Gay Model Kicked Off Photo Shoot

Story by Casey Welsch 

| Published Sep 30, 2008

A major scandal erupted at Back Door Studios last weekend when one of the gay nude models participating in a photo shoot was kicked off the set.

It was discovered that he was secretly involved with a collegiate organized athletics program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Vince Pinto, the model in question, was discovered to be secretly involved with UNL athletics when his face and persona were shown as part of a highlight reel on ESPN.

“We had all heard the rumors that [Pinto] might have been a closet athlete playing sports on the side,” said Johnny Salamar, the owner and head photographer of Back Door Studios. “But we always thought it just that: rumors. Once the proof was laid out in front of me, I was shocked.”

This shocking revelation was brought to Salamar’s attention when a Back Door intern saw Pinto on a “Sports Center” highlight reel that he had TiVo’d.

“The kid put the footage on a flash drive and brought it to me the next day,” Salamar said. “I was disgusted.”

The intern in question declined to comment on the issue but explained that this is because he feels a little traumatized.

He posed nude in photos with Pinto before the discovery was made and said that he had no idea Pinto had secretly been an athlete the entire time.

He said he feels slightly violated.

According to Salamar, Pinto had to be thrown off the shoot because it is a direct violation of NCXXX regulations to accept favors from, or be in any way involved with an organized athletic institution while posing for a NCXXX-sanctioned photo or video shoot.

“[Pinto] knew the rules, but he did it anyway,” Salamar said. “He was a good model. Rugged, firm, willing to try anything, but I’m not going to allow that kind of wanton rule-breaking in my Back Door.”

Pinto feels, however, that the regulations put in place by the NCXXX are harsh, outdated and discriminatory.

“I don’t see why I can’t build a little muscle on the side,” Pinto said. “They’ve got me on those photo shoots 12 hours a day. It’s a high-demand business. That doesn’t leave me much time to go to the gym, so I joined the team because their practices fit my schedule. I just needed a little extra motion.”

Pinto says that the NCXXX ruling to uphold his removal from Back Door Studio’s operations reflects a bias against athletes and violates his constitutional rights.

Pinto realized that he was an athlete in high school and has been fighting a certain amount of discrimination ever since.

“I know that part of the reason they removed me from the Back Door roster is that some of the people with the NCXXX are afraid of athletes,” Pinto said. “I bet I can guess why, too. It’s ridiculous. I’ve been an athlete since high school, and I’ve always done shoots as well. I don’t see the logic in this ruling at all.”

Joshua Rubin, a NCXXX official, stated in a press release that the organization’s decision to uphold their decision does not reflect any prejudice against athletes.

“It’s not that we’re anti-athlete. I, for one, love athletes, all bulgy, sweaty, rippling and toned,” Rubin said.

“It’s just that [Pinto] was involved with an organization in blatant defiance of our rules. We may hold a conference to discuss those rules at some point in the future, but for now, our ruling stands firm.”

Pinto said that he refuses to wait for the NCXXX to convene over his case and is planning to take the matter to court.

“I won’t wait while they decide whether or not to talk about it,” Pinto said. “They took away the one thing I was good at. I am a Back Door man! I always will be. And I will do whatever it takes to get myself back in Back Door as quick as I can.”

Pinto has already hired a lawyer, and he plans to acquire a court date as swiftly as possible.

His lawyer is a Lincoln-based attorney named David Crammore.

“It truly is an outrage that my client be suspended for such a trivial offense,” Crammore said. “I will stand firm and tall against anything the NCXXX can spit at me. I will get Vince Pinto off suspension and back in front of the camera.”

News of  this issue has already reached the public realm, and several groups are commenting on this situation as well, including model mogul Byra Tanks and Phred Felps, the leader of the controversial Eastshire Methodist Chapel.

“Whenever something like this happens to a model, it just makes me so angry,” Tanks said. “And it happens a lot. Modeling has got to be the most difficult and demanding job in the world.”

Felps had a slightly different take on the situation.

“God hates athletes,” Felps said. “Nebraska, land of the athletic damned.”