ROME, Italy—When people leave adult performing, thanks to society's rampant discrimination against anyone who's ever been involved in sex work, the former stars usually go to some trouble to avoid being recognized as their porn personae. For women, this can include cutting long hair, letting short hair grow, changing hair color, wearing different makeup and clothing, even getting breast reductions. For men, it's a bit more difficult, since their on-camera image doesn't differ substantially from their off-camera one. Sure, they can shave or grow a beard/mustache and dress differently, but those modest changes barely disguise the former porn star—and one of the most recent examples of that sticky situation is Italian math professor Ruggero Freddi.
Freddi has been teaching math to college students at La Sapienza University of Rome for the past couple of years, having earned a master's degree in mathematics after he quit acting in 2013—a degree that complemented the master's in computer engineering that he had when he entered the adult industry. But when he recently posted a video of himself flexing his still-buff muscles on Facebook, at least one of his students recognized him as porn star Carlo Masi, and outed him to a newspaper reporter.
Fortunately, Freddi was prepared for the possibility that he might someday be recognized as a former performer, and told the Italian publication Republica that he isn’t ashamed of his adult industry past.
"Some students reposted the photo in a few sites and from there my former life as a porn actor emerged," he told Republica. "To be honest, it wasn’t exactly a secret."
Freddi had been out as a gay man for several years before he got into porn. After graduating from the university, he tried to get an engineering job, but the market for engineers was flat at the time, and Freddi was unable to find employment in his chosen field.
But, "Then I was offered to do a film in the USA. I thought, 'Why not?' A job that helps me earn more and is a more entertaining career," he told Republica.
That offer came from Colt Studios in 2004, and since then, Freddi, as Masi, did 13 features for the company, most recently starring in Top Shots and Top Shots 3, which were released in 2014.
But while Freddi may have been prepared to be outed, he had no idea what a big deal it would become.
"I knew sooner or later something was going to happen, but I didn’t expect something so big to happen," he told Gay Star News. "I thought someone would publish something and my students would talk about it for a while, but I wasn’t expecting the entire country to actually speak about it."
Not only that, but Freddi received attention all over Europe, with several British newspapers and websites having covered the "scandal."
Fortunately, though, La Sapienza University hasn't given him any shit about his earlier career.
"I’m happy and proud of both my careers," he told reporters. "They both reflect part of my personality. I was happy I was a good looking guy and the world recognized this. I am very happy the world recognizes I’m a smart guy."
Freddi is currently working on his Ph.D. in mathematics.
