Update: On Monday, Feb. 11, XBIZ spoke with the Tulare County coroner's office and confirmed Lubben's death on Saturday, Feb. 9. She was a resident of Springville, Calif., in Tulare County, when she passed. At the time of this update, the coroner told XBIZ that tests to determine an official cause of death had not been completed.
SPRINGVILLE, Calif. — Shelley Lubben, the adult performer-turned-anti-porn crusader, has passed away, according to writer and filmmaker Michael Whitacre. She was 50.
Whiteacre, who has been involved in an ongoing documentary about Lubben called “The Devil and Shelley Lubben,” learned about her death today from her brother. Whiteacre later took to Twitter to announce her death.
The brother, according to Whiteacre, was told by the Tulare County Sheriffs Office about her passing after she was was discovered unresponsive this morning by a male friend in the Central California town of Springville.
Whiteacre said sheriffs’ deputies indicated no sign of foul play or indication of suicide; however, they had suspected a possible drug overdose.
“[She] apparently died quietly in her sleep,” Whiteacre told XBIZ. “It is not clear whether she was in her trailer or in the residence belonging to the man who found her.”
Whiteacre went on to say that Lubben’s life in recent years “had been completely out of control, it’s fair to say.”
“She had three different restraining orders in effect against her at the time of her death, in two counties,” he said. “She was being sued by creditors and had been named in a wrongful death suit. That suit arose out of her boyfriend, Joseph Valley, killing a cyclist in a hit-and-run DUI, while driving a car she had purchased and insured."
During her porn career, which lasted for two years, from 1993-1994, Lubben appeared in 18 adult releases using the stage name Roxy. She shot for Legend Video, Filmco Releasing, Leisure Time Entertainment and JM Productions, among others studios.
After leaving the porn biz, Lubben became a leading advocate to stomp out the industry.
Lubben testified before Congress and California’s Legislature to discuss human trafficking and expose the inner workings of the industry in attempts to make condoms mandatory in productions. She even took her message to the “The Howard Stern Show.”
In 2008, Lubben started up the Pink Cross Foundation, an organization helping women and men to get out of the porn business. She also wrote a book, “Truth Behind the Fantasy of Porn,” an autobiography.
Four years later, Lubben appeared in the first “After Porn Ends” documentary. Whiteacre started his documentary a year earlier.
Lubben told the Porterville Recorder three years ago that she was considered “the most hated women in America” by the adult entertainment industry.
“It’s amazing I’m still alive, that they haven’t killed me,” Lubben told the Recorder. “I’ve done everything I can to stomp on this industry.”