I tried hard as hell to get an interview with ‘Duke porn star’ Belle Knox through her talent agency, Matrix Models, to no avail. It’s no surprise; she’s in high demand both in front of the camera and in mainstream media. It goes without saying that Knox’s persona, whose specialty is rough sex, is now even more of a super hot commodity. She has no plans to quit while she’s ahead, even as her widespread critics find her highly publicized (by her own design, mostly) porn-as-liberation position dubious, believing she’s just another troubled, manipulated young star towing the line.

From a sociological standpoint, the public discourse is worth examining. Whether your argument is that she’s a feminist or that she’s just misguided, what porn boss Mike Kulich told Huffington Post recently hits the nail on the head:

“There’s a saying in porn: ‘People jack off with the left hand and point their finger with the right. I want people to know that porn stars have families and they’re just trying to make a living. If you’re enjoying their work, why ruin their lives?”

Here’s a blow by blow of the sequence of events that have been making headlines. Whose side are you on?

• • In 2013, ripe, young, brunette Belle Knox becomes a new fixture in the online porno scene, appearing in such titles as “Belle Bottom” and “Three Way is The Best Way” with the world’s biggest x-rated superstar James Deen. Knox sees it as a viable way to pay her US$60,000 per year tuition fee, earning upwards of $1,200 for every scene.

• • Thomas Bagley, a student at Duke University and a purveyor of online porn, recognizes Belle Knox as a freshman at Duke. Bagley outs her to his fraternity, though he’d promised her he wouldn’t blow her cover.

• •The reveal causes a cross campus, frat-boy-collective uproar. When 300 friend requests appear on Knox’s personal Facebook account and a fellow Duke student follows her persona on Twitter, she realizes she’s been found out.

• • The college discussion board blows up under the thread “Freshman Pornstar,” inspiring a shit-storm of harassment, and rape and death threats across social media. A campaign to expel Knox from Duke circulates and Knox’s real identity, location, and contact info are posted publicly.

• • Knox gives an interview to The Chronicle in which she shares the vitriolic and hypocritical diatribe. She writes for feminist XoJane site when police neglect to take her harassment reports seriously.

• • Knox appears on Piers Morgan Live on CNN and tells Playboy magazine that her story “is a testament to how fucking expensive school is.”

• • Porn director and entrepreneur Mike Kulich pens an open letter to Thomas Bagley thanking him for shelling out $1,000 of his parents money each month on Kulich’s site FacialAbuse.com, while condemning the face fucking girls he pays to watch. Kulich offers Bagley $10,000 to appear on the dot com.

• • Nineteen-year-old Knox’s parents tell the press that they are flabbergasted and heartbroken upon learning about their daughter’s slut-shamed secret life. Knox denies that her parents are upset they’re daughter turns out to be a sex worker. No one buys it.

• • TIME magazine and The Week both criticize Knox for stating that not only is her career “freeing and empowering,” but that her old waitressing job is more degrading to women than the porn industry.

• • A spokesperson at Duke says they will not comment on the specific case but implies that Knox’s complaint about campus police’s dismissal is unfounded, while at the same time declares their support of whatever identities a student may choose in their line of work.

• • Knox reveals her real name is Miriam Weeks, and identifies as a bisexual sex-positive feminist and libertarian. She declares her major in women’s studies and sociology and intends to go to law school.

Knox’s appearance on Piers Morgan