James Deen Rape Allegations

Overview

James Deen Rape Allegations refers to claims made by adult film actress Stoya that she was raped by adult film actor and former boyfriend James Deen. After Stoya posted the allegations on Twitter in late November 2015, two additional actresses came forth accusing Deen of sexual misconduct.

Background

In July 2013, Stoya was interviewed by The Huffington Post, where she announced she was dating fellow adult film star James Deen (shown below).

On November 28th, 2015, Stoya posted tweets^[1][2] expressing disdain with Deen being hailed as a feminist and accused him of raping her (shown below).

Notable Developments

Gaby Dunn's Response

That day, feminist vlogger and comedian Gaby Dunn, a friend of Deen's, tweeted that she believed the accusations were false according to the Observer Leader.^[16] Dunn subsequently tweeted "It is more important for society to believe women and sex workers than it is for me to defend one friend" (shown below).^[15]

Deen's Response

On November 29th, Deen posted several tweets calling the allegations "egregious," "false" and "defamatory" (shown below).^[6][7][8]

Additional Allegations

On November 29th, adult film star Joanna Angel^[11] tweeted "He’s dead on the inside and dead to me . He’s literally the worst person I’ve ever met" (shown below).

The following day, The Daily Beast^[12] published an essay by adult film actress Tori Lux, who accused Deen of attacking and degrading her on a set in June 2011. Also on November 30th, The Daily Beast^[13] published a statement by adult actress Ashley Fires, who accused Deen of attempted rape.

#SolidarityWithStoya

Meanwhile, many Twitter users began posting tweets in support of Stoya along with the hashtag #solidaritywithstoya^[9] (shown below).^[10]

Cut Ties

On November 29th, the women's interest site The Frisky^[4] published an article by staff writer Amelia McDonell-Parry titled "Why The Frisky Will No Longer Be Publishing James Deen’s Sex Advice Column," which announced that Deen's sex advice column on the site had been terminated. Additionally, McDonell-Parry revealed that she believed Deen was guilty of the allegations because Stoya was a woman.

"Like so many rape cases, this will very likely be a “he said/she said” situation. And as I tweeted last night, today and every day, I BELIEVE WOMEN. From a professional standpoint, as the editor of a women’s blog which has published the accused’s words, acting swiftly and decisively is the least that I can do. The court of public opinion is not a court of law, and I don’t need Stoya or any woman to “prove” that she has been raped for me to believe her."

That day, the article was submitted by Redditor fourthwaving to the /r/feminism^[14] subreddit, where the top-voted comment took issue with the "I believe women" statement:

"I agree with most of the article and most of the actions taken here. However, I take issue with the 'I BELIEVE WOMEN' mentality. Feminism is about equality and blanket resolutions like this aren't equality."

On November 30th, BuzzFeed^[5] published a statement from the adult film studio Kink, announcing the company had severed ties with Deen amid the rape allegations:

"For the Kink.com community, as well as the larger BDSM community, consent and respect are sacrosanct. Effective immediately, Kink.com will cease all ties with James Deen, both as a performer and a producer. Our performers deserve not only safe sets, but the ability to work without fear of assault. Rape or sexual assault, with or without a safe-word, off-set or on, should never be accepted as a hazard of adult production. While many of the allegations against Deen are new, the pattern is alarming. Over the coming weeks and months, we will review our Model Bill of Rights to strengthen rights of performers off-set, and work with the larger industry to help performers to have been assaulted to more easily come forward."

Search Interest

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External References