Maverick D'Souza

Sasha Grey left porn, starred in a Steven Soderbergh film, landed a role on HBO’s Entourage, and was trying to start a new life. Then she spent one morning reading a children’s book to first graders in Compton. Parents went to war, and the school district publicly denied she had ever been there. There were photos. She grew up Catholic in Sacramento and graduated high school a year early. She says she carried a lot of guilt about her own fantasies and wanted to show other people they didn’t have to feel that shame. Right after she turned 18 she sent her photos and a written mission statement to adult agencies. Nobody answered. She was already driving home when one agent finally called back. A week later she moved to LA, rented a pool house in North Hollywood because she had no credit history, and shot her first scene. She became one of the biggest names in the industry. In 2009 Soderbergh cast her as the lead in The Girlfriend Experience. At the end of that year, at 21, she quietly stopped shooting. No announcement. She was writing, making music, acting, and refusing to pick a side when both worlds demanded she did. She didn’t make it official for two more years. In November 2011 she volunteered for Read Across America and spent a morning at Emerson Elementary in Compton. She read Dog Breath, a silly children’s book about a dog with bad breath, to first and third graders and tweeted about how sweet the kids were. Then TMZ got the photos. Parents flooded the school with complaints. One asked why the school couldn’t find a firefighter or a police officer instead. Another said people like her shouldn’t be around children at all. The district told reporters she had never been in the building, even though the pictures were all over the internet. She didn’t hide. She said she had a past some people disagreed with, but it didn’t define who she was. She has never said she regrets it. Today she’s a streamer, a DJ and a published novelist. A song she wrote about her late father ended up in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. She left porn 16 years ago. Some people will never let her. Should a former porn star be allowed to volunteer with children, or were the parents right to be furious?