With the 10-year anniversary of a certain Kardashian’s groundbreaking sex tape release, I’ve gotten to thinking about the interesting paradigm of celebrity sex tapes in our culture, and how we collectively receive celebrities’ sexuality much differently now than a mere couple decades ago. It wasn’t too long ago that we shamed celebrities when their sex lives were made public. Whether the information was made public with or without their consent was no matter; it was somehow obscene for us to fathom America’s Baywatch sex symbol actually engaging in the very acts that everyone fantasized about her doing anyway. Rightfully so, Pamela Anderson was horrified at her personal tapes leaking, but at the very least she made a pretty penny off of it.
Then, at the change of the millennium, we saw a new type of celebrity emerge from the very same hotbed of shame that almost ruined many a career. Paris Hilton was an established young socialite in the LA-NY circuit before the extremely publicized leak of her private sex tape, Paris Hilton Sex Tape Home Video, (otherwise known as One Night In Paris). Whether leaked or manufactured, Hilton’s sex tape worked as a successful publicity stunt, allowing her to further her career into reality TV, fashion, and music. What was interesting about Hilton’s tape was for the first time in celebrity culture, Hilton needed virtually no explanation or apology for her actions. The tape was allegedly leaked without her knowledge, just like Pamela Anderson’s, but the climate of
acceptance had shifted in such a way as to receive Hilton’s raunchy personal life as part of her character. Then, the relatively unheard-of Kim Kardashian’s sex tape with singer Ray-J hit the streets, soon picked up by Vivid Entertainment, and continues to be sold as one of the highest-grossing celebrity sex tapes to date. Kim Kardashian’s wildly successful career is a direct result of her sex tape, and she continues her life in the public eye advocating for women to own their bodies and sexualities. Hate her or love her – you can’t shame her – and I find that admirable.
On the other hand, a celebrity lacking momentum in the public eye can now be thrust once again into the spotlight via their sex tapes. We’ve seen this happen with multiple celebrities with varying degrees of success. Famous female wrestler Chyna owed her career boost to her leaked tape 1 Night In China, which resulted in her appearance on popular VH1 reality show The Surreal Life. Interestingly enough, world-famous porn star Ron Jeremy appeared on The Surreal Life as well, and can probably thank the show for a good deal of his current crossover appeal. Similarly, Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil experienced a lull in his fame after parting ways with the band and attempting a solo career that didn’t work out. Thanks to Vivid, Neil released Janine & Vince Neil: Hardcore & Uncensored, a four-scene sex romp with adult starlet Janine Lindemulder that resulted in Neil’s return to the spotlight on reality TV show – you guessed it – The Surreal Life, and a shaky attempt at revamping his music career. And, of course, I can’t leave out the sex tape/publicity stunt by none other than Dustin Diamond, better known as “Screech” from the 80s sitcom Saved By The Bell. In a frantic grab for some limelight, Diamond directed, produced and starred in Screeched, an intimate three-scene look into the child-star-turned-porn-star’s world.
What we’re seeing is a change in the tide of stigma – what was once deemed a career-ruining move is now a platform for mainstream success (ie. Kim Kardashian), or a way to jump back into the public eye (ie. Vince Neil). What’s often so easily forgotten are the celebrities who never released a sex tape, but started their careers in porn. Sylvester Stallone, best known for his prolific acting and screenwriting careers, got his start in Hollywood by starring in adult films like Italian Stallion. Similarly, Game of Thrones star Sibel Kekilli, who plays Shae, began her career acting in much more revealing roles when she was better known by her porn star stage name, Dilara (for those interested, HotMovies has seven of her films, including the popular Lollipops 16).
As a self-professed pop culture junkie, what I presume is occurring here is the slow erosion of slut-shaming in Hollywood. Sure, every now and then a sex tape happens that does definitively end a career (John Edwards), but that’s usually more about the extenuating circumstances. What’s more important is that famous people, particularly famous women, are getting less and less ashamed of their bodies and sexuality – and, obviously, making a buck off of that confidence is quite the positive reinforcement. So yeah, I applaud celebrities that don’t make excuses when their sex tape goes public. Paris Hilton owned it, Kim Kardashian made a career from it, and even Chyna made a comeback from it. Thanks to Vivid’s offshoot studio, VividCeleb, we can look forward to more sexy famous people fucking on camera to satisfy our voyeuristic natures.
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