'I Thought, I'm Going to Die Here': Joanna Angel Accuses James Deen of Assault

James Deen is a porn star who rose to prominence through mainstream acting roles, such as Brett Easton Ellis's The Canyons, and closely aligning himself with feminist causes. Since late November, seven women have accused Deen of rape and assault. Porn actress and Deen's ex-girlfriend Joanna Angel has become the latest woman to publicly accuse Deen of assault during an interview on The Jason Ellis Show. (Through her publicist, Angel declined to comment.)

According to Buzzfeed writer Kate Aurthur, Angel described Deen as "a person who literally said to me, 'Girls in porn are holes for me to put my dick in.'" Several years ago, Angel says she moved from New York City to Los Angeles for her relationship with Deen. Although Angel maintains she was interested in "being kinky in bed with him," she says she had no interest in being the submissive in a sub/dom relationship. She says she told Deen how she felt comfortable with the relationship proceeding. His alleged response to Angel's desires: "I'm good in bed, you're really bad in bed. When it comes to sex, I call all the shots." Angel alleges Deen ignored her demands and their sex became more violent.

Porn industry members have described Deen's behavior as opposed to their values. Since Stoya tweeted her accusations against Deen, who is her ex-boyfriend, Doc Johnson, Evil Angel, Kink.com, and several other adult entertainment companies have broken ties with Deen. And several high-profile female porn stars have stood unanimously behind Deen's accusers, including Kayden Kross and Sydney Leathers, asserting that there's no room for abusive men in the industry. "My costars have been really nice, normal guys. Just nice, normal guys with huge cocks," says porn star Sydney Leathers. "No one has ever been even slightly abusive to me on or off-set. If anything, these guys have gone out of their way to make a newbie feel comfortable and happy."

Angel is beloved in the porn industry for her professionalism and business skills. She founded her company, BurningAngel.com, while only a college student, and the company remains one of the most popular porn production companies. She describes her years with Deen, though, as miserable. One day, she says, Deen grabbed her hair, dragged her into the bathroom, and "started dunking my head in the water [in the sink] while he was fucking me." In the interview with The Jason Ellis Show, she goes on to say, "It started to feel like forever." She says she thought, I'm going to die here. She alleges Deen eventually pulled her out from the sink. Angel alleges she was "crying" and then Deen "threw me on the floor" and said, "You're a horrible submissive. I'm bored. I'm going to go fuck someone else.'"

Angel says she continued dating Deen for several years and the relationship caused health issues. Several nights, she claims, Deen would climb on top of her in his sleep. She alleges he would choke her and wouldn't even stop when she started screaming. According to Angel, Deen claimed he never could recall choking her while asleep. "It was like a ghost was on top of me," Angel said.

James Deen hasn't responded to multiple requests for comment. On Twitter he has called the accusations against him "false and defamatory."