In the 1980’s, Greg moved to California to become an actor. When the writer’s strike hit, Greg was forced to find other work. Starving and broke, Greg had no idea that one business card would lead him to becoming “the most popular, most decorated male porn star of all time” (Source: FightTheNewDrug.org). I’ve reposted the complete transcript of Greg’s testimony. In it, he talks about how pornography changed his relationship with women; killed the possibility of a real-life loving relationship; and led him down a path of emotional brokenness and drug abuse. Fortunately, Greg left the industry and seems to be in a much better place. The main takeaway is that life begins when pornography ends.
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Transcript:
Back in the early ’80s, I went to California to pursue acting. I actually did pretty well. I got a manager, an agent. First week I was there, I got a motion picture. I remember thinking to myself, “What’s the big deal? This isn’t so hard.” Well, then the writer strike happened. Everything in Hollywood shut down. Certainly actors, producers, directors, costume people, florists, caterers– nobody was working. So everybody started to get hungry, including me.
I subsidized my income by doing modeling work. And one particular job, a makeup artist handed me her card. And she said, “If you ever want to do any nude work, give this number a call, and you can make some money.” Well, I took it. And I was grateful, thanked her, knowing full well that as soon as I did anything like that, it would ruin my career.
After about a month of starving, I decided that I was going to make that phone call. I had a can of beans and one can of potatoes in my cupboard, and I was hungry. So I made the phone call. They said, be at this place at a certain time. So I jumped on my motorcycle the next morning, and I went. And I made my first porno. I walked out of there at the end of the day with four crisp, brand new $100 bills. I got on my motorcycle, and I drove home. I was thinking how easy that was. But I also remember thinking, what have I done? Someday, someone, will find out.
Little did I know that it would turn into this. I became the most popular, most decorated male adult film star of all time. The phone never stopped ringing. The money kept getting bigger and bigger. My mother had no idea. She was completely taken by storm. Shocked her, hurt her. I didn’t know what love was. I didn’t even know if I could feel love anymore. I looked at women like objects. There was no emotion involved in the act of making love. What was that, making love? I had sex for money. I was a prostitute. I couldn’t feel anymore.
See, for me, I had to go to work to do the porn, so that I could buy the drugs to bury the pain of doing the porn. So I’d go to work and do the porn, so that I could buy the drugs to bury the pain. And around and around it went. What pornography did to me was it changed how I thought and felt about women. I began to look at them even more so as a sexual object. I lost the ability to have a loving and caring relationship. I thought I was still able, but I was fooled.
One day, I left the set. I was done for the day. Got in my car. Started it up, drove two blocks, pulled over and turned it off. And I started to cry. I wanted out so bad or to get off that merry-go-round. That’s the last movie I ever made, and I never went back. I changed my life. I began my life.
You see, if I can change my heart, anybody can.
