Two Thieves Among Us: Mike Luckman and Stephen Bassett

Original post — September 1, 2011

Never has anyone cheated me so blatantly as Mike Luckman, one of two thieves I’m reporting about here, and this is a warning not to do business with him.

Mike Luckman, a publicist in New York City who works in the UFO community, got $1,200 from me after pitching me hard, insisting he would get audiences for my film’s week-long run at the Quad Cinema in April of 2011. Then, he did nothing. Not a press release written, not a phone call made, not even any responses to suggestions I made for things he might do, and no emails from him at all for a few weeks before and then during the film’s run. There were no weekly reports as promised, and he made no coordination with the publicist supplied by the Quad, although that also was my condition of employment. Not only didn’t he report to the Quad publicist, he didn’t respond to her emails. And it’s not that he tried things that didn’t get results; he didn’t try anything. He refuses to give me my money back, and, unbelievably, threatens legal action if I expose him.

[See Bassett updates below]

Steve Bassett, who referred me to Mike Luckman, has effectively stolen $1,650 from me. Mike Luckman getting my money was just a robbery; Steve Bassett also was a betrayal.

After Steve showed my film in 2009 at an X-Conference he produced,  he traveled the world without a home and I was his home away from home during several short visits to Los Angeles. In response to his desperation before he arrived in November of 2010, I loaned Steve the $1,650 customs fee for 5,000 of Kim Carlsberg’s books he’d gotten produced so they would not be returned to the Orient, which he promised to repay by year-end. Steve being in debt, he was a risk, but being with him for the long haul I did it for my friend.

I told Steve this time he had to be on a work exchange, considering he wanted to stay for several months, eat my food, drive my car, and have Kim stay for several weeks while my house turned into a fulfillment center for piles of books. However, one night, after two and half months of dodging my suggestions for what he could do for me, he snuck out. Not even a goodbye. Then, he wouldn’t contact Mike Luckman about returning my money, and he told friends who wanted to know what happened that I was difficult.

Steve didn’t respond at all to my latest email, where I suggested he help me while making money to repay me. He could have been an affiliate, selling a webinar series I’m hosting: http://evolverintensives.com/upcoming/personal-planetary-transformation.html. It’s put out by Reality Sandwich and the Prophets Conferences and is worthy of being recommended to his mailing list, which is my target audience. Here were comments from the chat room during a previ0us series I’d hosted:

wowza!!!

holy shit

sorry for the crudity of this statement, but WOW

unbelievable!

I’m pretty convinced the circles are the most important thing happening in the world today.

he more you learn about cc’s, the more you are amazed…

I want to be standing next to Jeffrey on 12/23/2012.

This is totally, totally fabulous — this is so true of why we have to be okay with Mystery to want to be a croppie, right?

BRAVO Jeffrey!

high five fist pump 🙂

Suzanne, please make a film about this research!!!

i’m so thankful for this as an opening presentation….

Ohmygod, if this is the BEGINNING, we’re in for one totally amazing series!!!

I’ve got four pages of notes to spend the rest of the week googling now…!

Thank you, terrific presentation!

I’m not the only person Steve has taken advantage of. I’ve discovered he’s done it with other good-hearted people.

Be in touch if you want details about either situation. And watch out for these guys. Me today, you tomorrow

Update: On September 30, I received $1650  — 10 months late and without the interest that was promised — so that I would remove this page. But, there still is performance owed to me on the work exchange. I will do as he requests if that debt is satisfied.

March 1, 2012 UPDATE 

Steve has served a lawsuit on me. For a jury trial. In Maryland. It “concerns false and defamatory statements and writings posted on websites and sent via email for the purposes of intentionally embarrassing harming Plaintiff to try to coerce Plaintiff to pay money and/or provide some kind of service to Defendant…”  Indeed, I am waiting for Steve ‘s to make good on his work-exchange. Here’s my favorite line from the summons: “…[she] became verbally abusive to Bassett while Bassett was living at Taylor’s Los Angeles house.” Living in my house?

I put up a petition as part of my effort to get Steve to drop the Maryland lawsuit: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/steve-bassett.  

December 15, 2012 UPDATE  

Steve Bassett is bombing me. Having lost in two courts, he has appealed in both of them.

First is Maryland. He has a p.o. box there, and since his issue is my defamation of him on the internet, he thought he could sue from anywhere in the world. The court disagreed and dismissed the suit. Steve appealed.

Second court is Beverly Hills Small Claims. Suggestions were made that I counter-sue in Maryland, but that involves me going there and more money to a Maryland lawyer ($8,000 and counting). So, I sued him in my local Small Claims Court for work not performed plus small monies owed to me (plane fare to the X-Conference and interest on the loan). In court, he lied about having any obligation to me, but the judge didn’t believe him and I got a judgment. He appealed.

Here’s a piece that’s sympathetic to me that turned up online: http://www.examiner.com/article/slapps-to-follow-citizen-hearing-on-disclosure

Suzanne Taylor, producer and director of What On Earth? Inside the Crop Circle Mystery,” wrote on April 17, 2012, to her email list (as well as posting online) with an immediate request for help concerning in what manner Paradigm Research Group executive director Stephen Bassett had filed a defamation lawsuit (typical of a SLAPP) against her for making a public complaint about his behavior after what she describes as “housing him, feeding him, giving him a car to drive, throwing parties for him, getting him gigs, and even donating money to his cause.”

As a consequence of Suzanne Taylor’s public outreach, 333 persons signed a petition urging Stephen Bassett to drop the lawsuit. The petition described by what means the activist and lobbyist had “offered to withdraw the suit if [Suzanne Taylor] writes a check for $26,000 and issues an apology that exonerates [Stephen Bassett] from any transgressions.”

January  7, 2013 UPDATE  

We were in Beverly Hills Small Claims court for Steve’s appeal. He lost again. The peanut gallery was laughing at the judge poking at Steve, asking if it was his practice, when he had an apartment, to let guests dictate the terms for staying with him. I got some insights this time. Despite his explicit agreement to help me for two hours a day, he thinks that positive energy behind my movie, as he mentions it to people who could help me, should suffice. An even trade. He left the court saying he’d be suing me in Los Angeles. His appeal of the Maryland dismissal is pending.

February 6, 2013 UPDATE

The Maryland lawyer has asked for another $3,000 — Steve’s appeal of his suit being dismissed is coming up. Even if I win, I cannot get those fees back.

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