Key facts
- Who: Tasha Reign, born in Laguna Beach, California; registered at UCLA as Rachel Swimmer (Wikipedia; LA Weekly)
- Education: Transferred from Santa Monica College to UCLA in 2010; gender studies degree in 2014 (Wikipedia)
- Career start: First adult scene in 2010 at 21; Penthouse Pet of the Month in May 2011 (Wikipedia)
- Business: Founded Reign Productions in 2012; distribution deal with Girlfriends Films in 2013 (Wikipedia)
- Writing: Columnist for OC Weekly and The Huffington Post (Wikipedia)
- Activism: Campaigned against Proposition 60 in 2016; chaired the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (The Guardian; BBC)
People search “Tasha Reign UCLA” because the story sounds like a headline built to go viral: porn star gets a gender studies degree. But when you read what she actually did, the degree is the least surprising part. Tasha Reign used her education the way the best performers use everything — to build a business, to write, and to fight for the people who work in this industry.
I’ve been in this industry for 14 years. I’m one of the most-searched male performers in the world, and I’ve worked with most of the top actresses of my generation. I’ve seen many performers talk about rights and respect. Very few have stood in front of a university library handing out campaign pamphlets. Tasha did. Here’s her sourced story, then my take.
Laguna Beach, Model UN and an MTV cameo
Tasha Reign was born in Laguna Beach, California. In high school she took part in the Model United Nations program and was cast in the third season of MTV’s reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (Wikipedia). In an essay for MEL Magazine, she described being “a minor character” on the show (MEL Magazine).
In that same MEL essay, she wrote about growing up in a conservative culture where she felt she couldn’t be open about being bisexual, and about how girls who appeared to enjoy sex were judged (MEL Magazine). That background explains a lot about the activist she became.
After graduating from high school in 2007, she moved to Los Angeles and enrolled at Santa Monica College, a feeder school for UCLA (MEL Magazine; Wikipedia).
Hooters, the Silver Reign and a Playboy rejection
A former Hooters Girl, she began dancing professionally in 2008 at a club called the Silver Reign — and that’s where her stage name comes from (Wikipedia).
Her MEL essay tells a story I find very human. She became a regular at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion parties and wanted to become a Playmate. After a test shoot, Playboy told her she hadn’t made the cut and offered to publish her photos online as a “CyberGirl of the Month” instead. She was crushed. Then she remembered reading Jenna Jameson’s book: “I’m not going to wait around so somebody can tell me that I’m good enough… I’m just going to be like Jenna Jameson… I’m going to make movies, and I’m going to be a Penthouse Pet” (MEL Magazine). She wrote that Hefner was hostile to performers who did adult films, and that once she chose porn she was no longer welcome at the Mansion (MEL Magazine).
She did exactly what she said she would. She filmed her first adult scene in 2010, at 21. She was a Penthouse centerfold in April 2011 and Pet of the Month the following month (Wikipedia).
Porn star by night, UCLA student by day
Tasha transferred to UCLA in 2010 (Wikipedia). LA Weekly followed her to a summer session class called “Sex and the Cinema,” taught by lecturer Jennifer Moorman. At UCLA she was just “Rachel”; a few miles north, in the Valley, she was Tasha Reign, who had appeared in more than 50 films in a little over a year (LA Weekly).
In 2012 a UCLA psychology professor read about her in the student newspaper and invited her to speak to a psychology class. It was her first time speaking to an audience, and she used it to explain why she joined the industry — “none of which had to do with the cliché of abuse or drugs,” LA Weekly wrote. She told the class of 30: “The hardest thing about working in the adult industry isn’t the industry itself, it’s the stigma you have to deal with when you are outside of the industry” (LA Weekly).
The same year, a photo of her with Bill Clinton at a charity gala in Monaco went viral. She explained to LA Weekly that she was there with the CEO of the company that owns Penthouse, that her table had donated to environmental causes, and that she’d never met Clinton before: “He probably thought, ‘If these girls want to take a picture with me, they’re probably donating so much money, I better take a picture with them.’” She didn’t enjoy the attention: “I’m so proud of the movies that I make… I don’t want any guilt by association and be put in some negative light” (LA Weekly).
In 2014 she graduated from UCLA with a degree in gender studies, in her sixth year of college (LA Weekly; Wikipedia). Her statement: “Studying at UCLA and cultivating my humanist viewpoint, particularly in the field of feminism, has allowed my adult performance work to shine with a very personal touch… I’m proud to be a Bruin and even more proud to be a part of the feminist porn movement!” Her lecturer Jen Moorman added: “She is already an outspoken advocate for the adult video industry, and I have no doubt that she will bring the insights she has gained as a student at UCLA to her work in new and interesting ways” (LA Weekly).
Reign Productions: owning the camera
In fall 2012, while still a student, Tasha launched her own studio, Reign Productions, to create what she called “fun, sex-positive adult content.” She writes and directs most of its material. Its first release came out on Halloween 2012, and in July 2013 the studio signed a distribution deal with Girlfriends Films (Wikipedia). She also launched her own membership website in 2012 (Wikipedia).
MEL Magazine later described her as “an early adopter of sites like OnlyFans,” and said she runs her own company “where she happily works as the CEO, director, DP and talent” — a self-made model it called “way ahead of its time” (MEL Magazine).
A writer with a column
Tasha also built a voice in print. In 2012 the indie rock site Rock Confidential hired her as a weekly music reviewer. In April 2013 OC Weekly made her a weekly columnist, and in February 2014 she became an online columnist for The Huffington Post (Wikipedia).
Her most famous column was an open letter to Belle Knox, the Duke student who was outed as a performer in 2014. “I want to apologize for all the ignorant, fearful comments your schoolmates at Duke are unloading on you,” Tasha wrote. “Your peers have degraded you, misrepresented you, judged you, and made you feel unwelcome at an institution at which you seek a higher education” (Wikipedia). One student performer defending another — that’s the kind of solidarity our industry needs more of.
In February 2014 she joined Jessica Drake on a University of Chicago Sex Week panel, “From Porn to Sex Ed,” and again on a UCLA panel about porn, censorship and empowerment. At UCLA she said: “As a performer, I have never felt objectified; I feel empowered and I’ve always looked at myself as a whole person and sexuality is only one of my characteristics” (Wikipedia).
Fighting Proposition 60
In 2016 California voters considered Proposition 60, which would have required performers to use condoms in all adult scenes and allowed residents to sue producers over violations. Tasha campaigned against it on college campuses. The Guardian followed her at UC San Diego and Cal State Long Beach as she handed out “No on Prop 60” pamphlets to students (The Guardian).
Her argument was about control. “It’s a women’s rights issue,” she said, “and it’s also a freedom of speech issue.” She warned that the measure “incentivizes people to sue adult film stars, giving them access to their personal names, their personal home address.” And she put it personally: “I hate the idea that some man is going to tell me what I can and can’t do” (The Guardian). The Guardian noted that California’s Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties all opposed the measure (The Guardian).
Voters rejected Proposition 60 by nearly 54% to 46% (NPR). Whatever you think about condoms on set — and performers disagree — this was performers organizing and speaking for themselves, and winning.
Leading APAC after a tragic year
Tasha served as chair of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC), a performer-led labor group (Wikipedia; BBC). In early 2018, after a series of deaths of young performers, the BBC interviewed her about mental health and stigma.
She explained that therapists often treat a performer’s job as the cause of her problems: “Anybody who is told over and over again that what they do is not okay start to really believe it, even if they don’t want to.” But she also said the industry must change from the inside: “These deaths have brought awareness and empathy from the outside, but there are many things the industry can do to make it a better place for young women” (BBC).
According to the BBC, APAC was working on mandatory training for new performers so they know their rights, and on a “stamp” for therapists who offer safe, non-discriminatory services to sex workers. Tasha personally supported raising the minimum age for performers from 18 to 21 (BBC; Wikipedia). MEL credits her as one of the first people to speak up about harassment and assault on set (MEL Magazine).
What every performer should learn from Tasha Reign
- Rejection can be a starting line. Playboy said no; she became a Penthouse Pet instead.
- Education is never wasted. She finished her degree while working full time.
- Own your production. Reign Productions gave her control over her work years before OnlyFans.
- Write your own story. Her columns let her answer critics directly.
- Organize. Performers who speak together get heard — Prop 60 proved it.
- Protect the newcomers. Training and a higher minimum age protect people before problems start.
My Take (opinion — Maximo Garcia)
Tasha Reign is the kind of performer the public doesn’t believe exists: someone who chose this work with her eyes open, finished a university degree while doing it, built her own company, and then spent her energy protecting other performers. She is the clearest answer I know to the stereotype that every woman in porn is damaged or trapped.
After 14 years in this business, I agree with her completely about stigma. The work itself has rules, testing, professionals and boundaries. The hard part is outside — the judgment from family, from strangers, sometimes even from doctors. When she says people who are told over and over that what they do is wrong start to believe it, she’s describing something I’ve watched happen to colleagues. That’s why her push for sex-worker-friendly therapists and training for new performers matters more than any award.
I also love that she backed her words with action. Handing out pamphlets to students who ignore you is not glamorous. She did it anyway. I write more about the business and the realities of this career at maximogarciaworld.com. If you want another performer who took education seriously, read my column on Abella Danger, and for a founder who built her own studio, read my piece on Joanna Angel.
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FAQ
Did Tasha Reign graduate from UCLA?
Yes. She transferred to UCLA from Santa Monica College in 2010 and graduated with a degree in gender studies in 2014, in her sixth year of college (Wikipedia; LA Weekly).
Was Tasha Reign on Laguna Beach?
Yes. As a high school student she appeared as a minor cast member in the third season of MTV’s Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (Wikipedia; MEL Magazine).
Why did Tasha Reign oppose Proposition 60?
She campaigned against California’s 2016 condom-mandate measure, calling it “a women’s rights issue” and warning it could expose performers’ personal details to lawsuits. Voters rejected it by about 54% to 46% (The Guardian; NPR).
Does Tasha Reign own a production company?
Yes. She launched Reign Productions in fall 2012, writing and directing most of her material, and signed a distribution deal with Girlfriends Films in 2013 (Wikipedia).
How we fact-checked this
Every fact and quote was checked against the sources below. Personal details from her MEL Magazine essay are attributed to her. Explicit details were left out to keep this page SFW. Opinions are Maximo Garcia’s own and are labeled as such.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Tasha Reign — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasha_Reign
- LA Weekly: “Porn Star Tasha Reign’s Secret Life as a UCLA Student” — https://www.laweekly.com/porn-star-tasha-reigns-secret-life-as-a-ucla-student/
- LA Weekly: “Porn Star Tasha Reign Is Graduating From UCLA” — https://www.laweekly.com/porn-star-tasha-reign-is-graduating-from-ucla/
- MEL Magazine: “Tasha Reign on Laguna Beach: Rachel Swimmer’s Journey to Porn” — https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/tasha-reign-rachel-swimmer-laguna-beach
- The Guardian: “Why a porn star is fighting California’s condom law: ‘It’s a women’s rights issue’” (Oct. 18, 2016) — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/18/porn-tasha-reign-california-condom-law-proposition-60
- NPR: “California’s Proposition 60: Condom Mandate For Porn Industry Falls Short” (Nov. 9, 2016) — https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/09/501405749/condom-mandate-for-porn-industry-falls-short-in-california
- BBC News: “Porn stars call for respect after spate of deaths” (2018) — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43093080
