FAN is proud to present an interview with one of the nicest women in the adult industry, Kelly Shibari. Kelly sat down with FAN’s Madison Carter (via the system of tubes and wires known as the Information Superhighway Internet) ask her a few questions about her career and how the adulty industry, pop culture and social media intertwine.
FAN: I’d like to welcome to Kelly Shibari to FAN. Kelly, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to talk with us today.
KELLY SHIBARI: Thank you so much for having me on FAN! :)
FAN: First and most obvious question to start off with: What made you decide to become an adult film star?
KS: It was a couple of things – but mainly, it was due to a breakup that I had just gone through, with a guy that I had been living with. I’ve always been a pretty open and understanding person sexually, and was with someone that I knew needed variety (he had been married twice before and cheated on his wives both times). So I gave him permission to play with other women when I wasn’t around, as long as I was informed. For some reason he couldn’t deal with the fact that it wasn’t cheating – perhaps it was the cheating aspect itself that was the draw more than the girls themselves. So in the end, he ended up cheating on me anyway. The breakup was pretty devastating. I didn’t want to date anyone again – at least until I was in a retirement home, lol! I’m also not much for nightclubs and the bar scene, especially in LA. I didn’t want to enter any casual relationships and continuously get hurt, much less catch any STDs. At the time, I was also friends with a guy in the adult industry – he was a director and his GF of 14 yrs was a performer. I was telling him my doubts about dating again, and he said offhandedly that I should look into the adult industry, where all male talent are not only good looking, but tested monthly for STDs, and wouldn’t call for a date afterwards (haha). So in a way, I suppose getting into XXX was a way for me to have sex with safe guys (I was in my mid-30s and with a high sex drive) without worrying about any emotional attachment- something I wasn’t ready for. :)
FAN: A much more interesting answer than the stock “to be famous” line for sure. You do a lot of work in the PR side of the industry as well, correct? With your own Hourglass8 Media, for instance.
KS: Actually, Hourglass8 is now ThePRSMGroup, and it’s less PR but more Social Media Marketing and Branding. But yes, PR is part of what’s offered.
FAN: Ah, my mistake – cursed internet research.
KS: no worries! Google still sends people to Hourglass8, and it still goes to the correct site. The company’s just gotten larger in what it offers, so it merited a name change.
FAN: Social media, especially places like Twitter, seem to be expanding the average person’s awareness and even acceptance of the adult industry in a lot of ways. Your Twitter alone has almost 34,000 followers, nothing to sneeze at. Do you see this assimilation as a temporary thing or is the adult industry here to stay as part of our collective pop culture conscience?
KS: I think that XXX has been a part of pop culture ever since it came about. The nature of the culture of porn celebrity has changed, though, from that of “studio system” superstars in the 70s-90s to the more mass-appeal version of today. Today, XXX performers are more accessible than ever, partly due to social media, and the increase in XXX performers in America can probably be blamed, to a certain extent, to social media as well. When there are social outreach networks such as Craigslist, and social media networks such as Twitter, it’s hard to get away from the illusion that XXX is a lucrative and attractive industry to get into. Part of the misunderstanding, particularly in social media and XXX, is that the performers feel it’s important to post about how much fun they’re having. It’s part of the marketing of that individual performer – but unfortunately it also creates a false sense of glamour in an industry that only shines brightly for a short period of time for each performer. A more realistic view would probably turn most interested guys and girls away from the industry, or at least give a healthier/more educated look into the business.
FAN: I assume that’s part of your decision to work the promotional aspects a bit, so you’ll have something to work with after the on-screen days are over (not that any of us hope they are anytime soon!)?
KS: Not necessarily – and “promotions” is still probably an incorrect definition of what I do. What I do is work with talent and companies to increase their branding to the public. I guess that may be construed as promotional, but I believe it’s less about writing press releases that get posted on news outlets and more about becoming a recognizable name with a following, which then creates value for media outlets. And honestly – I got into this aspect of the business because being a model/talent/actress is fun, but ultimately is kind of boring to someone who’s a workaholic nerd. At a certain point, you miss having your brain stimulated as much as your body!
FAN: Since you brought the word ‘nerd’ up, one of the things that caught my attention in regards to wanting to talk to you is your describing yourself as ‘80% dorky nerd; 20% pornstar and fetish model’ on Twitter. What dorky nerd things do you get into?
KS: Well, I discovered through several other interviews over the years that I’m definitely not a geek…I’ve never played any RPGs, and not very techie. But I’m a bookworm, and always into learning as much as I can. I’m naturally curious, which also makes me hold onto a lot of completely useless information that may make me interesting at parties when making small talk LOL
and I’d much rather read than party (unfortunately for my fans), so I rarely do the club thing…
FAN: What do you read, any particular authors or genres you veer towards most?
KS: It used to be mystery and horror – Stephen King, Agatha Christie, etc mostly when I was younger. Now, it’s a mostly nonfiction – marketing books. Pretty dry stuff haha. My latest run on fiction was Patricia Cornwell. Guess I’m into the whole “solve a problem/mystery” thing. I’ve never gotten into erotic fiction, either written or on tv/movies. I guess I’m just a guy when it comes to my entertainment!
Oh and zombies hahaha!
FAN: Zombies are always awesome.
KS: Absolutely!!!
FAN: Last question and I’ll let you go – you’re probably most well-known to the average viewer for playing the titular role in the Roseanne XXX parody (great job, btw!). Do you think the parodies are 1. just another brief fad in the industry and 2. a good gateway to the mainstreaming of the industry and introducing new viewers to the product?
KS: Well, I’m hoping that that might change in a few months due to a music video cameo that I just did! But to answer your question, I think that parodies have always been around in XXX. There were a lot of them way before this current run – but I think that there’s just more exposure for the parodies these days, mainly because there are (1) more companies and (2) I hate to keep saying this, but more public exposure due to social media. And I think that answers the second part of your question – social media, etc has most definitely exposed the industry to the public in a way that is new and more widespread. That’s good and bad – it’s good because more people know about each product. However, it’s very bad because many of those social networks capitalize on stolen content, such as tube and bittorrent sites.
FAN: True. It’s just as much a problem to your profession as it is to the music industry.
Kelly, I really want to thank you for taking time out today to talk to us, We at FAN really appreciate it.
KS: Thank YOU so much for having me! :) Fans of my performances can find me at http://KellyShibariXXX.com and http://PaddedKINK.com. For social media inquiries, please visit http://ThePRSMGroup.com
FAN: We’ll be sure to check them out. Thank you again, and you have a wonderful day!
KS: Thanks, you too! Don’t be a Twitter stranger ;)
Kelly can be followed on Twitter here.
Madison Carter is the co-founder of FAN, has worked for Marvel co-writing the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe for over half a decade, works his 9-to-5 day job at a book store and still finds time to never sleep. He can be found on Twitter here.