Ash Armand, who stars in Showtime‘s controversial reality series Gigolos, was arrested for murder in Las Vegas. Amand is accused of beating his girlfriend to death Thursday morning. Police believe Armand, whose real name is Akshaya Kubiak, was under the influence of drugs at the time of the alleged murder. The victim’s name has not been released.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to a home on Blackstone Ridge Court, near Decatur Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road, and found a woman in her 30s deceased, reports Fox5. Lt. Ray Spenser said a man was found at the scene and taken into custody. Police said the man found there was the person who called 911.
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Later, police identified the man as Kubiak, 38. The identity of the victim and cause of death will be released after her family is notified. Detectives discovered that Kubiak and the victim were friends and think Kubiak used narcotics and beat the victim to death, police said. When police arrived at Kubiak’s apartment, medical first responders said the woman showed evidence of trauma.
According to TMZ, Kubiak used Armand as a stage name on Gigolos. He is now being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center. Kubiak joined Gigolos in Season 3 and was described as a “raven-haired hunk.” The reality television series centers on male escorts in Las Vegas. It ran six seasons, with the last airing back in May 2016.
The credibility of Gigolos was often called into question when the show aired. In 2011, one woman told The Daily Beast her appearance on the show was a complete fabrication. She was an actress who was hired by one of the producers. “They found me through a website. They wanted to know what skills I had. Then they created a scenario where I would need an escort, and they hired me,” the woman said, adding that sex on screen was simulated.
Garren James, who managed the male escorts seen in the series, confirmed to Salon in 2011 they paid women for their appearances if they did not pay the escorts. He said they were paid a “small sum” for “their time.” Prostitution is also illegal in Nevada, outside of legalized brothels. Still, Las Vegas police spokesman Marcus Martin told the Las Vegas Review-Journal they could not arrest anyone on the show because transactions were taking place without officers present. “They can play the line as loose as they want to, semantically, but they’re still violating the law,” Martin said in 2011.
