“THE scene I saw at midnight around the hot tub would have made Caligula blush,” wrote the Washington Post newspaper after dispatching a reporter to Hedonism.

Caligula was the Roman Caesar famous for his overindulgence in sexual orgies, explained Attorney Reginald Clyne of Clyne and Associates, who is representing defendants in a lawsuit filed by SuperClubs chairman, John Issa.

Clyne was questioning Issa’s daughter, Zein Issa-Nakash in a follow-up deposition in the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida, where Issa is claiming that he was defamed by e-mails traced to computers originating in that US state.

Citing an article in the popular American newspaper, Clyne read: “Nothing defines ‘Hedonism’ so much as its reputation for open, casual sex. Officially, the resort prohibits public sexual activity, but the rules against it are like speed limits than flat restrictions.”

The newspaper quoted then general manager, Joseph Smith as saying: “We’re not going to let them have sex in the dining room, but at 2:00 am, in some isolated corner, living out their tropical fantasy, we’re more lenient.”

When Clyne asked if anyone did anything about the resort’s reputation for open, casual sex, Issa-Nakash, the SuperClubs vice-president for marketing and environmental affairs, said she probably didn’t see the article.

Clyne: “But if I’m not in Jamaica and I read this Washington Post article which talks about open, casual sex at Hedonism, would it be fair for me to publicly comment that I find that inappropriate?”

Joe DeMaria (Issa’s lawyer): “Objection on many grounds.”

Issa-Nakash: “Let me say something. The line that you read to me: ‘We’re not going to let them have sex in the dining room, says general manager Joseph Smith, but at 2:00 am, in some isolated corner, living out their tropical fantasy, we’re more lenient’, that doesn’t indicate to me that it’s out in the open, group sex, which is what I think you are implying. This is… this seems more not quite so…”

DeMaria asked Clyne if the writer was an anonymous person, to which he replied: “This is the Washington Post writer, went down there (Hedonism), sent down by the Washington Post who then wrote an article about it.”

“The scene I saw at midnight around the hot tub would have made Caligula blush,” Clyne read and asked Issa-Nakash: “Do you know who Caligula is?” She said ‘no’.

“He is a Roman Caesar who was famous for orgies and overindulgence,” added Clyne.

DeMaria: “I would object to the form only because your description of Caligula may be a bit incomplete.”

Clyne read on: “‘Three separate couples cavorting on lounge chairs with an audience attending.’ So, in other words, you have three couples having sex and everybody is watching?”

DeMaria: “Object to the form.”

Clyne later asked Issa-Nakash how did the article enhance her father, John Issa’s reputation.

Issa-Nakash: “I don’t know if it did or didn’t. The one thing I would like to say with regards to that line that you read about the three couples, nowhere does it say they were prostitutes. So even though it’s something that we should not have allowed, it doesn’t say that it’s illegal in terms of it being prostitutes, and I’m scanning the article and I don’t see where he (the writer) talks about prostitutes either.”

Clyne: I will get to that later, but what I want to know is that there was open, public sex happening in your hotel and it was announced in the Washington Post, that’s what I want to establish.”

DeMaria: “You have established nothing. I object to the form.”

Clyne: “Let me show you another article.”

To be continued