Behind millions of views and billions in revenue, the porn industry constantly works to keep up with demand.
Porn isn’t something that many people in our society think of as a healthy business to work in, and we’re seeing just how real that is as more performers reveal what goes on behind the scenes.
Regardless of all the overwhelming research and countless personal accounts exposing the exploitative reality of the porn industry, many consumers still buy into the glamorous fantasy that the porn industry works to maintain. The fact is many performers—though not all of them—do porn because of desperate financial circumstances or coercive situations.
Performers often have to rely on drugs or medications to endure shooting scenes for hours on end. However, with editing, these videos look seamless. They appear like perfectly tailored sexual fantasies that consumers crave.
All this goes on, along with the difficult conditions and minimal pay that performers endure, all at the mercy of the growing demand for more extreme porn that they’re often pressured to do to continue their careers.
These are just some of the situations performers endure that many consumers don’t realize, and one by one, former performers are shedding light on what goes into maintaining one of the most powerful industries on the planet.
Chris: One male performer’s story
In interviews published by Forbes, Newsweek, and Independent, one performer gave the world a look behind the porn industry’s sexy facade.
Popular former porn performer “Chris” opened up about his prescription drug abuse on set as well as his experience with the overall downfall of the adult industry. And while many of his views of the industry don’t align with our mission to educate on porn’s harmful effects, we think his perspective gives much-needed visibility to the harsh realities of doing porn.
His beginning started out like many other performers—Chris got into the adult industry shortly after starting college. He was looking for a way to put himself through school and pay bills and fell into the adult industry as an easy way to make money. He first found pornographic photoshoot jobs on Craigslist and then transitioned to more hardcore, extreme porn for a well-known bondage website.
Chris says he phased out of the industry after doctors told him the damage to his body could be long-term. He realized it wasn’t worth it to continue. He continued to live in Los Angeles and is now working on other projects in the entertainment and advertising worlds.
But that’s the brief version of a longer, more painful story.
Relying on ED drugs to continue performing
After eight years in hardcore porn, Chris ended his career overnight due to the damage it caused his body.
Speaking to interviewers, he detailed his dependence on erectile dysfunction drugs to keep his performance consistent. Like so many male performers, Chris had become reliant on male performance-enhancing prescription medication to continue his career.
“In porn, we take Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, injections. It’s very common,” he said. “As a result of taking those types of medications, I ended up in the hospital.”
He was treated numerous times for painful, prolonged erections. Doctors warned him about long-term damage if he kept abusing the drugs.
“So I quit. The job wasn’t worth putting my health at risk. And I wasn’t the type of person who could perform in mainstream porn without pharmacological assistance. Not with such consistency,” he said.
The changing industry and rise of abuse porn
Among many surprising things Chris witnessed during his career, he experienced the industry’s deterioration firsthand. This decline was caused by free Tube sites and piracy.
“I saw the crews shrink, the number of shoots drop, and work dry up for a lot of people,” Chris said. “It had plenty to do with the rise of piracy and free tube sites. The business model completely changed, and aside from one company—MindGeek—porn has yet to catch up.”
This breakdown of the profitable porn empire is responsible for lower pay for more extreme sex acts, as detailed by former performer Lisa Ann in a different interview with The Guardian.
In an industry where pay rates have continuously declined for performers, extreme acts pay more, with the most radical commanding up to thousands per scene. Chris was willing to work in niche markets of porn. However, many performers find it not worth the extreme abuse. They are unwilling to endure such abuse for long periods.
Detailing more of the deterioration of the industry, Rashida Jones, producer of Hot Girls Wanted, sat down for an exclusive interview with VICE to address the harmful porn culture that has been created in our society. She described the cycle young women face when they start making amateur porn that she says encourages them to participate in more extreme scenes:
“Generally, if you’re 18 and go to Miami, you’re done in a year because there’s not enough amateur jobs for you. You can get some other jobs, but the niche stuff pays more, and the niche stuff is harder on your body,” she said. “The pay can be $800, $1,000 a shoot, but they still have to pay for hair and nails and make-up and travel and clothes—plus, they’re trying to live lavishly, so it is not cost-effective. It’s not worth it… Then you have to make further negotiations with yourself, like, ‘Will I do torture porn? Will I do fetish porn? Will I do […] forced blowjobs?’ and things that you never expected to do.”
The high demand for more extreme, violent sex acts and fewer performers who are willing to do them means relying on amateur performers or fresh, young recruits. On top of that, piracy and free tube sites often make working conditions unsafe. They put content before the safety or health of the performer.
“The focus is on quantity over quality. Day rates are often much lower than in mainstream film and television,” Chris said. “The reality is that performing is no longer a way—for most people—to make a lot of money. I see very little upward mobility.”
Phasing into real life after porn
Like many other former performers, Chris experienced difficulty with transitioning completely out of the porn industry and adult entertainment.
“Sex is not a skill that translates very well into other professional environments. Certainly, it’s not something I can put on my resume if I want to work another job,” he said. “It takes a lot of effort and rejection to break into another field. So, yes, I’d say it’s challenging to walk away from the sex business.”
His experiences shed light on why porn can be a difficult, unhealthy career path for young college-aged performers. And when it’s all said and done, for many performers, working in porn can mean limited post-industry career options.
In the end, was it truly worth it? Many performers would say it is, but many others would say a resounding “no.” Just watch another male former performer, Joshua, tell his story below:
As long as society demands porn, there will be a demand for the sexual exploitation of real human beings.
The harms of porn extend beyond those in front of the camera or behind the screen. There is a growing body of research that shows how consumers, relationships, and society are all harmed by porn.
This isn’t a moral argument. It’s simply something to consider, given the facts. Click here to read more about the harmful effects of porn and make a decision for yourself.
Consider before consuming, and fight for real love.
We are always looking for powerful personal accounts. If you or someone you know has been involved in the porn industry, we want to hear your story.
Your Support Matters Now More Than Ever
Most kids today are exposed to porn by the age of 12. By the time they’re teenagers, 75% of boys and 70% of girls have already viewed itRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy —often before they’ve had a single healthy conversation about it.
Even more concerning: over half of boys and nearly 40% of girls believe porn is a realistic depiction of sexMartellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J. R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2016). “I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it”: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. Middlesex University, NSPCC, & Office of the Children’s Commissioner.Copy . And among teens who have seen porn, more than 79% of teens use it to learn how to have sexRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy . That means millions of young people are getting sex ed from violent, degrading content, which becomes their baseline understanding of intimacy. Out of the most popular porn, 33%-88% of videos contain physical aggression and nonconsensual violence-related themesFritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges et al., 2010, “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis,” Violence Against Women.Copy .
From increasing rates of loneliness, depression, and self-doubt, to distorted views of sex, reduced relationship satisfaction, and riskier sexual behavior among teens, porn is impacting individuals, relationships, and society worldwideFight the New Drug. (2024, May). Get the Facts (Series of web articles). Fight the New Drug.Copy .
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