Author Bret Easton Ellis says that allegations made against porn start James Deen are part of ‘a ridiculous witch hunt’ begun by his ex-girlfriend.
Deen has been accused of rape, sexual assault and other mistreatment by ten women over the last several weeks, but the American Psycho writer told The Hollywood Reporter that the claims are a ‘wild distortion’.
Despite the large number of women making accusations, Deen’s friend Ellis says that the accusations stem from his ex-girlfriend Stoya, who said that the actor held her down and raped her.
Ellis, who worked with Deen on the 2013 film The Canyons, said that he knew both the male porn star and his ex, who he described as ‘a very unstable person’.
He added that the claims likely came from Stoya’s unhappiness about the way her relationship with Deen, who was previously described as a ‘feminist porn star’, ended.
‘The fact that these tweets are posted on the day that James and his new girlfriend buy a house is not a coincidence,’ Ellis told THR.
Stoya tweeted November 30 that ‘James Deen held me down and f***ed me while I said no, stop, used my safe word. I just can’t nod and smile when people bring him up anymore’.
Ellis said that he had been texting Deen, who played a sociopath who enjoyed raping women in The Canyons.
He added that the porn star was ‘remaining kind of cool about this’ because he had evidence of Stoya threatening to make rape claims against him previously.
Deen was silent about the allegations until Tuesday, when he told the Daily Beast that he was ‘baffled’ by them and said the his ex could be looking to help her own career with the claims.
However, Deen’s interview came after Stoya’s allegations were followed by nine other women.
Porn actress Nicki Blue told Daily Mail Online that Deen raped her with a beer bottle off-camera at a wrap party for one of their films.
Ex-girlfriend Joanna Angel said that he had pushed her head into a sink while they were having sex and she felt like she was going to die.
Others said that he hit them and ignored them telling him no to certain sex acts, and the accusations have led to the cancellation of partnerships Deen had, such as one with Kink.com.
Deen’s production company is also being investigated by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health for workplace violations such as allegedly not using condoms during shoots.
