$500,000 for Posing in Nude? Fawn Hall Says That’s Disgusting

WASHINGTON —  Penthouse magazine says it will pay former White House secretary Fawn Hall $500,000 to pose nude. Playboy magazine wants her for a “celebrity pictorial.” Her friends say she is also receiving television, film and modeling offers.

So far, they say, she is not interested.

“She thought the (Penthouse) offer was disgusting,” said F. Andrew Messing Jr., a conservative activist and friend of Hall’s.

Hall, former secretary to fired National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, has become a media sensation since she suddenly emerged two weeks ago as a possibly key witness in the Iran- contra affair.

Financial Bonanza

Investigators are interested in what she might be able to tell them about the alleged destruction of documents in North’s office after the scandal broke last fall. But magazine publishers, talent scouts and advertising agencies are dazzled by the financial bonanza that presenting her to a tantalized public might mean.

Although the offers are pouring in for the 27-year-old blue-eyed blonde, she has remained aloof.

Messing said Hall told him that Penthouse offered $50,000. But Penthouse Publisher Robert Guccione said Wednesday: “There is an offer in the mail to her agent now. The amount is not $50,000. It is for $500,000.”

Playboy ‘Interested’

Elizabeth Norris, publicity manager for Playboy, said: “Fawn knows we’re interested in having her in the magazine. But that’s about it. At this point, she is not in a position to consider anyone’s offer because she is involved in the Iran affair and she wants to clear that up before she considers anything.”

When asked about the requirements of a “celebrity pictorial,” Norris said: “Let’s say they are sexy pictures. They don’t have to be nude to be sexy.” Norris declined to say how much the magazine would offer.

Hall is expected to testify during congressional hearings into the Iran-contra scandal, and Messing said that she “doesn’t want to bother with any of the offers for a couple of years.”

Wants It ‘Out of the Way’

“She just wants to get this matter out of the way,” he said.

Of the offers, another friend said: “She doesn’t even want to deal with it.”

Hall, a former model, worked for North at the NSC for four years. She has been given immunity from prosecution in exchange for her cooperation in the investigation.

Friends of both Hall and North say that they remain on good terms. One friend who asked not to be identified said the secretary attended a birthday party for North’s daughter a month ago.

After North was fired by President Reagan in November, Hall was transferred from the NSC to a secretarial job in the Defense Department. She lives with her mother, Willma, who was secretary to former National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane. Hall, one friend said, is “America’s sweetheart.”