Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancer says he was dismissed for doing porn

Jeppe Hansen was a young dancer at the school run by Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, a prestigious company with an international reputation. But online, Hansen sometimes went by a different name: Jett Black, star of videos on a pornography website.

The 22-year-old Hansen, who hails from Denmark, is claiming that the ballet company dismissed him from its school because of his work in pornography and that he was made to sign a letter saying that he was voluntarily withdrawing from the organization.

In a recent interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Hansen said that the company “told me ... they didn’t have any space for me because I did porn.” He has since moved to New York to pursue a full-time career in adult entertainment, according to the report.

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The CBC is hosting an online chat with Hansen on Monday afternoon.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet told the news organization it did not comment on personnel matters. Hansen told the CBC that he first performed for the porn website in February. The site still features videos of Hansen.

“Jett Black has been an artist his entire life,” the site says. “He loves to move his body and perform in front of other people, so you can see why making porn is no different to him.”

On Twitter, Hansen appears to have at least two accounts -- one using his given name and another under Jett Black.

On Monday, the Jett Black account retweeted the CBC story. “To all of you who have followed me all this way are the greatest supporters I could ever ask for,” said Jett Black via Twitter.

The official website for Jett Black states that he studied ballet in various cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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