From pornstar to pastor
A former sex worker who filmed thousands of porn videos has seen the light – but not the ring light usually featured in his profession.
Joshua Broome, 39, had worked in the straight and gay-for-pay porn industry since his early 20s, having filmed over 1,000 videos. He left the industry behind in 2012, citing a “tremendous amount of emotional trauma” as his reasoning.
Now, Broome has swapped his good times for God.
Speaking to the New York Post on March 29, Broome said he had “lost track” of who he was, adding, “Everything was lies and fiction… I wanted to take my own life and didn’t have the guts to do so.”
A 23-year-old Broome had journeyed to Hollywood with dreams of becoming an actor. Working as a waiter, he was told that doing porn could increase his chances of becoming a Hollywood star and just days later, he was cast in his first film under the alias Rocco Reed.
Broome quickly became one of the most popular porn actors, working in both straight and gay adult films.
“I believed the lie that if I made money I would be happy,” he said. “I made well over a million dollars. I travelled everywhere I wanted to go. I had all the sex I could have ever imagined. But once I had it all, my life fell apart, because it amplified the sorrow and emptiness I always felt inside.”
Announcing his retirement in 2012, Broome moved to North Carolina, where he continued to battle depression and was “riddled with shame,” trying to hide his former career while working at a gym.
Broome later studied biblical theology and married a woman named Hope 2016, who he’d met at the gym. The couple now have three kids.
The former porn actor, currently ranked at number 3310 on Porn Hub, currently serves as a pastor at the Good News Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“I built a life I can be proud of, and when I lie my head on the pillow at night I’m not ashamed and I don’t feel guilty,” Broome revealed. “You can allow your past to own you or you can take control and own your past.”
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