Adult Film Star Jaimee Foxworth, Source PacificProDigital, Author Glenn Francis, (CC BY-Sa 2.5 Generic, and 1.0 Generic)
What the true crime series Lethally Blonde so clearly illustrates is that the pornography industry destroys lives. Promising fame and fortune, always on the lookout for fresh bodies to be exploited, the pornography industry eats people up then spits them out.
The industry markets itself as a liberating way to express sexuality, the source of a glamorous lifestyle, a means of gaining attention, and a path to easy riches. In reality, the emotional toll of sex work — on screen or off — is devastating. Drug abuse and suicide are common.
Aubrey Gold
Lauren Kay Wambles a/k/a Aubrey Gold is an example of this [1][2][3]. The daughter of an exotic dancer, Gold was born in a small Bible Belt town in Alabama, but left home at age 18 to pursue a career in the adult film industry.
After 2 years and over 30 films, she had earned a mere $50,000. In 2020, she pleaded no contest to a charge of accessory after the fact to second degree murder, and was sentenced to 10 years.
Timothy Boham
Timothy Boham is another example [4]. Raised in an alcoholic household and bullied as a child, Boham initially found employment as a catalog model. He then took up exotic dancing, in the hope this would lead to a film career.
Boham, who viewed himself heterosexual, moved from that into what is termed “gay for pay”, first providing homosexual sex to men who supported him financially, then homosexual sex on screen. He kept information about all this from his family of origin in Colorado.
When Boham attempted to seek employment outside the porn industry and start a family of his own, he was extorted by someone who knew about his double life. That led to the murder for which Boham is serving a life sentence in a women’s prison, since he now considers himself a woman.
Jaimee Foxworth
Before her entry into adult films, Jaimee Foxworth was best known for her role as Judy Winslow on the ABC sitcom Family Matters [5]. Making pornographic films under the pseudonym “Crave”, Foxworth has battled substance abuse and depression.
Dan Benson
Chasing fame but unable to find work as an actor once he reached adulthood, former child star Dan Benson who played Zeke Beakerman on the Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly became an adult film star [6]. Like Courtney Clenney, Benson has an OnlyFans account with explicit sexual content.
Maitland Ward
Benson is not the only Disney star to have followed this course. Maitland Ward, who played Rachel McGuire in the series Boy Meets World, claims to have gained respect, in the process of pursuing an adult film career [7].
If so, she is one of very few who can say that. Many more fall prey to drugs, in an effort to cope with the emotions their work engenders [8A]. One psychoanalyst told the British media outlet UNILAD that almost 90% of women want to leave sex work, with up to 70% suffering from PTSD [8B].
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[1] The City Celeb, “Aubrey Gold Biography: Controversy, Net Worth, Age, Movies, Wikipedia, Height, Boyfriend, Arrest, Instagram” by Haruna Ayuba, 5/28/26, https://www.thecityceleb.com/biography/celebrity/actress/aubrey-gold-biography-controversy-net-worth-age-movies-wikipedia-height-boyfriend-arrest-instagram/.
[2] Law & Crime, “Ex-Porn Star Gets 10 Years in Prison for Her Role in Murder of Alabama Man Shot in Head and Buried in ‘Shallow Grave’” by Jerry Lambe, 10/19/21, https://lawandcrime.com/crime/ex-porn-star-gets-10-years-in-prison-for-her-role-in-murder-of-alabama-man-shot-in-head-and-buried-in-shallow-grave/.
[3] Podtail, Crime, Killers, Cults, and Beer, “114 Aubrey Gold: Porn Star Involved with Murder + Discussion on the Porn Industry”, 6/13/24, https://podtail.com/podcast/crimes-killers-cults-and-beer-a-true-crime-podcast/114-aubrey-gold-porn-star-involved-with-murder-dis/.
[4] Wikipedia, “Timothy J. Boham”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_J._Boham.
[5] Wikipedia, “Jaimee Foxworth”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaimee_Foxworth.
[6] Entertainment News, “How Former Disney Star Fell into Porn”, https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/how-former-disney-child-star-fell-into-porn/news-story/3b360f8fec4c5ee0f9e4b6ae86391536.
[7] Style, “Former Disney star turned porn star says she’s more respected now”, 3/17/25, https://style.news.am/eng/news/106810/former-disney-star-turned-porn-star-says-shes-more-respected-now.html
[8A and 8B] The Mirror, “Dark side of adult industry – ‘emotionally broken’ performer to ‘paralyzed’ star” by Liam Mcinerney, 2/15/25, https://www.themirror.com/entertainment/dark-side-adult-industry-emotionally-945510.
This series concludes next week with Part 3 – Pornography Addiction and Sexual Addiction
FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com
A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse and More 
How sad. It’s incredible how much damage porn does to those in the industry & those who watch it. Years ago, a friend of mine told me about a book she read (I wish I could remember the title, but I can’t) written by a man who once was brilliant, but his brain was damaged severely by porn. He had a very difficult job (engineer? Scientist?) but no longer could do it. He ended up as a janitor.
Yes, pornography does impact the brain negatively (something I’ll be discussing in my next post). Thank you for pointing that out, Cynthia.
I appreciate that you focused on the people rather than just a faceless industry, Anna. It’s easy to reduce this subject to an abstract debate, but when you start looking at individual lives, you see real human beings making decisions, getting caught up in a spiral, facing consequences, and often carrying wounds that were there long before they ever entered the business. That’s a much more sobering perspective.
You are so right, Scott. There are real lives impacted by this industry, on both sides of the screen.