says. “I put a lot of energy into spreading awareness of the world’s tragedies because they are something that impacts my heart.”

An advocate against bullying, Stanfill says her father is her personal hero. “He came here at a young age as an immigrant from the Philippines,” she reveals. “He then joined the Air Force and flew F-18 fighter jets, then dedicated his life to saving others as a paramedic, then firefighter, then battalion chief! He received commendations from the Governor of Georgia for saving a young boy from a burning aircraft and other heroic acts.”

“We are thrilled to announce Meaghan Stanfill as Pet of the Year Runner-Up,” praised Moose, CEO of Penthouse. “She is not only beautiful and intelligent with a big heart, but also a top-notch professional in every way. We are incredibly proud and honored to call Meaghan a valued member of the Penthouse family. Congratulations, Meaghan!”

“Shooting our 2021 Pet of the Year Runner Up, Meaghan Stanfill, was such an honor and a privilege,” adds Penthouse Photographer, Gerald de Behr, who photographed Stanfill’s POYRU layout. “She’s a natural beauty and a great model on set, who had numerous suggestions for poses and was attentive to every detail. As a photographer, you really can’t ask for a better partner to capture the erotic beauty that is expected of a brand and legacy like Penthouse Magazine. Congrats to Meaghan on being crowned Penthouse Pet of the Year Runner-up for 2021!”

“We are thrilled about Meaghan Stanfill’s newest status as our Pet of the Year Runner-Up, said Drew Rosenfeld, Penthouse VP Broadcast. “Meaghan exemplifies beauty, grace, charm, and wit among many other positive notes. We look forward to a long standing relationship with Meaghan Stanfill, as she is now part of the Penthouse Royalty.”

Photo Editor, Director of Pet Projects, and Production Manager, Sam Phillips had many great things to say about the new Pet of the Year Runner-Up. “Penthouse POYRU for 2021 Meaghan Stanfill epitomizes elegance and style, while exuding an unrivaled and breathtaking beauty.

Meaghan doesn’t just stimulate the eyes, she also saves lives through her work as a transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy tech, a paralegal, and as a fundraiser for the charity organization INARA, which raises awareness for children impacted by war.

This multilingual, half Filipina and half German, leggy blonde stunner loves to create healthy alternative recipes in her spare time when she’s not creating delectable images as a professional lingerie model. Check out Meaghan’s life of luxury themed layout and learn more about our 2021 POYRU burning up the pages in the May/June issue of Penthouse Magazine entitled “The Movers and Shakers Issue.” For more exclusive access, please visit PenthouseGold.com.

As a frame of reference, the video of Meaghan for her POYRU feature took place roughly a year after her Pet of the Month (March 2020) shoot. It can be interesting to watch the evolution of a model as they do more and more nude sets, although honestly Meaghan tends to be fascinating at any moment in time. Should you wish to participate in more granular evolution, you can find our POYRU 2021 currently @meaghanstanfill on Instagram.

Adult Anime

The Colorful And Cartoonish Erotic Art Of Cheunchin Bunnag — Adult Anime

This Thai artist has been drawn to erotic art since being captivated by a poster of a nude woman on the wall of a barber shop he used to visit as a child. He says he started drawing as a teenager, but his father destroyed his artworks when he found them. This led to Cheunchin following a path other than art, initially choosing to study architecture before dropping out and instead graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer games. He continued to be drawn back to art, dabbling in art direction and 3D art, but he says, “It didn’t work out.”

Twenty years later, at the age of 35, Cheunchin still wanted to pursue art and made the decision to give drawing one last go before abandoning it for good to open a family restaurant.

He hasn’t put down a pen since.

How did you become an artist?

I have loved drawing cartoons since I was a child. My father didn’t like it, to the point that he would destroy my art. So, I started studying architecture at university before I dropped out and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer games instead. I didn’t study fine art, but art was always around me. In the 2000s, I did some card game illustrations for a local title here, back before I worked as a 3D artist. Then I became an art director in movies and TV series for years, but it didn’t work out. So at 35, I decided that before I abandon my love for art stuff and open a family restaurant, I’ll do one final thing: draw stuff for a living. And here I am. It took me 20 years before I could finally start my dream job.

What drew you to creating erotic images in the first instance? 

It’s a bit of a weird story. There was a barber next to my house when I was a child, and there was an old tradition for barbers in Thailand to have a poster on the wall featuring a beautiful naked woman right in front of the customer next to the mirror, so you can enjoy yourself while getting a haircut. I was about six years old when I first saw the poster, and I think that’s where my attraction to nude art all began.

What’s the difference between anime and manga?

From my point of view, anime is simply animated and viewed on TV, whereas manga is typically in graphic novels and includes more movement and speed lines. It’s basically the equivalent of Western people differentiating between cartoon and comic.

Would you describe your work as anime or manga?

I’m not sure how to describe it. I get inspiration from both Western comics and Japanese manga. If I had to choose, I would describe my art as manga, since I don’t watch much anime.

Where does your inspiration for Adult Anime (or Manga) come from?

I just love drawing pinups and beautiful things like nature. I love how the muscles in the body work and interact with their surroundings. I enjoy expressing that through my art. I draw from both Western comics and Japanese manga. My characters are a summary of the best things I find in everyone and everything around me.

Who are your favorite artists?

The artist who changed my life and the one I admire the most is Joel Jurion.

I’m also inspired by the work of Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, Frank Frazetta, Kazushi Hagiwara, Yoshitaka Amano, Shouta Kikuchi, Frank Cho, Boli and Otto Schmidt.

Why is digital art your chosen medium?

I use digital painting because it’s the most flexible to work with and the easiest to reach out to people around the globe.

What’s the process for creating your pieces? 

Nothing complicated. I start by imagining how I want to see the character, how she smiles, and what she might look like.

What type of environment do you enjoy drawing in?

A dim, dark, silent room.

You also sell your Adult Anime artwork as NFTs. What first got you into the NFT space?

I saw my friends do it, so I decided to try it for fun.

Turtle by Cheunchin Bunnag

We have no idea how well or poorly goes the Adult Anime NFT business, but we did enjoy learning the difference between anime and manga. Had we a more understanding boss, we might even try to find an artist to start a new series for the magazine called “Manga America Great Again” to have some fun. Sadly, our executives have a rule against too much fun at the office, but one can dream. … On that enjoyment theme, though, we should mention that we also have no idea why Mr. Bunnag created a drawing of a warrior woman riding a bemused turtle, but we thought it great fun so we included it. The boss likes turles. It’ll be fine.

Seeing as how it appears the editors did not actually read the article before deciding upon a title, we also decided to give eveyone on Twitter Link for Cheunchin here. Tell him we agree that the title should have been Adult Manga instead of Adult Anime. What can you do?

Arianna Aries

Arianna Aries : No Bull

Gorgeous globetrotter Arianna Aries lets her wanderlust lead the way, and it’s taken the leggy lovely to 23 countries within just five years!

AGE: 27
MEASUREMENTS: 32D-25-37
HEIGHT: 5’7”

Arianna’s admirers marvel over her sensual dance moves and stunningly good looks, but they also praise her intelligence and sparkling personality. With both inner and outer beauty, Arianna is as comfortable carrying on a deep conversation as she is putting on a sexy show.

She’s the first to admit, “People become happier near me.”

The blue-eyed brunette tells Penthouse she has big dreams, which motivate her to work hard and follow her passions.

Describe your perfect partner.

A smart mind is one of the sexiest qualities a person can possess. But having compassion for others is also important.

What would be your dream date?

Dinner on a rooftop at sunset just seems so romantic to me.

What are your career goals?

I’m studying to be a psychotherapist. It’s highly important to take care of your mental health, and I want to help people with that. Seeing how psychotherapy changes people’s lives inspires me.

What’s your favorite lazy day activity?

I don’t do it often. But just once a year, I need a day in front of the TV, eating chips and sipping prosecco.

Do you have a hidden talent or skill?

I enjoy singing, but I don’t do it often. I’m very much a yes person, though. I’m always up for learning something new!

Arianna Aries: ONLINE

As would be our custom in these free pages, we have selected a few photographs submitted by Arianna which meet the standards here. Although a subscription would display a more revealing group — “naturally” as it were — a little in-depth on the Q&A reveals that the impressive lass possesses far more than mere physical beauty.

What made you decide to model for Penthouse?

Flirt4free, destiny and luck.

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be and why?

I’m studying to qualify to have the best job in the world – Psychotherapist. It’s highly important to take care of mental health and I want to help people with that. I feel motivated and this job inspires me a lot when I see how psychotherapy changes people’s lives.

Favorite shows and movies?

Friends! The best way to learn the English language.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

During warm times of the year — sunbathing, wakesurfing, sup boarding, picnics, driving car somewhere with no reason; At cold times — mountains, skiing, snowboarding, making and drinking hot drinks, partying, singing, karting.   

What is the sexiest quality a person can possess?

A smart mind.

Who’s your celebrity crush? 

Jared Leto

Who knows you the best? 

My psychotherapist.

Now … Arianna: Frame of Reference

Should you know anything about printing deadlines, you will know we got that information in mid 2021. (Even if you do not know anything about printing deadlines, you now know that important detail, so, “Yay!”) As to that “perspective” we promised, you can now read what was the second sentence in the original publication. … The charismatic camgirl still calls her native Ukraine home, but she regularly connects with online fans from all over the world.

So that adds some perspective, right? How differently we viewed the world before February of 2022. If you still want to help, early on Marie Claire provided an excellent list of places to consider early on in the … horrible thing, whatever you call it.

We encourage you to find and assist Arianna Aries where you may find her, either on Twitter or Flirt4Free. Freedom counts for a lot — and may extract a heavy price — as we have all sadly learned this year.

Bud Bucks

Making Bank with Buds

While the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a lot of businesses go up in smoke, the cannabis industry has hit new highs, emerging as the nation’s fastest-growing industry.

Since 2020, legal cannabis sales across the U.S. have jumped a whopping 50 percent, topping $20 billion and adding almost 80,000 jobs to the economy. The pandemic has played a huge role in the spike in cannabis’ popularity, with many U.S. states deeming dispensaries “essential businesses” and cannabis delivery companies seeing surges of 25 percent. Ultimately, the boring, never-ending tedium of the stay-at-home coronavirus saga has even seen cocaine sales drop, as more and more people choose to get stoned at home instead.

With weed’s popularity and the fact that recreational marijuana is now legal in 19 states, the lucrative promise of selling Mary Jane to the masses is luring lots of investors to the canna-biz, including a growing number of celebrity cannapreneurs. While once upon a time numerous celebrities had wine brands attached to their names, celebrity cannabis strains are now blowing up in popularity.

From actors, comedians and musicians, to sports stars and TV personalities, here are a few of the biggest celebrity cannapreneurs right now.

Bud Bucks: Highest Roller

No conversation about celebrities and cannabis would be complete without mentioning the ultimate high roller himself: rapper and self-dubbed “master of marijuana” Snoop Dogg. Snoop, 50, is more than a famous cannabis user and activist. The man is a weed icon and one of the most recognizable faces of cannabis culture today. He even once said he took his first toke at the age of eight or nine when an uncle offered him a roach.

Snoop has openly discussed his love of cannabis in past interviews, and in his marijuana-related songs: “Smoke Weed Everyday,” “Smoke the Weed” and “This Weed Iz Mine.” He even once boasted in an interview that he smokes “81 blunts a day.” Toking that much pot hardly seems realistic — until you learn Snoop has a professional roller on his staff to ensure he and his posse always have fresh blunts on hand. Sounds like a cushy job, if you ask us.

In 2015, Snoop launched his own cannabis brand called Leafs by Snoop, making him one of the first celebrities to front a line of cannabis buds, oils and edibles. The Colorado-based company is renowned for its indica and sativa hybrids, which are personally selected by the big Dogg himself, and many smokers claim they’re the best flowers in the canna-biz.

Snoop is also a co-owner of Toronto’s Canopy Growth Corporation, the biggest cannabis grow operation in the world and one of the first companies to launch a cannabis brand backed by a celebrity. Canopy Growth has since partnered with more A-listers, including Seth Rogen, Drake, Evan Goldberg and Martha Stewart.

Bud Bucks: Most Dope

Mike Tyson has never been the kind of guy to do anything by half. The former heavyweight boxing champion fought his way to the top of his game, and now his cannabis empire is smashing the competition. After years of substance abuse, Tyson turned to marijuana for pain relief and credits it with helping him recover from the many injuries he accumulated during his boxing career. Tyson also says cannabis calms his anger and anxiety.

“In my 30s, cannabis really saved me from myself,” he told Vegas Cannabis Magazine in 2019. “The health benefits were so clear. As it continued to save me, I knew that everyone needed this kind of medicine.”

Instead of kicking back in retirement, the 55-year-old developed his own company — Tyson Holistic Holdings, Inc. — which has sold cannabis products, including flower strains and edibles, since 2016.

In 2020, the cannabis connoisseur launched Tyson Ranch: a 420-acre cannabis-themed playground for adults in Desert Hot Springs, Calif., which has earmarked 20 acres of land for growing new strains and cannabis research. The resort also features a dispensary, an amphitheater, a cannabis university, an edible-making factory, an extraction facility and a campground.

Tyson’s empire is said to be generating around $1 million per month. However, he reportedly smokes $82,000 of his own supply in the same amount of time.

Bud Bucks: Best Buds

Perhaps the most surprising celebrity potrepreneur is America’s foremost goddess of domesticity, Martha Stewart.

I guess you could say it was a joint effort that saw the domestic diva join the many celebrities who have created their own weed-related brands.

The 80-year-old businesswoman says her curiosity for cannabis was kindled by her bud Snoop Dogg while filming their Emmy-nominated cooking show, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party, which helped her learn a lot about the natural healing and palliative effects of cannabis. While she’s no stoner, Stewart has developed a passion for CBD — also known as cannabidiol, which does not contain marijuana’s psychoactive compound THC — and incorporates it into her daily wellness routine as “a natural way to manage life’s difficulties.”

In 2020, she launched Martha Stewart CBD in partnership with Canopy Growth. Stewart’s offerings include hemp-derived, cannabidiol-rich gummies — inspired by her favorite recipes and ingredients — a line of flavored CBD oils and soft gels, as well as chewy treats for pets. And she’s also cooking up the CBD-based skincare line 86 Elm.

“I’m not a user of cannabis, but then I got very interested in not only cannabis but also in hemp and the derivatives … I’ll leave the THC offerings to Snoop,” she said in an interview with CNBC.

Celebrity Roll Call

No story like this could be complete without at least mentioning, say, the top dozen “other” in this category of famous weed endorsements. Certainly you could take exception to our rankings. You might have options we have missed, or disagree with the hierarchy below. We can tell you two things for certain. First, you are not crazy, and that last picture shown happens to be of Willie Nelson, and not Martha Stewart. In at least one (influential) editor’s opinion, Willie would probably qualify as better known for for this particular mood stabilizer than Ms. Stewart. (We have zero idea whether or not Willie makes an excellent soufflé.)

OH! And second, doing the research should be a blast.

  1. Willie Nelson — Willie’s Reserve
  2. Bob Marley — Marley Natural
  3. Cheech Marin — Cheech’s Private Stash
  4. Tommy Chong — Tommy Chong’s Cannabis
  5. Seth Rogen — Houseplant
  6. Jay-Z — Monogram
  7. Jim Belushi — Belushi’s Farm
  8. Rachael & Megan Rapinoe — Mendi
  9. Wiz Khalifa — Khalifa Kush
  10. Carlos Santana — Mirayo by Santana
  11. B-Real — Dr. Greenthumb’s
  12. Melissa Etheridge — Etheridge Botanicals

No true country music fan could possibly assist in putting together an article like this without mentioning perhaps the best “Bud Bucks” song ever written — admittedly limited in this case to that specific music genre. We’ve already provided a couple of Toby Keith memories in these digital pages over the years, highlighting his USO work, Mr. Keith in general, and even his tequila. It just seemed reasonable to do a bit of an aside on his song-writing skills as well. Not wanting to get into even a hit of copyright issue, though, we will leave you with a mere suggestion: Head on over to YouTube and look up I’ll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again. Life needs more smiling moments.

Kylian Mbappé

Revere Kylian Mbappé

Known for his dribbling, speed and finishing skills, he’s widely considered one of the best players in the world.

Off the field, luxury fashion brand Dior will be giving the Paris-born athlete a helping hand to make a style statement for the next two years.

While being fitted in striking tailor-made suits and parading other formal pieces in a promo video, Kylian and his teammates say they think looking good helps you feel good.

At the ripe old age of 23, Kylian will be lining up alongside Johnny Depp as a face of the French fashion giant.

It’s the latest accolade in a rather long list for Kylian, who was just 16 when he made his professional debut in 2015. He then became the second most expensive player, and most expensive teenager, when he moved from Ligue 1 club Monaco to league rival Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.

At his latest club, he’s won a heap of titles and has finished as Ligue 1 top scorer for three consecutive seasons — even if you don’t speak French, you get the gist. Oh, and he’s also the third-highest goal-scorer in the club’s history.

Remember when he set the 2018 FIFA World Cup on fire? He became the youngest French player to score at a World Cup and was only the second teenager, after Brazilian legend Pelé, to score in a World Cup final.

Raised near Paris, Kylian went to a private Catholic school in Bondy, where it’s said he was academically gifted but extremely unfocused.

Let’s cut him some slack. His idol growing up was Cristiano Ronaldo, so it’s fair to guess he had his sights set on the pitch rather than academic success.

He’s admitted the development of African sports is important to him because of his parents’ African origins. His father, Wilfried, originally from Cameroon, is his agent and a football coach. His mother, Fayza Lamari, of Algerian Kabyle origin, is a former handball player.

In an interview with Time, Kylian spoke about sacrifices he made as a teenager to focus on his game development.

“I did not have the moments of so-called normal people during adolescence, like going out with friends, enjoying good times,” he said. But, he added that he’s now “living the life he always dreamed of.”

It’s a life many have dreamed of — at age 23, he already has a net worth of nearly $100 million! Kylian has amassed more than 50 million Instagram followers, just four years after making his professional debut. And, of course, followers equal sponsorship cash. Kylian has had a sponsorship deal with Nike since 2017; his collaboration with the sportswear giant has been phenomenal. He was only 18 when he launched his own personalized soccer cleats for Nike, the Kylian Mbappé Nike Hypervenom 3.

In 2018, he unveiled the Nike Mercurial Superfly VI shoes, inspired by the R9 Mercurial footwear of his idol Ronaldo.

If you’re a gamer, you’ll also have seen Kylian featured in EA Sports’ FIFA video game series. His trademark goal celebration is posing with his arms crossed and his hands tucked under his armpits, a stance inspired by his younger brother, Ethan, who would celebrate like that when beating Kylian at FIFA.

When Kylian landed the solo cover of FIFA 21, he became the youngest to accomplish the feat. He then was featured on the FIFA 22 cover, making him one of the rare players to achieve the back-to-back honor. With all of his superstardom, it’s refreshing to hear him tell an amusing story about his first meeting at age 14 with Zinedine Zidane. Before getting in the Real Madrid player’s car to drive to a training session, Kylian says he nervously asked if he should take his shoes off!

Hmm. Presumably if we properly revered Zinedine Zidane (who sounds like a Douglas Adams emperor, let’s be honest), this might have made more sense. Maybe it comes down to a cultural thing, but if anybody asked me to take off my shoes before getting into their car — absent, camping, fishing, laying down hot tar for a new asphalt surface, that sort of thing — they should probably roll down their window too. That way I will not break the glass when I throw my shoe at them. Kylian Mbappé soudns like a great guy to hand out which, however. No matter how you look at it, 71 million followers sounds darned impressive. Zinedine Zidane only has 32 million. How embarrassing for him.

Foot Fetish

Stepping Into the Surprisingly Popular World of Foot Fetishes

When it comes to what makes us tick, we’ve all got our own kinks and curiosities, and for some of us, that’s the sight, sensation or smell of someone else’s feet. Whether or not you think feet are something to sniff at, here’s everything you need to know about foot fetishes.

What is a foot fetish?

A foot fetish, or podophilia, describes an intense sexual arousal triggered by feet. Like shoes, there is no one size fits all, so the specifics of how a foot fetishist’s fascination for feet plays out can vary from toe-vert to toe-vert.

A foot fetish can take many forms

Some foot lovers get frisky by simply admiring a pair of nude or stiletto-clad feet from afar; while others get their kicks from massaging soles, sucking on toes or being on the receiving end of a slippery footjob. Some like their lower limbs aesthetically clean and freshly pedicured, while other foot fans prefer a buffet of bare feet seasoned with sweat or dirt. Then there are the toe-tal pervs walking among us, who fantasize about worshiping the foot of a fiery femme domme or being walked all over and treated as a human carpet as she roars, “Heel, boy!” They do say variety is the spice of life.

Foot fetishes are surprisingly common

As far as kinks go, the foot fetish is a classic. Even if you’re not a devout feetist, chances are you’ve at least heard of the fetish. In fact, feet are considered to be the most commonly fetishized non-genital body part. While there’s not a huge amount of concrete research out there, social psychologist Justin Lehmiller, who collected data on foot fans for his book Tell Me What You Want, found one in seven people have fantasized about feet in a sexual way.

But why feet?

Sexual kinks are highly personal, and one person’s “eww” is another person’s ticket to Horny Town. While there’s no uniform answer to explain such an obsession, Sigmund Freud famously claimed that people liked feet because they resemble penises. Unpack that, why don’t you. We think it’s more likely because feet are jam-packed with nerve endings, and most people enjoy having their feet massaged. Plus, for some there’s a psychological element of power play that comes with being stepped on, humiliated or physically beneath someone’s feet — or sky-high stilettos.

Famous foot fans

Even celebrities have been named as flagrant foot fetishists, with Andy Warhol, Jack Black, Quentin Tarantino, Ludacris, Marilyn Manson, Britney Spears, Dita Von Teese and Elvis Presley having reportedly frothed over feet. Legend has it “Jailhouse Rock” singer Presley’s handlers used to check the bare feet of admirers before allowing them to have sex with him. Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill leading lady Uma Thurman even once toasted Tarantino’s alleged foot fetish by drinking champagne out of her own shoe during a 2010 roast of the director.

So, if you’ve ever felt turned on by toes, you’re in good company.

Adroitly brushing aside whether that list of famous people constitutes any reasonable definition of “good company” in even a broad sense, we will posit that regardless of the interpretation of Mr. Presley’s “Hound Dog,” they do have really cute feet. Equally adeptly avoiding taking issue with the author’s point on limited “concrete research” on this subject, we will also note that many, many studies, polls, surveys, and such have set out to foot the bill on the topic, with one such study allegedly concluding that “almost half of people surveyed” claimed to have some sort of podophilia inclinations. To us this shows that either (A) that represents way too large of a percentage to even classify this as a “fetish” in the first place, or (B) that was one kinky pool of people they chose to survey.

Foot Fetish Meaghan Stanfill

Now we do understand that Meaghan Stanfill (pictured) happens to be wearing — indeed very nice — heels, which would represent an entirely different fetish. However, we saw her value more as foreshadowing in this case. (Literary people have strange fetishes. It’s true.) You see Meaghan recently showed up again in the pages of Penthouse Magazine as the Penthouse Pet of the Year Runner Up for 2021. Allegedly we will all hear about the 2022 winner in the September issue, in case you have a reason to look forward to that. At any rate, feel free to refresh your memory on Ms. Stanfill, as we’ll be having another feature on this exemplary achievement in another few days, right out in this free site area. Meaghan just seemed like a lot more fun to look at than more pictures of feet — which probably tells you where we fall on the whole foot fetish scale, if nothing else.

MySpace

How MySpace Shaped a Generation

MySpace allowed Millennials to feel comfortable in their opinions in ways previous generations only dreamed about.

Prior to social media microblogging websites, users wanting to share their opinions online only had blogs — and to run a successful blog, you needed to already be famous, or have word of mouth drive traffic to you. It was hard for anyone to become an “influencer.”

If the internet was an information superhighway, then MySpace was the express lane to fame and popularity. The dawn of the internet was a wild time. There was no Big Tech, and the government kept Microsoft at bay with antitrust legislation. Companies dedicated to building the Web 2.0 were able to make a million innovations in just a few short years — a far cry from the stagnant present.

As a creativity-centric social media platform, MySpace was the first real way for anyone to become famous online. From the comfort of their own home, anyone could become a Scene Queen or a popular musician. Without MySpace, we wouldn’t have Skrillex, Bring Me the Horizon, Lily Allen or Adele. There would be no Jeffree Star.

The platform enabled teenagers across the globe — regardless of race, sexuality or gender identity — to connect with one another through a massive network. Instead of having random, disparate websites, MySpace housed it all under one roof. It was a vision of things to come: Twitter and Instagram later did the same thing, but through more simplified formats.

MySpace’s philosophy extended into its design. Your profile could be as expressive as you wanted it to be — fully customized with music, animated GIFs, HTML code, CSS overlays. It offered the whole works.

Crucially, MySpace celebrated individuality more than any other social media platform then, or since. If people wanted to know about you, they’d have to click on your profile. Contrast this with Tumblr, where the bulk of content is shared and regurgitated by millions of people in a massive echo chamber propagating the same ideas — and alienating those who think outside the box.

Furthermore, MySpace didn’t have the problem that every social media platform today deals with: the issue of harassment. Sure, you could harass people individually, as an individual. But there was no mob to join, no flames of outrage to stoke, no callout culture.

There was no incentive, and no way for anyone to target anybody else with widespread harassment. The system didn’t allow for it. Whether by design, or by accident, interactions on MySpace were simple: If you didn’t like what someone was saying, you simply clicked out of their profile. There was no way to quote tweet or share content to put them on blast. Cancel culture didn’t exist.

MySpace encouraged oversharing; your profile was public, and you could say whatever you liked. No one had to read it — and that was OK. There was no gamification — no incentive to say provocative things or repeat popular ideas. You could be as normal or provocative as you wanted. There was no score to keep track of — no retweets or likes to count.

If you were interesting, people would pay attention. Your engagement was organic. You couldn’t crowdsource your opinions. MySpace was a celebration of individuality.

It encouraged people to explore their identities, even in ways previously considered taboo — such as the experience of growing up gay in a conservative town, atheist in a religious family, or enjoying geeky hobbies like Dungeons & Dragons. MySpace did not normalize or encourage deviancy.

On MySpace, your individuality remained your own — and it didn’t necessarily make you subject to peer pressure or encourage you to be a part of a trend you didn’t feel comfortable with. The option to explore your identity existed, but it wasn’t forced upon you. Contrast this with Tumblr, which normalized deviance, pressurising millions of teenagers into adopting odd lifestyles and political positions.

World leaders weren’t on MySpace — nor did they have their policies and principles dictated by teenagers bullying them into submission as they do on Twitter.

Without the success of MySpace, we wouldn’t have Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which share a lot of common DNA with MySpace.

Unfortunately, they took some of the good parts and added a bunch of bad to the formula. These websites have stripped out individuality, removed the ability to customize profiles and encouraged groupthink.

MySpace was the opposite. It’s in the name: “my space,” not “our” space — no one’s space but yours, and yours alone.

We wanted to do a little fun digging on “kimisaprincess” just to see what we found, and we found something interesting. If you desire to be either dazzled — or mortified, depending — do a search for Kardashian in Google. Quickly overwhelmed with [censored], we decided upon a more erudite approach here, by looking up trademarks held by KIMISAPRINCESS, INC., which is apparently still a real thing. One thing about this family, they have a lot going on. It turns out one can find MySpace still hanging around too, still averaging many, many millions of visitors every month (as of a few years ago, at least). They should see what they can do to get Kim back on board, y’know? Maybe if they had a classic Marilyn Monroe dress she should wear…. Of course she’s a princess, and we’re not. So (apparently) there.

ESPORTS Game Changers

ESPORTS Gamer-Girls

Gaming and esports are booming with independent creators and competitors attracting an ever-growing audience. Some experts estimate monthly esports viewers will soon skyrocket to more than 26 million a month. But this digital domain has largely been dominated by men, and esports organization Fnatic estimates women comprise a scant 16 percent of the executive leaders at the world’s top companies. However, the times they are a-changing, and a growing number of smart, savvy ladies are putting their mark on the industry — both in the executive suite and on camera. Here Penthouse takes a look at a dozen of the industry’s major female players.

RACHELL “VALKYRAE” HOFSTETTER

With more than 3.6 million followers on Instagram and 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube, Rachell Hofstetter, 30, is a superstar gamer. In fact, Stream Hatchet named her the No. 1 female streamer with 12.2 million hours of content watched in the first quarter of last year. Dubbed the “Queen of YouTube,” Rachell — who uses the online alias Valkyrae — is known for streaming herself playing Fortnite with her girl squad. In 2018, she became the first female gamer and content creator for competitive esports team 100 Thieves. And in early 2021, she became a co-owner of the L.A.-based gaming and lifestyle brand, joining content creator CouRageJD, music mogul Scooter Braun, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, rapper Drake and 100 Thieves founder Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag.

AMANDA RUBIN

In 2019, Electronic Arts alum Amanda Rubin joined Enthusiast Gaming as their East Coast sales VP. The publicly traded company bills itself as “the world’s largest platform of communities for gamers and esports fans,” reaching more 300 million global gamers monthly through its portfolio of communities. With a combination of media, esports and live gaming events fueling its growth, Enthusiast has become an industry force, and Amanda’s talents have helped agencies and brands reach sought-after millennial audiences. She’s said to be working on expanding the business’s reach via partnerships with the U.S. Navy, L’Oreal’s Essie and State Farm Insurance, among others.

LINDSAY CAUDILL

Dallas-based esports franchise Team Envy was founded in 2007 as a professional Call of Duty team. It has since branched out into multiple field rosters, including Fortnite, Halo and Counter-Strike and counts Lindsay Caudill as their social media manager. In addition to running the company’s main social channels, Lindsay has also spearheaded Envy’s philanthropic and inclusivity initiatives. Most recently, the digital dynamo — who can be found on Twitch @handiicat — organized a charity stream to raise money for organizations supporting gals in gaming and entertainment and said in a recent interview, “Gaming is not something that is exclusive to males. It’s something that is celebrated by everyone.”

NICOLE LAPOINTE JAMESON

Since May 2019, Nicole LaPointe Jameson has been the CEO of esports organization Evil Geniuses, which is said to be valued at $255 million. Being tapped for the top spot made Nicole the first Black woman to lead a major esports organization. Now 27, she’s credited with helping Evil Geniuses reopen its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division. Notably, in January 2021 Evil Geniuses became the first major esports team to sign a mixed-gender squad for Valorant. She once Tweeted: “I don’t care where you come from. Nor your creed, gender, religion, class, past industry or sexual orientation. If you are the best of the best, you have a home here at Evil Geniuses.”

SUE “SMIX” LEE

StarCraft player Sue Lee, known online as Smix, just wrapped a six-year stretch of working at Twitch — most recently as account director of strategic partnerships. Last year, she also kicked off a new personal chapter, tying the knot with Robin Johansson, also known as former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro player Fifflaren. Fluent in Korean and English, Sue, 31, got her start translating live gaming events before hosting tourneys at BlizzCon and DreamHack. Though she’s ended her career at Twitch, she has a new role as VP of talent management at the recently launched RTS, co-founded by streaming influencer Imane “Pokimane” Anys.

TRICIA SUGITA

Three years after League of Legends team FlyQuest was founded in 2017, the organization named Tricia Sugita as CEO. Since then, Trisha — who goes by @megumixbear on Twitter and Twitch — has vowed to ensure the company will “showcase greatness.” She cut her serious gaming teeth on StarCraft II, but her interest in esports really took off after attending 2011’s BlizzCon. She was a streamer, host, caster, interviewer and pro player before moving to the business side. “I’m happy to see a lot more women [in esports] than before, and I hope this trend continues upwards,” Tricia says. “One of our goals at FlyQuest, and the one that speaks most to me, is to empower women.”

KYOUNG-EY “AVALLA” KIM

Paris Eternal’s general manager Kyoung-ey Kim, also known by the online alias Avalla or simply as Molly, was the last person standing after the French pro Overwatch team cleaned house in 2020 as part of cost-cutting measures. It’s since rebuilt its roster — thanks to 27-year-old Molly scoping out the European Overwatch community and recruiting a new team of six, as well as coaches. In the 2021 offseason, Eternal competed in the SteelSeries Invitational and tied with the London Spitfire in third place, having lost against the Boston Uprising 2–3. Australian-born Molly, who can be found on Twitter and Twitch @avalla_ow, recently revealed she’ll remain with Paris Eternal through the 2022 season.

MARI TAKAHASHI

YouTube darling Mari Takahashi, 36, spent more than a decade working for the YT comedy channel Smosh and cofounded Smosh Games in 2011, appearing in multiple series on the channel — including her own shows, Super Mari Fun Time and MariCraft. Stepping out on her own in 2020, she now works as a host and YT content creator at AtomicMari, which has more than 300,000 subscribers. A former ballerina — who displayed her nimble moves on Smosh Games’ Just Dance Rematch — Mari climbed Mount Fuji in Japan, ice-climbed three peaks in the Cordillera Blanca in South America and has skydived and is scuba certified. She also competed on the 33rd season of Survivor, entitled Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, and placed 19th.

JANET SHIM

In July 2021, Janet Shim was named director of program operations for Vindex-owned esports production and tournament company Esports Engine. The exec, who can be found @janet_shim on Twitter and @janet.shim on Instagram, was part of the Riot Games team that received the 2020 Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Esports Coverage for the League of Legends World Championship finals. Janet had worked on esports production for more than eight years for Riot. In her new position, she’s heading Esports Engine’s program design and execution strategy — and working with key stakeholders to develop market strategies for the biz and its top brass.

ANNE-MARGOT RODDE

L.A.-based Anne-Margot Rodde is the founder and CEO of WePlay, having launched the video game marketing agency in 2013. The longtime marketing guru — who holds an MA from London Metropolitan University — has produced major events and campaigns for companies including Xbox, PlayStation, Nexon, Riot Games and EA Games. She also didn’t let the COVID-19 pandemic slow her down. In March 2020, she kicked off WePlay Consulting, which assists video game companies with development strategies to grow their audiences and nail down partnerships. Among her consulting clients are Jack Morton, Spark Media, Prodigy, Station 12, Stryfe and One Team Partners.

MAGALI HUOT

Head of games publishers at YouTube, Magali Huot is a longtime entertainment industry veteran, having previously worked in marketing at Warner Bros. As part of her position at YT, she advises game publishers on ways to use the platform to grow their businesses. She also lends her talents to helping companies execute events, but her reach stretches beyond esports tournaments. She’s also had a hand in shepherding digital music experiences, including rapper Travis Scott’s Astronomical Event in 2020 and pop princess Ariana Grande’s 2021 Rift Tour — both in Fortnite. Check out the game’s YT channel to catch videos of the shows — and more.

MIA MALKOVA

California cutie Mia Malkova, 29, is not only a Penthouse Pet. Our October 2016 cover girl also has a “chill” channel on Twitch @miamalkova with more than 600,000 followers. The blonde beauty says she likes “to chat … eat good food and play a variety of games! My stream is fairly relaxing until it’s not.” The self-proclaimed “fantasy nerd” reveals she mainly plays RPGs because “I love to feel immersed!” When she’s not gaming, Mia enjoys hiking and cuddling her four pups. The curvy beauty posts updates about her streaming schedule on Twitter @miamalkova and shares “fun” and “creative” photos on Instagram @mia_malkova.

Although the magazine ran her first, because that’s how publishing people think, we ran Mia last so that you could finish with all the other NOT Penthouse Pets before popping off to visit Mia. You may have noticed that we also chose Mia for the header image because … yeah, so that’s obvious. We are also supposed to say “find Mia on PenthouseGold” so now we have done that too. Whew.

D.B. Cooper

Next time you’re on a plan seated in 18C, think of D.B. Cooper and his grand, mad plan.

D.B. Cooper … A Flight to Seattle … and $200,000 Cash

At 2:50 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve, November 24, 1971, Flight 305 departed Portland International Airport on its way to Seattle — a mere 30-minute flight that would surely pass without incident, except obviously not, because here you are reading about it. [We came for D.B. Cooper. Clearly we stay for the winning repartee. -Ed.]

In seat 18C sat a middle-aged man carrying a black briefcase. He had purchased his ticket under the name Dan Cooper. Across from him sat flight attendant Florence Schaffner. Shortly after takeoff, the man known as Cooper handed Florence a note. Florence — who had in her career taken a lot of crap from passengers and was in no mood for shenanigans — surmised the note was a flirtatious advance from a creepy dude and put the paper in her handbag without looking at it.

Mr. Cooper, seeing his purpose had been misread, leaned over and whispered to Florence, “Miss, you’d better look at that note. I have a bomb.”

Of course, whispering this to her somewhat defeated the purpose of giving her the note in the first place, and he might as well have just whispered all the relevant information from that point on. Nevertheless, Florence, understandably unnerved, did take the note from her bag and read it. She found it was as Cooper had told her: The note said he had a bomb and directed her to sit next to him, which she did. Of course, at this stage, the possibility that he was just trying to get a stewardess to touch him was still a live one.

Florence asked to see the bomb. Cooper opened his briefcase and showed her the bomb, which she observed was indeed a bomb — or at least a bundle of red cylinders that looked exactly like what a bomb is supposed to look like. Cooper then asked the flight attendant for a favor: Could she possibly see her way clear to getting him $200,000, four parachutes and a fuel truck standing by at Seattle’s airport to refuel the plane?

Florence said she’d see what she could do, and went and told the pilots there was a situation.

After contacting the airport, and telling the other passengers their flight would be delayed by a “minor mechanical difficulty” — which the smart passengers would’ve seen right through after watching the weird guy in 18C muttering to the stewardess sitting next to him — the pilots circled Seattle for two hours while down on the ground money and parachutes were gathered.

During the flight, Cooper was extremely pleasant and well-mannered, speaking politely to the flight crew and paying for his drinks — rather than asking them to deduct it from the ransom money.

Finally, the plane landed, and the rest of the passengers were let off while it was refueled, after which Cooper announced to the crew they were all going to Mexico and the margaritas would be on him. With the money and parachutes safely delivered, the Boeing 727 took off again, heading for Reno, Nev., where it would refuel once more before heading to Mexico City.

However, the plane had not yet reached Reno when Cooper ordered all the crew into the cockpit, tied the money bag around his waist, opened the door and jumped. It was dark and raining, and jumping was an extremely stupid thing to do, and the fact he was never seen again may be related to this.

In 1980, some of the ransom money washed up on the bank of the Columbia River near Vancouver, Wash., which only added to the mystery of what happened to the hijacker. Police thought it unlikely he had survived the jump, especially considering of the two parachutes he’d taken with him, one was a dummy used for classroom demonstrations and didn’t actually work.

Still, it’s possible he got lucky with the other parachute — though where he’d disappeared to, in the Northwestern wilds, if that were so … well that was a mystery.

And it’s remained a mystery to this day. Who was this man? It’s unlikely his real name was Dan Cooper. It’s even less likely his real name was D.B. Cooper, the name attached to him due to misreporting at the time. Numerous possible suspects have been suggested, but none has been proven to be the man himself.

It’s nice to think that maybe Mr. Cooper is still out there somewhere, living his best life, kicking back with a bourbon and Coke and reminiscing about his most awesome day ever.

D.B. Cooper Route Map

For some reason, hearing this story always makes this author think of hazing, and how that might impact one later on in life. One might, for example, end up jumping out of a plane in the middle of some desolate place with $200K neatly tucked away. Of course the money would be completely useless in that circumstance — unless one jumped with a lighter too, perhaps. The human brain can be a strange thing. Some people (say, D.B. Cooper) simply were not born for strategy. … We did actually pick a photograph for the header that represents one of the forest areas between Portland and Seattle. All in all, it does not look a fun landing spot for skydiving at night in bad weather. Should you be wondering about the seemingly small amount of money for which ol’ D.B. Cooper went to all this trouble, it might help to know that in 2022 dollars that represents about $1.4 million. Of course a single Warhol painting of Marilyn Monroe just sold at auction for $195 million, so all and all, it might have been easier to just jump with that.

Captured Beauty

Technically Captured Beauties

While many photographers prefer the controlled environment that comes with shooting indoors, Florida-based photographer Douglas Sawyer makes magic outdoors, illuminating his subjects’ bodies with golden sunsets and soft shadows, while they pose amongst nature’s backdrops.

“I am strongly guided by my natural environment and capturing my co-creatives’ interaction with those environments is where I find the magic I’m looking for,” Sawyer tells Penthouse. “I think I actually coined the term ‘environmental boudoir’ by accident when trying to describe what I do. It kind of stuck and works to describe much of the mood and locations I work in.”

Sawyer says his passion and “joy” for fine art nude portraiture is led by an admiration and desire to empower women.

“I absolutely love the sensual energy of women and really admire women who have a keen sense of who they are. So much of the world is mentally still in the dark ages when it comes to female autonomy of body and sexuality. I love helping women have a voice via my art. The joy it brings is contagious.”

The self-taught shooter, who first picked up a camera five years ago, says learning to go with the flow has been his biggest learning curve in honing his craft.

“I have always been fearless when it came to working with people. I never felt intimidated by the status or popularity of a model, but internally I think I was a ball of stress. I have since let go of that stress,” he explains.

“I have learned to find calm on shoots to take everything in slowly, and in that process learned to see the shoot the way I want to. Every day in this medium is another day learning, and the only person you will ever compete with is yourself from yesterday.”

As it turns out, Douglas here tends to capture the majority of his beauties naked, which makes perfect sense, and they do indeed qualify as beautiful, but it makes it difficult for us to show him off out in Penthouse Free-Web Land. Consequently, you may have noticed by those two pictures that we did a quick turn with our attentions so we could also take a quick look at CyberCutie Samantha Ferrec. She too enjoys a lot of life without clothing, so the two approaches fit together well. (Also, we got to show off some of the “soon to be available to the public” Penthouse Gear, and that always makes the boss happy. And happy bosses are good.)

Captured Beauty Samantha

Latina lovely Samantha Ferrec calls Colombia home, and this stunning brown-eyed camgirl says her favorite things about her hometown of Medellín are the beautiful weather and the warmth of its people. The blonde beauty tells Penthouse she enjoys camming because it’s helped her discover more and more about herself — especially when it comes to what she most enjoys.

“Being a camgirl allows me to use my imagination and invent concepts with costumes. I love to create art and be myself, and this job is a mix of all of those things,” explains the former cheerleader, who’s been doing cam shows for nearly three years.

For this adventurous beauty, posing nude comes naturally, and Samantha admits, “I love my body and feel so comfortable naked.”

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love spending time with my dog. I read books and paint — and I love playing video games! And I also enjoy cooking. I’m really good at it.

Describe your ideal partner.
Someone who can captivate me with his or her thoughts. Physically, they should look good and be clean, but I’m most interested in someone who can engage in interesting conversations about anything and everything, and who doesn’t fear new experiences.

How would you describe your personality?
I’m a cute girl, who loves to have fun and make others happy. I strive to enjoy every moment, and I’m passionate about everything I do.

What would be your dream adventure?
I’d love to go to Australia with my dog and drive a van all around the country.

Although the magazine did not cover all of the questions they asked on the form, we did want to take a second to highlight what has to be one of our favorite answers ever. After discovering that Samantha sleeps with five pillows every night, they asked the (apparently quite American) question, “What do you sleep in?”

Samantha answered, “A bed.”

You see, this explains why we all need to travel more. How can you recognize cultural bias if you never have a chance to have it hit you upside the head?

If you could not tell from all of the preceding, a Subscription to Penthouse Magazine — either print or digital — would allow you to accomplish a much more thorough experience with both Douglas Sawyer and Samantha Ferrec. Obviously we want to help, because we always want people to accomplish as much as they can.

Even without spending money you can catch up with Douglas Sawyer @dms.386, though, whereas the other Captured Beauty Samantha will be found pretty much all over the place. She has Instagram, of course, as well as Twitter (her favorite) and her Cam Home at Flirt4Free. You can also find her wherever she happens to be eating dinner (and drinking mango juice) tonight, but that location varies — and truthfully may be difficult to discover.

RPG not RBG

Tactical Role-Playing is Back in RPG

The tactical role-playing games (RPGs) many of us grew up with in the late ’90s and the early 2000s will always have a special place in our hearts — be it Baldur’s Gate, Fallout or Final Fantasy Tactics.

For a while, it seemed video games had moved on from the genre and on to greener pastures. As visuals got more advanced and gameplay more frenetic, there seemed to be no place for slow-paced, story-driven experiences. Outside a handful of select releases by Obsidian Entertainment and Larian Studios, most companies invested in role-playing as a whole preferred to adopt the “bigger equals better” approach of open-world RPGs like Skyrim and Cyberpunk 2077 — titles that blur the line between action game and RPG.

It’s hard to tell a story where your choices matter when your only options are to pull the trigger or swing a sword. Telling a story, or at least one that’s reactive to your actions, requires context and character motivation — elements that only an ample amount of dialogue options can offer.
Enter the tactical RPG: a genre that rewards patience and calls on players to invest time in creating and subsequently role-playing a character and doesn’t require much (if anything) in the way of reflexes. It’s no secret that as gamers are aging, so too are their tastes — and there are few things more accommodating to older gamers who want to sit back and think about their actions than an RPG that doesn’t penalize its players for not being good with a gamepad.

There’s nothing new about tactical RPGs — and it’s partly what draws so many gamers to them. Millennials who grew up on the turn-based and “real time with pause” RPGs of Y2K will feel at home with the new generation of titles led by the likes of Wasteland 3, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and Pillars of Eternity II. Baldur’s Gate 3, made by longtime RPG producer Larian Studios, is also playable and slated for a full release in 2022.

Many millennials — at least those who didn’t lose themselves in Counter-Strike — grew up on tactical RPGs but that says nothing of the fact that the genre has always catered to a more mature crowd. It’s as if these gamers, now of age, are finally old enough to truly appreciate what the genre has to offer.

The resurgence of the tactical RPG is largely owed to the fact it can now be experienced by an audience that’s looking for more than the cheap thrill of landing the top spot in an Apex Legends leaderboard — a feat that requires quick reflexes and mastery of the first-person shooter. If you’ve played one tactical RPG, you already have the means to play them all. There’s no learning curve, unless you’re playing one for the first time ever.

There’s only one real way to play a shooter: You point and click. That’s it. In a tactical RPG, not only are there different difficulty options, there’s the option to play the game as one of a myriad different classes — such as a spellcaster, charming bard, swordslinger or stealthy rogue and every combination in between. In a well-made RPG, your experience gears toward your personal preference.

One unique feature offered by every tactical RPG is that each playthrough can be tailored to the player’s liking. Prefer to breeze through the combat? Just play on story mode or disable perma-death. Prefer a tactical experience? You can do that, too.

While a round of Apex Legends or Call of Duty can give you a quick fix — provided you play well, of course — games like Pathfinder offer a more fulfilling, substantial experience that lingers long after you’ve finished your first playthrough. These story-driven, tactically minded games require you to invest in your character and the choices you make, which impact the world and the characters around you.

The realms in which the stories take place offer a respite from the monotony and grind of the real world, away from cancel culture, crime and the hassles of daily life. It’s easy to get lost in the fantasy worlds of Faerûn, Rivellon or Golarion, settings replete with their own culture and political machinations — all of which you have an active hand in shaping. Here, your choices matter.

With the COVID-19 pandemic locking much of the world indoors, there are few better places to explore than the worlds behind the looking glass — and they’re adventures you can experience at the beat of your own drum.

Granted, around here “beat your own drum” could mean something entirely different, but consider the therapeutic value of video games either “as” or “after” beating that drum. This particular author confesses a preference for “FPS” (First-Person Shooter) games as a rule, though. The whole RPG position as basically Digital Dungeons and Dragons can be a little taxing if one has relaxation as the goal. If you really want to feel better, put on one of the original versions of DOOM (for PC, sorry), enter the “God Mode” (which means you cannot be killed), and then start attacking all the bad guys with just the chain saw. … You’re not going to win quickly, but invincibility can boost the spirit immensely. Of course if the technical hurdles make playing an old DOS game on Windows too challenging, just get yourself a shirt like I have and walk around watching people read the message. It says, “If I had superpowers there is a 100% chance I would use them inappropriately.” … Or if all of that still seems like too much work, read a truly excellent series of books and let someone else tell you a story. You remember reading, right?