Today I learned about a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit filed against a performer named MJ Fresh and her agent Riley Reynolds of Hussie

Models. Madysun Jaques, also known as MJFRE$H is popular on Tiktok.

However it wasn’t TikTok that got her in trouble, it was a video she posted to YouTube. In a now-deleted video, she claims that she was roofied and raped after an OnlyFans content shoot with Jessy Jones.

The problem is, prior to posting that video and making those claims, she messaged Jessy Jones and threatened to go public with false allegations against him to get him blacklisted from the industry because he refused to take her home.

The case involves an allegation of rape at a content shoot that was set up by Riley Reynolds of Hussie Models between MJ Fresh and Jessy Jones.

MJ Fresh began doing porn in 2020 and according to messages from her agent, Riley Reynolds from Hussie Models, she’s “problematic”.

In a video posted on YouTube, MJ Fresh claims that she was roofied and raped after a content shoot with Jessy Jones that her agent Riley Reynolds had arranged.

In the full video, she claims she doesn’t drink, after struggling with sobriety in the last year and that after shooting content she went to a bar with Jessy Jones to shoot the opening scene, during which time she feels she was roofied and then sexually assaulted.

Jessy Jones has now lawyered up and has filed a multi-million defamation lawsuit against MJ Fresh and her agent Riley Reynolds of Hussie Models.

While I’m not here to say who is or isn’t right, I can say that these kinds of incidents that happen in our industry have major ramifications for everyone involved and the industry as a whole. More than that, if it was determined that MJ Fresh’s allegations against Jessy Jones aren’t true, then that only hurts real victims of sexual assault. And that’s what bothers me most about this case.

Sending the guy a message, threatening to make up false allegations against him because he wouldn’t take you home, isn’t okay. This message alone is what stands out to be in the whole case.

Someone once told me that if a woman says she was sexually assaulted you shouldn’t argue with her. That the story is “her truth” and every woman has a right to tell her own story, as she sees fit.

That’s a valid argument. However what happens when “her truth” doesn’t jive with the actual events and the person she says sexually assaulted her faces very real ramifications?

The #Metoo movement is an important step in the woman’s rights movement.

It gives women unprecedented opportunities to tell the horror stories that often take place behind closed doors.

That is what the #MeToo movement should be about. However, there is always someone who, for whatever reason decides to tell a version of events, that might not have exactly taken place in the way that they are describing it.

It’s called the dark side of Metoo and the stories of men who are falsely being accused are finally coming to light.

I don’t think that any woman can say they haven’t faced some sort of issue with a man before – whether it be sexual harassment or sexual assault. It’s just a fact of life that all women have to deal with.

When the #Metoo movement happened, I was all for it, because until then, I didn’t know that these kinds of things happened so often and to so many women.

But then one day something happened. One day I got a call from a female performer about her agent. She said he raped her. I was understandably mortified at hearing her story. I was ready to take action and fight the good fight. This was not okay. Porn stars are people too and they deserved a safe working environment. And to be honest, the agent in question I had heard a lot of bad things about, so of course, I believed everything she said. I mean, who wouldn’t right? What kind of person would lie about being raped?

Well as it turns out, the story wasn’t true. Sure the agent in question still isn’t my favorite person but he didn’t rape the girl. She just wanted out of her contract and she thought if she told me this outlandish story I would be more likely to help her.

Not too much after that happened a woman I knew falsely accused a man of sexual assault because he wouldn’t pay her rent. I knew this girl very well and I would have never thought in a million years she would lie about something so serious. Yes, I get being pissed off that a guy you thought was going to pay your bills didn’t but to say he raped you as punishment? Damn. That was a real eye-opener for me.

Thanks to the broader awareness of the #MeToo movement, more women have felt empowered to share their stories and felt more comfortable that the companies they worked for would do the right thing about these injustices. In many cases, that is true.

And for that reason alone I’m a strong supporter of the #MeToo movement. But that doesn’t mean that I’m aware that sometimes people lie.

As my grandmother used to say, with the good there is always some bad. And that’s really what we are seeing more of.

It’s easy to go on Twitter or YouTube and call someone out that pissed you off and even falsely accuse him of a horrendous crime because you are mad. Sometimes when we are upset or emotional we don’t really think things through.

This is the reason we can’t just say “believe all women” because far too many have made false reports. Those women aren’t hurting the men they lie about more than they are hurting the real victims of sexual assault. Because now that they have lied, people are less likely to believe anyone else who tells a similar story.

The sad truth is, false accusations happen. And we need to talk about them.

People are scared because they don’t want to be the guy who doesn’t believe a victim.

The lie is not about the person they are lying about, it’s about all of those real victims out there who will suffer because of that lie.

While the #MeToo movement has been overall a positive thing, the one bad thing it has done has pushed aside the very bases of our legal system and that is the notion that one is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

You can’t just assume a person is guilty because they were accused of a crime.

The #MeToo movement has begun to rally around the notion that anyone accused is guilty and they better not dare assert their innocence.

That’s not how the legal system works, nor should it.
You aren’t guilty until proven innocent.

Now don’t get me wrong, when an allegation of sexual harassment or sexual assault is made, it should be taken seriously and it’s our duty to investigate each and every claim thoroughly. But investigating a claim is a far cry from automatically considering the person guilty.

Just because I say the sky is purple, doesn’t make it so. I mean sure we can look up at the sky and see if I’m telling the truth, but just because I said it doesn’t automatically make it true.

And let me tell you how I learned that lesson the hard way.

A few years ago someone accused a director by the name of Just Dave of some things. I immediately assumed he was guilty. I watched this hour-long video of two girls crying. It was a very upsetting moment for me. I took to my blog and called him out.

Turns out Just Dave had nanny cams throughout his entire studio and the things he was accused of turned out not to be true.

I jumped to conclusions. I believed because he was accused that he was guilty.

I didn’t give him a chance to defend himself.

I didn’t look at any evidence. I just immediately jumped on the bandwagon of burning him at the stake.

I was wrong.

I removed my story about him and issued a public apology.

But even then, it wasn’t enough. The damage to his reputation was done.

When the person accused him of those things, we had lost work and a lot of money.

The company he was shooting scenes for decided to part ways with him over the scandal and it took him a long time to rebuild his reputation. That’s not even including the money he had to spend on legal bills to defend himself.

This was the man’s livelihood – how he supported his family.

The industry didn’t learn their lesson on this case though. Since then more than one public allegation has proven to be false. But like the times before, we as an industry were quick to side with the person making the claim without looking into the evidence.

We need to consider the consequences of false allegations.

When we assume the person being accused is guilty before conducting an investigation, or even hold onto that assumption if the outcome of that investigation does not prove their guilt, it can be incredibly damaging to their careers, their reputations, their relationships, and their mental health.

If a person is accused of harassment or assault, and those allegations are proven to be valid following an investigation, then it is fair for them to suffer the consequences for their actions.

But we as an industry need to stop jumping the gun. Far too many false allegations are coming forward – well above the national average of up to 10%.

Real victims of sexual harassment or assault have to do with unimaginable pain and anxiety. When someone lies about being a victim, they make the pain and suffering of real victims even worse. What kind of person would do that to someone? Why would you knowingly hurt someone who has already been through so much?

Because if you lie about sexual assault or harassment, that is what you are doing. You are causing real pain and suffering to real victims of those crimes.

In the end, this case with Jessy Jones and MJ Fresh will have to work its way through the legal system and only time will tell what will come of it. But It was a great opportunity to remind everyone to think carefully about what you say because accusations alone have the power to do real damage.