Porn Valley- The stories of bankrupt porn king Bob Guccione’s downward spiral have been greatly exaggerated, the former Penthouse honcho tells Vanity Fair.

Living large in his 45-room palace on the Upper East Side despite numerous published reports to the contrary, Guccione, 74 – who beat throat cancer in 1998 – is still looking on the bright side despite being booted from Penthouse by new owner Marc Bell. “I’m frankly amazed at my own optimism,” he says. “Whenever I’m facing a crisis – and I’m facing one right now – I just fight harder. I know I’m going to survive.” Guccione, looking tanned and fit, concedes he’s been forced to scale down his notoriously extravagant lifestyle a wee bit. Instead of 22 servants tending to his every need, he now makes do with a mere six. It’s hard to be the (fallen) king.