James Lipton Worked As A Pimp In Paris After WWII

James Lipton, the host of Inside the Actors Studio, recently revealed that he worked as a pimp in Paris in the 1950s shortly after World War II.

“Paris was different then, still poor,” Lipton told Parade.com. “Men couldn’t get jobs and, in the male chauvinist Paris of that time, the women couldn’t get work at all. It was perfectly respectable for them to go into le milieu.”

Lipton got involved in the business through a prostitute friend of his. When he ran out of money and thought it was time to go home, she facilitated his entry into the underworld of Parisian prostitution. He ended up representing an entire bordello. "I did a roaring business, and I was able to live for a year," he said. "The French mecs didn’t exploit women. They represented them, like agents. And they took a cut. That’s how I lived.”

When asked for his thoughts on whether people should buy sex or not, Lipton answered, “I really don’t. I think if you can’t earn it on your own, then you don’t deserve it.” It’s worth mentioning that Lipton has been married to his wife Kedakai Turner for 40 years, a woman he calls a “masterpiece.”

Lipton’s Inside the Actors Studio is celebrating its 250th episode on Wednesday, which will include a two-hour retrospective. It will air on Bravo at 7/6c.

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