14 DAY TRIAL // Hank Baskett hasn’t received this much attention from the media in his entire 5-year marriage to former Playboy Bunny Kendra Wilkinson as he’s been receiving these days, after word broke that he cheated on her with a famous transgender model named Ava Sabrina London or Ava Masaniai.
The story goes like this: sometime in April, as Kendra was at home being pregnant with the couple’s second child, about one month before she gave birth, Hank sought out Ava online, after seeing several of her videos on YouTube.
They met and had relations for which he paid, and they parted ways with the promise that this would turn out into a bit more – presumably a full-fledged affair. Oh, the sweet smell of scandal!
Ava herself is telling the press that she was the first transsexual Hank was with and that he told her he thought she was “beautiful.” This isn’t just an “insider” talking to some obscure tabloid, this is a real person who’s going on the record to back up a story.
Some time after this encounter, Hank got spooked that the media might find out about his trespassing, so he contacted Ava again to let her know that there would be no other meeting and, hence, no affair. He paid her a larger sum this time and promised her even more money if she continued keeping her mouth shut.
Today, she’s talking to the media and supposedly getting paid for it, so I’m just going to go on a limb out there and say that Hank didn’t deliver on that promise. The fact that she’s speaking out means that this scandal won’t die down too soon.
However, as celebrity scandals go, this one is a bit odd. For starters, it’s the second of the type we’ve had this year, after other 2 transgender models went on the record to say that Casper Smart had relations with them behind Jennifer Lopez’s back.
In fact, the Baskett case is linked to the Smart scandal in that Hank apparently freaked out only when he found out that the women Casper engaged were so loose-tongued in their discussions with the press. The timing of it all seems a bit too convenient and, if you’re a skeptic like me, you might already be wondering out loud: is this, the cheating with a transgender model thing, the latest fad in terms of fake celebrity scandals?
Is it a ploy to boost interest in B-list celebrities, put together by the celebrities themselves? Is it an attempt to sell magazines and boost the profile of the alleged mistress? Or is it all legit?
My guess is that this one is legit. This London woman wouldn’t risk getting sued by Baskett and Wilkinson just for a round of free publicity, not unless she has certain mental issues, like the girl who claimed to have had Justin Bieber’s baby a couple of years ago had.
Kendra and Hank might not be the biggest stars out there, but they’re still famous enough and rich enough to afford an attorney who would take London to the cleaners in court if she lied about the affair. So, unless she’s in cahoots with these two, she’s most likely telling the truth. And I’d bet 10 bucks more dirt will come out in the following days.
The other possibility is that, if the scandal isn’t real, it’s a PR ploy put together by Kendra and Hank and London. When Dean McDermott allegedly cheated on Tori Spelling and all came out to light last December, it eventually landed Tori a new reality show in which she got to document all the post-cheating marital drama. Just like that, ka-ching!
Add to that the fact that no one could trace the alleged lover down after that one interview she gave, and you'll understand why all this talk the cheating never happened. You can’t cheat on someone with a person who doesn’t exist, I should think.
So Kendra could be pulling a page from Tori’s handbook on making easy money, and manufacturing drama for a new reality show / docuseries. She too earns a living only from her TV projects so, if she’s calculated enough, she could have come up with this plan, which would also benefit London. Baskett’s reputation would take a beating, but it’ll only be temporary if they kiss and make up, like Spelling and McDermott did.
Whatever the case (real scandal or manufactured), one thing is certain: they’ve got people’s undivided attention right now. The ball is in their court at the moment. What will their next move be?