It seems mainstream television can't get enough of the porn industry. In the wake of ABC's recent 'Primetime' special on the business, syndicated TV show "The Insider" will air a segment tonight featuring performer De'Bella.
Entitled "The 50-Year-Old Porn Star," the broadcast marks De'Bella's second appearance on the show. A previous segment on porn's MILF craze featured footage of De'Bella taken from a Red Light District video trailer.
"'The Insider' originally picked up on my story after I appeared on the Howard Stern Show and in the New York Times," De'Bella told AVN.com. "They had contacted me the first time while I was in the hospital, and they ended up using an interview from one of our trailers as part of that program. They wanted to do a more in-depth piece about me, so they came out and filmed me last Thursday."
Although the Insider crew also interviewed Red Light District owner David Joseph, advance word indicates that producers dropped the footage of Joseph to focus more on De'Bella.
"It went really well," De'Bella said of the taping. "They came to my house at 8:30 in the am, the whole camera crew, and they started on me coming down the steps dressed as a housewife. They filmed me making coffee, then I sat down, read the newspaper, played with my dog, that type of thing -- just to make it look like I'm just an everyday person...which I am! (laughs) I guess they think porn people are different than everyday people. We were there for two hours at the house, and then I rode with them over to the office and then they started the whole process of the interview with me there. They also did an interview with me while I was doing my makeup."
De'Bella told AVN.com that show producers asked the same questions she's fielded from other media outlets since she began performing in adult videos last year: "They asked me, Why are you doing this? Are you being exploited? Do you think this is degrading to women? All the same stuff I've heard before. When they asked me why I'm doing this, I just told them, because I can. I was going to be 50 years old, and I just wanted to do something and build up my self-esteem, and I'm doing this also to raise plastic surgery that I want to have done to further my career."
Interviewer Victoria Recano also addressed De'Bella's troubled relationship with her daughter, AVN award-winning performer-turned-director Jewel De'Nyle. "When they got into the situation with my daughter, I just told them that someday that'll come to a head and she'll talk to me," De'Bella told AVN.com. "As of right now, she's still not speaking to me. It'll be a year at the end of May."
When asked if she feels apprehensive about the show's potentially negative slant, De'Bella replied: "I think even bad press is good press. Mainstream is actually helping us more than hurting us. If they came at me with a negative question, I came back with a positive. I wasn't going to let them beat me down and make me cry, and say oh, I shouldn't do this, or, what am I doing to myself? I'm 50 years old, I'm going to do what I want to do. And course they didn't see a young girl sitting there where they could make her cry like they did Sasha Grey. They really couldn't tie me down to anything negative; it depends on how they edit things, but everything I said about the adult industry was positive."
Tonight's television appearance won't be De'Bella's last. The Insider is already planning a 2-part, before-and-after segment on the mature porn star's upcoming plastic surgery that will feature TV's "Dr. 90210."
Also known in the adult industry for her behind-the-scenes work at Red Light District, De'Bella recently returned to performing after undergoing a hysterectomy. She has filmed over 30 hardcore sex scenes to date, including her latest comeback performance with Jerry and Steven French in Mommy Fucks Best 2 (Platinum X.)
For "Insider" air times, click here.
