James Deen Nominated for 20 Adult-Film Awards After Several Women Accuse Him of Sexual Assault

James Deen. Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Porn actor James Deen has been accused of sexual assault by more than ten women, including writer and performer Stoya and Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham. But despite the accusations, Deen continues to be lauded by the adult film industry — and has been showered with nominations from two of the industry’s biggest awards shows this year.

As the Daily Dot reports, Deen and his production company are up for a combined 20 awards (including two nominations for Male Performer of the Year) between the XBIZ — an awards show hosted by Ron Jeremy — and AVN, which is known as the “Oscars of porn.” Deen said in a press release, “I love making adult films and always will. It is extremely satisfying to see that my labors of love have been acknowledged by the powers that be at both organizations who specialize in judging adult entertainment.”

Jezebel notes that Deen was reportedly up for 33 AVN awards and received two wins last year for work that was produced before his ex-girlfriend Stoya accused him of rape, in November 2015. Stoya made the initial accusations on Twitter, which prompted other women — including adult performers Tori Lux, Ashley Fires, and Joanna Angel — to tweet their own abuse allegations against Deen. In response to each, Stoya tweeted “I believe…” and the hashtags #istandwithstoya and #solidaritywithstoya soon began trending.

Deen denied Stoya’s claims in an email Q&A with the Daily Beast, and suggested she made the initial allegations because she found out he was moving in with his current girlfriend. “My job as a performer for rough sex companies is to engage in certain acts. If at any point I pushed boundaries past the point of comfort, I am sorry,” he said.

However, the allegations don’t seem to have affected Deen’s career, as he produced 29 films over the past year. “It was clear to everyone in the adult industry that this [the sexual-assault allegations] was nothing but media sensationalism,” a Deen spokesperson told the Daily Dot.

James Deen Is Up for 20 Porn Awards Despite Rape Accusations