Casino mogul Steve Wynn testified today that record producer Quincy Jones routinely disparaged Joe Francis in their conversations concerning the “Girls Gone Wild” founder.
“He refers to Joe Francis as a screwball, a maniac … a villain,” Wynn said.
Testifying in Los Angeles Superior Court in trial of his defamation lawsuit against Francis, Wynn’s remarks contradicted those of the soft porn producer, who told jurors Tuesday that he had a close relationship with Jones and that the Motown great told him Wynn sent him emails saying he wanted him dead.
In his suit filed in June 2010, Wynn alleges Francis defamed him by twice stating on April 12, 2010, that Wynn threatened to kill the video-maker and bury him in the desert.
Wynn testified he met Jones more than 30 years ago, prior to the time the hotelier said he began working with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin on entertainment ventures in Las Vegas.
Wynn said it was while he was involved in previous litigation with Francis that he first found out that the defendant knew Jones and that the two lived on the same street.
Wynn said Jones told him that he was scheduled to be Francis’ best man at his wedding to Christina McClarty. But Jones said he would not go forward with that promise unless Frances agreed to settle with Wynn, according to the casino owner.
Wynn denied telling Jones he wanted to kill Francis.
“I did not send an email or tell Mr. Jones I was going to kill anybody,” Wynn testified. “It is a terrible lie.”
Wynn maintains that one of Francis’ allegedly defamatory statements was made in Los Angeles Superior Court during a hearing concerning a $2 million gambling debt Francis allegedly ran up at one of Wynn’s Las Vegas casinos.
The second statement occurred outside the same courtroom.
Both remarks were overheard by an Internet celebrity gossip reporter, according to the lawsuit.
Francis’ lawyers maintain the second statement was a re-publication of what was said in the courtroom and therefore not actionable.
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