When Mikaela Spielberg, 23, announced on social media late last month that she was pursuing a career in adult entertainment under the stage name Sugar Star, tabloids around the world went bananas.

“I just launched my self produced adult entertainment career,” she announced. “My body, my life, my income, my choice. I owe not a single person my autonomy or virtue just because of a name.”

The name in question? Her last name, courtesy of her world-famous father, director Steven Spielberg. The headline was just too juicy to resist: A famous filmmaker’s young daughter and the word “porn” all in one place! The story made news in nearly every major tabloid in the English-speaking world. 

Soon enough, Mikaela sold her first interview to The U.S. Sun, where she said, “I’ve always been a very sexually natured person, which has gotten me in trouble before.” Rather than feeling ashamed of her sexuality, she said she’d decided to lean into it and make some money with her body, “This isn’t like an ‘end of the road’ or ‘I’ve hit bottom’ choice. This is a positive, empowering choice, I realized there is no shame in having a fascination with this industry and wanting to do something that is safe, sane, consensual.”

And so the tabloids began to track her every move. Meanwhile, many of us in the adult entertainment field rolled our eyes as, yet again, a pseudo-celebrity took center stage in the public eye while business continued as usual for the rest of the industry, with seasoned professionals getting no headlines for their work. And so the world turned.

After all, we recently weathered former Disney star Bella Thorne’s adult directorial debut. And former Boy Meets World actor turned porn star Maitland Ward’s entry into porn made massive headlines, but she’s gone on to turn in solid performances and become a positive and well-informed spokesperson for the industry—even defending Mikaela’s choice to reporters! Clearly, celebrity porn stars can do well for everybody.

But, alas, Mikaela’s first month of making porn hasn’t gone so well. 

First, reports surfaced that her famous father was “shocked” and “embarrassed” by his daughter’s decision. (These reports came from anonymous sources, and were told to RadarOnline…and probably false. Mikaela had previously told The U.S. Sun that her parents were “‘intrigued’ but ‘not upset,’” but they didn’t make themselves available for comment.)

Then, last Sunday, Mikaela was arrested on domestic violence charges. In the wee hours of Sunday morning, Nashville police were called to the home she shares with fiance Chuck Pankow, a professional darts player, after “the couple got into an argument that escalated after Chuck made a “rude” comment about her,” according to an affidavit obtained by The U.S. Sun. “Responding officers noticed a ‘fresh and recent’ injury that left dried blood on Chuck’s hand and called a swollen wrist,” reported the Sun. “Police determined Mikaela was the aggressor after she allegedly made conflicting statements.”

After Mikaela’s release, Pankow told the Sun, “We are both fine. It was a huge misunderstanding. She’s home now.”

There’s no telling yet whether the arrest will have any bearing on Mikaela’s burgeoning career in adult entertainment. But like…wow. What a start! I sincerely hope that things even out for Mikaela and that her rocky start will be the beginning of an upward trajectory where she’ll go on to make lots of safe, sane, consensual—and profitable—adult entertainment! The eyes of the world are surely on her, for better or worse.

Flowers in the rocks photo by Nacho Juarez from Pexels