Embattled Porn Star James Deen Files Complaint Against Bellator

In a bizarre turn to MMA's 2016, porn star James Deen has filed a complaint with the California division of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA), not against another pornography performer or production company but against fight promotion Bellator MMA and its owner, Viacom. In a statement released yesterday, Deen and his company, James Deen Productions, cited the MMA promotion for bloodborne pathogen violations under section 5193 of the California Code of Regulations—the same section Deen and his company were cited under by OSHA back in March. California officials accused James Deen Productions of exposing performers to Hepatitis B and other sexually transmitted infections by not providing condoms, vaccines, or medical examinations, and fined the company nearly $78,000. According to the report four of the nine violations issued were so serious that "death or serious harm could result from the actual hazardous condition."

At the time Deen denied the allegations, saying, "Not one person was exposed to or contracted any illness on my sets. I gave the performers the option to perform with condoms however, they desired not to use condoms and I honored their requests." Deen has been a a vocal advocate against efforts to mandate the use of condoms on porn movie sets and, as one of the most successful performers in the world of adult entertainment, has long considered himself a target of anti-porn legislative and legal organizations.

And so, seeking to expose what he considers hypocrisy and unfairness in the enforcement of health regulations in California, Deen did what any reasonable person would do and filed a complaint not against OSHA or the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the nonprofit whose complaint led to the investigation into his production company in the first place, but rather Bellator, which is, again, a mixed martial arts promotion with no apparent connection to pornography.

Deen doesn't consider yesterday's complaint strange, of course, but simply a tactic to prove a larger point, arguing that the OSHA "regulations are applicable to all entertainment such as professional fighting, wrestling, football, basketball, hockey, and any other form of entertainment with the possibility of blood or Other Potentially Infectious Material (OPIM) exposure."James Deen Productions went on to say that "[w]hile both the adult film and professional fighting industries require their performers to undergo testing for HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and the like, only the adult industry is being fined and reprimanded under section 5193."

"If the government is choosing to say that 5193 applies to the adult entertainment industry, then they are also saying that it must apply to all sports and entertainment."

Still, despite the possible validity of that argument and despite Deen's well-known and longstanding battles against anti-pornography groups and legislation in California, it's hard to see how this most recent move is viewed as anything other than a massive attempt at misdirection by an embattled public figure hoping to re-endear himself to an industry that has turned against him.

Remember, back in November porn actress, and VICE contributor, Stoya wrote on Twitter that she had been raped by Deen, whom she used to date. Support for Stoya within the industry was overwhelming, and within a week at least six more female performers had accused Deen of assault. Several adult entertainment companies, including Evil Angel and Kink.com, broke ties with Deen, as did the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee. Within a few weeks Deen had gone from being the biggest male porn star in history and arguably the most famous porn star in the world period to being a pariah. The fall of the man once called the "Tom Cruise of porn," the "Ryan Gosling of porn," and the "ambassador of the adult entertainment industry" was spectacular in its speed and severity. Almost overnight Deen went from being an industry to a demon.

So for all Deen's protests that his decision to file a complaint against Bellator was simply an example of a selfless victim-turned-martyr-turned-advocate fighting for regulatory fairness ("You can't pick and choose how to enforce the law"), the cause of free speech, and the American way, those of us who love MMA would kindly request that he not drag our beloved sport into the moral morass his life and career have become.