When it comes to porn, the $64,000 question has always been: What’s the adult industry’s net worth? The popular assumption, portrayed in Hollywood movies and TV shows, is that pornographers are a bunch of millionaires who spend their days taking sun bath by the pool and drinking. Occasionally, they fuck on film for a living on luxurious sets, and these nymphomaniacs enjoy every minute of their work. Let’s clarify something: This assumption is bullshit. In reality, the majority of pornographers are not millionaires, and they certainly don’t enjoy every minute of their work. They too have their good days and bad days. Moreover, nobody knows what the smut factory’s net worth is. You don’t know it, I don’t know it, and most definitely AVN, the self proclaimed “adult industry news outlet”, doesn’t know it. Before the hostile takeover of the porn valley by international organized crime syndicates that run pirate and tube sites, AVN used to claim the industry’s net worth is around $4 billion annually. AVN often, and rightfully so, has been accused of generating this number out of thin air, and its response has always been laughable: AVN cronies argue they take into account DVD sales, VOD sales, strip club and even phone sex revenues. Here, we have to “assume” that Joe Shmoe who works the graveyard shift at a crumbling adult store in small town USA, along with Suzy Long Legs who works at the local strip joint and Chubby Maggie who works from her trailer as a phone sex operator keep a detailed, Uncle Sam friendly track of their income and report to AVN round the clock. That’s right fellows, if you believe that, then by the same token you gotta believe me when I tell you I’ve got a bridge for sale in Brooklyn.
Nonetheless, who gives a shit about the truth when the fantasy is far more glamour and tempting? I mean try to explain that to dozen of young, naïve girls who hitch hike to Los Angeles to become“the next Jenna Jameson”. You can’t convince them not to come, they are being fixated on the image of the porn industry rather than its harsh realities. They have to come and see for themselves. Those who are smart, make some decent money and get out in 6 months to a year, some will stick around longer, and their profession impacts and transforms their lives in ways that they couldn’t imagine.
Case in point, let’s looks at Sheena Shaw. She started her performing career in late 2011. At first, she was only performing straight sex, no anal, no rosebud, no circus stunts. She didn’t come to my attention until the summer of 2012 when at an adult industry forum, I came across a press release posted by her agent, announcing that Sheena Shaw is now doing anal. I browsed her profile, she looked fine, I checked out some of her scenes at AEBN, and her performance was alright, although she didn’t seem like an engaging performer. In other words, I got the impression that she doesn’t enjoy sex physically and/or emotionally, everything, from speaking in a tuned down school girlish voice to her facial expressions and body language were pretense. When you work with talent as a producer/director, you develop an eye for details and can pick up on things like this, but on the other hand, you need to produce content and can’t always be too rigid about the casting. Sometimes you have to do the best you can with the resources that are available to you. In any case, I decided to book her for a scene, so I called her agent, we agreed on the rate and scheduled the shoot for the following week. Meanwhile, I got tested and got my results ready. A few days before our scheduled shoot, news broke out that a male performer, who later was revealed to be Mr. Marcus, had infected some female coworkers with syphilis. Sheena’s agent called me and asked if I heard the news. I said yes. He asked me if I wanted to proceed with the shoot or do I prefer to postpone it. I said that I have a current test, and have not worked with anybody in the past 3 or 4 weeks, so I’m good to go. If Sheena has a current test and is confident about her health status, then we can get on with the schedule. This syphilis incident doesn’t seem to be a big outbreak, the production of porn is down by more than %80, and people don’t work and don’t interact with each other as they used to. The agent said he would speak with Sheena and will get back to me. Some hours later, he called me back and told me he had spoken with Sheena, and she says she would do it if I agree to get an antibiotic shot, because that has been recommended by the FSC. I said: “So she wants me to inject myself with antibiotics even though I have a clean test and no symptoms of syphilis just so that I would be allowed to pay her to perform with me? I won’t do that, I’m calling the whole thing off.” I hung up the phone and thought what an absurd and outrageous demand, so now the FSC cronies are calling the shots and they know better than any doctor and specialist. According to them, the way to prevent an infection is by injecting antibiotics into a healthy body. I don’t know where the FSC gets their information from, but as far as I know, taking antibiotics if you don’t have an infection is a terrible idea, because it makes the body resistant and later, if you do get an infection, antibiotics won’t have the necessary effect.
Anyway, the shoot was cancelled and we moved on, I never made an attempt at booking Sheena Shaw again. She went on to become an anal champion, and got famous for doing double anal penetrations and shoving billiard balls in her asshole, stuff that I don’t think she could imagine she would be doing when she started her career in 2011. However, none of what she did on screen shocked me, what shook me to my core was her affair with a certain HIV positive gentleman who happens to be the owner of the company that produced most of Sheena Shaw anal scenes. The best part is that the affair was not exposed by a gossip web site, Ms. Shaw bragged about it on her Twitter account. Twitter, a place where people can air their dirty laundry in public and broadcast their brain farts on an hourly basis. Nobody needs Jerry Springer when we’ve got Twitter. Anyway, think about it folks, in 2012, this lady was asking her co-performer to get an antibiotic shot for a STD that he didn’t even have. One year later, she’s having an affair with an HIV positive person and at the same time, performs in bareback scenes. I can’t think of any career other than porn that so dramatically and rapidly changes people’s mindset, behavior and priorities in life.
The reason I decided to share this story is because Sheena Shaw has resumed her performing career after a hiatus, and I believe she poses a danger to herself and others by her reckless behavior, hence it would be in people’s best interest to avoid working with her. I can’t think of anything worse than fucking an HIV positive man in private and performing in bareback scenes at the same time. If she has no regards for her own safety and well being, then she has no regards for anybody else’s safety and well being. If she’s willing to gamble with her life like that, she would be willing to do anything. I heard in some of her Twitter posts, she had made references to bestiality. I don’t know whether she’s actually into that thing or is just bragging to get attention, but I know this: If one of these days I come across a clip of Ms. Shaw taking a horse dick in her ass, that won’t shock me. I’m well past the point of getting shocked by Sheena Shaw.
24 Responses
The FSC/Dukes seems to be mostly concerned with raising funds and making sure she gets paid.
I started reading this and thought, “When did I write this.” Welcome to the dark side Mr Payne.
And I found this line extremely funny, A PRESS RELESE from her agent announcing that she is now doing anal. ONLY IN PORN
“I can’t think of any career other than porn that so dramatically and rapidly changes people’s mindset, behavior and priorities in life.”
If these girls had a healthy mindset they would have never entered this industry in the first place. They were already messed up/damaged BEFORE they entered the industry.. Once entered..the industry just finishes them off by putting the final nail in their coffin so to speak..
Actually I think ANY career in entertainment does that… when I said on another post that porn attracts broken people, I realize I should also specify that entertainment in general attracts broken people. Mainstream just happen to have fixers, agents, PR, and assistants to keep their skeletons hidden. I know some very, very negative dirt some very well-known people that would make your head spin.
And common sense, did you not say you are not in the industry? I wouldn’t make blanket statements like that with little real insight. If porn was the final nail in the coffin, we would all be dead. There are plenty of healthy coping mechanisms that can be used to make the time spent in this industry less damaging, with opportunities to learn and grow.
Lastly, I can call myself damaged, I can make blanket and non-specific statements about the people in the industry saying the same thing because I’m in it, but you, you cannot. Choose your words better unless you want the spotlight shined on you.
Great article Mr. Payne,,,but why just Sheena Shaw,,,what about all the crossover guys,who certainly are a much bigger threat thans Sheena Shaw,,,and the agents who book the crossovers, like OC Modeling,book them to work with a known HIV+ guy one day, and a female, no condoms, the next day? Will you be calling thoseperformers and agents out by name Mr Payne, I hope so. Time will tell. Why single out this one person when a large portion of the industry is all too willing to play along,.,,,,,Its no the risk youre willing to take,,,,its the risk your partner is willing to put you at that matters.
You have to be responsible in this industry. I am not even sexually active in my personal life. This way I know I am not posing any risk to the performers I work with. I like to think that other performers are smart, only hook up with people they know are clean, and don’t hook up with random people from various nights out. But this definitely brings an awareness to our health. We have to make sure we practice safe sex. The public community looks up to us as Sex Experts, and it’s up to us to promote safe sex habits. That’s just how I see it. What about everyone else? Love,
Shawna Lenee
LOL The public does not look up to you for anything, let alone as Sex Experts. What in any way qualifies any porn star as a Sex Expert. Looking at the stars does not make me an astrologer. Promote Safe sex,,,lol the industry, incase you havent noticed Ms, Shaw the industry is doing the exact opposite, the EXACT opposite. Surely you are joking, I guess I just missed what was obvuosly supposed to be a sarcastic post.
It doesnt matter what YOU do, it matters what your partners do, which you have no clue and no control over. Then you take those risks that you had no control over and you put your partners at risk,,the same risk level as you PARTNERS,,,dont you get that,,,,what you do or dont do is irrelevant,,its what your partners do that determines YOUR risk level, not what you do. And you have no clue what they do, so really, you have no clue the level of risk that you are passing to others. It is exactly this type of mistaken risk assesment that is the biggest hole in this entire testing syste JOKE this industry depends on. This is a perfect example of the lack of education of most porn performers
@Jilted
The adult industry is rotten to the core, and its health and safety standards are a broken joke. The reason I chose Sheena Shaw as an example was because of the personal experience that I had of attempting to work with her. When a girl goes from demanding her coworker to get an antibiotic shot to dating a HIV positive man in less than a year time, it shows how severely a person’s mindset and priorities can and will change in this line of work. You are correct in your assertion that performing in porn maintains risk, I take it up a notch and say it’s like playing the Russian Rolette, you never know when the gun might go off. However, it’s one thing to perform with someone who may or may not have been exposed to a disease prior to shooting, but it’s entirely a different thing to perform with someone who dates and fucks a HIV positive patient in private. Sheena Shaw took the risk to an unprecedented level, and because of that, she doesn’t deserve a place even in an industry as broken and rotten as the adult.
I am shocked that she is not HIV positive, and wasn’t she pregnant from her affair??
Mr. Payne, I absolutely agree with 100% of what you have said here. And I also agree that your personal experience is but a picture of what the entire industry on a daily basis. I would go one step further, and say every person like MS Shaw should get the same treatment by the industry, but I am sure you will agree they wont. And the blame goes from top to bottom, agents who will book a guy who to work with an HIV+ guy one day, and unprotected with a female the next, like OCModeling, and proucers, like the one who wanted to do the scene anyway even after the syphillis outbreak had just been announced.
And the testing system now being a total joke, not just a half joke, got ot agree on that,,,,,the conditions that existed when the industry decided to use a last ditch effort harm reduction program to stem the tide of stds’ NOT PREVENT THEM,, do not exist anymore. WIth the routine procedure of the porn industry today, a HUGE percentage of performers who actilvely esctort, excuse me, prositiute themselves, the testing system is an absolute joke. Its very nice to actually see someone currently in the industry write and article that I could have easily written myself, actually, I have been writing about these EXACT same issues for years,,,like I saik, Welcom to the dark side.
How about a guy that has VD and shows up to work with a polka dotted dick and faked his test? No one says anything (on set) and the female talent sucks an fucks the guy on camera. Has Mr. Marcus been working since then?
I asked APAC what is their view on Sheens’s comeback, on Feb 20th, via Twitter. As a member of APAC i was expecting to get an answer by an organization which claims to be there to protect me as a performer. But this answer hasn’t come yet and something tells me that it will never come. This is what upsets me the most: the omerta. And not only by APAC board, but especially by its members, the performers. How nobody seems to be officially concerned about Sheena’s comeback is beyond me. In the meantime, the next APAC meeting is about filing taxes…
https://twitter.com/SabrinaDeep/status/568813505211707393
Individuals priorities are dependent on what’s happening in their life at any given moment which is why I shout from rooftops the industry needs effective standards as a baseline. Taking the hardline against syphilis to later pursue a relationship with someone known to be HIV+ proves how dependent the industry is on the will and whims of its workers from performer to set crew and beyond.
@sexybrietaylor
I don’t know whether Sheena was pregnant from her affair with the HIV positive gentleman or not, but I know that she has a daughter. During her affair, not only she gambled with her life and exposed her coworkers to a high risk, she also put her own child in great danger.
She did get prgnant via that affair and in utero paternity test proved it was his
I think tax is an appropriate subject for an APAC meeting but I have to agree that Sheena Shaw re-entering the adult film industry is scary. I certainly won’t stick my dick in her orifices. If I were a talent booker or director for Intersec or Kink I might consider suspending her, tying her up and caning her in a BDSM scene but my dick isn’t going in her anytime soon. I know Truvada somewhat helps to keep HIV from transmitting but Sheena likely fucked Stags hundreds of times, likely without a condom (not that I would trust a condom in this instance). How that two bullet revolver (essentially instead of playing Russian Roulette with one chamber loaded she was playing with two chambers loaded with HIV) didn’t go off here and give her AIDS I haven’t a clue. God must exist, that is the only explanation I have for her not having AIDS right now!
To the guy that thinks she might fuck a horse dick soon, I bet that horse dick is thinner than billiard balls. I would rather see her try to suck a horse’s dick with her mouth — THAT would be interesting.
I don’t understand why there is not more outrage at this HIV positive company owner. His company had some finger in most of her anal movies, right? So, here he is barebacking her and then having her do scenes with male talent at the same time. Male talent that works for him and he pays. What kind of mindset does he have to be willing to risk his male talent contracting HIV? They are putting their dicks into an asshole that is capable of prolapsing (which means lots of micro fissures and specks of blood in there). He seems to be getting a pass here and nobody is calling him out? Sure, Sheena should be blackballed. But why are directors and male performers not boiling in outrage that their “boss” was happily willing to put them at risk of HIV. Anyone care to comment?
I agree with what you said about mainstream entertainment. I happen to believe that in a way, the people in Hollywood are even scummier than they are in this town But like you said they are better at covering up…
But the difference between Hollywood and porn? In Hollywood they make millions of dollars/ get residuals and don’t have to have real sex on camera. In Hollywood when someone is outed as a child molester, rapist, woman beater the town distances themselves from that person ( even if the guys are beating the crap out of their girlfriends in real life because they know the public won’t stand for it and they have a fake image to uphold and they want to make money) so that person is shunned and most likely will not be able to get work again unless the public forgives him/her.. In porn no one gives a fuck they publicly hang out with the predators.. Tweet to them.. Write on their blogs..etc..and they glorify violence against women..most of the men in this industry hate women…..
And Of course they deny it and think people are stupid enough to believe them.. Maybe the girls in this industry are but not people like myself in the public… Lol!!!
Fact…. 99.9% of the women in this industry come from abusive backgrounds.whether they remember it or not…. Even Jenna Jameson admits to being raped and look how she turned out after joining the industry.. She’s still alive.but….come on girls! Who wants to be the next Jenna Jameson? Answer no one with any sanity. Lol!
It’s rather sad…. These girls never got the help they should have when they were kids/teens most don’t have family or even friends that are/were supportive in anyway… and that’s how the predators in this industry lure them to smut town..
These girls have low self esteem..they hate themselves(which is why they don’t care about anything) and are looking for the love they never received as children and they think this town and their “fans” are going to provide it..not happening! .
they are so desperate for attention( just last week I believe it was MW wife Christina who said she was going to kill herself for the 10,000 time because MW was ignoring her.(which by the way, is the number one tactic abusers use on their victims in an attempt to control them it’s called the silent treatment)
so …instead of leaving that scumbag she WANTS HIS ATTENTION! Yeah, she’s all there. And she gets plenty of that when he beats the crap out of her, huh?
anyway, she is not the only one who acts this way…this is how most of the women in/associated with this industry act she just happens to have her meltdowns on Twitter for the whole world to see.
These damaged women are easy to use and abuse.. The men know they are weak and scared and will keep their mouths shut and even defend these scumbags (which I have seen women in this industry do numerous times) which is why the men “love” them so much… The weaker the better.. A strong woman would NEVER PULL UP WITH THESE ABUSIVE ASSHOLES. which is why they are not in the industry.
this YES… this industry IS the final nail in their coffin. They just either don’t know it yet or don’t want to know it…this industry destroys their lives and they will find that out once they leave their bubble….
And come one! No one can be treated like shit over and over and have people abuse you over and over in your personal life and on film by calling it a fetish and not have that affect you.. That’s why they all drink and smoke pot.. They are self medicating…trying to forget….numbing themselves…
And Fact! Most porn performers lives do not end well.. Most cannot find work once they “retire” either because of lack of skills or because no one will hire them because of their previous job.the public in particular men will always judge them and call them whores ( isn’t that what the men call them in the scenes they shoot?) and yet they complain when someone in the public says the same thing. That makes sense. I am not saying it’s right but practice what you preach.. And feminists don’t like them because they are weak and allow men to control them..
Once they enter this industry Most ate stuck in this line of work for life…It’s really sad… Any psychiatrist will tell you the same thing…
Oh, finally, yes I DO have the right to make these statementS because one.. I am an American AND I have freedom of speech…two.. There is nothing I am saying that isn’t true whether you agree or not…And three..I don’t expect anyone in this industry to agree with what I say.. QUite the opposite I am shocked if they do….you guys are not going to admit the truth and I don’t expect you to.
..This is not the type of job someone who isn’t damaged is attracted to.. No woman in her right mind would join this industry unless there was something wrong with her..especially today’s industry where all they do Is is film these women having the shit beat out of them while the lowest scum of the earth, woman hater, jerks off to it
And .. Christ … For all they put up with they don’t even make any money which is why everyone escorts..the producers are the ones making all the money and you guys say NOTHING why they laugh at you…Sad but .. True.they do LOVE YOU!
End of long boring rant. 🙂
Jilted you are absolutely correct. The public community does NOT look up to anyone in this industry as sex experts or anything else. I certainly don’t look up to any of you for your expertise. if I start to I will commit myself to the nearest mental hospital ASAP! LOL!!
this is just another example of a woman in the industry who lives in the land of delusions.. who is gullible/easily influenced and not the brightest. The exact type of woman the guys in the industry LOVE.
I mean, Shawna, I actually I had to look twice because for a second there I thought Dianne Duke was the one who wrote your comment. this is the exact propaganda Dianne and her puppets spew because they know the talent are dumb enough to believe that the public is looking up to them and are oh so jealous of you guys for being in such an awesome industry and while you are beating the crap out of each in your scenes all the sane people in the public are taking notes so they can do the same thing in their bedrooms. WOMEN LOVE THAT SHIT! They LOVE to be abused! You guys say so and you’re the experts! LOL!!! 🙂
ps… not to be mean, but I don’t believe for a second that you are not sexually active in your personal life and surely you escort like everyone else including the men in this industry do? Never mind. don’t respond because I KNOW you will deny it. lol
pps… if you are so adamant about practicing safe sex how about following the law and using condoms in all the scenes you shoot. better yet how about DEMANDING THEM by SPEAKING UP? How about STOP letting a group of abusive men control you?….How about stopping all the STDS you guys are floating in? THINK about it. 😉
I think Dani Daniels says it best on her Twitter Account: “I sell my holes on camera for money. It’s seriously not that serious.” And, she’s an actual artist who recognizes the reality of what she does to pay the bills.
I think that’s pretty much the way the public views people who have sex for money.
Joe I dont disagree with ya on that but nobody will call John out because he hires a LOT of people. I think what he was doing is wrong no doubt about it him and Sheena made decisions that could seriously impact the lives of others without those others being informed. The thing that everyone needs to remember though is that this is just the one we all know about how many other performers are doing equally risky shit that nobody knows about? Thats why the condom law and AHF have such a foothold.
I have no problem at all with girls that hook I have nothing but respect for Brittany Andrews and Brie Taylor hell if I was a hot girl Id be sellin it too but I would do it right, like they are…condoms all the way the problem is that they are the exception…..and if you think about it it makes sense in that most of the girls doing it the wrong way arent that bright to begin with…and then they are told that is someone has a two week old test from CET its OK to bareback them…..as insanely stupid as that is it explains it….
Regular Joe walks into county clinic, “Hello, I had sex with an escort two nights ago and there is a possibilty the condom broke.” “Sir, first, you had sex with a prostitute two nights ago, and you need to get tested immediatly.” “Yes, I know, what the fuck was I thinking.”
Porn performer walks into CET,,,”I have had unprotected sex with 8 performers in the last 6 days, and each of them did gangbangs the day before.” Clinic worker, “Why are you here, your test is still good for 8 more days.”
Because he pays them this stuff called money. Classic example of what I have been harping for years,,,its not the risk YOU take that matters, the risk you are comfotable with means NOTHING,,,its the risk your partner is willing to put you at,,,and Stagliano is willing to risk the lives of every sinlge person in porn,,,he’s got the bug, he doesnt care anymore.John, and Karen Stagliano thinks it THEIR decision whether or not to tell newbies he is HIV+ , and they think it is their decision to decide the risk level for the everyone in the industry. The ENTIRE industry is at the SAME RISK LEVEL as the riskiest person in the pool.(unless youre doing solo scenes ONLY,,,that is the ONLY exception.) This is exactly what your bullshit HARM REDUCTION PROGRAM is built around,,,that is the FOUNDATION of the program, and why this last ditch effort nonhealth program is a joke for an entire industry filled with HOOKERS is a joke,,,,,get real APAC, wake the fuck up JAMES DEEN you fucking MORON,,,,its a LAST DITCH EFFORT HARM REDUCTION PROGRAM,,,,it PREVENTS NOTHING>>> Itis NOT DESINGED to prevent anything, its designed to catch it after the fact
I would love to see APAC president,,,James ‘Dumb as a box of rocks” Dean try to tell a real doctor that the industry testing system is adequate protection for the members of the group he is the president of. There is no way on gods green earth this 90 IQ idiot even knows what a HARM REDUCTION program is all about, and he is the leader of the “performer”(lol) group. What a joke this flesh pole is. ps,,Mr Deen,,,I helped AIM put the official protocol in writing,,,AIM never had it in writing until I discovered they had NO procedure manuals at all. I fixed that for them, before the State did. Wanna talk about your industryprotocols Jimmy. (I get this weird taste in my mouth when I call you james deen,,,you arent near that cool.