A Manhattan man ran for City Council in 2021, but when his ‘sex tape’ with a dominatrix was leaked, it led to a plot twist like no other.
Zack Weiner (no pun intended) was a candidate in the Sixth District on the Upper West Side, who won 959 votes for the Democratic party.
While his candidacy was short lived as he was beat by ex-Borough President Gale Brewer, who won the seat by a landslide in the November 2021 election, a leaked video thrust Weiner into the spotlight for a shocking reason.
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In a clip, which was posted on Twitter, Weiner could be seen in a dominatrix dungeon, almost naked, with a gag in his mouth and wearing nipple clamps.
The candidate - who is the son of the co-creator of Dora the Explorer, Eric Weiner - was shown having hot wax dripped all over his skin, as the red-headed dominatrix performed more things on him.
However, what you saw was not the whole story of what happened that day.
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While it’s true that Weiner was in a sex dungeon and was being tortured by a dominatrix, it wasn’t quite the sordid secret he was hoping would never reach the eyes of the public.
Weiner is actually an actor and screenwriter, who set his sights on making political satire, which included a documentary which showed his journey to the top of the political ladder.
At the time, Weiner’s team contacted the New York Post and claimed that they wanted to get ahead of the scandal before anyone on his political rival's team weaponized the video.
He told the publication: “I am a proud BDSMer. I like BDSM activity.”
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Immediately, it created a sensation on the news, with Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Greg Gutfeld making jokes about the political scandal.
But it was all Weiner’s plan.
Little did anyone know, he was actually filming a mockumentary called Citizen Weiner, which shows the behind-the-scenes footage during his run for City Council.
“When the film industry shut down due to COVID-19, Zack and his friend Joe embarked on a unique project: to make a film about running for City Council, while actually running for New York’s City Council,” the description of the flick reads.
The dominatrix scene was all part of the doc, which was aimed at creating a scandal that would shock the nation.
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Weiner’s friend Joe Gallagher, who was his campaign manager, has revealed this week that the whole campaign was material for their ‘reality movie’ which was inspired by famous sex scandals.
He told The Post: “It was just something we filmed for the campaign.
“We decided we wanted to do some sort of political comedy. And Zack actually had an idea. He wanted to write a script about a local politician or bureaucrat who benefits through some sort of scandal.”
“I started this together with my campaign manager Joe Gallagher with the intention of making a film that draws attention to local politics,” Weiner told West Side Rag.
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He added: “Joe and I had a mantra for our campaign and our movie that we repeated to each other throughout — ‘it’s funny but it’s not a joke'.
“What we hoped to accomplish was the production of an entertaining and funny movie that highlighted a true reality of politics — the ways in which it is accessible, the process of getting involved, the fun and impact that can be had in your community, and the larger discourse that surrounds politics.”
The dominatrix clip is actually part of the film, with an extended ending that wasn’t shown to the press or social media during his run for council.
At the end of the scene, it was shown that the dominatrix takes off his mouth gag and Weiner asks Gallagher, who is off screen: “How was that, Joe, Did we get it?”
His ‘campaign manager’ replies: “Yep, that should work.”
Their documentary is set to premier in Manhattan on October 22 at the Angelika Film Center in the East Village.
Topics: News, US News, Politics, Documentaries
Britt Jones