Jesse Jane Announces Her Retirement
The most famous star of Pirates is hanging up her sword.
Jesse, better known as Jesse Jane, revealed yesterday that 2017’s AVN show will be her final hurrah in the adult industry. She announced the news of her retirement on The Morning After radio show in St. Louis. With 15 years and more than 100 film credits to her name, she leaves an impressive legacy and was one of a select few stars with powerful mainstream-crossover appeal.
Why leave now? “Because I’m so busy with other stuff and the industry’s changed so much, why not go out when you’re still on top?” Jesse said. “I can still shoot. I have companies trying to sign me for contracts right now. Luckily, knock on wood, I age very well. But I’ve done it for 15 years. It’s time to focus on my other businesses and stuff. Plus like I said the industry’s changed so much. It’s not like what it used to be.”
Jesse also pointed to the transformation that the business has undergone in the last decade, including the negative effects of piracy and tube sites. “Honestly, the reasoning is even though I can still work in it like I said, the way the industry has changed and the way they treat the girls they forget that the girls are what makes them their money,” she said. “And with all of the free internet sites it’s shutting down businesses left and right. People aren’t paying the same; the quality of talent’s gone down. And I’m big into, I need to have a sexual attraction to you. I can’t fake it on film. That’s why I’ve always got to pick the people I work with.”
Jesse began her career in 2002 as a Digital Playground contract performer and starred in some of the most celebrated adult movies of her day, including the popular Pirates series. She kept in the mainstream public’s eye with appearances in shows like Entourage before withdrawing slightly from the limelight in 2013. As simply “Jesse,” she returned triumphantly to active performing in early 2015 as a Jules Jordan contract star, shooting her first anal scene and starring in several bestselling showcase features. These would ultimately be Jane’s final bow. “I had the best time of my life,” Jesse said. “I’m never going to knock porn. I love porn. It’s been awesome. I met the coolest people. I had the best time. But it’s just time to move on.”
Jane’s retirement leaves a dwindling number of female performers from porn’s pre-tube site era. Stars like Julia Ann and Jessica Drake remain, but Jane’s decision to leave the industry is more evidence that porn is pushing forward into a new era. Bursting with personality and energy, Jesse was an archetypal pornstar who, along with Lisa Ann and some other prominent stars from the mid-2000s, helped define the decade. For many in a whole generation of fans, Jesse starred in some of the first adult movies they ever saw and thus made a powerful impression on what they came to enjoy most about the industry.
Look back on Jesse’s career by browsing her filmography here.
