All your poison love has stained the life’s blood
In my heart and soul dear
And I know my life will never be the same
For my pleadings have all been in vain
For you and you alone dear
And you know that you are guilty of the shame
— “Poison Love”, words & music by Elmer Laird, ©1950 Hill and Range Songs, Inc.
In the weeks since adult performer Leigh Raven, in a video shot by her wife Nikki Hearts, leveled allegations — charges which were later proved false — of on-set assault and rape, many have looked for answers in the relationship between Hearts and Raven.
Some have speculated that Hearts acted as a sinister Svengali — a claim buttressed by her off-camera prompting of Raven during her video testimony, (Raven claimed on camera that Hearts was interjecting to help her remember things); and the fact that Hearts later turned the camera on herself to talk about an alleged incident she did not witness.
However, after weeks of interviews and analysis, it is now clear that Leigh Raven is the driver and Hearts the weary passenger on a headlong ride toward Fame . . . or Bust.
In recent photos, Hearts — heavy-lidded and sullen — is almost unrecognizable as the cheerful, dare-I-say cherubic character I encountered in Hollywood four years ago.
Let me get right to the point:
Leigh Raven is a spectacularly narcissistic young woman who is convinced that she should be a superstar. A cover girl. A household name. A major player.
And this delusion has come at a high price to Nikki Hearts, who is endlessly adoring of Leigh.
The damage began long before Raven trashed her own name, and Nikki’s, with false rape and abuse claims.
Hearts had a directing gig with Filly Films. Producing, directing and delivering movies was her business. Then Leigh decided she should be co-director. Everything became about pleasing Leigh.
And soon Hearts’ directing gig went bye-bye. And she receded into a haze of blunt smoke.
Dysfunction
In a codependent relationship, two people with dysfunctional personality traits become worse together. It is also known as “relationship addiction” because people with codependency often form or maintain relationships that are one-sided, emotionally destructive and/or abusive.
Co-dependents, it is said,
have good intentions. They try to take care of a person who is experiencing difficulty, but the caretaking becomes compulsive and defeating. Co-dependents often take on a martyr’s role and become “benefactors” to an individual in need. A wife may cover for her alcoholic husband; a mother may make excuses for a truant child; or a father may “pull some strings” to keep his child from suffering the consequences of delinquent behavior.
The problem is that these repeated rescue attempts allow the needy individual to continue on a destructive course and to become even more dependent on the unhealthy caretaking of the “benefactor.” As this reliance increases, the co-dependent develops a sense of reward and satisfaction from “being needed.” When the caretaking becomes compulsive, the co-dependent feels choiceless and helpless in the relationship, but is unable to break away from the cycle of behavior that causes it.
In the needy, demanding Leigh Raven and the selfless caretaker Nikki Hearts, we find a classic codependent structure.
Whatever Leigh says or does, and whatever the cost, Hearts will back her play.
Also, Raven reportedly suffers from lupus and is frequently ill, requiring Hearts to drop everything to care for her. In true codependent fashion, it was a role she once cherished.
That’s So Raven
So, what happened on that set three months ago? We’ve all seen the video and know that what Leigh claimed happened did not. But what made Leigh say that it did?
To answer that, let’s examine Leigh’s other claims of abuse.
On April 2, 2017, as that day’s appearance at Exxxotica Denver was winding down, Leigh said she was groped by a hotel employee — a young Latino maintenance worker.
After being identified, the man apologized, and was reportedly fired on the spot, but Leigh was not satisfied. She demanded a police report be filed. The man was charged and later convicted.
“The punishment fit the crime”.
Another individual Leigh went after last year as a “rapist” is ‘gold star lesbian’ performer Lily Cade, although she offered no details.
By 2017 Cade had, by her own admission, “gotten lost” in her own persona of the gal who was constantly “aggressively hooking up”, and overstepped the boundaries of consent.
She would later write:
I’ve always hooked up with girls at porn parties and conventions, frequently on camera, in front of witnesses. I did this because I thought it was wanted, and that girls enjoyed it. The cameras enjoyed it, anyway. It was an organic thing at first. I did it before I was even really in porn and was a piece of how I got in. As the years wore on, I started to feel obligated to do it. It was my “thing”. The cameras would follow me around and I would get up to my usual hijinks. I tweeted about this. I posted pictures on social media. I didn’t conceptualize any of this as assault, or I wouldn’t have done it much less promoted it.
I feel ashamed now. I thought that that girls went along with me because they enjoyed it, but they did it because they felt like they couldn’t say no. I thought it was all in fun, but it wasn’t.
In a very real sense, Cade’s was the first scalp of the #MeToo movement in porn.
But, in a sadly crowded field, why was Cade the first target?
She had written in 2014 of the “tendency in queer circles to decide some person (always, always a gay person…) is ‘problematic'”, noting that identity politics and intersectional social justice battles had “utterly taken over what was once called Dyke porn and is now called Queer porn.”
And she was right. The mob, including Raven, went after Lily Cade for the same reason Leigh Raven went after a Mexican American worker: gays and low-status males — particularly men of color — are softer targets.
It’s the same reason rapists go after women walking alone or crazed gunmen target schoolyards. Bullies and abusers don’t like to test themselves; they want the easy target.
Which brings us to Rico Strong.
Leigh accepts a last-minute shoot, but unlike the on-screen work she does for Hearts, who is obsessed with making her happy, and making her a star, in this scene she was a punchline. She was not glorified, she came to realize. She was not celebrated.
Unlike her (more brutal) blowbang scene, also shot by Hearts (for NikkiAndLeigh.com, of course), she was not the above-the-title star. She was not in control. She was just another girl in just another rough sex scene.
At some point her dissatisfaction morphed into something else. It became anger. The scene was an affront. It became a rape.
And with a man of color as the alleged abuser, her charges fed into a host of dark stereotypes. Moreover, Rico did not have the capital of stardom or a privileged producer position in the industry to easily swat away such an allegation. Another low status male takes a sucker punch.
What was Nikki to do? She loves and supports Leigh. She would do anything for her.
She made a video. She even went on camera herself to talk about an alleged incident where she was not present. This had no value except as a symbolic act of love and support.
In this way, I now see Nikki as a tragic figure, like the vigilante husband in the first-ever episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Revenge“, who kills in cold blood the man his wife claims assaulted her.
“That’s him.”
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x445j0m
Since Leigh’s on-set assault story was all a lie, Leigh could not answer questions about it. So the strategy became one of defiant claims of victimhood — she would not answer questions about it for to do so would constitute “re-victimizing” her. It was a rape simply because Leigh said it was, and because Hearts, who knew her better than anyone, agreed.
So, Hearts backed Leigh in prefab statements on social media. An example: Hearts admitted that the nanny cam video of the shoot is exculpatory on its face, but said that doesn’t matter.
I can only imagine weary Nikki’s dread, knowing that the house of cards would inevitably fall.
Pieces
Nothing turns out half-right now it seems
There ain’t nothing in my pocket
But three nickels and a dime
But I’m holding to this handful of dreams
— “Things Have Gone to Pieces”, words & music by Leon Payne © 1960 Acuff Rose Music
The financial consequences of Leigh and Nikki’s ill-fated romance have been devastating. The couple have alluded to this on social media, but it’s actually worse than they let on.
They had been renting their house for porn shoots, but honestly, if you were an adult producer, would you risk shooting at the house of a woman who filed a police report AND a Cal/OSHA complaint about a fake rape and assault?
(Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but the phrasing and the use of “shit situation” is reminiscent of Raven’s Exotica Denver tweet. Is Leigh Raven doing the tweeting?)
Leigh can be found on Trinity St. Clair‘s low end (not to mention, risky) escort site.
Superstar indeed.
The question now becomes: how far will this go and for how much longer? Last year the couple gave up their dog (or sold it) to their weed dealer, and ties are much tighter now. There was a recent car wreck. . .
Leigh is still traveling full speed ahead as victim-star, but there’s substantial pushback, as evidenced by this tweet from Mallory Maneater.
How many friends and business opportunities will be lost before either Nikki or Leigh has the nerve to pull the trigger on their poison love?
28 Responses
What fuck-ups live like Leigh Raven and her skank in crime Nikki Hearts? If Voice’s source is correct they likely traded their dog for drugs (and it was probably something harder than weed — that drug doesn’t affect someone in that way), leading me to think they are hardcore drug addicts. Are their drugs impairing them to the point where they are making decisions to falsely accuse Rico and maybe either falsely accuse or greatly exaggerate their claims against Lily Cade while under the influence? They had to be high on heroin or cocaine to be able to take getting their nasty tattoos covering most of their bodies — that is a LOT of pain to take even if they are done over a couple of years. I hope if drugs are the root of their problems that they get help. However, they have proven themselves to be such connivers and skanks that they should never be allowed any association with the adult film industry ever again. As for Leigh (and probably Nikki — if one is doing it the other either is or probably will be soon) prostituting for Ms. St. Whore, I doubt that she will get that many johns to fuck her skanky, stinky, ugly, likely VD infected ass (probably having fucked two or three skanky Hell’s Angels or ten strike felon Crips or Bloods for money as they are the only people that would touch such a ugly skank) now that she isn’t performing and she doesn’t have to test but I hope the few she does fuck don’t get accused of rape like Rico or Lily. I almost hope Ms. St Whore rips her off and gets her and her skank girlfriend Nikki Hearts arrested for something. I hope when the Skank Twins get arrested a Mike South reporter can get pictures of them panicking and wriggling with their hands cuffed helplessly behind them and crying like their mothers or fathers died. Pictures of them in court in their jail uniforms and their hands chained to their waists in court along with full Mike South press coverage would also be appreciated. I also hope they get AIDS from one of their ten strike gangbanger felon johns.
RU kiddin me? Who gives up their dog for drugs. That’s messed up man!
With her ink and a buzz cut she will never be a superstar, just a niche performer.
That’s what they said about Bonnie Rotten.
First of all, Bonnie has a great deal of charisma. But also, Bonnie is the exception that proves the rule. She is to porn stardom what Kenny G. is to pop stardom: something that will never happen again.
Bonnie Rotten is a skank as well but to my knowledge she never falsely accused performers, directors or anyone else of rape or sexual assault. I will give it to Bonnie, she may be one of the ugliest women ever to do a porno but reports are she behaved professionally on set and usually if not always appeared to be sober on the job — even in the strip clubs which in most states serve alcohol and the feature headliners usually have a large bottle of champagne in their dressing rooms and whatever booze they want from the bar as part of their pay.
Leigh Raven and her crew are liars so Lily may have not done anything to her. This girl’s need for attention is sick and demented.
Cosmo, I should note that I commented that the accusations against Lily by the Skank Twins could be greatly exaggerated or completely false. PR also states the accusation as a “claim” and not the truth. For the record I hadn’t heard/read of Lily being credibly accused of actual rape. My gut tells me that the Skank Twins are lying and Lily didn’t touch them but I don’t know her personally nor am I intimately familiar with the other accusations against her. Skankledee and Skankledum better watch who they accuse of sexual assault, falsely accuse the wrong person and he might just fuck them up. I am surprised someone hasn’t done so over the proven false accusations against Rico and the crew on that set. Let Skankledee and Skankledum try that about a Dogfart scene (where the black male performers could have came from anywhere in Los Angeles County including East Los Angeles and Compton) and their bodies might be found in front of some dark factory in Vernon or Compton with their eyes gouged out by .45 rounds. Bonnie Rotten and Christy Mack might look skanky but I have a hell of a lot more respect for them than Skankledee and Skankledum!
How the fuk are u guys more focused on their tats and not the fact that these drug riddled whores sold their dog 4 drugs?
Asher, I agree that these skanks must be hardcore drug addicts to trade their dog for drugs. However, conversations can change course quite quickly around these parts and it has always been that way. To me the tats are evidence that they were high as a kite often to be able to handle getting their just about full body skank jobs. Getting a tat is painful, getting 50 of them within a short time is likely my idea of hell on earth. I don’t know what is in these skanks heads but for them to trade/sell their dog for drugs is despicable but I think all of this adds up to two fucked up skanks. I am guilty of being quite the drunk in my younger years but I never sold or traded my animals for my booze and I didn’t fuck up my employment prospects by making false accusations of my co-workers.
I know someone who knows Riley Nixon who was in that youtube vid and he told me that Riley said the whole thing was a lie. Leigh Raven made the whole thing up. She didn’t know it at thet ime but she says yah leigh raven 100% legit made the whole thing up thinking she would get some sort of workers comp payout from filing a claim ilke that one chick did at kink.com.
I’ve heard that too. Unfortunately, Riley lacks the character to actually come forward publicly and tell the truth. She’s a moral coward and I consider her to be just as guilty at Leigh. She used the video as a means to get attention and then burned her head in the sand while innocent men were tarred in public. Anyone who hires Riley Nixon or Leigh Raven after all this is a fucking idiot.
Riley is still getting work in the industry. I don’t know that I would care to hire her (although at least she isn’t tatted up like a San Quentin lifer) but she is still working and from what I can tell she is working quite often. I hope the Skank Twins never perform in porn again and although Riley’s accusations weren’t felonious (if I recall correctly), I don’t think too highly of her either after her involvement in this debacle. I guess I am thinking “what the fuck are they or their drugs thinking with that one”. I think Leigh’s and Nikki’s drugs were driving their thoughts that day (sort of like someone driving a car after drinking two cases (48 cans) of Miller, we used to say the Millers were driving the car and not the actual driver), who the fuck would be mentally disturbed enough to lie like this sober. If these bitches were anywhere near sobriety while making these accusations, they need inpatient mental health care, appropriate medication and a good psychiatrist when they get out of the hospital.
Both of these chicks are crazy and full of shit. They make the industry look bad and cause unnecessary drama. I don’t feel sorry for either one of them. They should leave the industry and get into weed or something.
Cosmo, I agree with your last comment. Personally, I would be happy if all three left the industry. Riley’s lies may not have been as dangerous as Leigh’s and Nikki’s (or maybe there is more to Riley’s involvement) but they would all be persona non grata on my sets. The Skank Twins would not be likely to get a role in anything I were directing anyway unless I needed a Hell’s Angels biker chick or some grizzled, hardened prison inmate being grunge fucked by three donkey dicks and a baseball bat but before this if Riley had only stayed away from the psychosis-inducing drugs (or taken her antipsychotic medication if she is severely mentally ill) and grown some fucking hair or worn a fucking wig I think she could have done well in the industry.
Looks like Nikki Hearts got a new gig. It says she has a great reputation. Not so sure about that. https://avn.com/business/articles/technology/nikki-hearts-is-new-director-of-artist-relations-for-new-savages-781209.html
Jack the Zipper is a moron. Full stop.
Great reputation my ass. Skankledum has a horrible reputation. Jack must be starting a brand new production company (I certainly hadn’t heard of it before) and know nothing about Skankledum’s involvement in several railroad jobs of fellow performers and directors. I wouldn’t hire her to mop the cum off of my set floor or pick up the cum rags after filming. What next, Jack hiring Mr. Syphilis as contract talent? Maybe Jack will hire Marc Wallice and give a few people AIDS while he is at it. What a fucking moron! At least research the business you are trying to start a company in before you start hiring people.
This is supposed to be journalism??? A bunch of unsubstantiated claims directed at a possible abuse victim? I’m assuming you are all biased like a mother fucker cause that’s all I see. Go back to school and stop making stuff up about people. Anyone could start the rumor saying Riley admitted it was a lie, but why would she do that? To torpedo her career the same way making the video affected all their careers? And no fucking wonder Leigh was so afraid to voice her concerns look what happened and now some fake website writes opinion based articles parading them around as fact. Trying to tear them all down. Just as Nikki wasn’t there neither was the writer of this article or Mike so how that keeps being used to back the ridiculous claims is beyond me. You all look pathetic to a bystander looking in. Be better people.
No, genius, the comments section is not supposed to be journalism. It’s supposed to be reader comments.
“Anyone could start the rumor saying Riley admitted it was a lie, but why would she do that?” Umm, conscience?
And Leigh was not “afraid to voice her concerns”. Leigh didn’t like the scene and decided to torpedo it after being paid.
But wait — you saved the stupidest remark for last:
“Just as Nikki wasn’t there neither was the writer of this article.”
LOL I see that reading comprehension is not your strong suit. AT THE TIME THAT LEIGH AND NIKKI SHOT THEiR YOUTUBE VIDEO, the nanny cam footage had not yet been released. Nikki was completely in the dark and had ONLY Leigh’s version of evens to go off to, making her commentary superfluous hearsay.
AT THE PRESENT TIME, the nanny cam footage is available, so the author and everyone else can see exactly what did and did not happen when the cameras were rolling.
Read better people.
Rebecca, I get your concerns. However, Voice is the one that got the nanny cam footage to post and prove that Rico, Dave and Dave’s crew were innocent here. I am a hard nut to crack when it comes to rape and assault accusations of this type. Without that tape I would probably have defended Skankledee and Skankledum, too. I agree with Voice that we commenters aren’t acting as journalists (I was a very part-time editor for a small local newspaper decades ago so I am familiar with the term as it applies to a newspaper, similar to this forum IMO — however, I wrote a grand total of one article for that newspaper and less than ten newspaper articles through my lifetime so I did not consider myself a journalist in that capacity) and shouldn’t be expected to. Do you think people writing for the “letters to the editor” section of your local newspaper should be held to the same standards as a writer-journalist? I think not. I certainly don’t wish to be held to the same standards as Voice, Sam, Reporter, Kelli, Erika, Mike and anyone else I have missed that actually writes for this site. I know I comment in a vastly different tone than I would write articles in (granted, writers here have to submit articles to the editor — who is no longer Mike South, he retired at the end of 2016 and is only submitting an article once or twice a month — whereas comments are generally posted unedited).
I was not referring to the comments section I was referring to the article posted on this website. The nanny cam is not complete unfortunately which is why I am not completely convinced. There are scenes where she is to throw up the apples she was eating throughout the shooting of this video. The claim is she was forced to vomit Apple chunks while Rico supposedly forces her to continue deepthroating his cock. None of this is shown. A nanny cam is only reliable if it is uncut uncensored and complete from start to finish and to parade it around as such is false. I would love to watch the entire thing and stay as objective as I am. I feel the uncut footage would prove what really happened.
Rebecca, I know editing techniques have become very good but the only cuts I noticed were when private information that obviously needed to be cut out was exchanged. I know Leigh claims the shoot was six hours but I think that is another one of her lies, the nanny cam tape was almost three hours and seemed to be complete except for maybe one minute where legal names, addresses and the like were recorded on the original. Many gonzo shoots only take three hours to film from talent arrival to talent departing. For the record (IIRC) Voice edited the nanny cam tape to remove them (and posted or had posted the footage on YouTube), not Just Dave. If I am mistaken she can respond and correct me. The police also viewed the tape in it’s entirety. I know cops and prosecuting attorneys can be bribed but I don’t think that is what happened in this instance, LAPD and probably (as a direct employee of the county taking orders from the county commission which sets policy for the county) the LA County DA are itching to run porn out of LA County (in my opinion the condom mandate showed that perfectly in LA City, County officials have acted similarly like placing the FSC anti-condom mandate booth in front of a toy shop purposely to embarrass them) and if the case had been there this would have been a rare opportunity to do it. With this in mind I trust the LAPD on this one — if they say nothing happened then I tend to believe them — these cops literally put their jobs on the line essentially going against county policy not pursuing the case against Just Dave.
I agree with most things you say Mharris. When she was asked at the end if she was abused and said “no” I believe that was enough to rest any investigation. In order to prove any abuse claims extraordinary proof would have to be presented. The police are not going to try a case they are not positive they will win. They know nothing about editing and are just viewers of porn. I have to watch the video again in its entirety to determine if any editing could have been done.
As I have recently learned, the raw “nanny cam” footage was submitted to the authorities who watched the entire thing and immediately closed the case, with no charges being filed.
They were also given access to the foot filmed professionally and found that the match up perfectly with the raw nanny cam footage. This is no doubt in large part what led them to conclude Leigh Raven’s version of the story was false.
Leigh Raven also claims in a recent AVN that the investigator said it was a borderline snuff film. No such statement appears anywhere on the authorities detailed notes of the case. Perhaps Leigh Raven was not aware that police reports including the officer’s detailed notes, including victim interviews, are a matter of public record.
Apparently she is not aware of alot of things as she killed her porn career for nothing.
@mharris127
Bonnie Rotten did in fact accuse Max Hardcore of abuse, and even tried to sue him. It was long after her scene with him was released. Seems like accusations are a high-reward low-risk prospect for women in the industry. It circulates your name for free, and no one holds you accountable for tarnishing a man’s reputation.
@goreblaster The problem is Max Hardcore was found guilty of being abusive towards women and even went to prison for a few years over his shenanigans.