In a post on her blog published Tuesday titled #IStandWithStoya, porn star Stoya’s business partner Kayden Kross explains the complex financial decisions the pair made regarding the inclusion of James Deen in their venture TRENCHCOATx.
As she notes, Kayden was one of the first to support Stoya after she accused Deen of rape on Saturday, and has continued to do so for other women—like Tori Lux, Ashley Fires and one anonymous individual who spoke to LAist—who have come forward to accuse him of assault and other violent behavior.
“I’ve known for quite some time about the night that Stoya is referring to in her claim,” she writes, noting—as others have—that Deen “passed from one microphone to the next preaching the same story about trust and consent to all who would listen” and that viewers ate up this persona.
Kross says that she and Stoya considered Stoya’s history with Deen while they were working on their pay-per-scene site TRENCHCOATx, and explains why Deen is still on the site: he appears both because of the wishes of their licensors but also because of his past with Stoya.
While we made the decision back then not to hire him going forward, we can’t undo the fact that he is featured in some of the scenes that Stoya directed during their relationship. We also can’t undo the fact that some of our licensors have shot James in their own projects. He is an able and popular performer. Stoya considered not releasing any of the content that she owned that featured James, but it was content that, if taken away from the whole, would have harmed the project that is her directorial debut.
Currently Deen is featured on the site prominently in a scene with Dana Vespoli (who has also supported Stoya), but that’s a scheduling decision Kross says was made months ago. She does note, however, that it “been one of our worst performing updates since we launched,” less than subtly suggesting that perhaps it’s not just other porn stars or companies that don’t want Deen right now, but consumers as well.
Contact the author at dries@jezebel.com.
Image via Getty.