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Be scared, people. A fake Hogette is on the loose.
As if things weren’t bad enough in Redskins Land, a dire APB went out to hardcore fans over the weekend: The man calling himself “Stephette Hogette” is not a real Hogette.
Sure, the guy’s rubber snout and his ladies garb, to the untrained eye, make Stephette Hogette look exactly like the authentic Hogettes, superfans who have been dressing in drag since 1983 but won’t give up their gimmick all these years after it outlived its cuteness. But don’t be fooled: Not just anybody can align themselves with these douchebags.
“It has come to our attention that an individual is representing himself to be a Hogette,” read the warning, which was posted late last week on Skins message boards and fan sites, including Dan Snyder’s official Redskins blog and ExtremeSkins.com. “Please be aware that ‘HOGETTES’ is a Registered Trademark and the Hogette likeness is COPYWRITED. He is currently in violation of both federal and state statutes.
“We have a very stringent set of rules and guidelines on who can become a Hogette and we monitor all of our members to insure that inappropriate action does not occur. We are very disturbed that someone would portray us in a negative manner and try to insure that this does not happen. However, from time to time we find it necessary to protect our Trademark and Copyright. If you feel that you have been approached by an impostor or become aware of a potential impostor, please contact us immediately at:hogettes.org or hogettes.net.”
Fans can spot the fake Hogette because Stephette Hogette usually travels alone, said the warnings. Turns out real Hogettes roam only in packs.
As if being called a bogus Hogette isn’t a heinous enough charge, the Hogette police also accused Stephette Hogette of being a menace to society.
Redskins blogger Rich Tandler posted on his own blog that “a friend” had spotted the imposter at a FedExField tailgate before the Rams game and that the counterfeit Hogette “obviously had been drinking and he made inappropriate comments to some of the ladies.”
When some folks on Snyder’s message board questioned devoting any energy to taking down a fan for basically wearing a hog nose without permission, the poster known as “Huly,” a superfan who organizes welcome-home gatherings for the team at Redskins Park, upped the charges against Stephette Hogette: “It is not that he is just dressing like them, claiming to be one of them etc,” Huly wrote, “but that he is harming fans under their name. He is dangerous to women and possibly children.”
Stephette Hogette, Huly said, “tries to give young women tickets to attend a game with him and [what] I have heard from other fans is he tries to inappropriately touch women and makes sexual advances and inappropriate comments.”
Wowza.
Dan Hines, calling himself a real Hogette, came on ExtremeSkins.com to add more inanity. Hines pleaded for Redskins fans’ help in un-snouting the bogus Hogette. Stephette’s reign of terror, Hines whined, jeopardizes the authentic Hogettes’ “charity work with children’s charities.”
Redskins fans are angry for all sorts of reasons. So vague as the charges against poor Stephette were, some folks were ready to form a posse and go the vigilante route to get him.
On ExtremeSkins, “Capt Kaos” promised “to keep an eye out for the scumbag.” “Sideshow24” said he’d “drop this fat clown” if Stephette reprises his fake Hogette routine.
(Huly announced later in the ExtremeSkins thread that a store to sell licensed Hogettes merchandise is currently being set up. Guess somebody doesn’t want to cut Stephette Hogette in.)
Fans posted photos of the wanted man (Stephette Hogette’s identified as the guy wearing the snout and mangled headgear in the photo above) to help with the search.
Nowhere in these warnings or postings is there any information about the real man charged with being a fake Hogette. So I did some digging and discovered that the fugitive in the dress and hog nose is actually a guy from Brooklyn named Steve Rasnikov.
Rasnikov, contacted Sunday night in New York—he answered his phone “Hail!” as in “Hail to the Redskins!”—says he’s aware of the hubbub surrounding him but vows to keep wearing his snout.
“This is war now,” Rasnikov says. “I used to respect those guys. I sat with them in the Pigpen [the Hogettes’ name for their section of seats at RFK Stadium and FedExField] at games. They accepted me. But then they started hanging out with Bird Man”—an Eagles mascot. “This shows how corporate those guys have gotten,” he continues. “They don’t like that Stephette Hogette is getting attention. I’m going to tailgates, they’re nowhere to be found. Stephette is a Hogette for the people, like Jesus. I’ve been dressing up for about 20 years. I’m not going to let these guys scare me off.”
Though some might quibble with the Stephette–Jesus comparisons, Rasnikov’s length-of-service claim rings true: The New York Times archives has a story from the 1992 NFL draft, held in New York City, featuring a trio of crazy Redskins fans in silly clothing, including “Steve Rasnikov.” The Times story has him in the role of “Stephanie Hogette,” and he’s described as “wearing a cowboy hat, blazer, skirt and pumps.” The story indicates that the Skins backers, including Stephanie Hogette/Steve Rasnikov, were taking heat from the fans of the New York teams for showing such loyalty to the then defending Super Bowl champs from D.C.
Asked about all the accusations of bad behavior that the Hogette police are now leveling, Rasnikov, who would not give his age, allows that he does “have fun” at Redskins tailgates, including the Dead Tree Crew’s regular debaucherrific get-togethers at FedExField. Rasnikov says Stephette Hogette always “brings a bottle” along on the drive to Raljon from Brooklyn. He’s no threat to women and children, Rasnikov says. But he concedes that his standard pickup line, delivered at the tailgates by another of his alter egos, one “Snow Rap G,” might put off some targeted females.
I ask him to let me hear his line. Rasnikov, with too much gusto and too little irony, raps it for me:
Yo, yo, yo
My tag is Snow Rap G
I’m an O.G.
That be Lewis and Clarkin’ for the right shorty
You can ride for free
I don’t charge a fee
All you got to do is RSVP
“They say that’s inappropriate?” Rasnikov/Stephette/Snow Rap G huffs. “Come on!”
But, again, Rasnikov says, he’s getting a bad rap from the Hogettes and their advocates, and anybody who wants his snout will have to take it from his cold dead nose. Rasnikov swears he’ll be in full drag and going through the whole Stephette routine before the upcoming Kansas City game.
And, bogus or not, perhaps he’ll get away with it. By Monday, the campaign to apprehend the Hogette had lost most of its steam. After the Carolina debacle, poster “Fuse” explained why Stephette Hogette is both anachronistic and viable: “Cross dressing pigs are kind of embarassing now,” he wrote on ExtremeSkins. “But then again, so is the entire organization.”
The thread was closed by moderators.
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