An adult star has opened up about her work and an interesting clause that is inserted into her contracts.
For years, Maitland Ward was best known as Rachel McGuire on Boy Meets World — but six years after leaving Hollywood for the adult industry, the former Disney star says she’s never felt more empowered, respected, or in control of her career.
Ward began acting in the 1990s, first appearing on The Bold and the Beautiful before moving on to shows like Boy Meets World and films including White Chicks and Dish Dogs.
By 2019, however, she left mainstream acting behind in favor of a career in p*rnography — a decision she says has transformed her life and career.
"I really think people treat me with more respect now, honestly, especially even in Hollywood right now," Ward previously told Fox News.
"I'm pitching my memoir into a TV format and talking with people. They're so respectful, and they're so positive about my story, especially younger people and different people that I speak to in Hollywood and stuff."
According to Ward, the support she received when she made the switch was unexpectedly overwhelming.
"I didn't get anybody coming out hating me for it or anything," she told Fox News Digital. "I really got a lot of positivity overall, which shocked everyone I knew. Everybody thought people were just going to rip me apart, and I was going to be judged and raked across the coals, but I got so much positivity and I think it's because I was so positive about it, and I was so happy about it."
In her 2022 memoir, Rated X: How P*rn Liberated Me from Hollywood (also published under the title My Escape from Hollywood: Unapologetic, Unfiltered, and Unashamed), Ward described her transition as a way to finally live as her authentic self.
"I think it’s an empowering story for women and everyone really," she said at the time. "It’s about living your truth and not listening to what everyone is telling you to do. For so long, Hollywood was telling me that I could only be a certain way.
"The industry wanted to keep me in some box. I reached a point where I just wanted to do my own thing. I’m now my authentic self."
While many might assume p*rn sets are chaotic, Ward insists the reality is quite the opposite.
"People think a p*rn set is like some wild orgy 24/7 but it’s not — it’s more controlled than you could imagine," she revealed to The Sun.
"All the sexual positions have to be agreed on, written down, in black and white. You agree in writing to have sex on film and exactly what that sex will be."
She added: "You have to say you’re not under the influence of anything or anyone. Even the celebrity sex tapes these days, if that film is in a store being sold with a cover and everything, then they would have had to agree to that."
Ward also stressed the importance of boundaries.
"In the sets I have always been on, if you say no, the rule is the filming stops with no questions asked," she explained, adding that she has "never ever in a million years been pressured to do anything I didn't want to" by a director or co-star.
For Ward, collaborating with other women in the industry has been especially rewarding. "I'm creating full-length movies. I'm doing things like making projects that I really feel passionate about," she said.
"I work with a female director, who has been amazing. And I think people are always surprised by that, that two women are creating these long erotic, p*rnographic art pieces. And I think that's really special."