JD Phoenix’s performance last month at the LV HustlaBall stirred some strong emotions in us. We’ve read the reactions from fans, bloggers and porn stars. So, lets hear the side of JD.
1. How were you introduce to this new type of performance art (flagellation – the one you did at LV Hustlaball)?
My interests about BDSM arose last year around this time. I was staying in a 4′ by 7′ room that I booked in China Town last year while I was attending The Hookies. A few days before The Hookies were I met the man of my dreams and a true legend of porn Jesse Santana. I’ve been texting him on and off for a year or two and we finally met. We somewhat hit it off and he was so kind in asking me to stay with him while he was in NYC escorting and attended the hookies. I was so excited about the hookies because it was my first year I was nominated for two awards, Best Dancer, and Best Newcomer. The night of the Hookies I won Best Newcomer, which I was in complete and utter shock. A day or two past Jesse came back to the hotel room where he and I were staying and he had marks up and down his back. I became very interested in why he did it and who did it to him. Note we weren’t a couple and he was a new friend I was trying to get to know. Learning about BDSM is very complex and at times very overwhelming. I stated that I wanted to try it and the very few words of many me and Jesse had spoken to one another he replied “I wonder how I would react in seeing you getting whipped”. This enhanced my thought process and definitely sparked my interest in trying this. Being 19 years old and have been traveling and living on my own since I was 17 in Las Vegas, tired from being alone and traveling on my own this might be a chance that I can click with another person on a whole different level than just sex or simple communication. About two months past and things became rocky in my life style and so my first attempt at whipping was in Chicago the day after the Grabby’s. Here’s the video where Jesse Santana makes a star appearance.
2. Whose idea was it for you to perform flagellation at Las Vegas HustlaBall last month?
It was fully my idea. In October the Friday night of one of the big Hustlaball weekend parties before the main event Sunday in NYC. I was asked by an employee of Hustlaball & Rentboy Fabrice to preform in Las Vegas. Due to the laws in Las Vegas about nudity and sex allowed (hence there has only been one other Hustlaball in LV because of that reason) Hustlaball Las Vegas became more of a fetish type show. So I asked Fabrice if it would be ok for me and Leo Forte to be in the show. I briefly described what I wanted to do and he was absolutely on board.
3. Was the flagellation real or not? – If real, how much did it hurt? – If not, how did the blood come out your body?
Whipping and flogging in general is painful. Leo wanted to make it more of a show hence we were finally going to be on a main stage and kind of wanted to have a Wes Craven vibe to it. So he added fake blood to the end of the whip so entail it would splatter on the white cloth that was infront of me. With whipping and flogging its an extreme amount of energy transfer from one body to another. The biggest factor is being able to trust the person. In my past I’ve had a very hard time with trust. Being used to the point when I didn’t want to live anymore and being mind fucked with, lead me to this kind of therapy if you will. The only time I was actually bleeding was after the show I took a shower and then saw some parts where it broke skin.
4. Did the audience react negatively (left, booed) with your performance?
From what I saw there was a crowd of people watching, I had endless emails of fans with videos and support for what I did on stage. The courage of being something different. Me being as what some say “Beautiful” to show them that beauty isn’t all that its cracked up to be, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
5. To Max Ryder, what is you message to him with regards to his blog post that he was ashamed and disgusted with what you did?
I really didn’t even read all of what Max Ryder said but he as a “Cockyboy” office employee and “Model” should have known what Hustlaball Las Vegas was going to be like. With an amount of knowledge and experience with life comes well with age, sadly he will never understand what the rest of us gays do. He will never completely understand what Folsom Street Fair is (In the past few years it has been changing), Dore Alley, Black Party, and ect. which is why I feel only sorrow for him. For a person to use the word Disgusted on a photo that I stated was Beautiful he couldn’t even comprehend or have a grasp on what BDSM is. It showed me and every one that is familiar with the BDSM world that he’s a fool.
6. Message to your haters (being accused of being crazy or unstable)?
I will admit from an outside perspective of what I did in Las Vegas was crazy. Everyone goes threw troubling times and I have happened to be more vocal about it. Many disappear or a few wind up dead. I want to always keep people informed about me because with feed back gives me strength and I’m glad I have my certain fans that give me incredible and powerful advice to keep me going. I’ve been threw a lot in my life so far and very few will ever experience what I have in the past two years then in their life time. People call me an attention whore. Sorry. I am. Have I and do I do drugs, of course I’m not going to lie. That’s not my character. I use to live behind a life where being gay was a sin and that I wouldn’t be accepted in my family. I use to call gay guys faggots, I use to belittle others to make myself feel better. I grew up in the country, my father a redneck. My sister killed her first deer at the age of 16 with a bow. My mother a city school Math teacher. If it wasn’t for my mother finally accepting to who I am I probably wouldn’t ever see my family. To all of my “haters” out there they don’t know me and if they did would cry at the stories I have to share. I’m not saying that others don’t have the same problems as I, I’m just more vocal about my life.
7. Message to your fans (who loves you no matter what you do)?
Keep doing what you guys are doing! Much Love ~JD
8. Are you really retired from gay porn?
I never said I am retired, I stated that I was taking a break from filming. I haven’t filmed since late August. I’ve had 5 opportunities to work with studios on movies and scenes such as Dominic Ford, Men.com, NakedSword, Dominic Pacifico, and Phoenix Studios just in the past few months but I feel that I have enough work out there that I need to go threw a change in my physical appearance to get back in the scene again, plus have some time off to have some fun and enjoy still being 20.
9. What is next for JD Phoenix?
I lived in Las Vegas from July 16th 2011 to April of 2013. Moved back home to Albany NY for a little while then moved to NYC and lived in Hell’s Kitchen for the summer working 5 nights a week gogo-ing and doing porn. Recently I wanted to move to San Francisco where I fell in love with the diversity it had but couldn’t find an apt in time and fully realized that I need to take care of my health issues. So right now I’m going to go threw surgery to undergo some painful treatment which I hope to come out Cancer-free and If I haven’t made up my mind about where I want to settle, I finally found an apt in NYC and can finally say I’ll be a Chelsea Boy by March 1st.
Don’t forget to vote for JD Phoenix as Best Ass & Best Bottom. To vote, just go to his escort page (site is now gone).
JD Phoenix is on twitter.