In My Own Words: Montana Fishburne, the daughter of acting legend Laurence Fishburne and controversial porn star, takes on her critics
The one question that always gets asked is, 'What made me decide to pursue a career in porn?' I lost my virginity at 16 and then I filmed myself at home having sex at 18. And I liked it a lot. I was really interested in different kinds of fantasies and porn was the way that I felt I could explore those fantasies, have fun and, more importantly, make money. For people to say that my decision to do this film is going to come back and tarnish my dad’s reputation, they really shouldn’t, because look at all the good work he has done. After I announced I was going into porn, some members of my family were like, 'Okay, I understand why your dad is upset.' But there were other members of my family who said, 'More power to you,' because this has nothing to do with my father.
People shouldn’t judge me because they really don’t know me. They only think they know me because of what they hear, which is why I want people to read what I have to say… in my own words. I want people to see that I am intelligent and not just having sex. I was the one who reached out to Vivid. Brian Pumper had nothing to do with getting me started. I did my first video with him, but that’s it. I chose Vivid because they are the best in the business and I wanted to go to the top seller. And they have released other movies with celebrity girls like Kendra, Paris Hilton, and Kim Kardashian. So, I wanted to go somewhere I knew I would be safe. People have it wrong. Doing porn is not about me becoming famous…it’s about becoming successful. Porn just happens to be the industry I was most interested in, so for critics to say I’m going about it the wrong way they are missing the point. I am making a buzz in the porn industry and in the mainstream, too. It’s leading me to more opportunities, so people can’t say that I’m not going to get anywhere.
You can come from a privileged family and still love sex. People who are privileged still watch porn; people who are privileged still have fantasies. We don’t all live by the standards of other people. Me being privileged has nothing to do with getting into porn except that it may have opened my eyes more. Being able to go to different countries and see how people look at sex as opposed to how America views sex in our culture, you realize that they are more open about it. I’m confident about my sexuality and body, which is more of a European way of thinking than American.
"You can come from a privileged family and still love sex. People who are privileged still watch porn... still have fantasies."
When I hear people say that I’m doing a disservice to Black women and giving us a bad name by working in porn or that girls like Kim Kardashian can release a sex tape because they are White, I honestly don’t see the difference. Regardless if I’m Black, Yellow or White, it shouldn’t matter. What it all comes doing to is this: a woman is a woman. It would make more sense if people were criticizing me because I’m doing porn as opposed to me being Black. Race doesn’t have anything to do with it. As I said, I went into the adult film industry to explore my fantasies, but I also want to establish my own porn production company. And I’m in the process of starting my own website. I want to give other people who are interested in porn and exploring their own fantasies the opportunity to do so. I think starting my own company would be really positive because I feel like a lot of people look at porn and are like, 'You have to messed up; you have to be crazy; you have to had something horribly go wrong in your childhood.' But after talking to some of the actors in the industry, I found out, Wow, you don’t have to have anything wrong go on in your childhood to want to get involved in the business. I want to start a company for people like me who just have a pure interest in the adult film industry. I don’t want druggie girls…I want clean, healthy girls like me that are interested in making themselves feel empowered.
My film has already sold out. People really like it. They see that I’m uninhibited and they can see my fun-loving personality. Vivid has offered me a multi-picture deal, but I haven’t accepted it yet, but I want to do more films. However, I’m not just trying to be burnt out in the porn industry. I don’t want to make movies for the sake of making movies. I want to be able to pick and choose the kind of work I do. The movie I have out now is more reality style. I want the next one to have more acting. I want to do some scenes with other women… Maybe do some bondage…I’ve never done those things. I just want people to get turned on.
I really am a good person. You can’t believe everything you hear. It insults me when I hear someone claiming that I was a prostitute. Why would I ever be a prostitute? That’s something really hurtful to say, especially since it’s not true. Being in porn makes people say the craziest things. I will sit down and talk to my dad when all the media attention from the movie dies down. I don’t expect him to be happy about what I am doing. But I would like him to respect my decision and give me his blessing on all my future endeavors. —As told to Keith Murphy
