The Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has been canned by the Wisconsin Board of Regents after it was revealed he filmed X-rated content with his wife. Now, he is considering legal action in response.
The New York Post reported Thursday that 63-year-old Joe Gow, UW-La Crosse’s second-longest-serving chancellor, appears in several online porn videos with his wife, Carmen Wilson, using “Sexy Happy Couple” as their public account handle.
The Post notes that the naughty films sometimes feature well-known porn stars as well. The content appears on sites such as OnlyFans and Pornhub.
In a statement announcing Gow’s firing, UW president Jay Rothman said his actions were “abhorrent” and harmed the university’s reputation.
In recent days, we learned of specific conduct by Dr. Gow that has subjected the university to significant reputational harm. His actions were abhorrent.
The Post reports Gow will be placed on paid administrative leave as he transitions into his faculty role. But Rothman said he filed a complaint Wednesday evening with interim Chancellor Betsy Morgan demanding that Gow’s status as a tenured faculty member be reviewed.
Five years ago, Gow landed in hot water after he paid adult film star Lina Hartley $5,000 to speak to students on campus. Despite the controversy, he was allowed to keep his job.
In addition to their porn content, Gow and his wife recently launched a more “tasteful” venture on YouTube preparing various vegan food dishes. Unsurprisingly, adult film stars also appeared in the videos.
Gow is vowing to fight back. He told WTMJ in an exclusive interview that the Wisconsin Board of Regents violated his First Amendment rights and is considering legal action.
These are serious works in which we examine consensual adult sexuality, so we would think that would be protected by the First Amendment. I’m very concerned that there was no due process around this, and what that entails is having a hearing, and I get to know what I’m charged with, and I get to reply and make my case.
That never happened.
I think the board is not upholding, A., The First Amendment, nor is it upholding its own policy on academic freedom, nor is it upholding a very rich tradition at the University of Wisconsin, which is called the fearless sifting and winnowing in the search for the truth, so there are some complexities here that I think people are missing.
Gow then argued that no one was forced to view what they post and claimed that because he and his wife never identified themselves as part of the UW System, the Board of Regents is unjustified in their actions.
He then told WTMJ that the reason why he created the pornographic material was to show a “sexy, healthy couple” in an industry which has a reputation for amorality. They also wanted to feature his wife’s vegan cooking.
Gay had announced in August he planned to retire at the end of the 2023-24 academic year and return to the faculty as a communications professor. He told the student newspaper he wanted to spend more time with his wife and work on a cookbook and “video” to “maybe put up on the internet.”
