Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
At the height of her career, Lana Rhoades was one of the most popular porn stars - but there was a 'dark side' that came with her success.
Lana was just a teenager when he joined the adult film industry and worked as a porn star for just eight months before ultimately quitting the niche career.
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The reason she left? Some of the scenes she was made to film.
While it's been several years since she quit porn - with Lana now focusing her efforts on YouTube content and podcasts - it's evident that her brief stint as a in the sex industry still weighed heavily on her.
Lana had an extremely emotional and candid discussion on her 3 Girls 1 Kitchen podcast back in 2022.
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She detailed the 'humiliating' scenes she was made to film while in the industry, and admitted that she was 'naive' about porn until she pursued it as a career.
"This is going to show how naive I was but when I first got into porn I didn’t know I’d have to have sex," she revealed.
"It didn’t register or process. I really didn’t think about the acts I was going to have to do to be a porn star."
Lana had expressed to her agents that she was only interested in filming girl-on-girl content, but they insisted that she wouldn't be signed if she didn't do boy/girl videos.
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Eventually agreeing to do so, she found her managers started to sign her up for more extreme content so they'd make more money.
"They would glamourise doing more for less money because it would make more for them," Lana shared.
"They don’t care about the girls, they only care about pleasing the producers and film agencies."
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Lana said she was never made to perform against her will, but also didn't feel like she was in a position to say no to certain roles.
But as she grew more popular, the requests became more extreme.
Sharing some of the horror stories she'd heard off fellow stars, Lana recalled: "I have had friends who have been choked out so much they’ve actually passed out during a scene.
"There’s just really crazy stuff going on that damages people’s bodies for the rest of their lives."
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While she wasn't physically harmed herself, Lana did say that she had to seek out therapy afterwards as a result of the way porn had impacted her mental health.
Giving examples of some of the scenes that stayed with her, the 27-year-old said: "There were 3-5 that were really traumatic for me - whether it’s being sent to a set with someone who was way too old, or being pressured into doing something that I was scared of doing because it was too extreme, that can definitely be very traumatic.
"I would say that’s the 100% contributor to why I left the industry."
Noting that it had been years since she'd left the industry, she labeled working as a porn star as a 'life sentence' as it's something she 'can't hide from'.
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She added that she's suffered with depression and suicidal thoughts as a result.
Following her mental health struggles, Lana has since called for porn to be made illegal.
"Going back to porn, I just I don't think that it's good for anyone they should make it illegal," she said on The Skinny Confidential podcast.
"I don't think it's good for anybody," Lana added.
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If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 to reach a 24-hour crisis center or you can webchat at 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Celebrity, Podcast
Niamh Shackleton