LOS ANGELES - Assemblyman Charles Calderon's proposed California state tax on porn continues to make national news headlines.
Wicked Pictures VP of special projects Joy King defended the adult industry on CNN in a segment about the proposed tax.
CNN's host attacked porn throughout the segment from what he called a "common sense" perspective, claiming that porn damages families and that the adult industry should contribute its revenues to "clean up the mess."
King pointed out that Calderon's bill is unconstitutional and discriminatory, and that no study exists to prove that adult entertainment damages families.
"The truth of the matter is this is just really poorly written legislation," King said. "It's picking on First Amendment-protected speech and ultimately it will just be found unconstitutional like it just was in the state of Texas."
In response to the argument that porn wrecks families, King replied: "You cannot blame the porn industry because somebody has a problem."
When a caller from North Carolina pointed out that taxing porn creates a slippery slope, the show's host blurted: "There's no slippery slope... let's stick with porn: IT'S BAD!"
But King got the last word in.
"If there was proof that the industry was causing harm, it would be one thing," she said. "But there has not been one peer-reviewed scientific study that proves it - period."
