BELLADONNA RADIO LIVE AND ON THE AIR

From www.laist.com- LAist favorite Sasha Grey has been quite a media sensation due to her leading role in Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, with film critic Roger Ebert even observing that "I haven't seen any of [her adult work], but now I would like to see one, watching very carefully, to see if she suggests more than one level."

But we would be remiss if we didn't sing the praises of another pornstar. Enter Belladonna. One of the few to have achieved iconic status on par with Jenna Jameson and Tera Patrick, she has been successful on-camera and behind-the-scenes as director and businesswoman with the creation of Belladonna Entertainment, the production company that she runs with her husband Aiden from their home in the San Fernando Valley.

She's also enjoyed mainstream crossover success from being cast by director James Gunn in four PG-Porn episodes, including Peanus, A Very Peanus Christmas, High Poon, and the upcoming Genital Hospital, and appeared as a special guest last month at The Improv.

Pursuing her longtime interest in radio, Belladonna launched her weekly Internet broadcast in January after returning from the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo and Adult Movie Awards in Las Vegas, and her guests have included pornstars Kimberly Kane, Marie Luv, Lexi Belle, Ava Rose, and James Deen. But last Monday, she brought her friend, local singer-songwriter Terra Naomi, into the studio for an hour-long interview and performance.

It was readily apparent that Belladonna and Naomi are fans of each other, as Belladonna and Aiden have become regular patrons of Naomi's performances at Hotel Cafe, and Naomi gushed on-the-air that "I have so much respect for you. You're incredible businesspeople."

And while Belladonna, who at last month's XRCO Awards won a tri-fecta of prizes including Orgasmic Oralist, Orgasmic Analist, and Best Girl/Girl Movie for Belladonna's Girl Train, is known for being very sexually liberated, she is more demure on her radio show, leaving Aiden, who readily admits to not having a filter, to tell Naomi that "If you read my Twitter last night, you'll know that she fucked my brains out."

Meanwhile, the craziest fan e-mail Naomi said she ever received was "...schizophrenic in nature but very well-written," stating that "According to the laws of physics, E=mc2, I was a demon sent to short-circuit people's relationship to God." But when the topic shifted to the more serious and almost grim topic of piracy, Naomi said "I just want people to hear [my music]" and Belladonna agreed, saying "There's also people who may not have heard about me [until they've seen my work] and now they do want to support me." But Aiden felt differently, arguing that "They're stealing from us because that is how I make my living."

Belladonna and Aiden will readily acknowledge that their studio space is not yet perfect. Converted from a walk-in closet space (cue to 0:45 on this video to see it), it is small in size, has no ventilation, and it can accommodate three people comfortably. As a result, when the door is closed for the broadcast, with the computers and people inside, the ambient temperature can skyrocket to uncomfortable levels in just a few minutes. Naomi joked during her interview that "I felt like I was performing in a hot tub," and after noticing that the front of her silk dress was drenched in perspiration, "I look like I fell in a swimming pool." But there are plans for air conditioning inside the studio, and with the booking for future shows of pornstars Bobbi Starr and Stevie Hart, as well as the aforementioned James Gunn and comedians Sam Tripoli, Phil LeMarr, and Ari Shaffir, the future for Belladonna Radio is bright.

Belladonna Radio (NSFW) airs live on Mondays at 12:00 PM PT, although this week's show, with special guest Bobbi Starr, has been postponed to Wednesday due to Memorial Day. And Terra Naomi's next local performance is at Hotel Cafe on June 11th.