Stoya

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American pornographic film actress and writer

title: "Stoya" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["21st-century-american-actresses", "alt-porn", "american-bloggers", "21st-century-american-writers", "american-female-adult-models", "american-pornographic-film-actresses", "american-people-of-scottish-descent", "american-people-of-serbian-descent", "living-people", "actresses-from-wilmington,-north-carolina", "pornographic-film-actors-from-north-carolina", "american-women-bloggers", "21st-century-american-women-writers", "year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)", "american-sex-columnists", "american-expatriates-in-serbia"] description: "American pornographic film actress and writer" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoya" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American pornographic film actress and writer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox adult biography"]

FieldValue
imageStoya 2014.jpg
captionStoya in 2014
birth_name
birth_date
birth_placeWilmington, North Carolina, U.S.
years_active2007–present
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::callout[type=note] the pornographic film actress ::

| image = Stoya 2014.jpg | caption = Stoya in 2014 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | alias = | years_active = 2007–present | website =

Stoya is an American pornographic film actress, model, and writer. She began her porn career in 2007 in the alt porn scene, and since 2009 has also worked in non-pornographic media, including the 2016 lesbian fantasy series Dagger Kiss. Since 2019, she has co-written the sex column "How to Do It" for Slate under the byline Jessica Stoya.

Early life

Stoya was born in Wilmington, North Carolina to a Scottish father and a Serbian mother. She was named Jessica after Jessica Savitch. As a child, she wanted to become a dancer, and started dance lessons at the age of three. She was home-schooled and received her high-school diploma before the age of sixteen. Because her father worked in IT, Stoya had access to electronics and gaming equipment, through which she developed her love of technology. "I was three when I was using DOS. My mom taught me how to read, and my dad taught me how to navigate DOS."

After moving to Philadelphia, she attended a summer program at UArts. Some of her jobs in Philadelphia included being a secretary, flier distributor, and a go-go dancer. Stoya appeared in several music videos for bands that, according to her, "no one will ever hear of." In May 2009, Stoya said that she would be moving from Philadelphia and relocating to Los Angeles in the fall of that year.

Pornographic film career

Stoya began posing for adult pictures for a friend, which eventually led her to modelling and working for alt-erotic websites. She chose her stage name based on a shortened version of her grandmother's Serbian maiden name and trademarked the name in 2009.

Stoya was featured in two DVD productions for Razordolls, and she made a non-sex, cameo appearance in two Vivid Alt titles before being contacted by Digital Playground with a proposition to perform in a hardcore lesbian scene with Sophia Santi. The scene in question never happened, but, in August 2007, she met with several Digital Playground representatives and was asked if she would star in a pornographic scene with male talent. After careful consideration, Stoya agreed.

In October 2007, Digital Playground signed her to an exclusive, three-year contract. Stoya is regarded as the company's first alt porn contract girl. The first scene that she shot for them was for Stoya Video Nasty (promoted on the DVD box as the first film featuring her engaging in heterosexual intercourse), but her first movie released by the company was Jack's POV 9.

In 2012, Stoya was named by CNBC as one of the 12 most popular pornographic film actresses.

Even though Stoya was under exclusive contract with Digital Playground, Evil Angel director John Stagliano received "special permission" in 2013 to cast her in the sequel for the adult film series Voracious. As of 2014, she left Digital Playground and focused her career on directing. She financed and directed her first film in February 2014. On March 4, 2014, Stoya and Kayden Kross created the pay-per-scene pornographic website TRENCHCOATx. In addition to running the site, Stoya performed in and also directed some of the films. In 2018, Stoya launched the website zerospaces.com with her business partner, comedian Mitcz Marzoni.

Mainstream acting

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Stoya.jpg" caption="Stoya in "The Kingpin of Pain" (2009)"] ::

In 2009, Stoya appeared in her first non-erotic film project as Kamikazi Shegun 5000 in the award-winning 48 Hour Film Project short film "The Kingpin of Pain".

Stoya appears as a main cast member in the 2016 lesbian fantasy series Dagger Kiss.

In February 2018, Stoya starred in the Serbian sci-fi film A.I. Rising (also known as Ederlezi Rising) in the role of the android, Nimani, on a space mission with a cosmonaut played by Slovenian actor Sebastian Cavazza. The two become romantically entwined when the cosmonaut starts to believe there might be something human inside his android companion.

Stoya has acted in two of Dean Haspiel Off Broadway stage plays: Harakiri Kane (Die! Die, Again!) (2017) and The Last Bar at the End of the World (2018).

Writing

Stoya has written sex advice columns for Slate, Vice, The Verge, and Refinery29. For her Slate column, "How To Do It", she uses the byline Jessica Stoya. She has published pieces in The New York Times, New Statesman, Esquire, and The Guardian, as well as an article in Porn Studies, a peer-reviewed academic journal. She published her first book in 2018, entitled Philosophy, Pussycats, and Porn, a collection of personal and critical essays.

Personal life

Stoya has acknowledged the importance of social networking in her career; she was active on MySpace, Twitter, Tumblr, and various Internet forums.

In June 2009, she was reported to be dating Marilyn Manson, but they later broke up due to Manson's touring schedule. Afterwards, she dated pornographic actor James Deen for several years. In 2015, Stoya publicly accused Deen of raping her, writing on Twitter:

Deen denied Stoya's allegations, calling them "false and defamatory". Following Stoya's tweet, eight other women went public with assault allegations against Deen, while Stoya herself became a target of online harassment. Several adult film studios severed ties with Deen, and the website The Frisky terminated his column.

Selected publications

Awards

  • 2008 Eroticline Award – Best U.S. Newcomer
  • 2009 AVN Award – Best New Starlet
  • 2009 AVN Award – Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene – Cheerleaders
  • 2009 XBIZ Award – New Starlet of the Year
  • 2009 XRCO Award – New Starlet
  • 2012 AVN Award – Hottest Sex Scene (Fan Award) – Babysitters 2
  • 2014 XBIZ Award – Best Scene - Feature Movie – Code of Honor
  • 2018 FEST Beograd – Best Actress – Ederlezi Rising
  • 2019 XBIZ Award – Best Actress - All-Girl Release – Talk Derby to Me

References

References

  1. (January 2026). "About Jessica Stoya – Hello, I'm Stoya".
  2. "Jessica Stoya".
  3. Stosuy, Brandon. (January 18, 2008). "An Interview with Stoya". The Fanzine.
  4. . (2012-09-03). ["The Charlatan's conversation with adult film star Stoya"](https://charlatan.ca/the-charlatans-conversation-with-adult-entertainment-star-stoya/). *[[The Charlatan (student newspaper)*.
  5. Hess, Amanda. (April 24, 2013). "Stoya, Pop Star of Porn". [[The Village Voice]].
  6. Wink, Christopher. (2009-05-27). "South Philly's Stoya: adult film it girl on DOS, social media and leaving Philadelphia".
  7. Stoya. (March 9, 2014). "Can We Learn About Privacy From Porn Stars?". The New York Times.
  8. (October 18, 2007). "Digital Playground Announces the exclusive signing of Stoya". Digital Playground.
  9. Stroud, Matt. (November 12, 2008). "Meet South Philly's Stoya". Philadelphia City Paper.
  10. Sullivan, David. (December 6, 2007). "DP's Stoya Makes Her Boy/Girl Debut in Jack's POV 9". AVN.
  11. Morris, Chris. (January 18, 2012). "The Dirty Dozen 2012: Porn's Most Popular Stars". [[CNBC]].
  12. Miller, Dan. (June 11, 2013). "John Stagliano Discusses 'Voracious' Sequel".
  13. Morris, Chris. (January 17, 2014). "The economics of being an independent porn star". [[CNBC]].
  14. (March 6, 2015). "Stoya Takes a Bath and Talks About Her New Pay-Per-Scene Porn Site".
  15. Garcia, Laia. (13 Nov 2018). "How Stoya's progressive new online space is revolutionising porn".
  16. Krumm, Allison. (May 15, 2009). "48 Hours of Philmmaking".
  17. "A lesbian 'Lord of the Rings' makes its debut on Valentine's Day".
  18. Delia, John Sr.. (11 March 2019). "'A.I. Rising' Android in Love". Aced.
  19. Cristi, A.A.. (September 12, 2017). "Fall Season Announced at The Brick!". [[BroadwayWorld]].
  20. staff author(s)-->. (April 15, 2018). "The Last Bar at the End of the World at Urban Stages". [[BroadwayWorld]].
  21. "How to Do It".
  22. "Stoya".
  23. Stoya. (July 18, 2015). "Please meet our new sex columnist, Stoya". The Verge.
  24. Stoya. (January 31, 2014). "The Best Sex Advice, Courtesy Of Stoya".
  25. "Jessica Stoya".
  26. Stoya. (March 4, 2018). "Can There Be Good Porn?". The New York Times.
  27. Stoya. (March 16, 2018). "What Is Porn?". The New York Times.
  28. Stoya. (June 1, 2015). "What porn actors don't talk about". The New Statesman.
  29. Stoya. (November 4, 2013). "10 Things Stoya Learned from ''Masters of Sex''".
  30. Stoya. (November 16, 2012). "Making porn actors wear condoms is not the best way to protect us". The Guardian.
  31. Stoya. (2014). "Feminism and the mainstream". Porn Studies.
  32. Reith, James. (2018-06-28). "Stoya: 'I thought female sexuality was an OK thing?'".
  33. Clark-Flory, Tracy. "Stoya Is 'Over' Talking About Feminist Porn". Jezebel.
  34. "Stoya".
  35. (5 Jun 2009). "A most bizarre encounter with Marilyn Manson". [[The Times]].
  36. Loftus, Cindi. (April 2011). "Xcitement Interviews: Stoya". Xcitement.com.
  37. (4 December 2015). "When Did James Deen And Stoya Date?".
  38. Stoya. "December 17".
  39. . (November 30, 2015). ["James Deen, Porn's 'Feminist' Sweetheart, Accused of Sexual Assault"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/11/30/james-deen-porns-feminist-sweetheart-accused-of-sexual-assault/). *ABC News*.
  40. . (January 25, 2016). ["James Deen Just Won Some Porn Oscars, Despite Rape Allegations"](https://i-d.co/article/james-deen-just-won-some-porn-oscars-despite-rape-allegations/). *i-D*.
  41. . (December 8, 2015). ["James Deen Denies Rape Allegations{{nbsp}}{{emdash}} and Says He 'Never Claimed to Be a Feminist.'"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/james-deen-denies-rape-allegations--and-says-he-never-claimed-to-be-a-feminist/2015/12/08/20ca9f24-9dbd-11e5-bce4-708fe33e3288_story.html). *BBC News*.
  42. Grant, Melissa Gira. (December 4, 2015). "How Stoya took on James Deen and broke the porn industry's silence". HuffPost.
  43. (2016). "Porn and Labour: The Labour of Porn Studies". Porn Studies.
  44. (2023). "Gender-Based Violence: A Comprehensive Guide". Springer.
  45. Grant, Melissa Gira. (December 4, 2015). "How Stoya took on James Deen and broke the porn industry's silence". The Guardian.
  46. . (October 21, 2008). ["Digital Playground Wins Four Awards at Venus Berlin"](https://avn.com/news/video/digital-playground-wins-four-awards-at-venus-berlin-97368). *AVN*.
  47. Sullivan, David. (October 22, 2008). "Exclusive: Complete 2008 eLine Award Winners from Venus Berlin".
  48. Sullivan, David. (January 11, 2009). "2009 AVN Award-Winners Announced".
  49. Duncan, Edward. (February 13, 2009). "XBIZ Announces 2009 Award-Winners". AVN.
  50. Miller, Dan. (April 16, 2009). "2009 XRCO Award Winners Announced". AVN.
  51. (January 22, 2012). "AVN Announces the 2012 AVN Award Winners".
  52. Miller, Dan. (January 24, 2014). "2014 XBIZ Award Winners Announced".
  53. "48. Međunarodni filmski festival - FEST 2020".
  54. Petković, Vladan. (March 5, 2018). "''Ederlezi Rising'' sweeps the Serbian awards at Belgrade Fest".
  55. [http://www.xbizawards.com/winners.php XBIZ Award Winners]. ''Xbizawards.com''. January 2019.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

21st-century-american-actressesalt-pornamerican-bloggers21st-century-american-writersamerican-female-adult-modelsamerican-pornographic-film-actressesamerican-people-of-scottish-descentamerican-people-of-serbian-descentliving-peopleactresses-from-wilmington,-north-carolinapornographic-film-actors-from-north-carolinaamerican-women-bloggers21st-century-american-women-writersyear-of-birth-missing-(living-people)american-sex-columnistsamerican-expatriates-in-serbia