Hank Baskett, the reality TV star and husband of onetime Playboy centerfold Kendra Wilkinson, made a desperate phone call to transexual model Ava London, begging her to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounter, according a report that surfaced this weekend on a popular online celebrity gossip site.
The former NFL player’s marriage to Wilkinson — the subject of not one but two reality TV series — is reportedly in trouble over allegations that Hank Baskett cheated on the former Playmate with London , who told her story of a tryst with Baskett to The National Enquirer .
Radar Online says it has obtained a tape recording of a phone call between an unidentified male believed to be Baskett and Ava London, in which the man pleads with the transexual model not to speak to the media about their encounter.
That was before the story broke first in the Enquirer , and then on the internet, pursued relentlessly by Radar and other gossip sites. But Ava London, who in the call tells the man said to be Baskett that she needs money to pay her rent, spoke to the Enquirer anyway, revealing details of the alleged liaison she claims she had with Baskett.
It is unclear whether the phone call was placed before or after London told her story to the Enquirer .
“They called my reps and asked if it was true and… I just wanted to confirm with you that you hadn’t said anything,” the male voice in the phone call is quoted saying . “They just said two weeks before Kendra was pregnant, I hooked up… I hate to say it ’cause I would never say this word, but they said I hooked up with a tranny.”
The word “tranny” is a considered a derogatory term for transgendered people.
London then assures him, “I didn’t say nothing.”
Hank Baskett, if indeed the quoted male caller is him, then goes on to offer London $5,000 in hush money, which she says is the amount offered to her by a reporter to spill the details of her encounter with Baskett. But London says she turned down the reporter’s offer of cash.
“Thank you so much, thank you. Thank you so much,” replies the man “‘Cause they’re going to lie and manipulate with you with everything.”
London is also considering a legal action against InTouch Magazine , which reported that she claimed to have had sexual intercourse with Hank Baskett. London says that she has never spoken to InTouch and that her sexual episode with the husband of Kendra Wilkinson involved nothing more than sexual play with their hands.