Former US International Ice Skater Bulanhagui turns to porn
The Filipino-American former figure skater was in the national teams of two countries, now she has Pornhub account.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMelissa Bulanhagui performs during her ladies short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Washington January 25, 2007.(photo credit: RICHARD CLEMENT/ REUTERS)
Former US International ice skater Melissa Bulanhagui now has a new career off the ice: she does porn, former porn actress turned radio host, Asa Akira, reported on her podcast in May.Like Bulanhagui, Akira is also Asian-American, having been born to Japanese immigrant parents. The show discussed the issue of how some Western men fetishize Asian women. Bulanhagui chose a new stage name for her new path, Jada Kai, and is active on Pornhub, the same firm which sponsors the podcast by Akira.Bulanhagui described how, after not being selected to the 2010 Winter Olympics, she became disillusioned with sports and began a period marked by heavy drinking. She claimed she became interested in this new path when she found out how much money she can earn in the industry.Pornography is one of the few lines of work were female performers are paid more than men. It is also a business where the risk of becoming infected with a sexuality transmitted disease or suffering from stigma is great.Ruggero Freddi, a former gay porn star known as Carlos Masi, did not lose his job as a math lecturer at La Sapienza University in Rome in 2018 when his students found out about his past career, but that was a rare case. Anna Ciriani, who taught school in Italy’s region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, did lose her job when it was found out she also has a porn name of Madameweb, Reuters reported in 2007.In the US, schoolteacher Stacie Halas was fired when it was found out she did porn, Rooster reported in 2017. In Israel, 38-years-old Roman Barak committed suicide in 2012 when it was found out he was a gay porn star under the name of Roman Ragazzi. He was working at the Israeli consulate in NY City at the time.Bulanhagui isn’t the first professional athlete to reach a high level in her field before taking on porn as a second career. Australian former racing driver Renee Gracie turned to porn in 2020 after, as she said, she was unable to make a living from motorsports.The Australian past athlete isn’t the only person to become famous because of the porn connection to Australia. In January, The Jerusalem Post reported erotic models had been able to raise significant amounts of money to help Australian wildlife during the great fires.Los Angeles model Kaylen Ward had been able to raise over $1 million when she took to Twitter and promised to send an explicit picture of herself to anyone who sends digital proof that he, or she, donated $10 to one of the charities she listed, according to the Montreal Gazette and the online Israeli advocacy group for sex workers When She Works.
Ward claimed that, due to the massive exposure she received, her parents discovered that she makes a living selling erotic pictures, and are no longer speaking to her.“I don’t care,” she said at the time. “Save the koalas!”
