"Real Housewife" Sex Tape Blocked from Release
By XANA O'NEILL
Updated 9:00 AM CDT, Thu, Jun 25, 2009
New Jersey housewife Danielle Straub has successfully blocked a steamy sex tape from being hawked by a scorned ex-beau she claims is out for revenge.
A New Jersey judge halted the release of a sex video -- taken on a cell phone -- featuring the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star that was being shopped to the highest bidder by her embittered ex-boyfriend Stephen Zalewski, 27.
"It sickened me," Straub said during the hearing.
Straub's attorney filed suit in Passaic Country Court alleging invasion of privacy, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The "Housewife" said her ex was trying to get back at her and her children for dumping him.
"This is about my kids," Straub said outside of court yesterday. "I'm a big girl. Do what you want to me. But you broke bread with my children. Don't do this to me. No adult should ever do this to a child."
Zalewski told Star magazine he was considering selling the tape.
"She cost me so much money, why shouldn't I make a few dollars?" he said.
The victory in court for Straub came as details of her sordid past surfaced in legal documents that alleged she used to sling coke and work as an escort in her 20s before the FBI got involved.
The mother-of-two -- who went by the name Beverly Ann Merrill -- was involved with a drug dealer while she worked at the escort service and kidnapped a man for ransom after he botched a drug deal.
Straub faced eight felony counts but signed a plea deal and got five years probation.
"Don't judge me," she told Usmagazine.com. "There's only one person that can judge anybody. In spirit and in life, we are all equal. There is only one higher power."
Fellow housewife Jacqueline Laurita was the lone cast member to come to Straub's aid during the show -- defying her sisters-in-law to stick up for the.
Now, Laurita said she has broken ties with the embattled housewife.
"I am not friends with Danielle," she told Usmagazine.
First Published: Jun 24, 2009 11:42 AM CDT on NBC New York
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