A growing list of celebrities have spoken up publicly about the harms of porn. In this video, several famous actors, musicians and educators give their thoughts on internet porn and its potential impact on individuals and relationships.
NOTE: YBOP doesn’t have a “moral” stance on porn. This site is secular (founded by an atheist, Gary Wilson), although everyone’s views are welcome. See About This Site.
Transcript
Kanye West
Playboy was my gateway into full on pornography addiction. My dad had a Playboy left out at age 5 and it’s affected almost every choice I made from age 5 to now having to kick the habit, and it presents itself in the open like it’s ok, and I stand up and say you know it’s not ok
Billie Eilish
I’m so angry that porn is so loved and I’m so angry at myself for thinking it is ok. As a women I think porn is a disgrace. I used to be the person who would like talk about porn all the time I’d be like “oh it’s so stupid that anybody would think that porn is bad or fucked up. I think it’s so cool and it’s great.” I think it really destroyed my brain and I feel incredibly devastated that I was exposed to so much porn
Chris Rock
One of the things that I’ve done in the last year, not just going to therapy. I’ve kind of gotten off social media. I’ve got off all social media. I don’t watch pornography anymore. I’m like.. my brain is like ah. I’m focused man! A lot of stuff on YouTube, or what is instagram, I got like a company that puts stuff up.
Russell Brand
Living in this culture now where there’s just icebergs of filth floating through every house on WiFi is inconceivable. What it must be like to be a young adolescent now with this kind of access to porn. I know that pornography is wrong that I shouldn’t be looking at it. There’s a general feeling that is there in your core if you look at pornography, that this isn’t the best thing for me to do.
Rashida Jones
I wrote this article for Glamour Magazine where I was highly critical of like how naked everybody is publicly right now. From pop-stars to kind of like reality stars or whatever, i’m more concerned with the very young fans of these girls who just emulate them, and you know, the reason that these girls feel like this is a viable option as a thing to do when you turn 18 and you leave high-school is because culturally porn is mainstream now.
Terry Crews
For years my dirty little secret was that I was addicted to pornography for years. It’s kind of crazy becuase this thing has become a problem. I think it’s a world-wide problem. Pornography, umm, it really messed up my life in a lot of ways. Some people deny it, they say “hey man, you know you can’t really be addicted to pornography there’s no way”, but I’m gunna tell you something, if day turns into night and you’re still watching, you probably got a problem. And that was me. It affected everything. I didn’t tell my wife. I didn’t tell my friends. Nobody knew. but the internet allowed that little secret to just stay and grow. My wife was literally like “I don’t know you anymore. I’m out of here.” And that changed me.
I had to change because I realized yo, this thing is a major, major problem. I literally had to go to rehab for it. The thing that I found, is that by not telling people it becomes more powerful. But when you tell, and when you put it out there in the open just like I’m doing right now to the whole world, it loses its power. Everybody wants you to keep this secret, “don’t tell anybody,” whispering this and that. I’m telling. I’m putting it out there. And let me tell you something, I’ve been free of this thing probably going on 6-7 years now, thank goodness. But now it’s become battle to help other people who are going through the same thing.
Naval Ravikant
Social media, they’ve massaged all the mechanisms to addict you like a Skinner’s pigeon or a rat who’s just gunna click, click, click, click, click and can’t put the phone down. Food: they’ve taken sugar and they’ve weaponized it. They’ve put it into all these different forms and varieties that you can’t resist eating. Drugs: right, they’ve taken all these pharmaceuticals and plants and they’ve synthesized them. They’ve grown them in such a way that you get addicted. You can’t put em’ down. Porn: right, if you’re a young male and you wander on the internet it will like sap away your libido and you’re not going out in real life society anymore because you got this incredibly stimulating stuff coming at you.
Pamala Anderson
I’m concerned about porn addiction. I think it’s affecting relationships. You know, when you have a woman in lying in bed in lingerie and you’re in the back locked in the bathroom looking at the computer, something’s wrong. You know, so, there’s so much access and I’m worried about that for young people too. People need more and more to get aroused I feel like. I think it leads towards violence against women, rape, child abuse, I really think it has something to do with that. I think that we really have to start just thinking about what we’re doing as people, how we’re imprinting ourselves, what we’re watching, what we’re doing, what we’re eating, what we’re wearing. It all builds our character and that’s really important to just have a conversation.
Jordan Peterson
The typical porn actress, not the amateurs but the professionals have their sexually provocative physical elements exaggerated. And so, men are very visual in terms of their sexual processing, and so, you know, the guys are pulled into it. They’re pulled into it also by curiosity. But I think ethically it’s not good, it’s not good.
Jada Pinket Smith
Back in the day, porn for my generation started in magazines, and then you had to like, go to a CD store to get a VHS tape. We didn’t have access to it. You know, you had to like really go on an adventure to really go see some pornography. Whereas for your generation, it’s on your phone. It’s porn in your pocket.
Mike Tyson
I don’t have a phone. My phone is my lower self. I might look at porn, so I’m conscious of my lower self, so I don’t need a phone. I want to conquer the world and I know I can’t conquer the world unless I conquer myself.
Dr. Andrew Huberman
If people are pursuing pornography and they’re not pursuing relationships, there is the potential that they reach their 20s and 30s and they reach the point that they’re truly dysfunctional.
Joe Rogan
Here’s a big one. Why are these girls doing this? Ok. Here’s something that people don’t like to admit that enjoy porn: the vast majority of them have been molested. The vast majority. There was a study they did on girls who get into porn who’ve been sexually abused, mentally abused, physically abused, it was overwhelming.
Joseph Gordon-Lavitt
The truth is is real life isn’t like the simplistic fantasies that you see in a pornography clip.
Gary Wilson
You really have to replace porn with other activities. You have to just get away from your computer and do other things. I don’t personally don’t want to have to need a screen to be aroused. I’d rather connect with my wife, and get my arousal that way.
Trip Lee
It’s come to a point where if I talk to a young man about his life I’m not, whether it is somebody my age or maybe a little bit younger or maybe a little bit older, I’m not at all surprised to hear there’s some kind of struggle with porn. And I would be shocked if I met a young man who has not struggled with it at some point, because it’s just so easily accessible.
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