Porn star Olivia Lua was found dead last Thursday — the fifth adult film actress to perish in the past three months.
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Lua, 23, was found deceased at a rehab center in California after reportedly struggling with some “personal challenges” that led her to seek help for addiction. After three months in rehab, she purportedly suffered a relapse and then went to another center for treatment, where she died, the NY Daily News reported.
The actress posted a photo to Twitter the day before she passed away with an eerie caption that read, “I feel it everywhere, nothing scares me anymore.”
The most disturbing part of the story, though, is the fact that Lua is the fifth female porn actress to die in recent months, alone. The others who passed away are: Olivia Nova, 20, August Ames, 23, Turi Luv, 31, and Shyla Stylez, 35.
Nova died on Jan. 7 after a unitary tract infection reportedly went to her kidneys and Ames committed suicide after being labeled homophobic for refusing to film porn with men who had done gay porn, Fox News reported.
Meanwhile, Luv died of a drug overdose in December and Stylez died in her sleep back in November, though her cause of death is reportedly unknown.
LA Direct Models, the agency that represented Lua, noted in a statement not only her death, but also the strange and tragic pattern of female porn stars who have passed away of late.
“Much comment has been recently made on the number of adult stars having passed in the last year and with great sadness we must inform that the list has grown longer,” the agency explained. “We learned today that Olivia Lua passed away this morning — may she rest in peace.”
Friends and family had expressed worries that Lua was mixing prescription drugs with alcohol before her death; her agency reportedly acknowledged that her addiction had been a struggle.
“We learned today that she had returned to a different facility in West Hollywood after a relapse, approximately a week ago, at which she was found deceased this morning,” the statement read.
When it comes to the loss of Lau and the other aforementioned stars, many will surely ask, “Why?” The answer to that is surely complicated, though this wouldn’t be the first time that an adult film star has struggled with his or her career choice.
In fact, other ex-porn stars have discussed the depression, sadness and struggles that they have faced while working in the industry. Ex-porn star-turned Christian Brittni Ruiz told TheBlaze in 2015 that she wants fellow Christians to consider what might be going on in the hearts and minds of adult film stars.
“If they’re having sex on camera for money, what do you think they think about themselves? I was depressed. I was suicidal. I hated myself,” she said. “When you look at somebody who’s committing any kind of sin, public or not … have the same mercy that God had with you and try to seek understanding for why they’re doing what they’re doing.”
Let’s pray for the family and friends of Lua and the others who have tragically died — as well as for all those in the industry. One cannot make sweeping claims about individual situations and what leads to one’s death, but there is one fact worth considering: people weren’t meant for this lifestyle and the tragic fallout that some experience could be evidence of that inherent fact.
(H/T: NY Daily News)