Marcusssssss!” Everyone has heard Lady Eloise calling out to Marcus Graham in the movie Boomerang where she summons him to her bedroom to consummate the deal for her company to be bought by him.
To Marcus, having sex with her was a small price to pay to get the deal closed. Those were just characters in a movie played by Eartha Kitt and Eddie Murphy, but all too often, people make the decision to offer sex to close a deal in real life.
This act is sometimes referred to as, “taking one for the team.” It is a centuries-old tactic that builds favor with those offering sex for a service or to seal a deal. To some, it just comes with the price of doing business. For others, it’s part of their job.
Sex has been part of the human equation since the beginning of time. It has been used to start wars and it has been used to create diversions of intent. In modern-day business, sex has been used in all kinds of ways.
Jenny Celerier was a candidate for the 2008 UK edition of The Apprentice. She was fired in week seven. During her tenure on the show, she discussed how she had sex with dozens of men to get whatever she wanted.
Speaking without a hint of guilt about her secret sales weapon, Jenny bragged, “Yes, I’ve seduced men to close deals. I’ve used sex in the boardroom to get ahead and I am not ashamed of the fact. I slept with all kinds of men to get contracts — married men, single. All ages from the late thirties up to late fifties.”
Celerier was quite honest about her intent to use her body to advance her agenda. But there are some industries where using sex to gain favor is considered criminal unless you are the law.
Being an undercover police officer or agent comes with a certain set of rules. But getting close to a target sometimes means using whatever you must to get them to trust you. Undercovers have a long-standing rule to never discuss what they must do to maintain their hidden identity, but it is a well-understood part of going undercover that one might have to perform sexually in order not to blow a cover.
In Hollywood, it has been long understood that some actors might have to perform sex acts to get an acting job. There have been cases where it was customary to expect to give something to land a role.
In October 2017, following sexual abuse allegations dating back to the late 1970s, Harvey Weinstein was dismissed from his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More than eighty women made allegations of sexual harassment or rape against Weinstein. The allegations sparked the #MeToo social media campaign and subsequent sexual abuse allegations against many powerful men around the world; this phenomenon is referred to as the “Weinstein effect.”
Weinstein was arrested and charged with rape in New York in May 2018 and was found guilty of two of five felonies in February 2020. Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison and began serving his sentence at Wende Correctional Facility.
He was extradited to Los Angeles to face further charges at a subsequent trial, where he was found guilty of three of seven charges on December 19, 2022. He was sentenced to 16 years in the Los Angeles trial, and his California prison term must be served separately from his New York sentence.
What if the sex is consensual? Consent is an agreement between participants to engage in sexual activity. Consent should be clearly and freely communicated. A verbal and affirmative expression of consent can help both you and your partner to understand and respect each other’s boundaries.
Many adults who trade sex for services, or the closure of a deal, understand what is happening. Both parties want something, and both are willing to provide something to get what they want. Yet there are laws that prohibit the use of sex as
Currently, all fifty states have some type of law on the books about prostitution. But in the case of two professionals coming together to transact a deal that involves sex, the law is blurry.
Sex between consenting adults does not typically draw notice from city or state governments. If the exchange of money or other goods of value plays a part in such interactions, however, you may face charges for prostitution and solicitation.
It’s always best to understand all the implications that can come with choosing a certain behavior. Those who use sex to complete a transaction, they need to understand the consequences of their actions yet choose to move forward with the goal of getting the deal done — a tactic used when there is stiff competition (pun intended!). ●
