To consumers, pornography can appear as a fantasy world of endless pleasure and thrills. But to those who actually create and participate in making porn, their experiences are often flooded with drugs, disease, and abuse. Many performers’ consent has been violated on set, and that footage shared with the rest of the world as entertainment. The porn business truly isn’t the glamorous or safe industry it’s often thought to be.
One person who has seen this firsthand is our friend Jessica. We recently had the opportunity to meet up with her, a former porn performer who worked in the industry for ten years.
Her story isn’t unlike many others who get into starring in porn. Growing up in a small town in Colorado and working in youth leadership throughout her early life, Jessica had a clear vision for what she wanted for her future. However, in her early twenties, Jessica was raped. This traumatic experience and some choices afterward put Jessica on a path that would lead her right into the waiting arms of the porn industry.
“I went from that to a party and this guy owned this website,” Jessica recalls in the video about how she first got into doing amateur porn just months after she was raped. “The model had flaked and I was like, sign me up. I didn’t call myself a porn star because I didn’t know what I was doing, I had just lost my virginity, I don’t know up from down… I now had the reality that I had a price tag on my body.”
Soon, the allure of fame and fortune led Jessica down a road that she never expected or envisioned for herself.
“I knew that fame happened when I would go out in public and get recognized … I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ this guy said, ‘Hi, Angela’, at the gas station, and I thought, ‘This is it, I’ve arrived.'”
But it wasn’t always glamorous and exciting. This is her true story:
An endless cycle of alcohol and prescription drug abuse, followed by numerous suicide attempts, continued as Jessica became one of the top actresses in the industry. (She informed us after the interview that she was actually the most Googled porn star of 2009 and was voted “best new starlet” for 2010.) However, she eventually hit rock bottom in her career and in her life when she ended up becoming heavily involved in an escort agency.
At that point, she realized she hated who she had become and the slave she was to the money, sex, and drugs. Finally, Jessica decided to make a call to her family that changed her life.
Watch Jessica’s story above to see firsthand the harmful effects of pornography from the perspective of a performer. Learn how Jessica’s career in porn led to her substance abuse, suicide attempts, negative attitudes about sex, and how it almost ruined her life.
While not every performer’s experience is identical to hers, she’s not alone—her story and many others shine a light on the realities of what it’s like to be a performer in the toxic industry.
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Behind the fantasy of porn is a reality of real people being exploited and abused. SHARE this article to spread Jessica’s story and shine a light on the facts behind the harms of pornography.
If you or someone you know has been in the porn industry and want to share your story, please reach out to us.
