Eli Lewis is many things — a trained ballet and contemporary dancer, award-winning blogger, social media maven and porn performer. You may know him best as one of New York’s most outspoken escorts and the star of his new web series “Deep Inside Eli”. Eli also has a monthly podcast at Gay Sex Cast titled “The Porn Files” which discusses current hot topics in the gay adult film industry. He’s everywhere!
I had a chance to speak to the wonderfully honest and insightful Eli Lewis about life as an escort, ethnic representation in porn and the best use for The Hunger Games’ three-finger salute.
– Karsh
Read what Eli had to say and see more pictures below:
Hello Eli! How’s your day going?
Hiya! The day’s off to a great start. My roommate and I just walked our dogs around the gayborhood, grabbed some coffee, and are now caffeinated and alert for the day.
Are you enjoying summer in the city so far? Any summer plans?
I love the summer in New York City; all the boys are out, scantily clad, and ready to play! I don’t have any definitive plans for the summer yet, but I do want to make it out to Fire Island every once in a while. I have my share over the 4th of July weekend, so I’m super excited for that!
Very nice! Any events connected with Rentboy?
Rentboy has their annual summer party during NYC pride week, so that’s coming up soon. Now that Folsom Street East has returned this year, there will also most likely be a booth there. I actually stepped down as the Social Media Director for Rentboy at the end of April this year to focus more on my side projects, porn and escorting escapades, but will continue working with them in future events.
Let’s talk about escorting! How did you get started?
Hah, well I first off blame the economy. I started escorting about two years ago when a series of ballet injuries left me on the sidelines and unable to work for a few months. A few friends suggested I take on a few clients to supplement my income, and I never really looked back.
Ballet! Points for flexibility and a grand jeté. It sounds like it was pretty easy to get started! I’d imagine that in NYC, escorts are a dime a dozen.
You should see my grand plié! Escorting can certainly be a fun and easy way to make money while exploring your own sexuality. There are currently over 400 men actively advertising on Rentboy in New York City, but the way I see it is that each of us fits a different niche and has something unique to offer.
How long have you been escorting now?
I’ve been escorting for almost two years now, and have built quite an amazing base of clients and friends in the industry. I never thought there’d be a community for it, but I’m always pleasantly surprised by the things I learn every day.
The Brotherhood of the Dropped Pants. I like that! In a Huffington Post article in March of this year, you talked about one of your long-standing clients whom you’ve never actually had sex with. Is it common to have clients who just want intimacy without sex?
Haha, I love that! It’s actually a lot more common than one would think, myself included when I first started. Escorting is about making and fulfilling that connection with another person on multiple levels from the physical, to mental, and even emotional. There are certainly clients who may just want the physical intimacy, but more often than not I find myself needing to be their friend and confidant.
I think that’s really important to emphasize. Seeking the services of an escort isn’t like ordering Domino’s Pizza — hot and ready in 30 minutes or less. Escorts are people too! What’s the strangest request you’ve ever received from a client?
I slowly found myself becoming more of an active voice to speak against the stigma and shaming around escorting, so that’s something I definitely like to remind those who would otherwise brush us off as simple three dollar hookers. I’m all about word re-appropriation, but a dollar will not make me holler nor will it make me love you long time.
That being said, I think the most outlandish request I received from a client was to be groomed by him. Let me paint the romantic picture: he was a mid-twenties massage therapy student who needed to make up the hours for his certificate, so he hired me for a few hours every week to massage, trim, wax, and shave me. My life is rough, I know. The struggle is real.
Talk about a fringe benefit — free grooming services. Hopefully he did a good job!
Oh, the massage was great! My least favorite part about those sessions was that I was left hairless and feeling like a toddler again. I’m fine with having a smooth, hairless ass, but I like my happy trail and chest hair!
In one of your blog posts, you talked about the three S’s of the sex industry — stereotypes, stigma and shaming. You’re an Asian man who does porn and also escorts, and is unabashedly open about both pursuits. Can you share with us what sort of backlash you’ve received from people about that?
I was shocked and annoyed to discover that a lot of the backlash I personally received came from within the sex industry. Not all escorts work in porn, and not all porn performers are escorts. These are occupations that may seem alluring, but are really not for everyone to try. You have to be willing to accept the potential consequences of the choices you make when going into either or both of these jobs.
Over the last year, certain performers in the adult film industry have voiced their opinions about the tragedy of escorting and have made their dislike and disapproval of it quite public. I know that haters are always going to hate, but I find it odd in situations like these when the pot calls the kettle black.
We all work within the sex industry whether we’re performing in front of a camera or are entertaining in person, so when we start slut shaming each other for things we do not understand, it upsets but inspires me to start a dialogue with that person to come together and share ideas and resolve issues.
That’s how I like to handle problems — like a sensible, intelligent,adult who doesn’t need to throw shade from behind a computer screen.
From within the industry? Really? I would’ve expected those kinds of things from anonymous Internet commenters, not from people whose taints we’ve seen splayed across screens worldwide.
Again, I’m always learning something new every day. It’s more annoying than anything else, really, to discover that those who should be your allies are actually working against you. On a lighter note, there aren’t very many of those people anyway.
That’s good to know. But speaking of escorting and porn, you’re also doing some scenes now for Peter Fever. Tell us about that.
Oh, how I love me some Peter Le! I’ve made some really close friends from my time filming with Peter Fever Productions, and always have a blast on and off camera with the cast and crew. I love Asian men and am all about sticky rice (Asian on Asian), so I’m like a kid in a candy store whenever I’m on set.
It’s also great to be able to feature sexy men of color, which we don’t see enough in the porn world. Side note: I really need Peter to be my next scene partner, because WOOF!
Seriously, is Peter gonna start doing hardcore scenes? He’s been teasing people with the goods for years now. The time has come!
The time has come for him to lip sync for his life… And I volunteer as tribute!
Between you and me, that three-finger salute is also great for opening up a bottom. Peter Fever is doing a great job of showing Asian men as sex symbols in porn. That representation is important!
I personally believe that foreplay is very important, and for mentioning that, I salute you with three fingers up my butt.
He’s doing a great job of doing that, and I would like to consider myself a frontrunner for continuing to help promote that – diversity is sexy! While I certainly love my all-American jock and blond-hair, blue-eyed beauties, the tall, tan, young, and handsome boy from Ipanema is equally gorgeous.
Very true. There are a lot of studios out there that cater to crowds across a number of interests (Asian, Black, bears, etc.). We should see all of that! Do you think you’ll work with any other studios?
I would definitely love to work with other studios, and now that I’m FUNemployed, I’m more easily able to adjust my schedule to fit in future shoots. I attended the 2014 Grabbys in Chicago last month and spoke to a few studios about upcoming work, so stay tuned for more of my sassy ass!
Looking forward to it! Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
I definitely see myself still working within the sex industry at some capacity, whether it’s performing in front of the camera as a former twink turned panda muscle pup or behind the scenes in production. Give me five years; I can gain more muscle mass and hopefully facial hair that rivals that of Joe Manganiello.
And you can keep the “Deep Inside Eli” web series going! It’ll be good to see your progression.
I’m trying to brand that as much as possible! Deep Inside Eli will probably become the eventual name for my blog and website, but I’ll definitely need a lot of viewer participation to keep that going. I love interacting with people to really make a good product; it’s all about giving the audience what they want to see, right?
Absolutely. Is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience?
I’m currently accepting Friends with Benefits applications with advancement opportunities for tops and versatile tops in New York City. Attach clear and recent face, full body, and cock pics to your resume and send them over pending approval and interview.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Follow Eli Lewis on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and through his website Tales of a Rentboy.
_______________________________________________________________________________
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE…
–
–
Good interview Karsh and the guy is cute with a great smile and very Intelligent as well as open and informative.
Sounds like a full plate as well.
He isn’t attractive enough to be this braindead. The headline suggested something more, but he’s just a vapid kid with low expectations of himself.
He’s a cutie. I like his self effacing style and humility along with his “make lemonade” approach to life. He sure beats haters who try to analyze someone from a fluff piece.
I hate to break it to the kid but the only difference between him and a three dollar whore would be the price tag.
Fluff? This isn’t hard-core journalism at its finest?
I see you’ve got something negative to say about every post with escorts/porn stars. How sad.
OMG GIMME GIMME GIMME
He is intelligent but I disagree about Peter Le’s porn, it’s got horrendous lighting that looks like a 7-Eleven store, bad dialogue and even worse acting, there is also a definite lack of chemistry between models and the camera angles are bad. Peter won’t do hardcore he is a frustrated actor who turned to making bad porn when the acting career didn’t pan out. He exploits young naive asian men (not Eli) and probably doesn’t care about the repercussions this stuff might have on careers they choose later. As for Eli good for him he’s doing what he wants let him do it, but there is a shelf life on porn actors and with so many doing it now the days of big porn stars are over.
Not everyone can be as hot and smart as you, apparently.
I agree. It is sad that he sells himself for money but is delusional enough to say he is not a whore.
I agree. It is sad that he sells himself for money but is delusional enough to say he is not a whore.
Wow… i’m guessing that everyone who works for a living is also selling themselves for money in your world then. Regardless of their line of work. There’s a huge difference between being honest about things and just plain being a jerk mate. Just a thought
Not shaming but you can say escort all you want to sanitize what you do, but its prostitution plain & simple. Its easy to romanticize but hopefully he’s got a longer term plan. I just thinkof wwhat I was doing at that age. Hope he’s really got it together.. Often there are dark behind the scenes stories to these guys we never hear (or they can’t acknowledge). Sex positive is one thing… Hooking is something else.. But hopefully his happiness doesnt turn sour when he gets older & matures
At least diversity in porn is good for everyone, especially young Asian men
Doesn’t most porn exploit young men, who eventually become throwaway or have no idea of the ramifications of later life… (whether psychologically, professionally, relationship wise etc). Society may be more open but its still not the career most parents wish for their kids. How many new guys r doing porn daily? And not everyone having sex on camera is a ‘star’… Even recently read an interview with a famous porn CEO who admitted as much, saying mist young kids have something in their past drawing them to this biz
The bottom line is the gay community can say escort all they want but these guys are prostitutes with all that entails.. Good or bad. It messes with a lot of people’s heads
And for some reason a lot of people find the truth to be offensive, which just makes me laugh. You don’t want to be called a whore? The first step is to not BE a whore.
Just a thought, there’s a huge difference between literally selling your body for a few dollars and working hard at a real job and being paid for it. If you do not see the difference, well then, there’s no help for you.
If you are in one porn everyone calls themselves a porn “star”. You’re not a star by any stretch of the imagination. All you need to get into porn is a dick and a pulse. Some just have a longer shelf life than others.
Good for him that he made some friends on his PeterFever shoots. There certainly isn’t any good porn being made over there.
Slut shaming is never the answer. This type of profession is more honest than most in this world.What goes on behind closed doors with this guy’s clients is unknown to us so reserve your ignorant judgments. These are hard times we’re living in and if people are willing to pay good money to be with this guy then hell, why the fuck not?! There are plenty of people who condemn and don’t condone this type of activity but even more so those who participate in it but pretend they don’t. Now I’ve never paid much attention to this stuff but honestly, we’re all sluts, hoes, whores, etc. Sex is sex regardless of the monetary benefits one may or may not receive. PEOPLE CAN BE CONSIDERED ALL THESE THINGS WITHOUT BEING PAID FOR IT SO THOSE OF YOU MAKING THE ARGUMENT THAT HE IS ANY OF THOSE THINGS BECAUSE HE GETS MONEY FOR IT, YOU’RE DUMB. Sex sells anyhow, always have and always will, it’s an industry that will continue to thrive no matter what.
*zing*
It’s not slut shaming, just honesty. Sure, a lot of people are sluts, etc., but you’re only a whore if you get paid to have sex.
WOW! You certainly read a LOT into that headline and then projected it all onto Eli. Maybe before you judge Eli, you might want to look at what is behind your need to judge others so harshly.
A few dollars? Clearly you haven’t seen his going rate. If you think sex work isn’t work, well then, there’s no help for you.
I invite you to examine the judgments you hold around the word “prostitute”. Neither word messes with my head so please speak only for yourself.
Truth is subjective. What’s true for you is not true for everyone. It’s not the truth that hurts, it’s the judgments behind the statements that you label as truth that hurts…others and yourself.
The rate one charges to sell their ass does not make them less of a whore.
No, truth by definition is NOT subjective. That is why it is the truth.
It’s a shame really.
Maybe Manhunt Daily should interview you next!