LOS ANGELES—A profile/photo essay published Sunday on CNN.com captures a day in the life of Wicked Pictures contract star and AVN Hall of Famer Jessica Drake, as primarily spent on the set of the Derrick Pierce-directed Wicked feature Tuff Love.
Titled "A Lover and a Fighter: The Life of a Porn Star," the piece by writer Abbey Goodman and photographer Chris McPherson frames Drake's standard workday against the ongoing legal battle over Los Angeles' voter-approved Safe Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act (aka Measure B). Noting that Drake opposes the law despite, as an exclusive performer with the condom-only Wicked, always using condoms in her scenes, the story relays a number of statistics provided by her about the industry's testing protocols and quotes her as saying, "As a woman, I don't like someone telling me what to do with my body, and as a performer, I feel very much the same way."
One point the story gets incorrect is stating that Vivid Entertainment's lawsuit challenging Measure B "was struck down by the court" and that the studio had "reinstated their motion" on Friday. In fact, Vivid's Motion for Summary Judgment in the case was dismissed May 1 by mutual agreement among the various parties involved, with the allowance that it could be refiled at a later date if necessary; on Friday, that refiling was made in light of the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the overturning of California's anti-gay marriage Prop 8, which raised further questions about Measure B's constitutionality.
The CNN story goes on to outline Drake's "nerdish" childhood in San Antonio, Texas, her journey into adult, her fierce commitment to her career and her home life with fellow Wicked director/performer Brad Armstrong.
Aside from the various snapshots from the Tuff Love set, the accompanying photos showcase Drake getting her blood drawn at an industry testing facility, picking up fan mail and playing with her chihuahua Big, as well as a display of her numerous AVN Awards. Other industry figures who appear include Pierce, Stevie Shae, Charlee Monroe, David Lord and Steven St. Croix.
See the piece here.
Photo courtesy of CNN.com.
