Ask someone why they think a woman got into porn and, more often than not, what they’ll tell you is something about themselves. Sasha Grey figured this out early. On the Holly Randall Unfiltered podcast, Grey and Randall discuss why many project their own point of view and past experiences onto judgments about sex work.
Grey ceased making adult films several years ago, focusing on making music and acting in mainstream films (Steven Soderberg’s The Girlfriend Experience and stints on Entourage, to name a few). These days you can find her gaming and sharing her favorite recipes for her “Secret Sauce” program on Youtube. You can also watch and connect with her livestream gaming activity on Discord and Twitch, and see her latest campaign in support of PETA, promoting the spaying and neutering of animals.
She appeared on the Unfiltered podcast to discuss her professional trajectory —including her transition in and out of the adult industry and her views on feminism and fame— in 2020. This discussion is worth revisiting for its revealing look at the projection problem that plagues the porn industry: the dominant cultural story that it’s built around shame and damage. Performers who don’t identify with these feelings are seen as not credible or dishonest.
Inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame and the XRCO Hall of Fame in 2023, Grey traces the logic to its natural conclusion: “They must have been forced into this by some other means,” she explains of naysayer positions, “because everybody must experience things the way that I experience them, because I only see things through my own eyes.”
“None of us had perfect childhoods,” Grey adds. “We all have stories that make us who we are. But it’s not necessarily the precursor for getting into porn. I know accountants who’ve had horrible childhoods.”
As pointed out on the pod, difficult backgrounds are universal and they don’t predetermine any particular outcome in life. The trauma-to-porn pipeline logic is tired, and figures like Grey continue to call it out. Nobody asks what went wrong in someone’s life to make them become an accountant, but many in the mainstream presume those in the adult industry must have some dark backstory.
Grey has been pushing back against this narrative since she started in the business at 18, and as she shares with Randall, she still encounters it constantly. She may have left porn a while ago, but she continues to say how proud she is of the adult work that made her famous.
Catch up with Grey and all her latest activities at sashagrey.com and listen to the full interview on Holly Randall Unfiltered.
