NEW YORK – Belle Knox, the Duke University freshman outed as a porn star, says she’s taking time away from the Durham campus because she doesn’t feel safe there.
“I am still getting death threats,” she told FOX411. “I’ve had people threaten to throw trash on me.”
Knox said her detractors come from both sexes, but that women outnumber men.
“I think that women resent me more, but I do get a lot of the slut-shaming from guys.”
Knox, a self-described feminist and women’s studies major, says the anger and threats don’t just come from those outside her academic bubble.
“I have had a lot of critique come to me from the anti-porn feminists of Duke,” she added. “There’s a way to get your point out there. I totally appreciate opinions. I love when people can argue with me or whatever. But there’s a way to do it without attacking my personal character.”
Knox is putting her money where her mouth is, actually defending the student who outed her porn persona on social media.
“It’s not acceptable that he’s being harassed. I’ve actually released kind of a plea for my fans to stop harassing him,” she said. “He’s a good person who made a mistake. He apologized for it, at the end of the day it’s between me and him.”
But Knox, in the middle of a media tour in New York City, said don’t feel sorry for her.
“I have my friends. I’m not all alone there.”
Her porn work is also fulfilling the objective she laid out for it: help her graduate debt free.
“I’ve made between 25-30 videos, and at the rate I’m going, I’ve made enough to pay for this year.”
She doesn’t advise others walk in her shoes, however.
“If I could give advice for any person who was choosing college, I would honestly advise them to go to a cheaper school,” she said.
And while the Knox says she’s not much of a sports fan, she does have a message for her alma mater as they head into the NCAA college basketball tournament.
“Go Duke! Go Blue Devils!
