The Fall and Rise of James Deen

What does it take to be the most popular male porn star in America? A big dick doesn't hurt. Boy next door good luck helps a lot. For a straight porn star, women wanting to work with you is a necessity. James Deen had all of these qualities and more which helped him engage the hetero males that watched his videos. He could have been their buddy. They wanted to grab a drink with him. They wanted him to get laid. He was their hero, and women (and gay men) swooned when he looked their way. A long career laid (no pun intended) ahead of him.

Then Deen's ex-girlfriend, Stoya, accused him of rape. In an online message, she revealed what happened.

“James Deen held me down and fucked me while I said no, stop, used my safeword, I just can’t nod and smile when people bring him up anymore.”

A tarnish began to form on the Golden Boy's finish. The man who once said part of his popularity was derived from treating women with respect was apparently only paying lip service to those fans.

It would seem so. As soon after Stoya published her allegations, more people stepped forward to say "Me Too." Former co star Tori Lux alleged Deen abused her on set one day.

“He grabbed me by my hair and shoved me to my knees, forcing my face into his crotch several times before shoving me to the floor.”

That is not the gentlemanly behavior expected of the boy next door porn star. And just as with the Harvey Weinstein allegations, they kept coming.

Another former costar, Ashley Fires, said that Deen almost anally raped her. Fires told The Daily Beast:

“I was getting out of the shower of the communal bathroom at Kink, I reach for my towel to dry off, and [Deen] comes up from behind me and pushes himself and his erection into my butt. He pushes me against the sink and starts grabbing on me, and I was like, ‘No, no, no James, no,’ and he released me from his grasp.”

Was this an aggressive seduction or part of a more significant problem?

Seeing as two other women made allegations about him before, and more came forward after, the answer had to be it was something more problematic. Female porn stars started refusing to work with Deen, and the production companies followed suit. From a business standpoint, it made sense. If the ladies didn't want to work with him, there would be no scenes produced and no profit made. Socially speaking, it was the right thing to do.

Deen formed his own company and produced scenes, but his popularity was already waning. The era of James Deen was coming to an end. Some have suggested he could have kept working if he went the gay porn route like so many before him. While he has hinted at being open to that, Deen is not shy about admitting that he is straight and loves the ladies. There is a chance he would not have enjoyed his job as much if there wasn't a female involved. Also, for what it is worth, Deen has denied all of the allegations as "false and defamatory."

Three years after the allegations hit the press, James Deen was invited to participate in a big studio production. Evil Angel Productions, one of the first companies to bar Deen from performing in their scenes, has begun production on a hybrid documentary/porn movie called Consent. The premise is all about how women have the right to say who they want to work with. Producers asked Casey Calvert to appear in a scene for the movie—she agreed with the caveat that she would only appear in a scene with James Deen.

Without hesitation, it was agreed to. Evil Angel owner John Stagliano explained the logic behind his position.

"I believe in consent, I believe that a girl should be able to choose who she works with. Casey Calvert wants to work with James Deen. She trusts him to do a somewhat stronger scene. I’m going to respect that.”

And like that, Deen's comeback has been set into motion.

Will he ever be able to reach the heights that he once was at? That remains to be seen. There are a lot of Real Housewives and other reality stars who might want to make a porn to get cash rolling in and create a storyline on whatever show they appear, just like Farrah Abraham did with Deen in 2013. Maybe he won't be invited to make a movie with another Mean Girls star like he was with Lindsay Lohan and the atrocious mess known as The Canyons. But he might be allowed to make porn scenes, and that should be enough.