Right wing internet personality Alex Jones was recently found with a Marissa Minx video open on a phone in one of his own videos.
During a video, in which Jones was promoting a series of wellness products on August 28th, a shot of a phone showed a browser page with “Naughty tbabe Marissa Mi…” open. What appeared after the ellipses is not known for sure, but based on context, it can be inferred that “Minx” would have been the complete word and that whoever was using the phone was searching for that video.
This information is surprising to those who are familiar with Jones’ work, notably conspiracy theories such as the Sandy Hook shooting being a hoax, the notion that all drag queens are pedophiles, the government having a “gay bomb” and that the feds are turning frogs gay. Jones has previously attested that he is a performance artist, but has backtracked on those claims as well. He is currently in the news for being kicked off several social media platforms including Twitter, known for its reluctancy to ban users, for his consistent hate speech and tendency to sensationalize news in a destructive manner.
While we must acknowledge Jones’ hypocrisy in apparently viewing transgender porn as someone who is consistently spouting far-right rhetoric in videos and articles on his website, infowars.com, we must also view this incident as just that—an incident.
It is entirely possible that this was not Jones’ phone or that the search was something work-related. It was probably a mistake that this content was shown, and – if applicably personal instead of professional — one’s private viewing habits are not always wanted to be shared with the world.
Jones has since commented that he was “looking up some reporter [he’s] trying to hire.”
We should not shame Jones for his personal preferences in the porn he may or may not view, despite his comments about the LGBTQ community. As we know, having a grip on one’s own sexuality is a long and arduous process, something Jones may be going through with the release of this screenshot and in his daily life.
Minx had fun with the incident, retweeting a screenshot of a spike in google searches of her name onto her Twitter feed.
https://twitter.com/xhamstercom/status/1035152148953292800
Minx told The Spectator USA “I think it’s great he’s watching my work. I had heard of Infowars before… Hi Alex Jones! Happy to give you a free membership to my site, or maybe you could have me on your show for a discussion?”
Minx’s ability to take the issue lightly is a breath of fresh air. Many are using this incident as an opportunity to shame Jones for his viewing habits, while Minx, the actual performer involved in the incident, is able to joke about the issue and even took this as an opportunity to promote rhetoric on transgender issues in the country with someone who does not agree with their perspective.
It is important to see all sides of the issue and not sensationalize news that deals with someone’s private adult viewing habits (or porn in general), and Minx seems to be on board with this. While Jones may seem hypocritical with his comments on transgender and gay people, it is important to take this as an opportunity to have a conversation with those who do not share the same points of view.
It is also noteworthy that the mainstream media is once again using pornography as a means of clickbait to sensationalize an already radical personality with something considered taboo.
Using porn and someone’s porn habits to help sensationalize them is obviously wrong and, ultimately, is not conducive to destigmatizing the adult entertainment industry. Jones should not be attacked for what he may or may not view, but instead, open up a conversation about bigotry.
While it remains important to acknowledge that Jones’ comments can be bigoted and homophobic, it is not okay to shame how he views adult entertainment, or adult entertainment as a whole.
https://twitter.com/XXXMARISSAMINX/status/1039005492847226880
Alex Jones portrait by Michael Zimmerman.
