DALLAS — Dave Rock was certain he’d been pranked.
Back in April, a doe-eyed Texan named Layla Jenner emailed the Motley Models owner and expressed interest in joining the adult industry. But everything about Jenner’s application seemed too good to be true.
Nineteen years old.
Soft ivory skin.
A college degree.
Zero tattoos.
And a tight, toned tushy—easily one of the best Rock had seen in all his years in porn.
“Fake, fake, fake,” Rock muttered as he clicked through the photos attached to Jenner’s resume. She bore a striking resemblance to Emily Willis, AVN’s 2021 Female Performer of the Year. Shades of teenage stars Dakota Tyler and Reina Rae were present, too.
And yet Jenner had no social media presence, nothing on Twitter or Instagram or even Facebook.
“She’s too perfect,” Rock remembers thinking to himself. “This can’t be real.”
Rock assumed the message was sent by “some random dude with pictures of a European girl he found online.” Still, just to be sure, he decided to contact Jenner via FaceTime in her small West Texas town. Within seconds of her appearing on his screen, Rock realized Jenner’s email was far from a hoax.
“She was in sweats, and her hair wasn’t even brushed,” Rock tells PornCrush. “But it was obvious that it was the same gorgeous person from the pictures. We get hundreds of applications, but very few jump out like Layla’s did.”
One week later, Jenner signed with Motley Models. She shot her first scene on May 12—just days after receiving her college diploma.
“The whole thing was insane,” Rock says.
The rest of the adult industry is now experiencing the same level of shock.
Jenner has shot less than 10 scenes since making her debut last month, and only a handful of those have been released. Still, her social media pictures alone have generated a level of buzz in Porn Valley that’s almost unparalleled for a face this fresh.
And while a few people may have snickered at the bold headline Motley attached to its email announcing Jenner’s availability—“The Future of the Adult Industry Has Arrived,” it read—anyone who has come into contact with the brown-eyed beauty realizes the title may not be far-fetched.
That includes veteran performer Isiah Maxwell, who worked with Jenner last month in her second-ever scene.
“I took one look at her,” Maxwell says, “and I immediately thought, ‘Oh wow! She’s everything that everyone wants. The industry is going to love her.’”
While Jenner could certainly ascend to the top of the industry based on looks alone, the qualities that will keep her there extend far beyond her appearance.
Despite her youth and inexperience, Jenner, it turns out, is far more prepared for this moment than most outsiders might expect.
“I’m different from most girls my age,” Jenner tells PornCrush. “I was forced to grow up very fast. I’m not someone that’s going to get taken advantage of.”
She left the vape there by accident—a green, mint-flavored SWFT that her father discovered in the center console of her car.
It was a simple mistake that would’ve led to a scolding, and then forgiveness, for most any high school student.
But for 16-year-old Layla Jenner, the blunder in the fall of 2016 altered the course of her life. She was immediately kicked out of her home following the discovery and forced to leave her car behind. Still, even if her parents would’ve eventually taken her back, Layla didn’t want to go.
“I was actually really happy when it happened,” Layla says. “It was one of the best days of my life.”
Indeed, up until that point, Layla’s childhood had been anything but normal. She was born on an Army base in Fort Riley, Kansas and raised by her stepmother and father, an Iraqi war veteran who would later become a police officer.
The family relocated to a West Texas college town when Layla was seven, and she and her older brother lived under strict rules.
Each day began and ended with a family prayer session. Layla wasn’t allowed to have social media accounts and she had to be in bed at 9 each night. Layla had friends at school, but she was prohibited from socializing with any of them outside of it. Not that she would’ve known how. She said her lack of interaction with others shaped her into “a weird kid, a very awkward girl.”
Layla was also forbidden from shaving her legs or having any piercings. So it made sense that her very first act after getting booted from her home was getting a nose stud.
“Once I got kicked out, I never looked back,” Layla says. “I think my parents assumed I’d derail and go crazy.”
She did the opposite.
Layla—who was only two months into her junior year—enrolled in an alternative school usually reserved for teenage mothers and students with behavioral issues. After an intense two weeks, she’d completed enough coursework to earn her diploma.
One month later—still at age 16—Layla had been accepted into the massive, 35,000-student university in her hometown, taking advantage of a government-funded program that provides free tuition to people who graduate from high school early.
Layla also landed a gig as a traveling CNA, a taxing job that became even more demanding when the pandemic hit shortly after she started in the spring of 2020. For the next three years—at the same time she was juggling college courses—Layla bounced between hospitals, nursing homes and psychiatric wards in West Texas, providing various levels of care for patients stricken with COVID-19 and other ailments.
Layla says a shortage of CNAs in her area during the pandemic caused her to be so in demand that her pay increased by $20 per hour. Eventually, the job became about more than just money.
“So many people were dying,” Layla says. “At one point I heard it was 20 people every six hours. It was happening so fast that they were running out of space for the bodies. People were in there alone. They didn’t have anyone who could come to see them.
“Having them remember my name, or seeing their face light up when I came into the room with a Coke, or to help them in the shower … it made it all worthwhile. These were real people, real events. It put things into a new perspective.”
Layla spent her first three semesters of college living with her brother, who was also a student at the university. As soon as she turned 18 in the summer of 2021, she moved into an apartment of her own. She admits she had a brief, three-month party phase. But eventually, she grew tired of waking up hungover each morning and cut out drinking altogether.
Not to mention, as a pharmaceutical sciences major, she had to reserve her energy for school. Her goal after graduation, she says, was to work in a lab researching potential cures for smallpox.
“If I missed even one class or one day of studying, I’d be fucked for a week,” Layla says.
By the time she was a junior, the course load became so intense and cumbersome that Layla had to cut back on her 12-hour CNA shifts. To earn rent money, she launched an OnlyFans account, posting mostly naked photos and occasional masturbation videos.
She said she’d long been a “super-sexual virgin,” routinely taking nude pictures and showing them off to classmates. After losing her virginity at 17 to her brother’s friend, Layla began a stint of sexual exploration that included a fair share of hookups with guys on campus. At one point she was in a relationship with a female.
"I didn’t know for a long time that I was pretty,” she says. “I never considered myself some crazy-hot babe. I still haven’t fully grasped it. When I was having that phase, I’d have a guy over, and as soon as we were done, I’d say, ‘Can you leave? I like to sleep alone. My dogs sleep in bed with me so you can’t stay the night.’ Hookups were always on my time. You’ve got 30 minutes.
“I don’t like guys who are feminine or submissive. I like masculinity a lot. I have an ex that would’ve given me everything I wanted. But it didn’t work well. I prefer masculine guys.”
As she became more and more comfortable with her sexuality—and with her popularity on OnlyFans and Reddit continuing to soar—Layla began to rethink her future. Yes, she still wanted to work in the medical field at some point in her life, which kept her driven to earn her degree. But before that, she wanted to do something different.
She wanted to go try porn.
Layla hopped on the computer on April 19 and began to research agencies. She came across the Motley Models page and marveled at the photos of beautiful women on the site, many of whom clutched AVN trophies and had resumes filled with accolades and honors.
Then Layla noticed a link in the menu bar: “Join Our Crew”
Without hesitating, she clicked.
Layla Jenner is eating breakfast tacos just after 9 on a Sunday morning in Dallas. It’s May 28, and she’s in town for a friend’s graduation ceremony, a quick stop before she flies to LA for her second wave of studio shoots in Porn Valley.
“Look,” Layla says as she extends her right hand, showing off a fresh manicure. “Gay nails!”
Indeed, the nails on Layla’s middle and ring finger are shorter than the rest, shaved down just above the quick. If any upcoming girl-girl scenes call for digital penetration, she’ll be ready.
“I’m starting to pick up on the little things,” Layla says with a laugh. “I obviously still have a lot to learn, but I think I’ll catch on quickly.”
Jenner is certainly being thrust into the fire, as Motley Models booked her with A-listers right out of the gate.
Her first two scenes (for Exploited College Girls) were filmed in Arizona with Maxwell and Tyler Nixon. Then it was on to Los Angeles, where she took on Jules Jordan and crushed a heavy-dialogue role for a MissaX vignette directed by Scarlett Sage.
The list of luminaries may be impressive to an adult film fanatic. But for Layla—who rarely watches porn—the names hardly register.
“Before this month,” she says, “I didn’t even know who these people were.”
Rock says Jenner’s naïveté about the industry is hardly a hindrance. If anything, it’s the main thing that excites him and assistant Ryan Kona as they begin to plot the next few months of her burgeoning career.
Jenner didn’t even have a Twitter or Instagram account before she entered the industry and is still below 10,000 followers on each platform. Rock has asked Motley social media manager Dre Delevingne to serve as Jenner’s mentor. Delevingne advises Jenner on her customs for OnlyFans and has free rein to post on her other channels to help elevate her fanbase.
“I told Dre, ‘Layla is your project,’” Rock says. “She’s babying her every day, making sure she knows exactly what she’s doing. It takes a village to do something like this, and we’re going to do everything we can to build Layla up.
“It’s rejuvenating for all of us. It’s refreshing to get someone with no social footprint, no bad habits. We’re literally starting from scratch.”
Rock believes Jenner’s potential is limitless. She’s operating without a ceiling. Rock dotes on Jenner’s professionalism and maturity. Her vibe is hardly that of a 19-year-old. When Jenner fell ill with strep throat last week, she immediately went to a doctor and told him what to prescribe.
“She’s got a confidence and a presence that you just don’t see from people her age,” Rock says. “She’s already been through so many life experiences. She witnessed things in those ER rooms that most of us will never see.”
One of Jenner’s biggest selling points, of course, is her appearance.
Jenner, who is part Thai, adheres to a strict skincare routine that keeps her face looking flawless. She’s 100 percent natural and says she has no plans to get implants or tattoos. And while she’s still learning about herself sexually and taking things slow, Jenner says she’s open to trying just about anything in due time.
“I was doing some research and saw that all the big stars are doing anal,” Jenner says. “I told Dre, ‘If I could learn how to do insane anal, I could be huge!’ Dre was like, ‘Oh my God, Dave is going to love you … but you need to wait!’”
Jenner—who stays at Motley Manor when she’s in Los Angeles—says she couldn’t be more appreciative of the way she’s been embraced thus far. Even on days when she’s not shooting for studios, Jenner says her free time is occupied with brainstorming sessions with Delevingne and other models such as Leana Lovings and Kylie Rocket. It’s a family atmosphere, she says, where everyone takes pride in each other’s success.
“They are the kindest people I’ve ever met,” Jenner says. “Their mindset is constantly, ‘Let’s improve. Let’s get better.’ There’s never a lazy moment. It’s awesome to be around. I’ve never met people who are so enthusiastic about lifting each other up and reaching goals.”
Jenner says she plans to make California her permanent home. She’s been house hunting in Woodland Hills and is hopeful to find a place big enough for herself and her three dogs: Ash, Pax and Scooby. She also has a boyfriend, who is Mormon, whom she’s been dating for about a year.
“He’s very supportive,” Jenner says. “He just wants me to be safe.”
And so, with an army of people in her corner, Jenner is ready to embark on her porn journey. Her schedule is filling up quickly, her pictures are all over the internet and her reputation is soaring. Just like that resume she emailed back in April, the adult industry is now well aware that Layla Jenner is no joke.
“I feel like I’m prepared,” Layla says. "With the support I have and the mental mindset I have, I feel like everything is set up for me to succeed. I’ve got a good opportunity here.
“I’m not going to waste it.”
Inlaid videos in this article courtesy of @halstondirector
