Jenna Jameson had a challenging childhood, with her world thrown into a tailspin when she was just three years old. That, The Age recounted, was when her mother, a Las Vegas showgirl, died from melanoma. Her family struggled financially following her mother’s death, and in an attempt to support himself and his kids, her father ended up taking a job with the Las Vegas Sheriff’s Department. However, that gig only brought on more trouble for them. Per the outlet, her dad began “a one-man, anti-corruption crusade” which resulted in mobsters trying to kidnap his children. After the incident, the family moved around a lot, and Jameson started using drugs with both her brother and her father. In her teens, she was sexually assaulted twice, once by a four teenage boys who beat her until she was unconscious and “left her for dead.”
“There were a lot of things that happened that would have broken anybody else,” Jameson said of her upbringing in The Sydney Morning Herald. “I was able to survive. That’s all that really matters.”
Asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper whether her painful past contributed to her choice of career, she said, “It’s something that I’ve thought about a lot, and I can’t really say for sure if that is reasoning behind why I’ve gotten into the adult industry.”
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
