The Octo-Blog

well, obviously this blog was a long time coming. i'd love to take this chance to simply describe my involvement in a situation that many people love to speculate about, but few really have any legitimate knowledge about at all. i debated posting this blog, but decided that if nothing else, it makes for a damn interesting read.

OCTOMOM.

see, the name alone elicits a response from just about everyone,  mostly negative. i get it. i too had my own opinions about the woman from the tabloids with 14 children. before i tell you what changed my mind, i'll tell you how it happened that i was her on-set "coach" during the filming of her movie.

after receiving so many offers from various adult companies, Nadya Sulemon saw an opportunity to indeed make a racy movie...but she wanted to be in complete control- to do it on her own terms. She didn't want to have sex with anyone else other than herself, but she wanted to explore her sexuality and push her boundaries a little bit. She and her management company approached my better/other half (the jury is still out on that one) Brad Armstrong, and asked him to style her for the shoot. being that his specialty is making women beautiful- he's been doing it for more that 20 years- he agreed, and not long after, he was asked to direct the project as well.

*now, i'm leaving out a LOT of details here. maybe i'll discuss them at a later date, or maybe i won't. no promises.

i met Nadya a few times at my house, as she came for makeup tests and wardrobe fittings. the first time we spoke, she became very real to me. not the person i saw in the tabloids. not the person i saw get really nervous and give some really "iffy" interviews that were edited to serve whatever purpose the interviewers or the networks had...but just a person. in an instant, i realized that my mistake was judging her. the EXACT same way that people judge me and most everyone in the adult industry. it made me rethink many things.

the morning of the shoot, i was speaking at UCLA. when i got home, the shoot was just beginning, and she was really nervous. i am, by nature, someone who feels most useful when i am helping someone. the people that know me really understand this. i could NOT watch her and not do something to help her. my first experience naked on camera was wonderful, as were most of my experiences in this business. i thought if she was going to take the plunge, it should be done the best way possible. so i helped her. coached her. explained things to her. reassured her. and let all of my judgement go. she had her first orgasm that day, and i'd be lying if i said i wasn't proud.

we didn't know then that Wicked would end up distributing the movie. the controversial situation doesn't exactly "mesh" with the reputation that we've worked so long to establish. however, when the deal was made, i agreed to keep helping her in whatever way i could. i owe this amazing career that i have to Wicked, and though i didn't understand the specifics of the deal, if they are behind the project, then so am i. i then went to NYC with Nadya, where we did Howard Stern, she did The View, and then we did Dr. Drew together. overall, i was impressed with the genuine way that people dealt with her. even if they were confrontational on camera, off camera they were concerned, thoughtful, compassionate. ahhh, ratings.

as a "thank you" to me for doing all of this for her and the project, last week Nadya agreed to be a guest on my Sirius/XM radio show. i made her feel comfortable, as opposed to caught in a trap. she gave one of the best, most candid interviews ever. at the end of the show as we were doing her "plugs", we were almost off air when she casually mentioned that the movie "Octomom Home Alone" was the MOST important thing for her to promote out of anything...because 100% of her cut from sales go directly into a trust fund for her children.

regardless of her past decisions or any assumptions i may have previously made about her, that statement floored me...and i learned something else from her- rarely do we ever know the whole story. when we fill in the blanks ourselves, we're bound to get something wrong.

<3
jd