NBA player Lamar Odom was reportedly found unconscious Tuesday night, and though details about his hospitalization are still emerging, much of the attention has focused on the where, not the why.
Odom had been staying at the Love Ranch, a Nevada brothel owned by Dennis Hof, who's had a history in the headlines.
Hof also owns the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, another brothel and more famous "sister house," which was featured in the '00s in a cluster of HBO documentary specials and series — all titled "Cathouse."
The ranch opened in 1955, according to the New York Daily News, and was acquired by Hof in 1993. (The Love Ranch has also been known as the "Bunny Ranch Two.")
Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil was accused in 2003 of assaulting a prostitute at the Bunny Ranch, to which he pleaded no contest, according to the Associated Press. One of the Bunny Ranch's notable employees, "Air Force Amy," (also featured on HBO) announced this summer that she wanted to be the woman on the $10, according to UPI.
Still, the appeal of brothels in Nevada — still the only state in the U.S. to legalize their operation — has waned with time, according to the Los Angeles Times.
There are 17 in the state, according to the Times. The practice was legalized in the state in 1971.
“These brothels are really a relic of the past. Even here in Nevada, they’re relegated to what we call the 'cow counties,' ” state Sen. Richard S. Segerblom told the Times. “The urban areas have an appetite to abolish them. And given the state’s rapid urbanization, there’s really little popular support left for these businesses.”
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