Porn Star Taryn Thomas on Protecting Performers, and Why People Need To Listen

Op/Ed by Taryn Thomas

Let’s get all the rumors out of the way first. This is current-day TT

I am still beautiful, thin, drug free, happy, and healthy despite whatever BS you may have heard about me. But this is not about me. I am not writing this because I have something I’d like to chat about; I feel compelled to speak up about a topic that’s on the tip of everyone’s tongue throughout the world of adult at this moment.

First, I must stress that I do feel bad for what has happened to this individual; no one deserves this to happen to them, ever. It is very sad and my heart goes out to her and her family. I hope she is able to get the correct treatment for this awful virus she unfortunately contracted. My prayers are with her and her family.

Furthermore, I am very saddened that other performers may have been exposed to this virus. My heart goes out to all of you and my prayers are especially with all of you.

I am thankful that this individual is speaking out about her confirmed positive test, and cooperating with testing services. It is probably the only positive thing she has done for other people in her entire life. When someone is responsible for creating a situation, no matter how big or small, they need to own up to it.
IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO…

We are sex workers, and it is our job to educate ourselves about STDs, HIV, Hepatitis, Herpes etc., and take every possible precaution available to us to prevent issues like this from occurring. ESPECIALLY WHEN ACTIVELY PERFORMING. Having unprotected sex with outsiders isn’t fair to other performers. It’s not hard to purchase a pack of condoms at the grocery store, and if you can’t afford them you shouldn’t be fucking. Plain and simple. And engaging in other high-risk activity, such as IV drug use, is a slap in the face to every other performer and everyone they have sex with.

Let’s take a look at the individual in the news, and what she has done and continues to do to myself and other women. This chick has literally stalked me since 2010 — and the scariest part is, to this day I never have even met her face to face.

A year and a half ago, the adult business was warned about the troubled young woman who had not only been stalking and harassing me, but threatened gang rape on me by her “homies,” vandalized my property, squatted in my home (which she later tried to set on fire)… the list goes on and on. When I helped my ex pack for a cross-country move, I found among papers this woman had left behind, personal information of mine — including my social security number — written in her handwriting. I can’t be certain whether she did anything with my information, but at a recent appointment with the IRS, I learned that someone had stolen my identity (for the first and only time in my life).

Not only has this woman been an issue for me, but she’s also caused problems for a fairly substantial number of females in the state of Arizona. Her long criminal history, which dates back to 1999 and includes aggravated assault, destruction of property, and theft, speaks for itself.

Now, somehow this troubled individual was able to slip through the cracks and enter the L.A. talent pool. The question we need to be asking is, how was she able to slip through the cracks when this and this among other stories on several websites, has been published about her?

Even if a talent agent didn’t want to spend the money for a simple background check through a popular site such as BeenVerified.com, if one were to merely do a Google search on this person, here is what immediately pops up…

So, to say that all this information was simply overlooked is pretty hard to believe.

I feel Shy Love of ATMLA has blatantly betrayed the adult industry every way possible this time, and may have purposely changed this individual’s stage name to cover up her reckless past. Either that, or she clearly didn’t see any of this individual’s actions as a big deal or a red flag. Shy has never really cared for me in the first place, so maybe she felt it was some sort of way to say ‘fuck you’ to me, which is neither here nor there…

Fact of the matter is, ATMLA signed a disturbed, drug-addled, violent stalker/criminal and fugitive from justice, who knowingly has sex with untested talent (her bf), to work on adult film sets and potentially endanger other performers’ lives. And endangerment of other performers is exactly what has happened in this case.

This woman was allowed on set to work with adult performers, Shy Love “retired” from representing talent, and we as an industry are left to clean up the mess. Now, if some would’ve just LISTENED, this mess might never have happened in the first place.

At this point, are we going to pull our heads out of our asses, or we just going to sit there and let everything go to hell in a hand basket? Are we going to unite and watch each other’s backs? Or are we going to continue to let these mega agencies run the show? After all, if it weren’t for us performers, these mega agencies wouldn’t exist.

What happened to the days when most of us were friends, and not every chick with two legs and tits was accepted into the business? What the fuck?! I know you all aren’t that hard up.

Seriously, I remember back in 2004, when I entered the hardcore side of the business, and I remember the day I stopped listening to my agent. The best and worst days of my life. Now this brings me back to something good ole Mark Spiegler told me – ‘LISTEN!’

Unfortunately for myself, I was 22 years old, with a head the size of Texas and thought I could conquer the world. I learned shortly after not listening that I was not invincible… And ‘til this day I go to bed every night wishing I would’ve just listened.

On that note, next time a warning — and a serious one, with COLD HARD FACTS and EVIDENCE to back it up — is issued, AGENTS, DIRECTORS, PRODUCERS, PERFORMERS, LET’S LISTEN, AND HEED IT. This situation could’ve possibly been prevented if we all took a little time and listened more.

Spiegler, you taught me a valuable lesson in life, and now I always try to listen everything. Thank you for that. Maybe the world would be a little bit better if everyone listened.

So, listen.

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