Arabelle Raphael

Arabelle Raphael (born February 27, 1989)^[1] is a French-American pornographic film actress, former escort, activist, and artist.

Raphael was born in Paris, France, to parents of French, Tunisian, and Iranian-Jewish heritage. When she was five, her family moved to Oakland, California, from Versailles, France.^[2]

Raphael began working in the adult industry in 2010. Her first husband was Danylo Chornyi. Her first jobs in the adult industry were working as a dancer as well as an escort in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[2][3] Her first adult film was c. 2013, for Kink.com.^[2] Early in her career with mainstream companies, Raphael was often subjected to racial stereotypes because of her ethnicity and heritage on both extreme ends, with producers wanting her to portray Middle Eastern belly dancers or make her appear more "white".^[4] Raphael is also known for being heavily tattooed, a feature that is relatively uncommon in mainstream pornography, which also put her in the "alternative" category.^[5] In 2017, she co-directed the film All My Mother's Lovers. Before 2020, she began making her own films for her OnlyFans account and according to The New York Times, her income multiplied sixfold when the website became more popular (as it is highly associated with explicit content);^[6] she moved toward using the website full-time during the global pandemic having built an audience on the platform.^[7] In 2022, she appeared in Manuel Ferrara's Raw 44, part of his Raw series that depicts him and a fellow porn star in an intimate space rather than the typical pornographic film set.^[8]

Per the IAFD, she has appeared in at least 140 films for websites such as Brazzers, Reality Kings, Jules Jordan, Naughty America, Tushy, and Evil Angel.^[1]