A Memory

A slide show memory of our trip to Castellaneta, 

the birthplace of Rudolph Valentino some years ago. 

 

Complete Reporter’s Transcripts Now Online

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x2ig_plDpDQUIcBJFcxI7iFOBO-Ty-td/view?usp=sharing

This file posted on https://rudolphvalentinodocuments.blogspot.com/ contains the complete Court Reporter’s Transcripts submitted by Rudolph Valentino’s manager and estate executor, George Ullman, in his successful appeal of a lower court decision. These proceedings resulted in Ullman’s full exoneration.

In preparing his defense, Ullman assembled testimony from witnesses whose lives and careers intersected directly with Valentino’s — family members, business associates, attorneys, and others with first-hand knowledge of his affairs.

The transcripts provide an unfiltered record of the legal proceedings that shaped the settlement of Valentino’s estate. Presented here as a single, continuous PDF, they offer researchers direct access to the participants’ own words and the context in which they were spoken.

This release is part of my ongoing effort to restore and make available suppressed or difficult-to-access primary sources in Valentino scholarship. The pages have been compiled exactly as they appear in the original archival scans and include an index for ease of navigation.

The compilation, formatting, indexing, and presentation of these transcripts are © Evelyn Floris 2025. The underlying court records are public domain; however, the organization, editorial arrangement, and accompanying materials are protected by copyright. No portion may be reproduced or redistributed for commercial purposes without prior written permission.

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One Hundred Years Ago Today

Exactly one hundred years ago today, on August 13, 1925 at two o’clock in the afternoon, Natacha Rambova met with George Ullman to sign away any further role in her husband Rudolph Valentino’s business. In effect, the divorce happened then.

I was the first to bring out the story of that parting — the scene at the train station, her ouster from Cosmic Arts, Inc., her control over the contracts — all revealed in the records I discovered.

That complete file of records still exists… somewhere. In a collector’s vault? In the Valentino family’s possession? Only weeks ago, Tracy Terhune posted a single document from that file in a YouTube video. Was I the only person who asked where he got it?

This anniversary matters. It is true history. The fact that this meeting between Ullman and Rambova — and what it meant for Valentino — is still being buried is no accident.

Am I bitter that the research Renato and I fought to uncover is mocked and demeaned? No. I’m furious. Furious that so few rise to defend Valentino’s real history. Furious at the censorship and the calculated rewriting.

There’s another layer to August 13th — it was also George Ullman’s son Bob’s second birthday. Decades later, Bob would be the one urging me to find those records and tell the truth at last.

The charlatans carry on, polishing their egos and playing gatekeeper with Valentino’s legacy. One hundred years later, the same games continue — but the facts remain.

Renato's Quiet Archive of Truth

 My beloved Renato spent years shielding me from the worst of the poison hurled our way — especially the bile spewed on a blog which brazenly uses my book’s title, Affairs Valentino, and is run by Tracy Ryan Terhune. I still remember his opening post, posing as me writing, “My Book, Affairs Valentino is Pure Fiction.”

Today, I opened an oddly titled folder on Renato’s hard drive — catture schermo (“screen captures” in Italian) — and found it overflowing with screenshots from Terhune's Affairs Valentino blog which I had never seen. Every one of them documented Terhune’s smear posts, meticulously saved.

I’ve long ago told the story of how David Bret extorted me into closing my original Affairs Valentino blog in 2011, threatening to open blogs in my family members’ names. Terhune seized that moment, promising to run a blog under the title of my book, “for the good” — but these screenshots show what he was really doing: running a dedicated hit site for his campaign to destroy me.

The flood of insults and lies upon lies number in the hundreds. In his comment section, he provides a platform for David Bret to violate a court order and run rampant. I scrolled through Renato's, “catture schermo” file, in slideshow mode, barely able to keep up with the sheer volume of attacks. And there, in living color I found the ultimate proof of their obsession with my book and with me personally.

Renato quietly collected it all, sharing some but never telling me the full scope. I realize now what a testament that was to his love for me — protecting me from the worst of it. But now I have it, every word, every fabrication, every grotesque twist of the actual truth.

Terhune has spent years gaslighting his audience into believing my responses were “unprovoked.” These screenshots prove otherwise. My god — they were provoked. Over and over and over.

In my opinion, after witnessing years of his documented malice conducted under my book’s title, it is a disgrace that this man plays any role in the public remembrance of Rudolph Valentino. He went too far. We had every right to defend ourselves. We courageously did. I still do. And now, thanks to Renato, the record will remain.

Below: Renato, preserving the record with steadfast love and vigilance.

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Parole Sagge

 

The Receipts

 As Eleanor Gribbin gaslights her followers by claiming she has “never mentioned me” in her posts, she inadvertently confirms her long-running and despotic edict: that no one in her group Mad About the Boy may ever mention me, my late husband Renato, or any of our work on Valentino. That censorship alone tells the story.

It is astonishing that in 2025 a social media group would still enforce literary censorship—blacklisting authors by name and suppressing discussion simply because their work challenges the dogma approved by the group administrators. That’s not historical discourse; it’s cult behavior.

Gribbin has publicly demeaned me for years: mocking my credibility, distorting my work, and accusing me of tampering with historical sources like George Ullman’s memoir—all while sneering and posting feces emojis in reference to me and my commentary. In private, she continues the smears via direct messages, often targeting anyone who dares mention Affairs Valentino. I have seen the screenshots. I kept the receipts.

She claims I instigate “negative energy.” But I am not initiating this. I respond. I defend myself, my husband, and the integrity of our work. I speak plainly and factually.

If Eleanor Gribbin truly had no issue with me or my work, why the gag order? Why the years of insult and the constant whisper campaign?

Let me be clear: this is not a “forum.” It’s my personal blog. I have no members. But I do have a record—and I stand by every word posted here. So thank you, Ms. Gribbin, for directing people to come read it for themselves.

I will continue to speak my truth, document the suppression of historical literature, and call out defamation and censorship when I see it.

While Eleanor Gribbin claims she has “never mentioned me,” the following screenshots—just a few of many—prove otherwise. These are not isolated slips, but part of a years-long campaign to smear my name, mock my work, and censor all discussion of it within her forum.

1. Explicit Censorship with Mockery

A post banning any mention of my name, complete with smiling feces emojis—a tasteless and juvenile display beneath any serious administrator and posted with her co-administrator.

2. “Bad Smell” Comment Thread

This exchange shows Gribbin agreeing via coded mockery with the claim that I’m “a bad smell that won’t go away,” while she responds with the cryptic “If they only knew…” What exactly do they claim to know? The innuendo is purposeful, and it’s vile.

3. Censorship of My Books

In response to a simple, polite question about my work, she replies that my books are banned and “an explanation is not necessary.” This is textbook silencing. This is literary censorship.

I do not post images like these lightly. But when someone publicly pretends to be above it all while privately engaging in bullying and censorship, it is necessary to show the truth.

These screenshots—and many others I have archived—illustrate why I continue to respond. This is not a personal squabble. It is a campaign to erase not just my name, but the important historical contributions Renato and I worked for decades to preserve. And if silence is their demand, they will be sorely disappointed.