NEW YORK — Men’s Health published an article this weekend rehashing a YouTuber's medical claims about the supposed illness of “porn addiction,” but the link now leads to a less controversial September article on how to “quit porn,” which has been re-dated without clarification.
The original piece by U.K. freelancer — and Men's Health Contributing Editor — Philip Ellis, titled “Here's Exactly What Happens When You Quit Porn,” was closely based on a video posted on October 14 by the AsapSCIENCE YouTube channel, and heavily quotes one of that channel's hosts, Gregory Brown, making highly controversial and medically dubious statements.
The article, which was promoted by a Google News item, can still be read via Archive.org’s Wayback Machine and, according to the archive site’s records, was still live as of this morning. However, the URL now redirects to the much less inflammatory article “6 Ways to Train Yourself to Watch Less Porn, According to Sex Experts,” originally published back in September.
Men’s Health has not published a clarification as to why Ellis’ article, which blatantly platformed the beliefs of anti-porn propagandists, was removed, or why the older article was re-dated.
The subhead of the now-deleted Men’s Health article read, “Science YouTuber Greg Brown breaks down what happens to your brain and your body when you stop watching porn.”
A tweet promoting the original article — illustrated with the now-standard "porn addiction" clip art of a man sternly staring at a laptop under bedcovers — has not yet been deleted:
Even in just the first two paragraphs of his article, Ellis — described by Men's Health as a British freelancer — presented as factual and scientific a number of questionable claims, such as:
- “Porn addiction can be a destructive habit with a serious negative effect on our relationships.”
- “Regularly watching porn could be changing your brain and your body in ways that you don't expect.”
- “the gray matter of the brain ... physically changes due to porn use."
Alana Evans, president of adult performers’ union APAG, commented under the original tweet promoting the article, “Why isn’t Men’s Health magazine promoting actual health for men? Falling down this ridiculous rabbit hole is not science.”
The deleted article can be found on the Wayback Machine. Because of Men's Health's stealth switch, entering the original URL into a regular browser results in automatic rerouting to "https://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/a29122111/how-to-stop-watching-porn/"
Before:
After:
Main Image: Illustration from one of Greg Brown's anti-porn propaganda videos, Men's Health magazine logo.