He entered the porn industry in 2004 at the age of 18. He gained attention due to his relatively slender build, lack of tattoos, and everyman appeal, bucking the stereotypical image of hypermasculine male actors in the pornography industry.[3] In late 2015, multiple women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, including rape, against Deen, with the most notable being his former girlfriend Joanna Angel.[8]
According to Deen, performing in pornographic films was his ambition since he was in kindergarten.[14] Around age 15, he left high school and spent two years homeless.[15] He graduated from La Cañada High School in 2004.[16] At 17, Deen moved in with his father. He worked at a Starbucks for two years and took classes at Pasadena City College.[12][17]
Career
After entering the pornography industry in 2004, he initially worked with older female performers.[3] In 2009, he was named the "Male Performer of the Year" by AVN at the age of 22, making him the youngest actor to have won this award.[3] Deen has a fan following among teenage girls, a demographic typically not associated with the pornographic industry.[3] In February 2012, ABC Nightline aired the feature Porn's Boy Next Door, which included interviews with Deen and his fans. One fan described him as "the Ryan Gosling of porn".[18]
In September 2012, Deen was a participant in a press conference, along with others opposing Los Angeles CountyMeasure B, an initiative which would require condom usage in the pornographic film industry.[19] Deen questioned the measure's constitutionality.
Deen on a film set in 2007
Deen's collaborations include work with NSFW site WoodRocket.com. As the host of original web series, James Deen Loves Food, Deen has been featured reviewing top restaurants, ordering every item on a drive-thru menu at once, and creating a $580 burrito.[20]
Deen has performed in over 5,000 videos in his pornographic career.[2]
In media
In February 2013, Deen was invited to return to his alma mater, Pasadena City College, by professor Hugo Schwyzer[25] to speak to students about his career. The appearance, initially open to the public, was restricted by college administrators due to "public-safety concerns" over "protesters".[26] Deen was restricted to speaking to the students of Pasadena City College's "Navigating Pornography" class.[25]
Deen was featured in a July 2012 GQ multi-page article, chronicling his work and personal life.[28]GQ interviewed Deen again for an article about his workout regimen, in which he credited healthy eating habits, a "Jew stomach" and lots of sex.[29] In 2013, Deen was listed as the only male performer to make the CNBCDirty Dozen list of the porn industry's popular stars.[30]
In April 2013, Deen filmed a pornographic scene with reality television participant Farrah Abraham, who had been in one of the Teen Mom series. Deen indicated that he was asked to pretend to be dating Abraham as part of a ploy to market the scene as an accidentally released sex tape, but that he refused to do so, arguing, "If you're going to make a celebrity sex tape and try to pass it off as an amateur home video, you don't hire a well-known porn star!"[31]
Deen co-starred with Lindsay Lohan in Paul Schrader's 2013 film The Canyons, written by Bret Easton Ellis.[5][32] In July 2013, Deen teamed with American pornographic actress Andy San Dimas, adult app store MiKandi and adult industry news source XBIZ, to release the first adult video production recorded with Google Glass. Within 24 hours, the censored trailer reached one million views on YouTube.[33]
Deen filmed a sex scene with Huffington Post blogger and comedian Jenn Tisdale in late 2013, in a New York City hotel room, after she responded to an open invitation by Deen on Twitter.[34][35][36] In light of sexual assault allegations made against Deen in 2015, Tisdale addressed the issue by amending her original story about filming a sex video with Deen, saying she regretted contributing to the false image Deen projected of himself.[37]
Deen has a sizable fan base; his fans, dubbed "Deenagers", have created social media fan pages on Tumblr, Pinterest and standalone fan sites. Deenagers regularly share and comment on Deen's work. In February 2013, Deen launched JamesDeenStore.com.[38] In addition to Deen's films and adult novelties, the store features Deen's Baby Panda brand of clothing.[39]
In January 2014, Deen joined the newly formed Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC), which provides representation for performers within the adult film industry, protects performers' rights, reviews existing health and safety protocols, and initiates new ones as needed.[40] As part of the committee's launch, APAC released a Porn 101 video.[41] A DVD copy was released to all industry talent attending the recent Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.[42] Deen has served as Treasurer and served as Chairperson of APAC until December 2015, when he stepped down following accusations from fellow performers.[43][44]
On June 25, 2014, Deen participated in a Reddit A.M.A. He received over 4,000 questions over the course of an hour,[45] making Deen's AMA listed by Reddit as the most popular on the site as of the following morning.[46]
Personal life
From 2005 to 2011, Deen dated fellow pornography star Joanna Angel.[47] In an interview with The Huffington Post from July 2013, porn actress Stoya stated that she was dating Deen. They dated from 2012 to 2014.[48]
On November 28, 2015, Deen was accused on Twitter of rape by the pornographic actress and writer Stoya, with whom he had previously been in a romantic relationship.[53][54] Deen denied the allegations, calling them "false", "egregious", and "defamatory".[54] Deen's former girlfriend Joanna Angel was one of the first performers to tweet support for Stoya. On The Jason Ellis Show, Angel accused Deen of being abusive during their six-year relationship.[47]
In total, nine women came forward with allegations of abuse and unnecessarily rough sex during scenes.[55][56][57][58] The allegations included claims that Deen forcibly had anal sex with a woman during a non-anal scene,[59][55][58] that he physically restrained and hit several women, and forced one woman's face into his crotch to "sniff his testicles".[60][55][58]Amber Rayne said that during a shoot, Deen punched her in the face and caused her anus to bleed with violent anal sex.[59][55][58]
Due to the allegations, Kink.com, Evil Angel, and HardX.com severed all ties with Deen, stating that "consent is sacrosanct". The Frisky cancelled Deen's sexual advice column and removed advertisements for and links to Deen's official site from previously published editions. Deen voluntarily resigned as chairman of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee.[44][61]
In December 2015, an article in The Daily Beast referred to Deen as the "Bill Cosby of porn",[62][63] while the feminist site We Hunted the Mammoth wrote that James Deen seemed to be "a perfect example" of a missing stair.[64] Deen later gave an interview to The Daily Beast where he stated he was "baffled" by the accusations and denied or offered counter-explanations for them.[65]
In 2016, Deen and his production company faced a $77,875 fine for violating a California safety law by failing to provide condoms for performers, failing to disclose safety records, and other violations.[66]
In July 2017, director Maria Demopoulos filed a lawsuit against Deen for blocking the distribution of a documentary that addresses the numerous rape and sexual assault allegations against him by stealing legal releases from her office.[67]
↑ Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They acknowledge several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.
Sean Michaels is an American pornographic actor, model, director and former trade union leader. In 2002, AVN ranked him 14th on their list of The Top 50 Porn Stars of All Time. Michaels has won several prominent adult industry awards, including the NightMoves Award for Best Actor. He has also been inducted into the AVN, NightMoves, Urban X, and XRCO Halls of Fame.
Thomas Joseph Strada, better known by his stage name Tommy Gunn, is an American pornographic actor and director. He has made several mainstream appearances, including an episode of Entourage and music videos for Buckcherry and Rilo Kiley. In 2016, Gunn was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame.
Joanna Mostov, professionally known as Joanna Angel, is an American pornographic film actress, director, and writer of adult films. She founded the website BurningAngel.com in April 2002 with her roommate Mitch Fontaine, and has been credited with helping the growth of the alt porn genre. Launched as a response to websites such as SuicideGirls, the website featured alternative performers acting in exclusively hardcore scenes with a stronger focus on a punk aesthetic.
Manuel Jeannin, known professionally as Manuel Ferrara, is a French-American adult entertainer and director. One of the leading actors in the porn industry, Ferrara has won over 64 adult industry awards including six AVN Awards as Male Performer of the Year—the record for the accolade, and was inducted into the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame.
Lisa Ann Corpora, known professionally as Lisa Ann, is a retired American pornographic film actress and radio personality. She has also worked as a director and talent agent. She parodied former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin in six adult films and a music video. She is a member of the AVN, XRCO, and Urban X Halls of Fame. Ann has been described as one of the most popular and successful pornographic actresses in the world.
Meghan Wren, known professionally as Amber Rayne, was an American pornographic actress.
Alexis Texas is an American pornographic actress. In 2020, Texas was characterized as one of "the most popular porn performers", based on her Instagram following of around 6 million followers. She was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2022.
Stoya is an American semi-retired pornographic actress, actress, model, and nonfiction writer. She began her porn career in 2007 in the alt porn scene, and since 2009 has also worked in non-pornographic media, including the 2016 lesbian fantasy series Dagger Kiss. Since 2019, she has co-written the sex column "How To Do It" for Slate under the byline Jessica Stoya.
Angela Gabrielle White is an Australian pornographic film actress and director. She has been inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame and the XRCO Hall of Fame, and in 2020 became AVN's first three-time Female Performer of the Year winner.
Chanel Preston is an American pornographic film actress. She was the Penthouse magazine Penthouse Pet for March 2012.
Remy LaCroix is an American pornographic actress. She won the 2013 AVN Award for Best New Starlet and the 2014 AVN Award for Best Actress and the 2014 XRCO Award for Female Performer of the Year.
Ashley Matthews, known professionally as Riley Reid is an American pornographic film actress. She has won over 50 awards, including the 2014 XBIZ Award for Female Performer of the Year and the AVN Award for Female Performer of the Year in 2016. She was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame in 2021 and the AVN Hall of Fame in 2025.
Bonnie Rotten is an American pornographic actress, feature dancer, fetish model, and director. In 2014, she became the first alt-porn star to win the AVN Award for Female Performer of the Year.
Dana Vespoli is an American pornographic actress and film director.
Casey Calvert is an American pornographic actress and film director. She has won several awards in the pornographic film industry, and has written about it in mainstream media publications. Calvert entered the adult media industry with early work as an art model and fetish model at age 21. She chose her stage name after one of her college professors, Clay Calvert.
Adam Cuculich, known by the stage names Ryan Driller and Jeremy Bilding, is an American pornographic actor who has appeared in both straight and gay pornography. In 2016, he received the XBIZ Award for Male Performer of the Year. Men's Health has described him as "one of the biggest names in the industry".
Scottine Ross, known professionally as Brett Rossi and formerly Scottine Sheen, is an American model, entertainer, dancer and former pornographic film actress.
Steven Wolfe, better known as Johnny Sins, is an American adult film performer, director, and YouTuber. He is consistently among the most popular male talent adult movies searches and is known for his shaved head, muscular physique, and blue eyes, often considered a sex symbol as well. His accolades include three AVN Awards for Male Performer of the Year. He has been the subject of memes, which center on the large variety of occupations his pornographic characters have worked.
Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) is an American organized labor group for pornographic actors. Launched in 2014, shortly after the closure of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation (AIM), the organization released a video called Porn 101 containing advice for new and established pornographic performers. APAC operates a mentor scheme and maintains resources for people starting pornographic acting, as well as hosting panels, releasing statements and lobbying.
Adriana Chechik is an American pornographic actress, media personality and Twitch streamer. By 2022, she had mostly retired from pornography in favor of video game livestreaming on Twitch. In October 2022, she broke her back when she jumped into a deceptively shallow foam pit at Twitch's annual convention TwitchCon, and thereafter documented her recovery.
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