In a foreshadowing of today's American Idol instant-celebrity machine, international superstar Gloria Trevi and her producer-boyfriend Sergio Andrade started a first-of-its-kind talent school for young girls in search of their own chance at the big time. Recruited from the most fervent fans at Gloria's sold-out concerts, teenagers from across Latin America began showing up at her house in Mexico City. Their numbers grew along with Gloria's fame, as hit record followed hit record and Gloria became one of Latin America's top TV and movie attractions. But after a few years, bizarre rumors slowly began to spread that the school was actually a front for a sex-slave operation, which tortured and brainwashed the very girls who, more than anything, wanted to be just like their idol, Gloria Trevi. But how could this happen-and with the world watching? Was Gloria Trevi involved, or was she simply at the mercy of her brilliant manager? In the first-ever levelheaded look at this scandalous story, award-winning journalist Christopher McDougall recounts how Gloria Trevi went from obscurity to world fame to eluding authorities for two years, before her final discovery and capture in Brazil.
In what is considered the oddest twist to an already convoluted tale, Trevi found herself mysteriously pregnant in prison, prompting allegations by Brazilian authorities of an impregnation scheme involving Trevi and a notorious Brazilian gangster. Only later would the shocking truth of the baby's paternity emerge. Gloria has since been extradited to her native Mexico, where she faced what was that country's "trial of the century." Through exclusive behind-bars interviews with both Trevi and Andrade, as well as with the girls who have slowly come forward with their accusations, McDougall reveals the stranger-than-fiction twists in this remarkable tale and offers readers an insider's look at Sergio Andrade's peculiar personal history and how a superstar's celebrity power can control a young girl's mind.
ISBN 10: 0060536624
ISBN 13: 9780060536626
Pages: 278
Format: Hardcover
Publication: 2004/11/01
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