Diva: What about the mother? She seemed like kind of a nut too.
FO: [laughs] Oh, God she was! Elke was enormously enabling. She knew he was an addict and along as he was glamorous, and she was benefiting and getting picked up in limousines, she didn't' mind. But when he was at the deepest levels of heroin addiction, she tried to help.
I'll tell you though, my phones were tapped. I could never prove it, or I would have put it in the book. I'd have a conversation with someone and the DEA would know almost immediately. I called the prosecutor and asked straight out. He just stuttered about it. We would get followed in the street. I'd get death threats. But nothing ever happened.
The Diva: Your books, and also articles, are so well researched. How long do you typically work on a book?
FO: Ah, well it depends. Somewhere around 14 months.
The Diva: How do you get such close access to your subjects?
FO: Well for starters, I don't come in like a nerd with a note book. I just hang with them for a while; have a drink maybe do some drugs with them. When I first met the women of fight club [Brooklyn Girls Fight Club, Maxim, June 2008], they wouldn't even speak to me. I went to the corner, bought some weed and some Hennessey, and within we were hanging out like old friends. I treat them like equals and also I don't act scared of them. They‘ll exploit that.
The Diva: And you're British.
FO: The British thing helps a lot. They don't place you in the same way as other white guys. And I curse up a storm as well. I don't act like a regular journalist. They're not that different than the people I grew up with. I always try to be fair. Even Michael. He was so creative. He'd kill you for a good time. I give him his due as being culturally important.
My favorite story, it's in the book, was the disco truck. They took a huge truck with a disco ball and sound system, shoved everyone in the back and started driving. The driver was coked out of his mind, couldn't hear a thing. The sound system had collapsed, there was no air, people were crying, they thought they were going to die in there.
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Diva Interviews