Yesterday afternoon, adult film star and writer Stoya tweeted the next about her former costar and ex-boyfriend, James Deen:
That thing where you log in to the web for a second and find out people idolizing the man who raped you as a feminist. That thing sucks.
– Stoya (@stoya) November 28, 2019
James Deen held me down and fucked me as i said no, stop, used my safeword. I just can’t nod and smile when people bring him up anymore.
– Stoya (@stoya) November 28, 2019
Shortly thereafter, another of Deen’s ex-girlfriends/former costars, Joanna Angel, tweeted her support:
I discovered Stoya’s?accusation a couple of hours after she posted her tweets, and immediately made a decision to finish James Deen’s sex advice column with The Frisky effective immediately.
Sometime tomorrow, the ads on?the Sex section which link to James Deen’s website is going to be removed. We will never be publishing?WWJDD moving forward, and?I’ll be making the decision concerning how to handle the columns we’ve already published in the next few days.
I greatly liked James Deen. I enjoyed dealing with him on WWJDD.?Gurus him to do a guidance column since i liked his directness?and?his confidence, but most of all, I liked his?emphasis on communication, honesty and, most of all, CONSENT. He has been accused of violating Stoya’s consent, that?women I respect?have since contacted me directly to say?they know of others to whom he’s done exactly the same thing? Well, I’m fucking heartsick over it. This?makes it?impossible for me to use him any further, to give him a forum for giving advice that he is accused of?not following himself. No amount of good rapport?between us or visitors to his columns?would EVER?supersede the fact that I BELIEVE WOMEN.
I imagine there will be some?who’ll say, “But how about James Deen’s side for this story? What about evidence?” As is the situation using the majority of rape accusations, especially between intimate partners, Stoya’s story of being raped by James Deen?is very likely the only “evidence.” He’s certainly within his rights to deny it, though it’s important to note he and the representatives have remained mute around the matter, and James?has not taken care of immediately the text message I sent him yesterday. Like so many rape cases, this can most likely be a “he said/she said” situation. And as I tweeted yesterday, today and each day, I BELIEVE WOMEN.
From an expert standpoint, because the editor of the women’s blog which has published the accused’s words, acting swiftly and decisively may be 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 continues to be raped for me to believe her. Ladies who emerge as rape victims are far, far, way too often not believed. This is especially true of ladies who work in the sex industry, with individuals actually wondering aloud if porn stars could be raped. Victims?they fit on trial themselves, with everything else they’ve ever said/done/worn suddenly under scrutiny as you possibly can “evidence” that?they are?lying or that they requested it. This occurs despite mountains of actual evidence indicating that false rape accusations are quite rare.
I believe women since the vast majority of women I know have been raped or sexually assaulted by a man they knew and/or trusted. In my opinion women because more than a few guys have shown an utter lack of respect for whether I did or could?consent.?I believe women because, many years ago, I did not consent and that he still “couldn’t help himself.”
For more information on your legal stand against rape, you can always contact Anaya McKedy P.C. a defense lawyer whose mandate would be to help people know more regarding their situation and when they really possess a case.
I BELIEVE WOMEN. Period.
ETA: I simply wanted to be absolutely clear on the arrangement we had with James. Every couple weeks approximately, James and that i would jump on the phone and that i would question a number of questions we had received from readers. He’d respond to them from the cuff and that i would record what he’d to state.?I would then transcribe his answers and edited them (for flow/clarity, not substance) into a draft, which I delivered to him for approval.?In return for?giving the advice within the column,?he?was?not?paid – instead, I?linked?to his website after each piece, and also the Sex section, in which the?column lived, was skinned with ads linking to?his site.
UPDATE (Nov. 30, 2019): After careful thought and consideration, we have chose to add the following disclaimer to any or all?of the previously published WWJDD columns: