OurFirstTime.com Semi-Scripted Online Reality Show 1998

The movie "Citizen Kane," written, directed, and starring Orson Welles, is celebrated as the greatest film ever made. Robert Wise, now Ken Tipton’s mentor, had served as the film's editor. Wise shared with Ken the story of how Welles, a well-known radio star, was rejected by Hollywood. However, his luck changed when he produced and starred in an infamous radio broadcast based on H.G. Wells' science fiction classic, "The War of the Worlds." The broadcast, which many listeners thought was an actual report of a Martian attack on the U.S., caused widespread panic, including suicides. This incident nearly ended Orson Welles' career but ultimately brought Hollywood's attention, paving the way for his success in filmmaking. Mr. Wise challenged Ken to develop a concept that would showcase his creativity and attract publicity. After many months of Ken submitting story ideas, Mr. Wise eventually approved a proposal he considered "brilliant."

In the spring of 1998, the biggest news story was the President Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. However, this changed when news broke about the first LIVE birth being shown on the Internet, which caused servers worldwide to overload. Watching the media frenzy, Ken chuckled to himself, thinking that soon the Internet would feature the sacrifice of virgins. Then Ken’s imagination sparked. He felt that since the LIVE birth could be shown online, why couldn't they show the first step—the conception? 

Ken wrote a treatment for Mr. Wise, outlining a project called OurFirstTime.com. The project would be an online reality show involving two 18-year-old high school honor graduates from a religious high school who would lose their “Internet Virginity” LIVE online. The term “Internet Virginity” was used intentionally because it meant they would be virgins who had NEVER been on the Internet. The fact that people would misunderstand the term as the young couple actually losing their sexual virginity was also intentional. 

OurFirstTime was created as a semi-scripted reality show, similar to today’s “Borat” movies or other shows that are scripted but include improvisations, like the “Office” TV show. The focus was on raising awareness about AIDS testing, safe sex practices, the power of the Internet as a new media platform, and sexual abstinence. The final scene would show the two virgins deciding to wait until marriage to lose their sexual virginity. With Robert Wise’s approval, Ken launched the project with a budget of only $300. 

The project was scheduled to last 18 days and would be adjusted daily based on reactions and comments from around the world. The script involved the two participants, Mike and Diane, sharing their journey online, including telling their parents about their plans, getting AIDS tests, buying condoms, dealing with media attention, and ultimately deciding to remain sexually abstinent until marriage. A single one-page teaser was uploaded online to announce the website's launch in five days. 

Ken had no money for advertising, so he registered on a deeply religious website forum as a "grandmother" who was shocked to find that her grandchildren were viewing a website where two young adults would lose their virginity online. That single post went viral on conservative websites worldwide, and they were outraged and wanted the website to be shut down. The controversy then spread to liberal websites, which wanted the show to continue.

Shows like “Kurt Knutson the Cyber Guy,” along with being featured in every late-night talk show's opening monologue, made the OurFirstTime.com website #1 worldwide, crashing servers around the globe. Many countries announced they would block access to the site, while others praised its message and planned to incorporate it into schools. It also drew the attention of the US Congress when Senator John McCain condemned it and called for a vote on creating the Internet Decency Act.

There were no large companies, like Amazon, to host the show. Back then, server farms were operated by computer enthusiasts in their basements, where they hosted websites as webmasters for a fee. Ken made an arrangement with several private Internet server networks across the country. When one server reached its capacity, traffic was automatically rerouted to the next available server.

However, when the teaser page launched, all the nationwide basement servers crashed under the massive worldwide traffic, leaving Ken in a tough spot. If he couldn't continue his semi-scripted project, he would have no way to prove that sexual abstinence was the show's primary focus and that he was trying to showcase his creativity, which could help get his family's movie, “Heart of the Beholder,” made. HOTB was about how Ken lost his multi-million-dollar chain of video stores after he stood up to religious zealots and refused to remove Martin Scorsese’s controversial film, “The Last Temptation of Christ,” from his stores. Rev. Donald Wildmon’s “National Federation for Decency” blackmailed the St. Louis Prosecutor into ruining Ken’s business. Ken won two separate trials, but the legal fees and negative publicity bankrupted his business and family, leading to his divorce. HOTB won five Best Indie Feature Film awards in a row and was the film debut of Chloe Grace Moretz, and is available on Amazon Prime. https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Beholder-Ken-Tipton/dp/B0000687M1

The Prince of Porn – Seth Warshavsky: Ken's attorney held a news conference, appealing for help from any individual or company with the massive computer power needed to host the show for free. Despite the controversial subject matter, many offers were received. Still, none had the necessary capacity to handle the global traffic—until Seth Warshavsky, known as the Prince of Internet Porn, stepped in. His servers were equal to or superior to the servers then used by the US Armed Services.

Warshavsky owned IEG, the Internet Entertainment Group in Seattle, which featured live sex videos earning over $50 million a year. The YouTube and other videos we enjoy today are made possible by Seth’s advanced algorithms that compress videos for faster downloads. IEG diversified into non-porn ventures, including psychic readings, legal services, home loans, and cosmetic surgery, where users paid fees but never received the advertised services. Warshavsky used scandals for publicity, including the 1997 Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee sex tape, nude photos of Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and unaired Kelsey Grammer sex videos.

Seth signed a non-disclosure agreement and was briefed on the entire Our First Time project, including the script with its surprise ending of abstinence. Initially, Seth was upset that there wouldn’t be any real sex, but he later changed his mind because the non-sexual content would be a positive factor in his long career as a criminal and smut peddler. Fully understanding Ken’s intentions for the project, Seth signed a contract to acquire the OurFirstTime domain and direct all worldwide traffic to his servers. The entire OFT website was moved to Seth’s servers, with only the single teaser page available to the public. However, once the actual website launched, there would be a disclaimer stating that the project was a semi-scripted reality show with actors to showcase AIDS awareness, safe sex practices, sex education, and sexual abstinence.

When Seth noticed that his servers were getting hundreds of millions of visitors, he strongly urged Ken to let him implement an adult verification system, similar to the one Seth was already using at ClubLove.com, charging $5 per visitor. This could generate tens of millions of dollars, which they would split 50/50, and Ken could finally fund his movie, “Heart of the Beholder.” However, Ken refused. He wanted young people to watch his show and, hopefully, start a conversation among parents about AIDS awareness, safe sex practices, and sexual abstinence, while also showcasing Ken’s creativity.

Seth was in trouble with the IRS and facing numerous personal and business lawsuits due to his unethical and criminal practices, including overcharging customers' credit cards. He planned to flee to Thailand to escape his legal issues, locked Ken out, and redirected the worldwide traffic to his main website, ClubLove.com. Millions paid the $5 Adult Verification fee and also became ClubLove.com members, with a $30 monthly charge. Court records describe the incoming funds as "astronomical," with credit cards being charged multiple times, resulting in over $100 million in fraudulent charges.

Seth then appeared on CNN, claiming that he was the one exposing Ken Tipton as a “fraud”. Seth said that Ken was planning to scam millions of dollars by creating a worldwide sex show, which was all fake, and then charge a $5 Adult Verification fee.  The media turned on Ken and didn’t care that he had no legal corporation, no business bank account, or merchant services to accept credit cards. They also ignored the fact that Seth was a well-known scam artist who had multiple bogus websites offering fee-based services that never materialized.

Ken did have a plan to raise money for his movie and pay the basement server geeks. He sought sponsorship from companies like Trojan condoms, which referred him to the owner of the Condomania retail store in Los Angeles. At Condomania, Ken learned how to have people register for free on the OFT website and how to build an extensive email list he could rent over and over to online email brokers at $0.25 per name. The registration process would disclose that Ken intended to market their information, as malls do with car giveaways. However, since the whole website was never launched, the disclaimer was never seen. For Ken and his actors, the damage had already been done.

Ken and his actors faced severe consequences. They lost their agents and managers and were shunned or cut off by many friends and family. The young actors left Hollywood. Michelle Parma, the actress who played the virgin Diane, was a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who appeared on one of the first "Road Rules" shows on MTV. Tragically, she was later killed in a car crash in Texas. Ken feels responsible for her death and believes that if he hadn't cast Michelle in his project, she would still be alive and in Hollywood.

With numerous pending lawsuits and investigations from both state and federal authorities closing in, Seth fled to Thailand with an estimated fortune of over $150 million, knowing that Thailand has no extradition treaty with the US. In an online interview, Seth boasted about sponsoring OFT.com and feeding the media a false story to hide his tracks. Simultaneously, he overcharged credit cards to build his massive bankroll before fleeing the country.

Ken had one chance to prove that his semi-scripted reality project was legitimate. However, doing so could have ruined the career of his good friend Jay Scherberth, who was the actual webmaster and programmer of OFT.com. Jay knew every detail about the project, but he was also working as an editor on the TV shows “Jesse,” “Veronica’s Closet,” and the top TV show at the time, "Friends." If Ken had exposed him, he would have lost his job, and his long-standing, successful career as one of the top TV editors in Hollywood would have been ruined.

If Ken had launched the OurFirstTime.com project today, he wouldn't have faced the server issues that brought the entire project down. The show would still have angered the religious right and excited the audience eager to see two young adults lose their virginity, only for their loyalties to shift during the surprise ending of sexual abstinence. The OurFirstTime.com movie is on Ken's list of projects to be made in the way it truly happened.

Ken’s wife, Darlene, contacted Seth through his Facebook page in 2017, asking if she could interview him via Zoom for the screenplay Ken was writing about the Our First Time project. Seth repeatedly turned down her request until September 2024, when he sent Darlene a Facebook direct message apologizing to Ken. Seth was in poor health and said he did not believe in heaven or hell, but his wife and teenage daughter did. They convinced him to make as many amends as possible before he passed, which he did at age 51 in October 2024.