Ben Quayle, son of the former vice president and one of several Republican candidates for retiring Rep. John Shadegg’s House seat from Arizona, has admitted to writing comments on the web site Dirty Scottsdale back in 2007.
Dirty Scottsdale — which has spread to other cities and is now TheDirty.com — is a collection of pictures, usually of well-endowed women, that readers take while out clubbing. The pictures are followed by snarky comments from the site’s users and owner. (You can look, it’s safe for work.)
Two days ago, the site’s owner, who calls himself Nik Richie but whose real name is Hooman Karamian, wrote a post claiming Quayle used to write for the site and was “one of the original creators.”
“Since the beginning (DirtyScottsdale.com) three years ago, I have gotten the same question from the DIRTY ARMY from all over the world: ‘Who is Brock from the Dirty Celeb Brock’s Chick?'” he wrote, referring to a recurring feature on the site. “I have kept it a secret until right now… the mystery man is Ben Quayle aka Brock Landers, the son of Vice President Dan Quayle. If you are a DIRTY ARMY Republican, vote for Ben Quayle because he was one of the original creators of DirtyScottsdale.com which evolved into TheDirty.com.”
A ringing endorsement for sure. Quayle denied it, telling Politico, “I did not have a role in founding that site.” Pressed if he had been involved at all, he said, “I was not involved in the site.”
He then released a statement saying he knew the founder, but maintained that “the assertion that I was a ‘creator’ of this website is false.” He also said the site then “looked nothing like it looks today.”
Quayle describes himself as a “lifelong social conservative” in one mailer, vowing to fight abortion and gay marriage, but his web site focuses more on fiscal policy than social. He was also involved in a flap last week when opponents accused him of misleading voters into thinking he has children.
The story took off, however, and Quayle admitted to local media that he had been involved.
“I just posted comments to try to drive some traffic,” he told a local news station. He told another outlet he wrote “two, possibly three” posts.
He also acknowledged that he had referred Karamian to an intellectual property lawyer who Quayle, also a lawyer, was working with at the time.
Angered by Quayle’s denials, Karamian has been posting on Quayle since, claiming Quayle had sex with a stranger in Karamian’s house and asking, “How could you forget the crazy hooker?” In one post he wrote to Quayle, “I hope you rot in hell.”
