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Music producer Quincy Jones denied ever telling “Girls Gone Wild” porn purveyor Joe Francis that casino mogul Steve Wynn wanted to "bury him in the desert.”
When asked if Wynn had said this to Jones, the Grammy Award winning music icon emphatically said "No. Absolutely not” more than a dozen times during court testimony on Thursday.
Steve Wynn is suing Francis for slander. The two have been embroiled in a bitter war of words for some years now.
Jones says he has been friends with Wynn for more than 40 years and was also a neighbor of Francis at one time. Jones added that he tried to act as a mediator between the two men at one point. The “Girls Gone Wild” producer insisted that Jones showed him an email from Wynn in which the mogul threatened to murder Francis over a gambling debt.
From ABC News:
In the alleged email from Wynn, the mogul allegedly plotted to have Francis, 39, killed by bashing him “in the back of the head with a shovel” and then digging him a sandy grave away from the Las Vegas Strip, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2010.
“Mr. Francis does believe he was in danger and he went to the judge to exercise his right to seek protection in the court system,” Francis’ attorney, Aaron Aftergood, told ABC News. “They believe the truth will come out and Mr. Francis’ rights will be protected in the court of law.
Wynn claims Francis concocted the alleged murder threat and spread it in the media as retaliation after Wynn's eponymous, upscale resort in Las Vegas tried to collect a disputed $2 million gambling debt, according to the New York Daily News.
A lawyer read prior deposition testimony in which Francis claimed Jones called Wynn a "gangster" who "doesn't play."
"Is that a quote from you?" Wynn's lawyer Barry Langberg asked Jones.
"That sounds like a line from 'Scarface,'" Jones laughed. "No, absolutely not."
"Did you ever tell Joe Francis you had emails where Steve Wynn said he would hit him over the head with a shovel and bury him in the desert, or words to that effect?" Langberg asked.
"Where are these emails? I keep hearing about emails. I've never seen any," Jones said.
Closing arguments in this case begin on Friday.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
