A black porn star from the Bronx says he was duped into performing in a hardcore-racist adult film that depicts his white co-star calling him the N-word without his consent.
Maurice McKnight, who goes by the stage name Moe the Monster, claims in a new lawsuit the hate speech was spewed during a shocking shoot in Tarzana, Calif., last July.
McKnight says director James Joseph Camp tried — and failed — on two separate occasions during the production to get his pre-approval for use of the despicable dialogue.
He claims Camp first approached him before filming began and said the female lead, identified as Deborah Hinkle, had agreed to use the ugly slur on camera.
McKnight says he “made it very clear that he would not allow this racial slur to be used,” the 9-page complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and obtained by the Daily News states.
McKnight says Camp approached him a second time during a filming break to again press for permission.
“For a second time, McKnight informed Camp that he did not consent to the use of the racial slur,” the lawsuit states.
Despite McKnight’s explicit refusal to give the green light, Hinkle addressed him with the racist slur twice during the film’s so-called “money shot,” according to the complaint.
Speaking to the News, McKnight compared the verbal assault to an ambush.
“I just felt violated and betrayed,” the 36-year-old Bronx resident said Wednesday night.
“I’ve shot over 50 scenes for this company. For a long time, I was one of their top guys. And I’m always publicly talking about racism. For them to even ask me was an insult, then to do it against my will, it hurts. It feels like it was a set-up,” he said.
McKnight’s lawsuit alleges Camp “conspired” with producer DF Productions (DFI) to “dupe” him into “performing sex acts with Hinkle, knowing that Hinkle planned to use the racist slur during the final scene,” the complaint states.
“Camp and DFI defrauded McKnight for the purpose of creating and selling racist content to its racist customers,” the lawsuit states.
McKnight is now suing for fraud, negligence and failure to prevent racial harassment.
He says Camp and the production company’s owner, identified as Cable Christopher Rosenberg, initially promised to “edit out” the racial slurs but never did. The defendants published and began selling the film in December, according to the court filing.
McKnight claims Camp and Rosenberg repeatedly refused to listen to his protests and even sent him a series of abusive text messages.
“You’re a disgrace. To your people. To your family. To yourself,” reads one text allegedly sent by Camp and included in the complaint.
Attempts to reach Camp and Rosenberg were not immediately successful.
McKnight is seeking damages for lost wages, emotional distress and embarrassment. He says the defendants knowingly created a “work environment” that was “hostile and racially abusive.”
“The use of the N-word in the workplace is extraordinarily harmful to African American workers. It’s a violent, abusive word that embodies the pure evil of racism. It has no place in our society,” McKnight’s lawyer Dan Gilleon told The News. “Moe is going high by filing a lawsuit instead of acting in kind to this egregious act of racism.”
