Pop star Billie Eilish has won praise and triggered condemnation from members of the adult entertainment industry for her recent comments on porn.
Porn star Cherie DeVille slammed the comments, saying they unfairly besmirch a large, diverse group of people due to Eilish's own personal issues; while retired XXX star and director Randy Spears says he applauds Eilish for speaking openly about a "despicable" issue.
The 'Bad Guy' singer made the comments during a recent interview with Howard Stern, admitting she started watching porn when she was just 11 years old.
"I think porn is a disgrace. I used to watch a lot of porn... I think it really destroyed my brain and I feel incredibly devastated that I was exposed to so much porn," Eilish said.
"The first few times I, you know, had sex, I was not saying 'no' to things that were not good. It was because I thought that's what I was supposed to be attracted to."
DeVille is a 10-year porn industry veteran and star of dozens of works of adult entertainment. In an opinion piece for The Daily Beast, the two time AVN winner hit back at Eilish's comments, saying they make her "blood boil".
She said the musician should be angry at her parents for allowing her to watch porn as a child and the school system for failing kids with sex education rather than blaming adult entertainers.
"Eilish is speaking from insecurity and projecting her own problems on a group of innocent - and marginalised - people," wrote DeVille.
"Blaming porn for a bad real-life sexual experience is like blaming violent video games for inspiring a school shooting.
"Does Eilish want to be blamed for every teen girl who wants to sleep with an older man because they heard her sing: 'I'm that bad type / Make your mama sad type / Make your girlfriend mad tight / Might seduce your dad type?'"
DeVille also took issue with Eilish telling Stern: "The way vaginas look in porn is f**king crazy. No vagina looks like this."
"Eilish's stereotypes confuse me. I could understand if she said boobs look fake in porn, but she's accusing us of altering our vaginas," wrote DeVille.
"My friends and I comprise a diverse group of vulvas... You could write a Dr Seuss book about how different our vulvas look because porn offers a cornucopia of vulvas."
Spears has also starred in and directed dozens of works of porn for decades. In an interview with TMZ, he called Eilish brave for speaking out.
"She's the kind of person who has a lot of guts actually to come out and speak her mind on this. I applaud her for it," said Spears.
"This is a very real addiction that can be very damaging to a young person.
"It's pretty despicable stuff, and if your brain is still growing and you have very little life experience as an adult and you're trying to digest that sort of stuff and make sense of it... I can see exactly how she can feel that way."
Last year a report was released into the effects of porn on young people in Aotearoa.
It found adult entertainment was having a negative impact on both the body confidence and sex lives of young Kiwis and that alarmingly, porn has become the "default learning tool" for young Kiwis curious about sex.
Eilish is set to visit New Zealand next year to play three shows at Auckland's Spark Arena in September.
