WAWU: RWHNO with Melissa Beck

Princess Melissa joins us to discuss this season of The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans!

Also! After excessive digging on the Wayback Machine, we managed to find Melissa's blog post from January 2003 explaining the entire situation on the demise of her friendship with Julie—with receipts! Here's an excerpt below, but you can read it in its entirety here. 

Julie says:

"If you agreed to be represented by an agent that also represented me, and that agent then misrepresented you to a client, it is not at all my fault."

Since she and her agent have a special mother-daughter relationship, doesn’t it put a slightly different spin on where moral responsibility lies?

Point two – Let’s talk business.

Featured as an expose on http://www.therealworldroad.cjb.net/, the following is presented from a “source close to cast members”:

"Here is what happened between Julie and Melissa. Melissa was 100% in the right to confront Julie and tell her off. Julie has been screwing Real World cast members for years now. She has even been caught writing emails degrading other cast members, so she gets the appearances before the others. Some universities have even forwarded emails they received from Julie on why they should book her over Melissa as well as other cast members. She would usually just tell lies to steal the appearances from other cast members. As well, the school they were arguing about in the episode happened like this.

The school called Julie first directly and asked her to speak. Julie wanted a higher fee then what RW cast members usually get. When Julie heard they were also trying to book Melissa and that Melissa charges the accurate fee, Julie started talking [expletive] on her to the school and even put it in writing, saying Melissa was not a good speaker, curses frequently in her appearances and will not sign autographs and is all in all rude. Now this could not be further from the truth. Melissa as well and most cast members do triple the amount of appearances than Julie does, and Julie has such a bad reputation at the colleges that her speaking days are limited. Julie has also been know to charge I believe 10 dollars for an autograph picture of herself and up to $100 dollars for a simple interview with her. And this has been documented!!”

The school discussed here is Hood College located at 401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick, MD, 21701. The event organizer’s name is Tina Wells, and can be reached at www.buzzmg.com or contact the event organizers directly at Hood College Student Government Association. Speaking on behalf of Tina Wells is her attorney Avalon Betts-Gaston:

“It’s unfortunate that the situation has escalated to this level. Tina Wells’ company Buzz Marketing Group did in fact coordinate the speaking engagement at Hood College. Due to a series of miscommunication, misinformation (i.e. Mrs. Jan Stoffer told Ms. Wells that Melissa was “unavailable” for the event and “quite demanding”), and overall frustration, Ms. Wells advised Ms. Julie Stoffer that her appearance was no longer wanted for the event, which Ms. Julie Stoffer either did not receive, as alleged, or chose to ignore. As my client values her reputation and honesty, she just wants the truth regarding her college’s event revealed and the issue involving that matter finally put to rest.”

The ploy generally works similar to this real life example. Julie used to have her agent’s information (who is also her mother) listed on her webpage. Tina Wells contacted Julie’s mother to hire Julie. Tina Wells also contacted Worldwide Talent Group to hire me. My agent told Tina I would be $1500, the standardized fee for all cast members. Jan told her that Julie would be $1800, but that other cast members would be less. Because Tina was equipped with the knowledge that my agent was charging a standardized fee, she dug further into the matter to bring performers to her school at the most accommodating price. Jan also told her that she could get any cast member to perform, and to just let her know who Tina wanted. Jan called me saying she herself is a public speaker and has a job that Julie is doing, and asked if I would like to do that job as well. The only problem with this is that I had already been contacted by WTG, my agent, to do the job. I became confused as to why Jan Stoffer was telling me she had an “opportunity” that she just came across for me when I was already set to perform. I did not call Jan Stoffer back, and in turn, Jan told Tina Wells that she accepted my unreturned phone call as a “no.” Why is Jan quoting my “rate”, or any other cast member’s rate if she is not my or their agent? After Julie or her mother found out that I was charging the actual fee, the misrepresentations about my availability and my performance started to take shape. At this point, my agent and I agreed that this was entirely a lost cause. Jan’s “no” became a reality, and Julie booked the job, only to be uninvited due to a slew of other problems. Hotel accommodations, both air and ground transportation and food are added on as extra charges. Julie did not give Tina Wells an invoice for her travels until very close to the time of the performance. When Tina saw the amount of the invoice, she officially called off Julie’s appearance. Julie still showed up, and demanded payment even after the school’s attorney faxed her an official letter saying she is not welcome at their school. If you would like to contact Brian Monaco at Worldwide Talent to further investigate my claims, he can be reached at worldwidetalent@aol.com or by mail at 15 East Putnam Ave, Ste 319, Greenwich, CT 06830.

To further prove my points about misrepresentation, here are some emails written between Tina Wells and Jan Stoffer regarding an appearance at Hood College.

From: Janet Stoffer

Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 12:07 PM

Subject: Re: possible appearance at Hood College

Thank you for your interest in having Julie speak at your school. As a cast member for MTV's "The Real World", she has had the opportunity to travel across the country talking to teens and young adults. She is excellent public speaker. At the completion of filming, MTV sent Julie to a speakers camp run by President Bush's Points of Light Foundation. Of course Julie most often speaks about the "Real World" experience, what she is doing now and her future plans. In addition to the obvious"Real World " topic, she is trained to speak on a number of different issues- Diversity, AIDS & STDs, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Abstinence, and Depression to name a few. Julie is one of the more popular "Real World" characters and her celebrity status makes her an ideal spokesperson for topics that she strongly believes in. She always appreciates an opportunity to discuss these subjects with others. Her rate is $1800 for the day plus travel and expenses. She does a one-hour keynote presentation followed by an autograph and photo op session.(Due to her popularity with the high school and college crowd, allow some considerable time for this.) Julie is unique, in that she often stays an hour or more for the autograph time. We can also supply a headshot of Julie that you can reproduce and sell or distribute as the attendees meet Julie. Julie has done well over a hundred personal appearances in a variety of different venues since the MTV filming wrapped up last Sept. We are currently booking into winter and work on a first come first served basis, so now is a great time to schedule. To find out more about Julie, you may want to visit her website at planetjulie.com. You can contact me at the following Hotmail address to schedule Julie or anyone else from The Real World or Road Rules casts. I look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can work together to have Julie visit your school.

Sincerely,

Jan Stoffer - Julie's Manager

janstoffer@hotmail.com

Julie claims: “Bottom line, you are mad that I don't charge as much as you do, and consequently receive more work. That's all it is. Schools pick me because they get a good show and a band for a very low price. I have every right to charge whatever I think I am worth. Similarly, you set your fee to what you think you are worth. Here's a little lesson on supply and demand. Because your fee is higher you get less jobs, but in the end you make more on the jobs you do get.”

This refutes Julie’s claim that she gets more work because she charges less.

From: Janet Stoffer

To: tina@buzzmg.com

Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2001 7:00 PM

Subject: Re: possible appearance at Hood College

Dear Tina,

I can book almost anyone from any Real World or Road Rules casts, just tell me who you are interested in. There are a few who are unavailable due to school or other jobs, but most love doing these appearances. The fees run from $1500 to $1800 depending on the person. Julie still has some October dates open, but we are generally booking into November. I've got a call into her to see what she has left. Did you have a date in mind? I look forward to hearing from you.

Jan Stoffer

Our fees are not supposed to have range depending on a cast member, and why is she talking about anybody’s unavailability?

From: Janet Stoffer

To: tina@buzzmg.com

Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 10:46 AM

Subject: Re: possible appearance at Hood College

Tina - Thanks for the information. I just need to clarify. Did you want just Julie and James, and are the other names possible alternatives if they aren't available. Or did you want me to see how many of these people I can get on that date? I can tell you that Danny has cancelled all appearences for at least the next 6 months, if not indefinately. He is just tired of it all. Also, I can try Teck, but he is quite busy with other things. I will give them a call.

Jan

For the record, Danny has never been on any hiatus. Teck does not know Jan Stoffer, and has never been contacted by or offered work from her.

Point three – It’s not just me

I write this today to open the door on the truth. What you didn’t see or hear is what was said BEFORE and AFTER the show. Here’s what Mike “The Miz” Mizanin from The Real World Back to New York, and Coral of the same cast had to say before the show even aired:

Mike: Julie will be gone because no one from The Real World likes her.

Coral: Not because we're petty and retarded, but because she's a liar!

Mike: Julie makes everyone believe that she's an innocent girl who does nothing wrong, but in actuality...

Coral: She's the DEVIL!!!!

Coral Smith from The Real World Back to New York, was set to perform at Lehigh Community College in Schneckville, PA (contact the Campus Activities Board). Jan was “giving” this job to Coral, but Jan refused to give Coral the actual name of the community college until the date neared. Coral demanded that she know where she was going because she has a right to know where she will be performing. Jan avoided telling Coral because that would open up the possibility that Coral could investigate why Jan was secretive. Jan told Coral she would make $1200 off of the appearance, and Jan also told her that she wouldn’t make a commission. Coral called the school, found out that the school had sent a check to the agency in the amount of $5000. That means that Coral would be doing all the work while Jan Stoffer collected $3800. This amount is, let’s say, well over the standard booking agent’s commission. Why, I thought Jan didn’t make a commission?! Well, in my opinion, she presents herself that way so that newer cast members, the ones that the Stoffers allegedly “target”, feel as though they are getting a free grand by some nice lady who just wants to help. This is not illegal, but it is wrong. Coral told the school to stop payment on the check, and canceled the appearance altogether. When Coral questioned Julie’s mother, she responded saying Coral is just “an angry girl,” an argument that coincidentally mirrors how her daughter feels about me because I too have questioned this business handling. All of this happened before I knew Coral personally.

Lori Trespicio, sole writer for www.everythinglori.com writes this:

"Julie’s fan club didn’t so much exist in Jamaica. It’s the truth. There were very few who liked her, very few who trusted her, and everyone had either had a previous bad experience or had been forewarned about her, and NOT by Melissa. Julie’s sketchiness is well known in the world of BMP types."

And also,

“I know that everyone knew Julie was shady except a select few - most likely the few that were in interviews.”

While I admit that Lori and I are friends, I did not coerce her into making these statements. We haven’t spoken on the phone in forever, and since the show aired, we’ve talked through email twice.

From Colin Mortensen of The Real World Hawaii at www.colinsworld.com:

“Julie did, allegedly, according to many humanoids, attempt to swindle many dollars from Princess Melissa (Melissa wasn't having it). In fact, according to Woodward & Bernstein, Julie and her mother continue to swindle ex-Real Worlders out of their money on a daily basis – just ask any person, besides Theo, who has ever been on The Real World and they’ll tell you to steer clear of the Stoffers.”

From Danny Roberts of the Real World New Orleans at www.countrytoconcrete.org:

“Let's just say that Julie is America's biggest con-artist and it goes much deeper than the lecture circuit issue. Editing my friends. I will say though that Julie is [expletive] good at deception.”

Danny Roberts is probably the cast member who has suffered most from the Stoffers’ misrepresentations. Danny has had an extremely lucrative run because he is appealing to men, women, boys and girls. All around the world, people want to see and meet Danny as if he is some kind of unicorn, an unbelievable sight to see, and I don’t blame them. Danny and my booking agent have both shared stories with me about Julie writing letters about Danny, saying he is “egotistical”, that he is “uninterested” in speaking at colleges, and that Julie is a better choice. When Danny confronted her about the letter she wrote to a PR firm, she said she never did that. Brian Monaco has seen the letter with his own two eyes, thought it was completely horrible and forwarded it along to Danny. Danny also confronted Julie about Jan’s several emails to schools bashing Danny’s performances, even saying that he was retired. Julie’s response to Danny? “Somebody must have broken into our email accounts…” I could break into a house faster than I could break into someone’s email, write malicious things about him, and then bounce.

Kelley Limp, of The Real World New Orleans, was interviewed by Wanda at E! Online after she finished her stint on The Real World Road Rules Battle of the Seasons and was quoted as saying “Julie=shady.”

Point Four – The truth shall set me free

I accept the position that I look like a “maniacal bitch” but I am willing to take on the title only because I believe wholeheartedly in what I did and am saying. Every word that came out of my mouth was born out of an intense appreciation for justice and truth. I know that my wash comes clean.

As far as Julie’s and her mother’s business practices, I know that I have severed my relationship with Julie so I don’t work for or with her. Other cast members have stories similar to these here. Some cast members may still even work with Julie or for Jan Stoffer out of ignorance of the facts, or just plain necessity for income. I do not.

I, as well as many of other cast members, just want all the lies to stop. We all want to work in this “business” as professionals, and this hoopla sends a terrible message about who we are as a group, as people, and as performers. I personally would like to put an end to this argument, and that can only happen if Julie truly does “keep my name out of her mouth.” It seems every time she speaks my name, unnecessary stress and disillusion follow. I’m tired of it. We’re all tired of it.