A few weeks have passed since Stoya rocked the adult film world with allegations of rape against James Deen. He initially tweeted his innocence, but the mounting accusations quickly cost him jobs and other professional ties. Earlier this week, Deen spoke out formally for the first time to express his disbelief at the scandal. In that interview, Deen said he was “completely baffled,” and he listed several possible motivations, which he believed could lead Stoya to retaliate against him.
Deen is now receiving support from someone (formerly) inside the industry. Lisa Ann (who retired in 2014) spoke about Deen during Sam Roberts’ Sirius XM show. Based upon what Lisa Ann knows about Deen during their previous on-set interactions, she says these allegations are a “surprise.” Lisa Ann says she has no idea what happened, but she has a problem with the social media aspect of the accusations and the subsequent pile-on:
“My beef is really, this isn’t the appropriate way to go about these things. And the teaming up and the bullying and the going on social media and the doing press. I feel like there’s more of a respectful way if you have a problem, you go to the police, you file a police report, you go to that producer on set that day, you tell them something happened. Why hasn’t anyone complained before now? And now there’s all these bandwagoners. I feel like we’ve gone too far with social media and what people are allowed to talk about without having credible paperwork, police reports, or anything like this because you’re defaming someone and you’re attacking their character, and we’re guilty until proven guilty in this country.”
Roberts quizzed Lisa Ann on whether “performers get raped” in adult films, and she responded, “not on my watch.” She has never seen it happen during her years in the business and says a director is always nearby to supervise during scenes. Lisa Ann also says she only stopped working with Deen because their working styles grew apart, and “the business has made the guys get a lot more aggressive” and “extreme” on camera.
When Roberts mentioned how the women may have been afraid to accuse Deen for fear of their jobs (the “Cosby effect”), Lisa Ann said women in porn are always more valuable than the men, and they shouldn’t have been afraid to bring accusations. Ultimately, Lisa Ann believes Deen has a “right to defend himself” because his “entire livelihood” has suddenly been destroyed, and there’s little he can do when it’s all playing out in the press.
Writer/director Bret Easton Ellis, who worked with Deen in The Canyons, has also spoken out to support Deen. He has known Deen for years (both before, during, and after his relationship with Stoya), and he believes Stoya is a jealous and “unstable” ex-girlfriend. Ellis’ interview is best not repeated in this forum, but you can read it here. In short, Ellis calls the accusations a “witch hunt,” and he’s not standing for the Cosby comparisons, either.
Here’s a video clip of Lisa Ann in the studio with Sam Roberts.