NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV/Gray News) – Stefanie Fair, a former pop star from the 1990s group “Wild Orchid,” faced significant personal and professional fallout after being wrongfully charged with DUI despite being sober. Less than 12 hours after her arrest, her mug shot appeared on the Scoop Nashville website and social media, which drew more than 1,500 likes on Instagram alone.
Fair, who had starred on a Bravo TV show about mothers in Los Angeles, was cleared when her blood test revealed no alcohol or drugs in her system. However, the damage to her reputation had already been done, especially when her mug shot was widely shared online.
The situation took an even darker turn when Fair and her husband, Ron Fair, a Grammy-winning former president of A&M Records, received phone calls from a person claiming to work for “Reputation Defenders” in St. Petersburg, Florida. The caller allegedly offered to remove the mug shot from the website for a $12,000 fee. The Fairs rejected the offer, refusing to pay for a removal.
In another attempt to profit from the incident, Scoop Nashville owner Jason Steene allegedly quoted $7,500 to remove the mug shot, a request that was also turned down by the Fairs. Attorney Ben Raybin noted that some of his other clients had paid Steene in the past for such services, even when charges were dismissed.
Stefanie Fair and her family were deeply upset, especially as the post on Scoop Nashville had also tagged their children, adding a personal and cruel element to the ordeal. The Fairs’ experience highlights the growing issue of reputation management and extortion in the age of viral social media.