Who Is Thomas Bagley? Duke Student Who Outed Porn Star Classmate Belle Knox Faces Backlash

The Duke freshman who revealed a fellow student's secret job as a porn star is facing backlash for his decision.

Duke University freshman Thomas Bagley has come under fire for outing porn star Belle Knox to their fellow Duke students. The double computer science and mathematics major first recognized Knox after he viewed one of her videos on a porn website several months ago. In a Duke Chronicle story on Knox, Bagley said that Knox admitted her secret to him as they walked to a pre-game on Jan. 10. She asked to keep the information a secret and he said he would. But that same evening at a rush event, the Phi Delta Theta pledge revealed Knox's identity to several fraternity brothers. By the next week, “the topic ‘Freshman Pornstar’ was trending on CollegiateACB,” details the Chronicle.

Bagley told the publication that if presented the situation again, he would have kept his promise and not revealed Knox’s secret. “She told me that I ruined her life. As much as it was her decision to go into the profession, it was her decision who to tell. I certainly would take it back. I would take pretty much that whole night back,” he said. But that hindsight hasn’t kept him free from the searing opinions of people upset by his choice to reveal Knox.

Since news of the story broke, Bagley has been slammed on Twitter by college students and people nationwide angered by his actions. His account has since been deactivated. Then just this week, an adult-industry representative wrote an open letter to Bagley, calling out the student’s own porn viewing and going as far as making him an offer to be in a porn scene.

The colorful letter from CEO of Monarchy Pictures Mike Kulich can be read here. Kulich is not affiliated with the adult-site on which Bagley first recognized Knox. He adds that he isn’t completely sure if Bagley actually subscribes to the site that he first spotted Knox on. But he reasons that since she she had shot just a few scenes ahead of being outed, Bagley “had to have seen that scene.”

Since being outed by her classmate, Knox has spoken out about her choice to join the porn industry and how she has been empowered by the job. She wrote an article for xoJane.com titled "I'm the Duke University Freshman Porn Star And For The First Time I'm Telling The Story In My Words." She has also done television interviews for several shows, including a recent appearance on “Piers Morgan Live.”

"We are in a society where we are so repressed, every single day. We’re told that sex is bad. We’re told not to have sex. We’re told not to show our bodies, and that’s really true for women," she told Morgan. "To be in porn and to be able to be naked and to be able to be free and have that sexual autonomy, it is so incredibly freeing."<iframe seamless="seamless" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" height="450" width="100%" scrolling="no" src="http://assets-polarb-com.a.ssl.fastly.net/api/v4/publishers/IBTimes/embedded_polls/iframe?poll_id=163933"></iframe>