LOS ANGELES—Stormy Daniels announced today that she is now requiring that all performers appearing in her movies/scenes to be a minimum age of 21. The new policy will go into effect immediately, she said.
"I have decided to not cast any talent under 21 for sex roles in my movies and scenes anymore," Daniels said in a statement today. "For two decades now, I have witnessed the disturbing pattern of girls coming into the business too young and for the wrong reasons, then regretting their decision and trying to move on to other careers only to be shunned and forced to return and I just want to do what I can in order to prevent that from happening."
Daniels, who can currently be seen in VH1's hit revival of the early 2000s reality series The Surreal Life, is the first director in the adult industry to institute a 21+ mandate after Axel Braun implemented that policy for his productions in 2013.
“It is not a popular decision, but it is the right one,” she said. “Axel has been doing it for over 9 years ... and he’s the most successful and most awarded porn director in history!”
Braun praised Daniels’ move. “Back in 2013, when I decided to stop shooting performers under 21, I did not expect anybody else to do the same,” said Braun, whose latest porn parody Spideypool XXX recently received 11 AVN Awards nominations. “It was not a crusade, a PR stunt, or a political move, just a personal decision dictated by my own feelings and experience, so I obviously understand Stormy and applaud her for taking this step.”
Daniels' action comes amid much media attention, in part due to her role in The Surreal Life, where in one episode she shattered her co-stars’ misconceptions about sex work by describing her tradecraft as a Wicked contract star and director. Her 60 Minutes appearance with Anderson Cooper was the most watched interview in a decade and the second one in the history of the program, topped only by Barack Obama’s first post-election interview in 2008.
The noted performer/director has also been profiled in such prestigious publications as Time magazine, Rolling Stone, Us Weekly and FHM, memed and satirized in political cartoons, as well as authored a New York Times best-seller. She has also been mentioned in tracks by Megan Thee Stallion and Kanye West and has appeared as herself in an SNL sketch with Ben Stiller and Alec Baldwin.
In addition, Daniels’ Wicked Pictures directing comeback feature Hysteria recently received four 2023 AVN Awards nominations, including Best Leading Actress (Aiden Ashley), Best Supporting Actress (Anna Claire Clouds), Best Screenplay – Movie or Limited Series (Daniels), and Best Hair & Makeup (Bonegazi). Meanwhile, she continues to give lectures at prestigious universities around the world to share her experience and perspective on the reality of sex work.
"We are treated like criminals, but even convicts have work release programs and are allowed to move on and succeed," she said. "It’s absurd that a person who has killed someone has a better chance at being forgiven than a porn star. That’s proof of how skewed society’s views are about sex. I have personally experienced this multiple times when being turned down for jobs that I was absolutely the best candidate for, loans for homes that I clearly had the money and requirements for, and of course when I was famously called a liar just because I worked in the adult business.”
Stormy's last remark was a reference to the legal case involving her former lawyer, the now disgraced and disbarred Michael Avenatti, in which he was accused of stealing nearly $300,000 from the publishing proceeds generated by her best-selling memoir, Full Disclosure. Avenatti, acting as his own attorney, sought to discredit his former client by questioning not only her adult entertainment career, but her lifelong personal interest in the paranormal when she took the witness stand. Just as she has always enjoyed shutting down trolls on social media, she sparred with Avenatti point-by-point, removing controversy from the issue by providing honest clarifications and factual context. Avenatti was subsequently found guilty and convicted of fraud and identity theft.
"Ultimately, these are the reasons why I chose to fund my paranormal show on my own and agreed to tell my story on The Surreal Life," Daniels said. "It’s also why I’ve hit roadblocks getting my horror movie produced. Financiers and producers loved my screenplay and skills, but tried to insist I hide my identity by changing my name. They are too chicken to admit Stormy Daniels is more than her sexual performances. I could name a hundred other times and ways this discrimination has happened to me and other sex workers. It’s time for this to end."
