We are still under attack by members of the Art Deco Society of California who are now are threatening us with legal action. Note, that after we revealed the threats on Hollywoodland News, the comments were removed, as is par for the course considering past social media posts.
The vintage community is not immune to the world we live in.
Even in the world of bespoke suits, red lipstick and jazz on the lawn, the past always finds a way to show up uninvited, draped in nostalgia and wielding power like it still belongs to them.
Following Hollywoodland News coverage on racism and cultural appropriation at events hosted by the Art Deco Society of California, I received word that my name was included in a public post by Rick Fishman, husband of longtime ADSC figure, Laurie Gordon.
Along with a few others, I was named as one of the so-called disruptors of tradition. Since then, I’ve been informed that legal action for libel and slander is being considered against both myself and this publication.
Let’s clarify something before the vintage wigs go flying. Facts are not defamatory. They never have been.
Every story we’ve run has been backed by documentation including public social media posts, firsthand accounts, emails, photographs and direct statements from those involved. That’s not slander. That’s called reporting.
From the very beginning, HLN has reported truthfully on the events at ADSC functions where guests of color expressed feelings of harm, disrespect or outright exclusion.
Our articles have quoted those guests directly. They were not anonymous. They were not invented. They were not taken out of context. They spoke up in a space that had historically expected their silence. HLN simply gave them a platform.
In fact, I had more people speak out than I could actually publish and that led to a lot of sleepless nights for me because I thrive on the ability to tell the whole truth.
In response, the public defense of Laurie Gordon’s legacy has been loud, swift and desperate. Entire posts have painted her as a victim of a progressive takeover, of “cancel culture,” of a supposed small group who have “not meaningfully contributed” to the ADSC community. The implication is clear. Only those who have spent decades in power get to decide what history looks like.
Through that lens, accountability becomes persecution. The very act of speaking up becomes a threat. Those with the loudest nostalgic memories begin to act like the only ones entitled to define the past. Everyone else is treated like a guest overstaying their welcome.
That’s not leadership. That’s gatekeeping.
Preservation without progress is performance. It is not honest to call a space inclusive while defending harmful acts as “bad taste” or “misunderstood intent.” That defense only protects those who have never needed to ask if they belong in the first place.
In contrast, the people who spoke up at events like the Preservation Ball did so because they expected better. They wanted to believe the past could evolve without erasing the present. They showed up, not just in costume, but in community. They were ignored, dismissed and in some cases ridiculed for daring to suggest that history isn’t always beautiful for everyone.
Those who now threaten lawsuits want readers to believe that they are protecting the integrity of Art Deco culture. In truth, they are only protecting their own legacy from scrutiny. A legacy that has too often excluded marginalized voices while claiming to celebrate an era built on cultural fusion, labor exploitation and borrowed aesthetics.
Let me also clear up a misconception that keeps making the rounds. Hollywoodland News is not just some Los Angeles publication.
Our contributors span the United States and bring with them the regional nuance and cultural insight that this kind of work demands. As a third-generation San Francisco native, my connection to Bay Area events, institutions and vintage culture runs deep. I was part of the original San Francisco swing scene of the 1990s. I remember what it felt like to live inside those sepia-toned moments. I also know now that living something beautifully doesn’t mean history itself was beautiful.
With time, reflection and growth, my understanding of that era, its joy and its harm, has changed. That’s what growth is supposed to do. It doesn’t erase the past.
It gives us the clarity to confront it.
While people want to believe that what I’ve said is to bring down the Art Deco Society of California, the fact of the matter is that I care very deeply for art deco and vintage style. I volunteer at least one weekend a month with the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. I don’t get paid for that. And HLN was not created to keep voices quiet. It exists precisely because they deserve to be heard.
I am a Latina, Indigenous, LGBTQIA woman and I founded this media platform so that voices like mine would be amplified in places they didn’t before. I know exactly how these tactics work. I know what it means to be called a troublemaker, a loudmouth or a liar. I know what it means to be threatened for doing the very thing a free press is supposed to do: tell the truth.
I also know that no amount of PR spin, legal threats or teary nostalgia will ever outweigh the reality that change is uncomfortable for those who have always had the power to say no.
So here is what I will say to Rick Fishman, to Laurie Gordon, to those clinging tightly to the fading echo of a party they once controlled.
This is not your legacy alone. It never was. The moment you built it around exclusion, it became everyone’s responsibility to speak up. Some of us just did it louder.
Hollywoodland News stands by its reporting and remains committed to truthful, documented, representative journalism. All allegations referenced in this piece stem from publicly available posts, social media threads and firsthand interviews.
For legal inquiries, please contact Regina Luz Jordan at regina@hollywoodlandnews.com.
Leave a Reply