Not long ago, the media got a hold of a story about a girl who was a pornstar and also happened to be a student at Duke University. The girl’s name was Belle Knox and the story took off something fierce. Given the circumstances, it’s not hard to see why. Had Belle been enrolled at a lesser known college as opposed to the highly prestigious Duke University, the story not only wouldn’t have gotten coverage but wouldn’t have existed. Belle got a lot of negative attention from both her college and certain people in the adult industry. Duke felt that being a pornstar was not a proper job for a student and many in the industry felt that Belle was receiving undue praise and attention without having earned it. Regardless of which way you sway on the matter, Belle has become quite the commodity in porn and is going strong while continuing her studies at Duke. Mens Mag Daily caught up with Belle Knox to discuss how the decision to do porn has affected her life, what her plans for the future are, and even what she’s currently studying in school.
Mens Mag Daily: Okay, so Belle, when I first started hearing about you, the big controversy was that you were in college. Aren’t a lot of pornstars in college?
Belle Knox: Yes, absolutely, there are a lot of performers who are in college and there are a lot of people in porn who are very highly educated. I think it was like society’s view of what pornstars are or what they’re supposed to be. I think it’s also the fact that I go to Duke which is supposed to be like this elitist school but I’m doing something that isn’t exactly considered elite. Not everybody has the money to pay for school just handed to them.
Mens Mag Daily: Is that what made you get into the adult industry, you needed to pay tuition?
Belle Knox: Yeah, that’s why I did it. I needed to pay my tuition.
Mens Mag Daily: How did you actually go about getting your start in porn?
Belle Knox: It was pretty easy actually. I just googled how to be a pornstar and all these porn agencies came up. I sent pictures and some information and started getting callbacks telling me that I could be a pornstar.
Mens Mag Daily: Had you ever done anything even close to this previously?
Belle Knox: Other than sending naked pictures to guys I had never done anything like this. It was very radical for me.
Mens Mag Daily: Weren’t you nervous your first time on set given that all of this was so new to you?
Belle Knox: I was very nervous. It was so awkward to have to have sex in front of strangers. For me, that was the most nerve wracking part of it all.
Mens Mag Daily: Did porn fit your personality? Were you a very sexual person before the business?
Belle Knox: Yeah, ever since high school I was a very sexual person. I was like a closet freak though. People knew me for being nerdy and studious. Nobody ever expected me to be sexual at all. It’s like the nerdy girl you see in class that you don’t think is sexual at all but she’s really a kinky freak.
Mens Mag Daily: There were a lot of people including other pornstars who had negative opinions about you being in the business. Why do you think that is?
Belle Knox: I think a lot of it is jealousy. I think they’re upset that I’ve been in the industry for such a short amount of time and I’ve already blown up and gotten a lot of publicity and fame. Some people don’t like what my message is. They don’t like that I did it to pay for school. I respect everybody’s opinion but I think it’s unfortunate that people can be so negative. It’s like we’re already discriminated against by everybody else and people already treat us like shit. Why can’t we be supportive of each other? Why do we have to be hateful towards each other? We’re such a marginalized group and for us to not be kind and supportive of one another is a travesty. That’s why we can’t make progress. We’re so competitive and petty with our own bullshit basically.
Mens Mag Daily: So are you still in school?
Belle Knox: Yes, I am.
Mens Mag Daily: I’m assuming there was a lot of backlash at school as well.
Belle Knox: Yeah that was a big part of the story. I was bullied really badly. Students were threatening to kill me. They were threatening to throw trash on me; I was bullied really, really badly.
Mens Mag Daily: What was your reaction to that?
Belle Knox: There wasn’t much I could do. I reported the threats to the police and the bullying to the administration. I talked about it a lot in interviews. It was really difficult at first to be so hated within my own school community. I started to realize that these were just petty opinions that didn’t mean anything in my life.
Mens Mag Daily: Do you see yourself being in the adult industry for a long time?
Belle Knox: I look at porn as a means to an end because I use the money to pay for college. I’m really not sure right now. It looks like I’m just going to do it through college. If it makes me happy I’ll keep doing it but my goal ultimately is to be a lawyer.
Mens Mag Daily: Do you think the fact that you’ve been a performer will have a negative effect on your future?
Belle Knox: I don’t think so. I don’t think people should look at things in a narrow way. Forty years ago a black person couldn’t marry a white person. There was obviously progress made there. There are people who won’t hire me but there are people who will see the value in my experience and hire me. My main goal is to keep speaking out against discrimination. There should be more of a dialogue so we can incite change. Maybe in 10 years it won’t be such a big deal that I’ve been on camera and people won’t be so afraid to hire me. Progress is never made if you accept the status quo.
Mens Mag Daily: Have things kind of settled down since time has passed?
Belle Knox: Yeah, my life has gotten a lot calmer. I’m settling into working a lot and being a student.
Mens Mag Daily: What about the business overall, do you enjoy it?
Belle Knox: Yeah I love doing porn. It’s really fun and it’s a great outlet for my artistic expression.
Mens Mag Daily: So what are you studying in school right now?
Belle Knox: I’m doing Women’s Studies and I may switch to Political Science or do a double major.
Mens Mag Daily: Do guys expect you to be a certain way now that you’ve done porn?
Belle Knox: Yeah, they have the expectations that I’m going to be this kinky nympho and that I’m automatically going to have sex with them. There’s this sense of entitlement there.
Mens Mag Daily: How do you handle that?
Belle Knox: I’m just a normal person so I have sex with who I want to. I have guys who assume that I’m going to have sex with them and they get upset when I don’t. That makes me so mad. They tell me I should have sex with them because I’m a porn star.
Mens Mag Daily: Do you have a normal college social life?
Belle Knox: I try to avoid frat parties because there’s always drama with other girls. But I have a normal college life aside from the fact that when I go outside people take pictures or stare at me.
Mens Mag Daily: Okay, so forget school, forget porn, how do you spend your time?
Belle Knox: I really like writing, I like reading and running. I really love just spending time with my friends.
Mens Mag Daily: Were the people you knew surprised when you started doing porn?
Belle Knox: Yeah, they were just shocked. Nobody expected that and I lost quite a few friends. They didn’t agree with it. I really do think that the foundation of any relationship is respect. You can disagree with what I do but if you don’t respect what I’m doing then I have to cut you loose.
Mens Mag Daily: Do you have a boyfriend?
Belle Knox: I don’t. Not many people want to get involved in this. It’s kind of fucked my love life over big time. I get guys who ask me on actual dates but like I said a lot of them just want to have sex with me. It’s hard to find somebody that would want to settle down in college so if you add in the whole porn factor I’m just kind of screwed. I hope I find a guy or a woman, I could find a woman too.
Mens Mag Daily: So you’re into girls, you date girls?
Belle Knox: Yeah I’m bi. I’ve known my whole life that I like women but I came out of my shell in college.
Mens Mag Daily: Were there a lot of opportunities for you to experiment in college?
Belle Knox: Not really actually, there’s not many out bi girls at Duke which is unfortunate.
Mens Mag Daily: So would you say that Duke has that elitist mentality?
Belle Knox: It attracts a lot of that. I think the average income of the parents of students is like 350 grand a year. There is that entitled and elitist attitude but there’s a counter culture too. There are people who don’t have a lot of money and aren’t elitist. It’s a mixed bag.
Mens Mag Daily: Okay Belle, tell us about anything you might have coming up.
Belle Knox: The 40th Anniversary of Hustler edition is out now and I also have a sex toy line coming out really soon by Doc Johnson. I also intern at PornHub. That’s another reason why the girls in the industry don’t like me. They associate it with piracy when in reality the companies they shoot for are associated with PornHub. I just got back from Canada where they are located and I learned a lot in terms of the business side of porn. Also, my fans can follow me on my Twitter which is https://twitter.com/belle_knox.
Article By: Jon DaBove
