At the age of 12, James was first called "James Deen" due to the way he smoked. As a teenager he listened to an interview with 'Jenna Jameson' . During the first year of his adult film career, James Deen worked on nearly 500 scenes.
Jamess paternal grandfather, Stanley Sevilla, was born in Ohio, to Dienna and Isadore Sevilla, who were Sephardi Jewish immigrants from Istanbul, Turkey. Jamess paternal grandmother, Lois Howell, had English, Scottish, and German ancestry. Lois was also born in Ohio, to Thomas William Howell and Ruth Mary Hirst. Loiss own mother (Jamess great-grandmother) was born in South Africa, to American parents. Jamess mothers family is Ashkenazi Jewish.
His date of birth is the day before that of James Dean , his famous namesake.
In late November, 2015, frequent adult film co-star and ex-girlfriend, Stoya, accused him of raping her while on set. Soon after, another ex-girlfriend and adult film collaborator, Joanna Angel, came forward and also accused him of being a rapist. After that, over a dozen adult film female stars who have worked with him have accused him of rape. He has since then been dubbed The Bill Cosby of Porn.
