Kayden Kross (born 1985) is an American

pornographic actress A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dist ...

and director. She is a member of the AVN and

XRCO The X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) is a group of writers and editors from the American adult entertainment industry who each year present awards in recognition of achievement within the industry. After the controversy and criticism of the ...

Halls of Fame.

Early life

Kross grew up in the foothills between Sacramento and Placerville. She has described herself as "the book

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...

" during her time as a high school student. Kross began stripping at Rick's Showgirls in

Rancho Cordova, California Rancho Cordova is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States which was incorporated in 2003. It is part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area. The population was 64,776 at the 2010 census. In 2010 and 2019, Rancho Cordova was named ...

when she was eighteen years old to earn extra money to rescue a pony from a slaughter house, which she kept for eight months.Cody Kitaura , ''State Hornet'', StateHornet.com (November 29, 2006). Retrieved June 22, 2012. She was later contacted by an agent, whose business relationship provided Kross with the opportunity of modeling in

adult magazine Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult, sex or top-shelf magazines, are magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is ...

Career

Her movies with Vivid included ''Kayden's First Time'', ''Hard Time'', and ''Be Here Now''. Unhappy with the company, she became a free agent one year later when she did not renew her contract. She signed an exclusive contract with

Adam & Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

after one month of being a free agent. She was named ''

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Pet of the Month This is a list of the models who have appeared in the American edition of '' Penthouse'' magazine and were either named Pet of the Month or Pet of the Year from September 1969 to the present. Pet of the Year names are in bold type and are typic ...

for September 2008. Kross' official website, ClubKayden.com, was launched on September 2, 2008. Kross has hosted a blog at UnKrossed.com, and has written regular updates and opinion columns for MikeSouth.com, an adult industry gossip blog, among other sites. Kross became exclusive to Digital Playground under a multi-year contract on January 1, 2010. Her first movie with the company, ''The Smiths'', topped sales charts immediately and has continued to be a best seller. She was given the lead in their big budget feature, ''Body Heat'', in her third month in contract. She won two Best Actress Awards for the role. Kross hosted the 2010

AVN Award The AVN Awards are List of movie awards, film awards sponsored and presented by the American adult video industry trade magazine ''AVN (magazine), AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') to recognize achievement in various aspects of the creation and m ...

s show, along with porn actress Kirsten Price and comedian

Dave Attell David Attell (born January 18, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer best known as the host of Comedy Central's ''Insomniac with Dave Attell'', which earned him a cult following. His work has drawn admiration from many comedi ...

. She was ''Penthouse'' magazine's "Cover Girl" for September 2008 and 2010. Kross starred in the 2010 AVN Best Feature ''The 8th Day'' and portrayed the role of

Elin Nordegren Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren (; formerly Woods; born 1 January 1980) is the Swedish-born ex-wife of professional golfer Tiger Woods. Nordegren has worked as a model and nanny. Early life and education Nordegren was born in Stockholm. Her moth ...

, wife of

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

, in Adam & Eve Pictures' film ''Tyler's Wood''. In 2012, she hosted the Xbiz awards for the second time, and appeared in the ceremony alongside

Wicked Pictures Wicked Pictures is an American pornographic movie studio headquartered in Canoga Park, California. Between 2004 and 2021, it was one of the only heterosexual studios to maintain a condoms-only policy. Company history Steve Orenstein founded Wi ...

/Wicked.com contract star,

Jessica Drake Jessica Drake is an American pornographic actress and sex educator. Career Drake spent two years as a contract performer for the studio Sin City until May 31, 2002, when her contract expired. She gained her first AVN Award in 2001, winning "Bes ...

, and on the AVN

red carpet A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by VIPs and celebrities at formal events. History The earliest known reference to ...

with co-hosts

Jesse Jane Cindy Taylor (born July 16, 1980) is an American retired pornographic actress and model best known by her stage name Jesse Jane. She is the recipient of numerous awards and nominations over her career in the adult industry, including induction i ...

and guitarist

Dave Navarro David Michael Navarro (born June 7, 1967) is an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock band Jane's Addiction, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Between 1993 and 1998, Navarro was the guitarist of the Red Hot Ch ...

. In 2019, she launched ''Deeper'', one of the

Vixen Media Group Vixen Media Group, commonly referred to as Vixen, is an Internet pornography production company located in Los Angeles, California. Company Vixen Media Group was founded in 2014 by French entrepreneur and director Greg Lansky, CEO of GL Web Me ...

's primary websites in its portfolio.

Appearances in other media

Kross has made appearances in the FX's comedy series ''

The League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

'', the G4

reality series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

''The Block'', and '' Family Jewels''. In 2011, she was cast as Tara in

Gregory Hatanaka Gregory Hatanaka is an American independent filmmaker and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California. Career Hatanaka is the founder of film distribution and production company Cinema Epoch and Cineridge Entertainment. He first became ...

's drama ''

Blue Dream ''Blue Dream'' is a 2013 drama film directed by Gregory Hatanaka. It stars James Duval, Dominique Swain, Pollyanna McIntosh, Kayden Kross, Noah Hathaway, and Walter Koenig and Sal Landi. It premiered at the SF Indiefest and Gold Coast Film ...

'' briefly co-hosted a regular

videocast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

, ''Kayden's Review'', for

Triggla TV Trigger Street Productions is an American entertainment production company formed by Kevin Spacey in 1997 and further developed by his business partner Dana Brunetti. The company's credits include '' Captain Phillips'', ''Shakespeare High'', '' ...

alongside the comedian Dane Hanson. From 2012 - 2013, Kross portrayed a main character in the second season of

Tucky Williams Tucky Williams is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actress. She is known for creating and portraying Evan in the Amazon streaming series ''Girl/Girl Scene''. Personal life Williams began college at the age of fifteen. She stud ...

' lesbian-themed web series ''

Girl/Girl Scene ''Girl/Girl Scene'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television series. It was created and written by Tucky Williams, who also stars as Evan, a sexually promiscuous, androgynous, lesbian. The first episode premiered on Blip (now defunct ...

''. Starting from January 2013 Kross hosts the weekly

call-in show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

''Krossfire'' on

Playboy Radio Playboy Radio was an internet radio station originally launched on XM Satellite Radio on September 1, 2002. Its programming was dedicated to similar topics and celebrity personalities found in its parent publication, Playboy Magazine. It was XM ...

."Adult Who's Who: Kayden Kross", ''

AVN Magazine ''Adult Video News'' (also called ''AVN'' or ''AVN Magazine'') is an American trade magazine that covers the adult video industry. ''The New York Times'' notes that ''AVN'' is to pornographic films what ''Billboard'' is to records. ''AVN'' sponso ...

'', Vol. 29/No. 2, Issue 362, February 2013, p.32. In 2013, Kross also appeared in the featurette "Chicks 'N Guns" on the ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...

'' 5th season DVD as a stripper. The scene takes place during the season 5 episode "Gliding Over All". Kross also appeared in two music videos from the band

Nekrogoblikon Nekrogoblikon is an American melodic death metal band based in Los Angeles, California. The group was formed in 2006, by Tim Lyakhovetskiy and Nicky Calonne. The band has released five full-length albums, ''Goblin Island'', ''Stench'', ''Heavy Me ...

, "No One Survives" in 2012 and "We Need a Gimmick" in 2015.

Writing

Kross writes columns regularly for publications such as ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' magazine, ''

XBIZ XBIZ is an American publisher of business news and business information for the sex industry. In addition to its flagship "Xbiz.com" website, XBIZ publishes two monthly trade magazines, hosts winter and summer Trade fair, exhibition and industry ...

'' magazine, and a blog for xcritic.com. She has also contributed to '' Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendency'', and her short story "Plank" appeared in the 2012 short story collection ''Forty Stories: New Writing from

Harper Perennial Harper Perennial is a paperback imprint of the publishing house HarperCollins Publishers. Overview Harper Perennial has divisions located in New York, London, Toronto, and Sydney. The imprint is descended from the Perennial Library imprint foun ...

'', an e-book. As of August 2012, she was writing an autobiographical book about the porn industry.

Adult industry activism

In 2008, she was among those testifying against a proposed tax in California on all producers and distributors of adult entertainment. In February 2012, she and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

pundit Wendy Murphy appeared on '' Stossel'', with host

John Stossel John Frank Stossel (born March 6, 1947) is an American libertarian television presenter, author, consumer journalist, and pundit. He is known for his career as a host on ABC News, Fox Business Network, and Reason TV. Stossel's style combines r ...

, to discuss legislation in California that would require that

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...

s be used during the production of adult movies.

Personal life

In October 2008, Kross was charged with

grand theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

and violations of the California Civil Code, involving contracts for purchases of

home equity Home equity is the market value of a homeowner's unencumbered interest in their real property, that is, the difference between the home's fair market value and the outstanding balance of all liens on the property. The property's equity increases ...

mortgages. In July 2009, the grand-theft charge was dismissed, and the real-estate-fraud charge was reduced to a misdemeanor; Kross pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

to the resulting charges and was sentenced to one day in custody and three years of

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

. She blamed her involvement in the situation on her naïveté and being scammed by the broker and mortgage lender. Kross and her French partner

Manuel Ferrara Manuel Jeannin (; born 1 November 1975), known professionally as Manuel Ferrara, is a French pornographic actor and director. One of the leading actors in the porn industry, Ferrara has won over 64 adult industry awards including six AVN Awards ...

have one daughter, born in January 2014. In 2013, Ferrara asked her to no longer perform with other men. Ferrara continues to shoot scenes with other women, occasionally scenes which are directed by Kross. They acknowledged the seeming double standard of their arrangement but agreed that his work would stay professional and that Kross maintains "veto" power over who performs with Manuel. He also related that if she wished for him to stop performing altogether, he would.

Awards

;As a performer ;As a director

Mainstream filmography

References

External links

*
Personal blog site
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kross, Kayden 1985 births 21st-century American women writers Actresses from Sacramento, California American bloggers American columnists American female adult models American pornographic film actresses American women short story writers American short story writers California State University, Sacramento alumni Living people Penthouse Pets Pornographic film actors from California Writers from Sacramento, California American women columnists American women bloggers 21st-century American short story writers American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers