Belle Knox, ‘Duke Porn Star’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

belle knox

(Twitter/ @Belle_knox)

Big universities in the United States have been repeatedly called hotbeds of slut-shaming and rape culture by media outlets across the political spectrum, but one college freshman has forced us to analyze the issue in a new light.

Although Duke University classmates outed the identity of the mysterious “Duke Porn Star” on Internet forums and social media weeks ago, now she has personally revealed that her stage name is Belle Knox.

Here is what you need to know about this brave act and the response it’s received:


1. The Duke Porn Star Is Belle Knox

duke pornstar

(Twitter/ @Belle_knox)

On her Twitter account and in a confessional piece on Xojane, the 18-year-old Duke University student and porn star revealed that her performance name is Belle Knox and posted a picture of her face.

In the initial article, she went by the pseudonym “Lauren,” but in the the new piece she asks herself, “If I am proud of being an adult performer, then why do I “Hide” behind this fake name.”

She goes on to say:

My birth name is one name. IT IS MINE. It is the name I am enrolled in at Duke. It is what my family and friends call me. My porn name is another name. It is the name I use when I perform. These are two different worlds in which I inhabit. I can’t stop you from calling me any name you want to — including “slut,” “whore” or “bitch” — but I can decide what name I use.


2. The ‘Duke Porn Star’ Saga Started on XOJane

duke pornstar

(xojane)

On February 21, xojane published the article, “I’m the Duke University Freshman Porn Star and For the First Time I’m Telling the Story in My Words,” without a credited author. In it, Knox discusses being empowered by working in pornography and how it helped her to pay for college.

After the article and an interview in the Duke University newspaper, her name and identity apparently leaked around campus. She wrote, “I vehemently want to have my privacy respected- and I ask that anyoen who knows my real name respect the fact that I am only discussing this publicly because it was made a public matter when I was confronted by a fraternity member who chose to tell hundreds of other men in the Greek scene.”


3. Belle Knox Has Starred in Lots of Hardcore Videos

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The 18-year-old Knox has already stared in a number of scenes with both men and women. For students at Duke University who attempted to shame her porn career, scenes depicting rough and fetish sex became a specific target for challenging her message of empowerment. She has worked with multiple websites including f**kedhard18.com and x-art.com.


4. She’s Received Copious Abuse From Fellow Students

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As mentioned in both of her published articles, Knox has been the victim of violent verbal abuse and threats since her identity was spread around campus. On social media, she has been threatened with rape and physical abuse and, according to her article, the police have been little help to her in managing these threats.


5. Sex-Work-Positive Activists & Publications Have Come to Her Defense

Despite all of the criticism and harassment, activists and publications have been quick to rally behind Knox as a symbol of ending the “virgin-whore dichotomy.”