Melinda Smith, known professionally as Mercedes Carrera, is a former 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 ...

. She was a frequent commentator in support of the antifeminist

Gamergate Gamergate may refer to: * Gamergate (ant), a worker ant that can store sperm and reproduce sexually * Gamergate (harassment campaign), targeting women in the video game industry * Lt. Gamergate, a character in the ''Adventure Time'' episode " Den ...

campaign and collaborated with the pro-Gamergate group The Fine Young Capitalists in 2015 on a fundraiser for students in

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

fields. In 2019, Carrera and her husband Jason Whitney were arrested on suspicion of

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

Early life and education

Carrera was an engineer before transitioning into the adult industry.

Pornography career

Carrera has appeared in more than 200 films. She is known for her performances in films which focused on the

MILF MILF (, as if read as "milf") is an acronym that stands for "Mother I'd Like to Fuck". This abbreviation is used in colloquial English, instead of the whole phrase. It connotes an older woman considered sexually attractive, typically one who has ...

subgenres, especially "Cougar" and "Latin". She has worked in film productions for

Brazzers Brazzers (, company name: MG Premium Ltd.) is a Canadian pornographic video production company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and legal domicile in Nicosia, Cyprus. With an online network consisting of thirty-one hardcore pornog ...

Reality Kings Reality Kings (company name: MG Premium Ltd.) is a brand launched by RK Netmedia, an internet-based hardcore pornography production company operating out of Miami Beach, Florida. Acquisition by MindGeek A merger notification (with Manwin) was ...

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 ...

Digital Playground Digital Playground Inc. is an American pornographic film studio, headquartered in Burbank, Los Angeles, California, Burbank, California. It has been called one of the five biggest porn studios and, in 2006, was described by Reuters as one of t ...

and Evil Angel, among others. In 2015, the pro-

group The Fine Young Capitalists worked with Carrera to create a scholarship for students studying in

fields. Fundraising included a live webcam show featuring Carrera; $11,280 was raised.

Personal life

Carrera was a frequent commentator in support of the antifeminist online campaign known as

and a vocal critic of its detractors, including feminist media critic

Anita Sarkeesian Anita Sarkeesian ( ; born 1983) is a Canadian-American feminist media critic and public speaker. She is the founder of ''Feminist Frequency'', a website that hosts videos and commentary analyzing portrayals of women in popular culture. She has ...

. She discussed

rape culture Rape culture is a setting, studied by several sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-s ...

with ''Infowars'' host

Paul Joseph Watson Paul Joseph Watson (born 24 May 1982) is a British far-right YouTuber, radio host, and conspiracy theorist. Until July 2016, Watson embraced the label "alt-right", but he now identifies as part of the new right. In May 2019, Facebook and Instagr ...

and debated Gamergate opponent

Chris Kluwe Christopher James Kluwe (; born December 24, 1981) is a former American football punter and writer. Kluwe played at Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California, where he was a 1999 USA Today All-USA high school football team, 1999 ''USA ...

; ''

The Daily Caller ''The Daily Caller'' is a right-wing news and opinion website based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by now-Fox News host Tucker Carlson and political pundit Neil Patel (political advisor), Neil Patel in 2010. Launched as a "American Conserva ...

'' described Carrera as "Gamergate’s Porn Star Patron". In October 2015, she was removed from a panel at the media festival

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

following allegations that Carrera had cyberbullied the activist

Randi Lee Harper The Online Abuse Prevention Initiative (OAPI) is a non-profit organization whose aim is to study and combat abuse on the Internet. History The OAPI was founded in 2015 by Randi Lee Harper, with Crash Override Network's Zoë Quinn and Alex ...

. In February 2019, Carrera was arrested along with her husband Jason Whitney (aka Daemon Cins) at their home in

Rancho Cucamonga Rancho Cucamonga was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California, given in 1839 to the dedicated soldier, smuggler and politician Tiburcio Tapia by Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. The grant formed parts of pr ...

on suspicion of

. The pair were accused of sexually abusing a girl under the age of 10 multiple times over a four-month period; they were also charged with possessing a controlled substance (

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

) while armed with a handgun. They were denied

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

. , both remain in jail awaiting trial.

Awards and nominations

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 **2016 ***Nomination: Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene - ''Sisterhood'' ***Nomination: Hottest MILF (Fan Award) ***Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year **2017 ***Nomination: Best Supporting Actress - ''Project Pandora'' ***Nomination: Best Virtual Reality Sex Scene - ''Kim Kardashian Supertar VR Experience'' ***Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year **2018 ***Nomination: Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene - ''MILF Performer of the Year 2017'' ***Nomination: Best Three-Way Sex Scene (B/B/G) - ''Forked'' ***Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year **2019 ***Nomination: Best Actress, Feature Movie - ''Second First Date'' ***Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year *

GayVN Awards The GayVN Awards are film awards presented annually to honor work done in the gay pornographic industry. The awards were sponsored by '' AVN Magazine'', the parent publication of ''GAYVN Magazine'', and continue the recognition for gay pornograp ...

**2019 Nomination: Best Bi Sex Scene - ''Coming Out Bi 4'' *

Transgender Erotica Awards The Transgender Erotica Awards, formerly known as ''The Tranny Awards'', are a group of List of movie awards, movie awards presented annually in the United States recognizing performances and performers in the field of Transexual pornography, tra ...

**2018 Nomination: Best Non-TS Performer **2019 Nomination: Best Non-TS Female Performer *

NightMoves Award The NightMoves Awards are given annually in the pornographic film industry by ''NightMoves'', an Oldsmar, Florida-based magazine which was first published in 1987 and initially titled ''Sports South''. The awards began in 1993 and were initially t ...

s **2015 ***Nomination: Best New Starlet (Editor's Choice) ***Nomination: Best New Starlet (Fan's Choice) *Spank Bank Awards **2017 Nomination: Most Magnificent MILF **2018 ***Nomination: Exotic Femme Fatale of the Year ***Nomination: Group/Orgy Maestro of the Year ***Nomination: Most Volumptous Vixen *

XBIZ Award XBIZ Awards are given annually to honour "individuals, companies, performers and products that play an essential part in the growth and success of adult films" and have been described by XBIZ publisher and founder Alec Helmy as being "born out of ...

s **2016 Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year **2017 ***Nomination: Best Actress, Couples-Themed Release - ''Forked'' ***Nomination: Best Sex Scene, All-Girl - ''Project Pandora'' ***Nomination: Best Sex Scene, Couples-Themed Release - ''Forked'' ***Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year **2018 ***Nomination: Best Sex Scene, Couples-Themed Release - ''Ingenue'' ***Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year **2019 ***Nomination: Best Sex Scene, Couples-Themed Release - ''Making Ends Meet'' ***Nomination: Best Sex Scene, Gonzo Release - ''Mother Fuckin' Anal'' ***Nomination: Best Sex Scene, Vignette Release - ''MILF Stories: Still Sexy'' ***Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year *XCritic Awards **2018 ***Nomination: Best Actress - ''Second First Date'' ***Nomination: Best MILF Performer ***Nomination: Social Media Queen *

XRCO Award The XRCO Awards are given by the American X-Rated Critics Organization annually to people working in adult entertainment and it is the only adult industry awards show reserved exclusively for industry members. Once every calendar year, XRCO m ...

s **2016 Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year **2017 Nomination: MILF Performer of the Year

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrera, Mercedes Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American pornographic film actresses Pornographic film actors from California People with Asperger syndrome Actors with autism American actors with disabilities Actresses from Los Angeles Female critics of feminism Place of birth missing (living people) Order of the Eastern Star American Freemasons