LOS ANGELES—Religiously undergirded anti-porn organization Exodus Cry has launched a campaign dubbed "End Teen Porn" calling for the adult industry at large to raise the age of entry for performers to 21. The group has set up an online petition to garner support for the cause, accompanied by an open letter (with the greeting "Dear porn industry") outlining the reasoning behind it and signed by 20 former performers.
"We, the undersigned former porn performers and survivors, are calling on porn producers, directors, and agents to stop recruiting impressionable teens into porn," the letter begins. "The implications of appearing in a pornographic film are significant, with potential lifelong consequences. For many, it has destroyed their lives. We are asking you to end this injustice by raising the age of entry into porn from 18 to 21."
The letter goes on to argue that "Even to perform stand-up comedy in most venues, individuals have to be 21 because of the environment they're in. [A dubious claim at best, given that comedians including Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Adam Sandler and Pete Davidson all got their start in stand-up much younger than 21.] Yet, as teenagers, we were penetrated in dehumanizing and dangerous sex acts by grown men—sometimes groups of them—subjecting our young bodies and minds to extreme trauma."
Further down, the letter invokes the spate of deaths in 2017-2018 of porn performers including August Ames, Yurizan Beltran, Olivia Nova and Shyla Stylez, pointing to the fact that they were all under 21 when they began performing, thus essentially implying that their deaths can be directly traced to having done so (while ignoring the easily thousands of performers who started in porn younger than 21 and have led long and fruitful lives).
In addition, the letter quotes "Adult Video Network [sic] Hall of Famer" Axel Braun from his 2013 announcement that he was raising the age for talent in his productions to 21. "After 23 years in the business, I have come to strongly believe that an 18-year-old fresh out of high school has a completely different perspective on life than he or she will have three years later," Braun said at the time. "I simply don't feel comfortable anymore shooting talent under 21."
Among those who signed the letter are: Brittni De La Mora, the retired performer fka as Jenna Presley, who has gone on to become a pastor and very public anti-porn activist; Alexandra Mayers, aka Monica Foster, another former performer who has a long history of being publicly antagonistic against a large faction of the industry; also long-retired performers Flick Shagwell, Jersey Jaxin, Jan Villarubia (fka Elizabeth Rollings) and Diana Grandmaison (fka Desi Foxx); the seemingly no-longer-active Felicity Feline; and one-name endorsers Amy, Aimee and Stephanie.
Along with the petition, Exodus Cry has begun rolling out a three-part documentary miniseries titled Beyond Fantasy that is devoted entirely to presenting unequivocally anti-porn rhetoric. (Both the petition and the doc, along with supporting "statistics," a donation page and more are housed at BeyondFantasy.com.) The director of Beyond Fantasy is one Benjamin Nolot, whose previous credits, according to IMDb, include: Nefarious: Merchant of Souls ("A documentary exploring the sex-trade"), Seattle's Bikini Baristas ("behind the intrigue of lingerie and java lurks a darker side, where female 'bikini baristas' struggle with the troublesome and inappropriate behavior of thier male clientele") and Raised on Porn ("exposes the way pornography has become the new sex education for children and unpacks the dangerous lifelong implications of this global phenomenon").
The synopsis for Beyond Fantasy posted on its above-linked site reads: "Beyond Fantasy is a documentary that takes viewers straight into the belly of the beast and brings them face to face with some of the biggest porn producers and performers as they describe, in their own words, an industry that profits from ethical violation, coercion, and abuse." Part one of the miniseries, subtitled "Barely Legal," includes interviews with performer Tracey Sweet (who hasn't been active since 2015, and whose interview footage appears to have been shot before then), an unknown "former pornography producer" identified simply as "Donny," another former producer named Hansel Orzame, current performer Aiden Ashley, director/performers Max Hardcore and Eric John, iconic industry veteran Nina Hartley, notorious porn blogger/producer/performer Mike South, long-ago exited former Digital Playground girl BiBi Jones, and director Will Ryder.
Ryder, for one, issued the following statement to AVN concerning his appearance in the documentary:
"It has come to my attention that there is a ‘new’ documentary about the porn biz that paints a rather lousy picture of the industry and the producers. I am in this documentary as the producer that interviewed me 12 or so years ago I believe was less than forthcoming. There is no new footage and when it comes to my interview, it was painted as something completely different than how he had framed things. The producer was like many other interviewers at the time, just ‘interested in the porn biz’ so I consented not knowing there could be a nefarious angle. That’s my fault.
"Over the past decade, I have not participated in ‘mainstream’ interviews for just such fear. I stayed away from the Ron Jeremy docs and many others. However, back in 2010 which is when I think this doc was shot, I was in my media promotion mode and answered questions about my parodies not having a clue there was an anti-porn agenda brewing with this producer. So, of course I regret doing this interview although I am certain my replies were honest and nothing to be embarrassed about when in context. Of course, if one frames the story in a completely different manner over a decade later, then includes old video clips, one could make a horrific point about anything. I regret participating in this interview, I have not seen it yet but have heard that it is from an anti-porn crusader. I don’t think I embarrassed myself with my replies, but getting framed with a different angle is not a great feeling. I am not giving this documentary or the producer any extra attention because he was not forthcoming back during the original interview and their agenda, certainly is not my agenda."
Likewise, Braun gave AVN this statement about being quoted in the open letter adjoining the "End Teen Porn" petition:
"I feel as strongly today as I did in 2013 about not shooting anybody under 21 in sex roles. Unfortunately it appears that my words and my stance are now being used by a group whose real intent is far more alarming than the dangers they are pretending to fight. Wicked [Pictures] and myself have always been and remain committed to promoting a safe and healthy sex environment as well as taking every step possible to ensure that only consenting adults engage in and consume our product. Exodus Cry is an organization whose founder compared abortion to the holocaust and publicly spoke against gay marriage. They have only one mission: destroy the adult industry. I have never nor would I ever approve or sanction them using me to further their propaganda."
Part two of Beyond Fantasy ("Hardcore") is scheduled to debut tomorrow, September 1, and part three ("Unsafe Sex") arrives September 22.
