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Several women have now come forward alleging that porn performer James Deen sexually assaulted them, including his ex-girlfriend Stoya and other adult actresses. The allegations against porn star James Deen began on Saturday when Stoya—an adult performer, writer and model who dated Deen in 2014—tweeted that Deen had once raped her. She also expressed anger at Deen being heralded in the media as a feminist.
After Stoya's tweets, adult performer Joanna Angel—who dated Deen for six years—also tweeted about Deen in support of Stoya.
He’s dead on the inside and dead to me . He’s literally the worst person I’ve ever met . That’s all I’ll say for now #solidaritywithstoya
— Joanna Angel (@JoannaAngel) November 29, 2015
Adult performer Sydney Leathers told the Daily Beast that Angel warned her about Deen. "She told me when I first got into the business that I should avoid him—that he has boundary issues, basically that he tries to break women. I took it to mean that he is dangerous," she said.
Adult performer Tori Lux came forward with a statement that appeared in The Daily Beast. She said that she encountered Deen on set, on a day when she was working and he was not. She said that after her scene, he asked her if she wanted to "sniff" his testicles. When she said no, he asked her again. She said no again, and claims that Deen then grabbed her and threw her on a mattress on the floor.
He proceeded to straddle my chest, pinning down my arms with his knees. Then, he raised his hand high above his head, swinging it down and hitting me in the face and head with an open palm. He did this five or six times—hard—before finally getting off of me. Disoriented and nursing a sore jaw, I stood up—but before I could collect myself, he grabbed me by my hair and shoved me to my knees, forcing my face into his crotch several times before shoving me to the floor. I was completely stunned, having no idea how to react. I felt pressured to maintain a professional demeanor as this was a major porn set, with other people present and failing to intervene.
Performer Ashley Fires told The Daily Beast that she put Deen on a small list of performers she refused to work with after an incident that occurred at Kink, a fetish porn studio in San Francisco.
"Later on that night, I was getting out of the shower of the communal bathroom at Kink, I reach for my towel to dry off, and he comes up from behind me and pushes himself and his erection into my butt. He pushes me against the sink and starts grabbing on me and I was like, 'No, no, no James, no,' and he released me from his grasp, and says, 'You know, later if you want to fuck around I'm in room whatever-it-was. I was like, 'Fuck you.' I didn’t even know this guy, he was so out of line and entitled with my body."
She said that Deen later told her to stop telling people about the incident. Kink has since dropped Deen from their roster of performers, BuzzFeed reports.
For the Kink.com community, as well as the larger BDSM community, consent and respect are sacrosanct. Effective immediately, Kink.com will cease all ties with James Deen, both as a performer and a producer. Our performers deserve not only safe sets, but the ability to work without fear of assault. Rape or sexual assault, with or without a safe-word, off-set or on, should never be accepted as a hazard of adult production. While many of the allegations against Deen are new, the pattern is alarming. Over the coming weeks and months, we will review our Model Bill of Rights to strengthen rights of performers off-set, and work with the larger industry to help performers to have been assaulted to more easily come forward.
APAC issued the following statement: "APAC recognizes the seriousness of the statements made by performers in the community and that they indicate a major conflict between a board member and other members of the organization."
Deen has publicly stated on Twitter that the allegations against him are not true. According to TMZ, sources have told them that Deen feels as though his accusers are confusing the sexually assertive man he portrays in adult films with his personal life.
