LDBM

THE SCANDAL

Bonnie, Tom and the rest of the Band sued Vivid Entertainment as well as Marcus Grant for defamation of character and a whopping 150 million dollars. The video, titled "Tokio Hotel – From Germany with Love" sold to over 120 million people worldwide. It was illegally streamed to over 500 million people across the globe. Still images from the stolen footage were plastered all over the web, blogs, television and magazines. Despite their efforts to keep it concealed, the damage was done.

The video starts with Tom holding the camera in his unsteady hands. He is lying on a bed with his free arm in his lap wearing a few pieces of rustic bracelets. His bottom covered by a white sheet exposing an obvious dick print. A few moments later Bonnie appears in view wearing a dainty champagne colored satin slip. The sun glares behind her as she smiles at him blowing kisses. Tom's thick German accent reached from behind the camera saying, "You're so fucking sexy baby. I love you so much. I want to fuck you so bad right now."

Tom motions for her to come over to him; she pulls her blonde waves down from the high ponytail, and then makes her way to him. The screen fades to black as she crawled onto the bed. Then the viewers sees the camera being partly covered by Bonnie's outstretched arm. She moves her arm and you see Tom with his head in between her legs. The camera shuffled about the bed losing focus every few minutes. Bonnie laid on her back with her arms holding onto Tom's wild dark mane as his arms held a tight grip around her thighs as she moaned and cried out "I'M COMING!" The video fades once more then Bonnie appears beneath the camera, her bright eyes pierced through the screen. She's positioned on her knees with her hands wrapped around Tom's huge erect penis, jerking it and sucking it. Tom groaned as he placed his hands on the back of her head taking a chunk of her hair to force his penis harder into her throat. This went on for a few minutes until Bonnie gagged. He pulled his penis from out of her dripping mouth and then stood her up to him. The camera tilts over her shoulder showing a glimpse of their bedroom and then again, it fades to black.

The camera opened again to a first person look of Tom fucking Bonnie doggy-style. His hands shook the camera as she slammed herself back into him. Tom's free arm held onto Bonnie's waist as her huge bottom rose from his harder thrust. He let out a loud growl and then stopped. "Wait, I'm sitting this shit down". Tom positioned the camera on a nightstand at the top of their bed then went back over to Bonnie. She sat up on her knees with her back facing him kissing him over her shoulder. Tom moved his hands around, made his way back inside of her, and continued kissing her as he softly and slowly made love to her. She turned her head as the obvious pleasure took control over her. His huge hands gripped the bottom of her face as he began to pick up speed. She threw her body down and her ass in the air as Tom thrusted harder and harder. They both wept with moans and screams then Tom grabbed Bonnie's neck with his left hand, titling her face up into the ceiling, and held onto her waist with his right as he forced himself into her faster and what seemed like deeper. Bonnie's face was a mixture of euphoria and pain as her arms clutched his around her neck and pushing him back with her free hand. The sex went on for only a few more minutes before Tom threw his head back and screamed a word in German.

Subtitles at the bottom of the screen displayed the said the word "Shit". Tom held onto Bonnie kissing her shoulders, moving her hair from his view and kissing on her ear and cheeks. Both of them were breathing heavily then Tom muttered something in her ear that was too quiet to make out. She laughed a loud short laugh then turned her head to grab him by his wild hair and kiss him. "Fuck, let me go and turn this shit off." Tom said motioning towards the camera. His sculpted naked body left the bed, swaying his big but now flaccid penis. He pulled a hair band from his wrist and tied back his tossed hair. The screen went blank.

The case began a month after the video footage released. Marcus Grant claimed Tokio Hotel and Bonnie gave him the rights to use the video.

He claimed both Tom and Bonnie wanted to leak the tape but felt it would be more professional and profitable if they sold it Vivid Entertainment. He said they made that tape on purpose and that purpose was fame! "Bonnie was all for it and then, when the tape became public; she acted as if she was upset. Everyone on the inside knew that it was all an act. She wanted to be famous and it worked."

Regarding their legal claims, Marcus and Vivid Entertainment's attorneys all concluded that Tokio Hotel and Bonnie had to have played a part in the distribution of the video, or else it could not have legally been sold. Marcus's Los Angeles attorney Michael Winston stated, "It appears that both Bonnie Evans and Tom Kaulitz consented to make the sex tape. Clearly, they both are aware of the taping as they are mugging for the camera. The sex tape appears to be high quality and well shot. Additionally, both parties would have consented to signing on the distribution deal with Vivid Entertainment."

Vivid Entertainment argued that the most likely scenario is that they both decided to leak the tape but then decided, "Why not make money from this. We will hire Marcus as our guy." They argued that Tom and Bonnie both could have easily called on their lawyers to stop that tape from being shown to the public.

Tokio Hotel's Attorney, Larry Kimber, explains it simply: "People generally have a right to privacy which is recognized under the U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution. That right to privacy includes the right not to have private sex tapes shown to the public without consent. So releasing a sex tape without consent would violate this right." Larry concludes, "I am aware of cases where sex tapes were released even though neither party agreed. However, the celebrity always has the right to have that footage withdrawn if they want. This is why we are here. Marcus Grant stole that footage and sold it to Vivid Entertainment without consent."

After three months of cases going back and forth with Vivid, Tokio Hotel appeared to be losing. It became harder and tougher to justify consent. With their Attorney Larry Kimber's advice, they decided to drop legal action against Vivid Entertainment and settled with a financial and legal agreement they both saw fair.

The tape, which Vivid paid a million dollars for, made them 250 million dollars, is now a bestseller in adult video stores and online markets. Georg, Gustav, and Bill received 1.2 million dollars each from the payout. Tom and Bonnie received a total of 11 million dollars in the settlement. The agreement also stated Vivid permanently cease distribution of the tape at the end of that year in December.

The reviews of settlement were mixed. Some thought that Tokio Hotel and Bonnie should have fought longer. Magazines and Television shows everywhere believed that they sold themselves and some even think Vivid and Marcus was telling the truth because of the buy-out. Their fans were the same way. The video, which was not just a "sex tape" as it was advertised, featured everything from going out on shopping dates with Bill to a 5 second clip of Bonnie and Sophie turning to face the camera and smiling. This was the only time Sophie was shown in the footage. The band was forced to postpone their tour, again for another two months. The strain the leaked video and press put stress on the band as a whole as well as Tom's and Bonnie relationship. Bonnie rarely left the house and when she did, she wanted to have a bodyguard with her. The Band had to hire another PR agent as well as a Publicist to deal with all the aftermath.

With all the chaos happening, Tom and Bill were honing their main focus with the early stages of planning their upcoming 30th birthday in September. No matter the scandal, they were partying for their birthday.