Justice

James Deen Responds to the Sexual Assault Allegations Against Him

December 8th 2015

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Beast on Tuesday, porn star James Deen finally spoke out about allegations from nine women who accuse Deen of sexually assaulting them.

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Deen was first publicly accused of assault by ex-girlfriend and porn performer Stoya and almost immediately took to Twitter to deny the allegations. Stoya's accusations prompted a slew of other women to claim Deen sexually assaulted them as well. In his interview with the Daily Beast, which was overseen by his lawyer and publicist and published only on the condition that it was shown in its entirety, Deen said people should consider the context of these allegations: all of the accusations are "from either ex-girlfriends or events that happened on set."

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When asked about former porn performer Tori Lux's allegation that he assaulted her on set, Deen responded that he can "safely say that did not happen."

"Most of these are descriptions of things on BDSM or rough sex sets. When I am on set I am under instruction of the company who is paying me. I could describe the events of the scene I was in the other day and it could be just as dramatic. I have no desire to blame people who consider themselves victims or throw stones. I will just say this: my job as a performer for rough sex companies is to engage in certain acts. If at any point I pushed boundaries past the point of comfort, I am sorry. I have always tried to respect peoples’ limits and safe words and operated within that space. If someone expressed anything to me I honored the request with the fullest care."

Deen added that he was "baffled" by Stoya's allegations, saying this is inconsistent with articles she has written about him and that he thinks she might have decided to smear him because he is moving in with his new girlfriend. Deen also suggested that she might have wanted to send more traffic to her site.

"What I do know is that Stoya and I did not have a clean break up," he said. "The reason Stoya made this claim could be as simple as her finding out that my current girlfriend and I are moving in together. We have mutual friends, one of our friends notified Stoya of this information."

When asked about the rape jokes he has made on social media, Deen said, "I think that finding humor in horror is a coping mechanism I use to accept that terrible things happen in the world. It doesn’t mean I condone negative behavior."

“I operate outside of the overly-PC public world we live in,” he said. “I’m not PC. But making a rape joke does not make one a rapist.”

Responding to porn actress and former girlfriend Joanna Angel's recent SiriusXM radio interview in which she accused him of verbally and physically abusing her during sex, Deen said he was an "emotionally insensitive boyfriend."

"I will admit to being immature. I will admit to being an overall jerk. I have publicly apologized many times and I will continue to do so. Joanna Angel is one of the smartest and most creative people I have ever had the chance to know. She is a great person who deserves a great boyfriend. I don’t get to be forgiven by Joanna and that is not anyone’s problem but mine. My punishment is that one of the coolest people on the planet dislikes me and I don’t get to have her friendship. I have to deal with that. No one else. I will absolutely continue to apologize to her for being a shitty boyfriend."

Here's what Angel tweeted about Deen.

Past and present porn performers, Tori Lux, Nicki Blue, Ashley Fires, Stoya, Kora Peters, Amber Rayne, and Lily LaBeau have all accused Deen of sexual assault. "Teen Mom" star Farrah Abraham also accused him of raping her in 2013. Although she did not accuse him of assault, porn performer Bonnie Rotten told BuzzFeed News that Deen is a "belittling guy" to work with on set. A woman who asked to be identified as T.M. also told LAist in a recent interview that Deen assaulted her at a Las Vegas party. Deen told the Daily Beast of T.M.'s accusation that the party in question was "an invitation-only BDSM swinger’s party" in Nevada.

"I don’t want to go into specifics but I can assure you that this description is not a true reflection of the events in question," Deen told the Daily Beast.

Stoya has voiced support for the women who have spoken out against Deen.

Since all of the sexual assault allegations against him have come to light, multiple porn companies, such as Deen's employer Kink.com, have severed ties with him. At least two of the women who have accused Deen of sexual assault claim he assaulted them in Kink Studios settings, and a new BuzzFeed News report found that Kink.com is currently facing four lawsuits alleging unsafe working conditions.

RELATED: The Porn Studio That Shunned James Deen Is in Big Trouble

Read the full Daily Beast interview here.

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