Porn Model Wrestles His Way Back on Top

OMAHA, NEBRASKA – Ask any publicist: All it takes to bounce back from public humiliation is the proper spin. (Vanessa Williams, anyone?) Last year, nationally-ranked wrestler Paul Donahoe was kicked off his University of Nebraska team for exposing himself on a gay porn site. Now that he’s been given a second chance and proven his worthiness—he recently transferred to Pennsylvania’s Edinboro University, has been reinstated by the NCAA, and is ranked number one in the country in his weight class—it’s time for damage control.

The unapologetic wrestler tells the Boston Globe that he’s been the subject of nationwide ridicule but is grateful for all his new coaches have done for him. He’s also understandably bitter. “I didn’t do anything illegal,” he says. “I didn’t hurt anyone. I don’t think I did anything wrong. Who should I apologize to?”

Donahoe says his dismissal from the team was unfair. “For one, there’s plenty of athletes throughout the University of Nebraska who have had DUIs and who have been in fights and are still playing. But I guess that’s OK. Posing nude, I guess, is worse than someone drinking and driving and risking someone’s life, in their eyes.”

However the university claims Donahoe was also guilty of violating other NCAA rules which they declined to name.

So, how does a handsome athlete at the top of his game end up naked on the internet? You can ask the hundreds of others who’ve walked down that road (Riley Skinner and Jiri Tlusty are two of my recent favorites), but this particular story begins with MySpace. Donahoe says he and another teammate received multiple offers to pose for fratmen.tv and ended up with a free trip to L.A. and several thousand bucks to show for it. “Obviously, I did it for the money,” the Globe quotes him as saying. “We kept thinking no one would ever find out because it was a gay website and we really wanted that money.” Still, the hetero-identified Donahoe can handle the gay jeers he’s gotten, saying “it doesn’t matter” what people think about his sexuality. “If a guy wants to be with a guy, who cares?”

Perhaps the worst part of the scandal is that it was all for nothing. Donahoe says he was forced to cough up all of his porn money and donate it to a nonprofit. Sucks. But cheer up, Paul. That which does not kill us makes us stronger. And from bad situations come important lessons and other perks. Sure, millions of strangers have seen your willy, but 1,400 of them have become your Facebook friends. That’s got to soften the blow somewhat. Let’s just hope none of them post any moneymaking opportunities on your wall.

Courtesy GayWired.com

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