Joe Francis

Joseph R. Francis (born April 1, 1973) is an American soft core porn film producer and the founder and creator of the Girls Gone Wild entertainment brand. Francis worked as a production assistant on the syndicated program Real TV (1996) before releasing the direct-to-video film Banned from Television (1998).

Francis has, on several occasions, been convicted of bribery, false imprisonment, assault causing great bodily injury, dissuading a witness, record-keeping violations and tax evasion; in 2015, he pleaded no contest to child abuse and prostitution. Also in 2015, after being convicted for imprisoning three women at his Hollywood home (and assaulting one of them), he fled the United States and has lived at his residence in Punta Mita, Nayarit, Mexico, ever since, attempting to avoid extradition. Francis has since faced more sexual assault allegations, including allegations of engaging in sex with underage partners and nonconsensual sexual encounters with multiple women.