Ms. Cleo, whose psychic hotline was the target of a fraud lawsuit in 2002, is now an outspoken supporter of gay rights and advocate for victims of domestic violence. (Photo courtesy of Compass community center)
advertisement
advertisement
|
By DONALD CAVANAUGH
Thursday, March 27, 2008
“I am not a psychic,” says Ms. Cleo in response to a question about the notoriety she gained earlier this decade as a spokeswoman for the Psychic Network. “I am a mambo [spiritual advisor], and I take care of a village that has members throughout the Americas. If there is any controversy about me, it is because I am outspoken about our rights and I’m not afraid to tell people what I think.”
“She is outspoken,” agrees Mike Zewe, Compass’ capital campaign manager and event coordinator for Pride Festival of the Palm Beaches. Zewe met Ms. Cleo one evening at Les Beans Coffee House in downtown Lake Worth. “We’re far more interested in what she is doing for the community now than what she did to make a living almost 10 years ago,” he says.
Ms. Cleo, who came out as a lesbian in a 2006 Advocate article, has a controversial past. In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission filed suit against her psychic hotline. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 13, 2002, charged two Florida corporations that ran Ms. Cleo’s psychic hotline — Access Resource Services, Inc. and Psychic Readers Network (PRN) — with deceptive advertising, billing and collection practices.
According to the FTC complaint, “the defendants' entire operation is alleged to be permeated with fraud.” According to the complaint, the defendants misrepresented the cost of services both in advertising and during the provision of the services, billed for services that were never purchased and engaged in deceptive collection practices. The lawsuit also accused the psychic hotline of deceptively misrepresenting that a “reading” would be provided at no cost and harassing consumers with “repeated, unwanted and unavoidable telemarketing calls.”
“The FTC also alleges that the defendants often respond to consumers' inquiries with abusive, threatening and vulgar language,” the FTC says in its 2002 press statement.
The lawsuit was settled when the operators of Ms. Cleo’s psychic hotline agreed to cancel $500 million in customer bills, return all uncashed checks to customers and pay a $5 million fine, according to a report in ConsumerReports.com.
But Ms. Cleo wants to put the past behind her and keep her eye on that crystal ball called the future.
“I have learned that life doesn’t come in neat packages,” says Ms. Cleo who, according to CourtTV.com, was born Youree Cleomili Harris in 1962 in California. “It was a dear nephew of mine who was struggling to come out in 2006 that led me to come out as well.”
Ms. Cleo, who claims to be of Jamaican ancestry, says she grew up in a tightly closeted world. She married a gay man, whom she describes as “a wonderful friend,” in order to maintain appearances. They had a daughter, who is now 28. Her husband died in the early ’90s from complications from AIDS. She later had a second daughter, who is now 21, by another friend.
She has had two committed relationships with women, whom she refers to as “my first wife,” and “my second wife.” The second relationship was hostile, and Ms. Cleo finally escaped after four years of domestic violence that affected both her and her younger daughter.
“That’s why I haven’t had a relationship until now when my daughter is grown up,” she says.
Ms. Cleo says that is why she works to bring awareness to the issue of GLBT domestic violence. “People don’t think it happens in gay relationships, but it does,” she says.
Ms. Cleo has lived in South Florida for about two years, and she says she loves it down here.
“I joined the AIDS Walk last year after recovering from bone cancer,” she says. “I had been getting complacent, but the cancer made me realize I had to get involved again.”
Ms. Cleo is founder and president of Wahgwaan Entertainment. She is a published author, playwright, poet and social activist for gay rights, prevention of domestic violence and women’s rights. In 2007, she published a spoken word CD titled “Convicted for My Beliefs,” which addresses spiritual, cultural and social issues, including the anti-gay constitutional amendment on Florida’s 2008 ballot. A new book, “Matching Baggage,” is scheduled for release in August 2008 and will focus on all sorts of relationships.
“It means a great deal to me having Compass invite me to participate at the Pride Festival,” Ms. Cleo says. “I’m so excited to be there. They are telling me, ‘We think it’s important what you have done and we want to celebrate with you.’ It makes me feel so amazing and loved.”
Phil LaPadula contributed to this story.
|
