By Peter Berton
WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Canada’s acclaimed Royal Winnipeg Ballet School has ejected a male student after discovering the man spent his free time performing in gay porn.
Jeppe Hansen, 22, was one of the ballet’s professional-division students, an honor he earned last year — along with a scholarship — by besting thousands of other applicants during auditions.
In the adult entertainment world, Denmark-born Hansen is better known as Jett Black, a rising star at gay adult studio CockyBoys.
Although so far the school has declined to comment beyond blaming Hansen’s departure on a vague violation of the “code of conduct,” Hansen indicated the abrupt dismissal represents the ballet’s attempt to dictate morality in artistic expression.
“They told me … they didn’t have any space for me because I did porn,” Hansen told Canada’s CBC News. “You cannot be in a company or with the school or whatever because you’ve decided to take a different standpoint artistically — not because you physically can’t do it or because you’re not good enough.”
Prior to accepting the Royal Winnipeg Ballet scholarship, Hansen had performed professionally in New York, Montreal and Denmark.
“My identity is built on being a ballet dancer,” he said.
Hansen’s ouster reflects a dichotomous reality in Canada: Despite the Great White North’s pioneering role in legalizing sex work and same-sex marriage, biases against adult entertainment — particularly gay porn — remain.
[SIZE=1]Image: Jett Black channeling Liberace, courtesy Jett-Black.com.
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