Tasha Reign

Tasha Reign

Tasha Reign at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas on January 17, 2014
Born Rachel Swimmer[1]
(1989-01-15) January 15, 1989[2]
Laguna Beach, California, U.S.[3]
Education University of California, Los Angeles
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[2]
Weight 110 lb (50 kg; 7.9 st)[2]
Website tashareign.com
No. of adult films 196 as performer
4 as director (per IAFD)[2]

Tasha Reign (born January 15, 1989) is the stage name of Rachel Swimmer, an American pornographic actress, nude model, producer, and sex columnist known for her appearances in Playboy and Penthouse magazine.

Career

A former Hooters Girl,[4] she began her career as a professional stripper in 2008,[1] dancing at a club called the Silver Reign, from which she took her pseudonym.[5]

Modeling

While enrolled as a student at UCLA, Reign was selected by Playboy magazine for its 2010 "Girls of the Pac-10" issue,[6] as well as the magazine's "Cyber Girl of the Week".[7] She appeared as a centerfold model in the April 2011 issue of Penthouse[1] and the following month she was the Penthouse Pet of the Month.[1] In February 2013 she appeared on the cover of OC Weekly.[8][9] Additional magazines Reign covered include Club, Xtreme and Hot Vidéo.[10]

Adult industry

Reign filmed her first adult movie in 2010 at the age of 21, a girl-girl scene for the production company Lethal Hardcore. Her adult movie highlights include filming superhero porn in Japan,[11] starring in New Sensations' Anchorman: A XXX Parody,[12] and appearing on the covers of many adult releases, including Zero Tolerance Entertainment's Kittens & Cougars 5 and Knockers Out, as well as Pleasure Dynasty's Zorro XXX: A Pleasure Dynasty Parody.[13]

The 2012 XBIZ Awards enlisted Reign for the position of "Trophy Girl", along with fellow adult star Bibi Jones.[14] Also in 2012, Reign launched her official membership site, www.TashaReign.com.[15] Reign also appeared on the cover along with an interview and photo spread in France's Hot Video adult industry trade magazine[16] and was their red carpet correspondent conducting interviews at the 28th annual XRCO Awards.[17]

Writing

In March 2012, indie rock magazine and website Rock Confidential brought Reign on as a weekly music reviewer, dubbed "The World's Hottest Music Critic". Reign announced the position while a guest on musician Dave Navarro's radio show, Dark Matter, citing her background in music appreciation courses at UCLA.[18][19]

In April 2013, the alternative paper OC Weekly announced Reign as its newest weekly columnist, penning "Tasha Tells All...". The first article was a commentary on Los Angeles County's Measure B.[20]

In February 2014, she became an online columnist for The Huffington Post.[19]

Advocacy

In February 2014, amidst the controversy created by the revelation that a Duke University student was also an actress in adult films and was using her earnings to pay for her tuition,[21] Reign reached out via her blog in The Huffington Post to offer her support to the harassed student.[22] She said in her posting, "In an ideal world, you would be able to openly and fearlessly state your stage name, or even your birth name; however, it seems you are not as lucky as me to have gone to a school which celebrates your diversity and sexuality... I want to apologize for all the ignorant, fearful comments your schoolmates at Duke are unloading on you... Your peers have degraded you, misrepresented you, judged you, and made you feel unwelcome at an institution at which you seek a higher education." Reign's comments were in response to an interview with the student (later identified as actress Belle Knox)[23] in the Duke University newspaper[24] and a posting on the website XOJane.com.[25]

Reign is against unlicensed distribution of videos and sometimes personally searches the Internet for illegally posted clips or movies that feature her work. She was featured in an April 2014 broadcast of the ABC News Nightline story about copyright infringement in the adult industry.[26]

In late 2016, she is active in advocacy to oppose the passing of California's "Proposition 60", which would introduce a law that sex performers must always use condoms in sex scenes.[27]

Other ventures

In order to create "fun, sex-positive adult content", Reign launched her own adult production studio in the fall of 2012 – Reign Productions,[28] for which she also writes and directs most of her material.[29] The studio's first DVD, Tasha Reign Is Sexy, was released on Halloween 2012.[30] In July 2013, the studio signed a distribution deal with Girlfriends Films.[31]

Introduced in 2014, Reign also has a line of adult novelty products which are manufactured by Crystal Delights.[19]

Appearances

While in high school, Reign was cast in the third season of the MTV reality television series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County using her real name, Rachel.[8][29]

British filmmaker Louis Theroux's documentary Twilight of the Porn Stars for the BBC features Reign, who told the UK tabloid newspaper Sunday Sport that the documentary unfairly paints a negative picture of an industry she loves very much.[32]

Reign is a recurring co-host for KXRN-LP in Laguna Beach.[33]

In December 2013, she appeared in the independent film Blood of Redemption.[34]

In February 2014, Reign spoke on a panel with fellow actress Jessica Drake during the University of Chicago's Sex Week where they were featured on a panel entitled From Porn to Sex Ed.[35]

Again in February, Reign along with Jessica Drake spoke on a panel titled Porn, Prostitution, and Censorship: The Politics of Empowerment at Moore Hall at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).[36] The annual panel is sponsored by the Social Awareness Network for Activism through Art (SANAA) in honor of Eve Ensler's V-Day organization. Ensler's The Vagina Monologues is an annual presentation on women's issues.[36] Reign and Drake were joined by Ph.D. candidate in Cinema and Media Studies at UCLA and lecturer at Otis College of Art and Design Jennifer Moorman and UCLA Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Christopher Mott who leads a seminar titled "Pornography and the Politics of Sexual Representation". Panel coordinator Alec Moore said, "We are extremely thrilled to have Tasha Reign and Jessica Drake on board for our panel." "As a sex industry insider, and a Bruin, Tasha can provide us a unique perspective from her own epistemological standpoint, lending us her valuable insight into the politics of sexual representation."[36] During the panel, Reign was quoted as saying about the industry and its treatment of women, "As a performer, I have never felt objectified; I feel empowered and I've always looked at myself as a whole person and sexuality is only one of my characteristics. What people tend to forget is that women performers are the highest wage earners, so that's a complete reversal of Hollywood... Because women's bodies are objectified, they make a hell of a lot more money than the men do."[37]

Personal life and education

Born in Laguna Beach, California, Tasha Reign grew up near the beach in Orange County, south of Los Angeles.[38] In high school, she was involved in a Model United Nations program.[39] Reign was enrolled at Santa Monica College and in 2010 she enrolled at UCLA.[29]

During a May 2012 holiday in Monaco with fellow adult star Brooklyn Lee, Reign encountered former United States President Bill Clinton. A photo of the adult stars and Clinton quickly went viral on the internet.[40] After massive media attention, Reign explained the photo with Clinton was her being a fan of him and not the other way around.[41]

In June 2014, it was announced that Reign would be receiving her diploma from UCLA during the commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 14. Her degree is in gender studies. Jennifer Moorman, a lecturer at the Otis College of Art and Design, commented that Reign was a "thoughtful and inquisitive student who brought a unique perspective to the classroom."[42]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Maryia Krivoruchko (May 4, 2011). "Sexual Reign". The Daily Bruin. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Tasha Reign at the Internet Adult Film Database
  3. ↑ "About Me". Tasha Reign. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  4. ↑ "The Fresh Issue". AVN. 27/6 (343): 40–50. June 2011.
  5. ↑ Dave Kingsley (December 18, 2012). "Orgasm News Interviews Tasha Reign". Orgasm News. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
  6. ↑ "LA Direct Models Sign Future Starlets Brooklyn Lee & Tasha Reign". Adult FYI. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  7. ↑ Neal Johns Hopkins (October 13, 2010). "Miss Coed: Tasha Reign". Coed.com. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Gustavo Arellano; Brandon Ferguson; Shuji Sakai (February 14, 2013). "America's Porn Paradise!". OC Weekly. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  9. ↑ "OC Weekly Proclaims Orange County 'America's Porn Paradise'". AVN. February 13, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Tasha Reign Graces Cover of France's Hot Video Magazine". AVN. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Tasha Reign Travels to Japan to Star in 2 Super Hero Movies". AVN. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  12. ↑ Paul Tamburro (April 25, 2012). "Talkin' Sex With Tasha Reign". CraveOnline. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Tasha Reign Covers Zero Tolerance's 'Kittens & Cougars 5'". AVN. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  14. ↑ John Sanford (November 1, 2011). "BiBi Jones, Tasha Reign Named Official Trophy Girls for 2012 XBIZ Awards". XBIZ. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Tasha Reign Launches Her Official Site TashaReign.com". AVN. June 13, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  16. ↑ Staff. "Tasha Reign Graces Cover of France's Hot Video Magazine". AVN.com. Adult Video News. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  17. ↑ Staff. "Tasha Reign to Conduct Red Carpet Interviews for Hot Video at XRCO". AVN.com. Adult Video News. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  18. ↑ "Rock Confidential Taps Tasha Reign as Reviewer". AVN. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  19. 1 2 3 "Tasha Reign". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  20. ↑ Gustavo Arellan (April 2, 2013). "Announcing Our New Columnist: Porn Superstar/OC Girl Tasha Reign!". OC Weekly. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  21. ↑ Kernes, Mark. "Porn is Just One 'Sex Work' Way to Cover College Tuition". AVN. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  22. ↑ Kernes, Mark. "Tasha Reign Reaches Out to Harassed Duke Univ. Porn Star". AVN. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  23. ↑ Warren, Peter. "Blue Devil Unmasked: Meet 'Duke Porn Star' Belle Knox". Adult Video News. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  24. ↑ Fernilius, Katie (February 14, 2014). "Portrait of a porn star Duke freshman stands behind her alter-ego". The Chronicle: Towerview. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  25. ↑ A., Lauren. "I'm The Duke University Freshman Porn Star And For The First Time I'm Telling The Story In My Words I am a porn star. I am a college freshman. You know nothing about me.". XOJane.com. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  26. ↑ Kernes, Mark. "Nightline Takes a Look at Porn Piracy, and Targets MindGeek". AVN.com. Adult Video News. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  27. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/18/porn-tasha-reign-california-condom-law-proposition-60
  28. ↑ "Tasha Reign Signs 1-Year Deal With Juicy Entertainment". AVN. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  29. 1 2 3 Adam Popescu (August 30, 2012). "Porn Star Tasha Reign's Secret Life as a UCLA Student". LA Weekly. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  30. ↑ "Trailer for Tasha Reign's 'Streaker Girls' Debuts on AVN.com". AVN. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  31. ↑ "Girlfriends Films Inks Distribution Deal with Reign Productions". AVN. July 16, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  32. ↑ Geno (June 19, 2012). "Tasha Reign – Twilight of the Porn Stars: Breaking Adult Movie News". Ringside Report. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  33. ↑ "Tasha Reign Co-Hosts Laguna Beach Radio Show on KX 93.5 FM". AVN. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  34. ↑ "Blood of Redemption (2013) - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  35. ↑ Bickard, Scott. "University Of Chicago To Host Second Annual Sex Week Feb.8 - Feb. 16: Top Five Workshops To Attend". University Herald. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  36. 1 2 3 "Jessica Drake, Tasha Reign to Speak Feb. 18 on UCLA Panel". AVN. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  37. ↑ Kernes, Mark. "Porn Stars and Academics Talk Sex at UCLA Forum". AVN. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  38. ↑ "LA Direct Models Sign Future Starlets Brooklyn Lee & Tasha Reign". AdulyFYI. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  39. ↑ Kingkade, Tyler. "There Are Other Porn Stars On College Campuses, You Just Don't Know About Them". http://www.huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 November 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  40. ↑ "Bill Clinton Surrounded By Porn Stars". TMZ. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  41. ↑ Nick Wing (May 25, 2012). "Bill Clinton Porn Star Picture Explained By Brooklyn Lee And Tasha Reign". The Huffington Post. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  42. ↑ Taylor, Victoria. "Porn star Tasha Reign set to graduate from UCLA". nydailynews.com. New York Daily News. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tasha Reign.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.