Questions for Jenni Case (and why talking about predatory gonzo pornographers is important)

I had a back and forth with a pornographer roughly two weeks ago because I suggested he was a porn predator. It was a revealing conversation for me, personally, because I realized that I have a perspective on predatory pornographers.

I tend to amplify the positive here, where porn is concerned, because I enjoyed a mostly stress-free, sex-positive career, but only after navigating the gonzo side of porn as a new starlet back in 1998 and 1999. Gonzo porn has gained in popularity even since then, and I’ve seen enough, heard enough through interviews and been through enough personal experience to know that there are people in porn who model their business practices towards humiliation-type porn upon naive and unsuspecting females. I had to watch movie clips for a company I worked for in 2008 and got to see the kind of porn I don’t support at all. The discomfort of watching women who looked, at times, positively terrified, nearly found me quitting that job. In 2008 I read a short story by Kylie Ireland about working for Jim Lane in an all-girl gang bang. After strategically placing a problem female in the scene, against Kylie’s insistence, and then having said female purposely insert a toy in Kylie (made of material she is allergic to, and again, purposely for that reason), and then having that same problem female pour champagne on the irritated area, Kylie–a veteran porn performer–spent a portion of the shoot in the bathroom crying. And then I interviewed Tanner Mayes in 2009 who was recorded, drunk, having a meltdown on a Jim Lane set in yet another reality-style video.

I don’t bring up Kylie’s story to upset her, so I hope it’s not taken that way. It’s a really good story; well-written and beginning with a disclaimer about not wanting pity, but she did remove it from her MySpace page, where I’d originally found it. Also, she and Tanner may be on good terms with Jim Lane, so I’m not trying to create or recreate some kind of riff between them by mentioning this, I’m just trying to bring you up to speed on what I know and am dealing with lately.

I was hired by Jerome Tanner in 1999 to shoot a bonus scene for JM Productions in a compilation video they were creating for me. I spent some of the scene wrestling with Brandon Iron because he kept trying to handle me, and then found that they’d written “whore” and “skank” around my picture on the box cover. This was all orchestrated to teach me a lesson. Why? Because I rudely turned down signing for them in 1998. And I was rude. I don’t remember who I talked to, but I said, more or less, that I didn’t want to represent their product. It is what it is, but it is yet another example of what led me to this realization:

It’s very nice to highlight a career where I ended up in the company of people like Jane Hamilton, Bud Lee, James DiGirogio and Freddie Lincoln, and the good people who worked at the now defunct VCA Pictures, but it’s only a portion of the entire picture. I am no better than people who only write about their negative experiences if I only write about the positive, though I’m more than happy to celebrate mature and conscientious people like Jane Hamilton and Nina Hartley. Not only that, but I think it’s wise to consider abusive gonzo producers and their humanity, as well, to identify the trend towards hate against young women who can work for ten people and feel fine about her journey through the legal sex industry, and then work for one person, recording what she feels is a rape scene because she was bullied into doing something she in no way wanted to do. It’s bad enough to suffer a horrible experience, but to have it recorded and to know you have a throng of dedicated fans just through that one scene is deeply embarrassing. It’s even more embarrassing and humiliating when you discover someone you actually know and like is a fan of the scene and thinks you enjoyed it just because you did it. There is a reason why the scene with Max Hardcore was my first important story on this blog.

To act like these things don’t happen, or to dismiss someone’s story and perspective just because they are emotional when they tell it isn’t helpful. We know there are happy, healthy people in porn, but why do we not consider the other side? It’s hard to look at, but it’s part of the whole picture, whether we like it or not. Also, I’ve found that some producers can be deeply apologetic after-the-fact.

Because of the research I’m doing, I went to Shelley Lubben’s YouTube Channel to listen to a model’s story about working in the industry and found the following interview between Shelley Lubben and Jenni Case.

For those of you not familiar with Shelley Lubben, she is an ex-porn performer turned anti-porn activist. Jenni Case is also an ex-porn performer, and in the interview she talks about her worst scene being for Max Hardcore, which is not at all surprising.

I have been a staunch critic of Shelley Lubben and her organization, but for the purpose of my research, I am preferring to focus on actual details right now. I have some questions based on information within the interview (and I’ll direct these questions at Jenni, personally), because I think people should know specifics. I think specifics legitimize the argument that some pornographers do prey on talent, and if this interview isn’t purely a performance, new people entering the adult industry should know the particulars about this subject matter.

(I was going to send this directly to info@shelleylubben.com, but because of my past criticisms, I can reasonably guess my email might be dismissed. If someone from the organization would like to answer these questions in private, please message me at julie@juliemeadows.com. I promise not to share it with anyone without permission.)

1. Who in the adult industry told you, Jenni, that you would be “safe” from STD’s and HIV? There may very well be people who say such things, but specific people should be pointed out. Also, you say that your first STD and HIV test was forged. Who gave you a forged test while telling you you’d be safe from STD’s and HIV? I think that is a legitimate question. Why didn’t it occur to you–as someone is handing you a fake test to use and telling you you’d be safe–that this combination of acts do not in any way compliment each other? Do you feel you had diminished capacity to understand what was going on? Was your agent someone named JR? Did he get you the fake test? Mike South states in this blog entry that he was your first shoot and that the test did not appear to be fake. Was he your first shoot, or was it someone else? Maybe some specifics on how all this happened would benefit someone who might find themselves in a similar situation.
2. You say that you were promised “glamour, fame, attention…” I have no doubt that is true because there is, actually, an amount of “glamour” involved in being any type of performer. There is most certainly fame and attention, so that person did not actually lie to you. What would be more useful to know is how these promises translated in your mind, and then specific instances where you felt betrayed and/or lied to. I, personally, spoke with a softcore pornographer who talked to me about the tactics he used to get women to do things they didn’t initially want to do. It would be useful to know why you trusted the particular people you knew, who they were, and how you came to uncover your own illusions about what had been told to you. It’s not unreasonable to understand that you did something in life that you regret, but how does your regret about porn add up against other things you regret in life? Do you feel porn is the most regrettable thing you’ve ever done, for instance, or is it just one among many things?
3. Who was the agent who booked you for the Max Hardcore scene–who stood by during the conversation about the scene and acted intimidating in order to coerce you into performing in the scene? It would be good to know which agents do things like this, because I also worked for Max Hardcore and it was Jim South who booked me for the shoot. I actually like Jim, and he was not present during the shoot. Someone who stands around during the hiring process and doesn’t have your back is someone to point out. I think anyone would agree with me on that.
4. Lubben asks you if drugs and alcohol were offered to you after you talked about the Max Hardcore shoot, but you didn’t specifically say that drugs and alcohol were offered on the Max Hardcore shoot. Were drugs and alcohol offered to you on the Max Hardcore shoot? Who were all the specific people who offered you drugs and alcohol on porn shoots? I am familiar with one person in porn who does this, but again, if you’d rather message me in private, I understand. Point is, people should know who specifically relies on offering actors and actresses drugs and alcohol to get through their performances.
5. You state in the video that you had just watched footage of anal rape being performed on a model. Which model was this? You also say she said on camera she didn’t want to do anal, and the male performer anally raped her, but then you said, “This is footage they don’t show you.” Maybe you can clarify that. How do you have footage no one else has? Who is the male performer? What company was it shot for? Who are the pornographers known for practicing brutality on unsuspecting females? Are you referring to Corina Taylor’s scene for Vince Voyeur with Erik Everhard, or a different model altogether?
6. Also, who are the agents that have models sign one-year contracts to represent them? Things are different from when I was an actress, so it would be useful to know which agents use contracts to prevent actors from leaving their agency to seek representation elsewhere.
7. You both talk about the impossibility of a female having an orgasm in porn. It’s not possible that every single woman who works in porn does not get aroused and become sexually satisfied by the sex she is having, but it may be true that many females do not. For instance, I was on an Asia Carrera shoot and Evan Stone explained to me that she was his favorite performer because she had real physical orgasms during her scenes. It’s where the term “snatch” comes from, actually, and only one of many types of orgasms a woman is capable of having. The muscles contract and, for the male, feels like the vagina is grabbing at his penis. Another physical kind of orgasm is “squirting”. What might be more useful to know about instances where females are not enjoying themselves are particular scenes and movie titles; maybe more often than not themes geared towards female humiliation? Again, to legitimize the argument that pornographers harm, it would be more helpful to point out specific people harming, as well as people being harmed. Are we talking specifically about “gonzo” porn here?
8. You say that the women you talk to are afraid to speak up, can you speak up for them? Can you name the pornographers who are repeatedly named when the women you talk to talk about being abused in the industry? Is Max Hardcore the only specific name that comes up, or are there others who are commonly named (such as Vince Voyeur and Erik Everhard in Corina’s story), and are the names that come up only or predominantly gonzo producers/directors/performers? You say you exist to educate women, but are not giving as many specifics as you could.
9. You talk about a woman at one of the porn conventions and how the models don’t make money and that she claimed to be worked too hard. Who was her agent? I, personally, witnessed a model break down into tears on a box cover shoot because her agent booked her work without asking her if she was available or otherwise capable. It would be useful to know more about how agents treat talent these days. I was, during my career, able to turn down a lot of work just on the basis and threat of burnout. Why aren’t these models talking to their agents about their own fears of burnout and just flat out saying no to some of the work that comes their way? And while Derek Hay is specifically mentioned as an agent that keeps performers in his house so he can keep an eye on them, maybe you could speak more specifically about how he differs from say, Mark Spiegler, who is someone who also houses performers without a place to stay upon arriving in L.A., but whose performers adore him and only speak highly of him. Is Hay using strategy to keep them there, even if they can afford their own house or apartment, or is he merely helping them until they get on their feet?
10. You state in the interview, “When you hit bottom there’s nowhere to go. It seems like you have no options. And that’s where Shelley and the Pink Cross comes in. You think this is all you’re made for, for the rest of your life, that this is your purpose on earth, is to service men and try to make it in the porn industry and then you never make it and that’s where Shelley comes along and says, ‘No, you have another option and we can help you.’” Does that mean that what is really the most painful and disturbing about being in porn is being promised by a pornographer that you will be very successful, and then that not happening? If you had become famous like Sasha Grey, for instance, would you have a different view of pornography? It is a legitimate hurt to be told you will be very famous doing something and for it not to happen. I can say from personal experience that it takes a lot of focus to become a high profile name in porn because there are so many people vying for attention–as is the case in every faction of entertainment. I got lucky, in ways, because there were so many things I refused to do I really shouldn’t have been so popular, but not doing drugs and alcohol, and being professional and showing up on time for work made me a production manager favorite on high budget sets because they knew they could count on me, and that’s where fame could be found when I performed–high budget movies (although gonzo movies were really gaining in popularity then with Extreme Associates, JM productions, Evil Angel, etc…). Do you feel that pornographers really push the “you’ll be famous like Sasha Grey” card when hiring actresses?
11. Lubben talks about how painstaking it is to convert female porn actresses to her cause because they don’t trust anyone. Might it, at least in part, be that most porn actresses get into porn of their own free will and have a conscience about purely blaming other people for their mistakes in life? That most women can’t say their entire career was someone else’s fault, though they may have suffered some very bad experiences, and your criteria for women getting out is too much of a blanket anti-porn statement that leaves them completely helpless and without a strong voice of their own? Maybe there are finer, more intricate aspects to uncover about working in gonzo porn– or even just porn today as opposed to several years ago–that makes the industry a terrible place for men and women to go for work in these difficult economic times. Isn’t there more to be said specifically for sex workers that points to actual information rather than relying on the viewer’s ignorance to make your perspective believable? Maybe you can recommend specific articles and videos where models point to specific information about agents and porn producers?

I think there is a conversation to be had, but even with saying some things about gonzo porn production, there really isn’t enough information being shared here.

I’m reading an anti-pornographer’s book right now and this person talks about porn acting as a kind of instructional guide for men on how to have sex. It’s an interesting point to make. My ex introduced me to anal sex because “the women in the videos enjoy it,” and I had a personal experience with someone I care about that pulled out the Max Hardcore daddy/daughter incest fantasy during an intimate moment, and it ruined our relationship for a time, though obviously this can be directly contributed to my actually being a performer in one of his scenes. Men know so very little about female sexuality as it is, there should be more conversation about it replacing sex education.

It really cannot be said enough that any person can and should say no to what is happening to them when they are unhappy or uncomfortable, and that they can do so logically and rationally. The alternative may seem more unpleasant than just saying okay–after all, when we show up for porn work we know some form of sex is going to happen–but it doesn’t mean we have to feel bullied. I turned down many jobs and risked the repercussion of no money and threat of no work because it felt better to go that route. We should be pushing the self-empowerment of saying ‘no’ for specific reasons that make sense.

And again, beyond just pointing out certain people who victimize within porn, at what point do we treat them like human beings and sensibly consider their perspective in the harm they do? I have never seen a situation where one person was hurting someone, and not somehow hurting themselves, as well. I, personally, think Max Hardcore is a disgusting human being, but if we don’t consider him as a human being and try to uncover aspects to the “abuser” psychology, how can we feel we are really informing people with everything there is to know? Why is care limited to only women in front of the camera? Shouldn’t there be the same sort of healing extended to even the worst abusers, even if there lies the threat of retaliation for naming them? Is there a symbiotic relationship between certain types of women and certain types of men? And in what ways do we allow people to perpetuate this kind of existence by making information something only the elite have access to as we scoff at “ignorant” people in lower middle class environments who suffer subpar educational institutions? Maybe I do share some things in common with other actresses, but how am I ever to effectively bond and communicate with women like me when I’m being strategically limited in life by social caste, finances, religious affiliation and language? I’m not Jewish or Christian. I have no degree or lengthy college credentials. Where do I fit in? And how do you explain my existence when I’m nothing like the women you talk about from porn?

The reposting of this article is allowed only with express written permission from © Julie Meadows Entertainment.

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