C. Jay Cox [he/him] is a Los Angeles-based screenwriter, playwright, and director. After a successful public reading, he is currently workshopping his original three act play SENTIENCE for it's first performance in Spring 2025. Most recently, his film Latter Days celebrated it's 20th anniversary with a special reunion screening for the "Back to the Drive" campaign, a fundraising initiative that serves to support Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library and their Stonewall National Education Project. 

C. Jay lives in Los Angeles, where he often builds random things, tends to his koi pond, and cooks a lot of fresh pasta.

Contact   |   Instagram: cjaycox62   |   Youtube: @writemcowboy

I was recently the victim of a brutal scam that targeted me as an older gay man in the entertainment industry. This gang wrongfully accuses their victims of pedophilia by filming them with men in their 20s and then after-the-fact claiming the men are minors. While the outcome of the scam is embarrassing, it was a consensual encounter between two adults, and there was no illegal behavior of any kind – at least not for me. I have the receipts to back up my narrative, with screenshots of our conversation including his photo, as well as his social media posts showing various adult-aged birthdays.

I'm sharing the details of what happened so other people can protect themselves from similar assaults. This type of scam is popular with conspiracy theorists hellbent on spreading disinformation that Hollywood is full of men and women exploiting children. Sadly, these scammers have a huge following and a fast-growing number of victims, some of whom I've been in touch with.

Here's what happened: I was approached on a legitimate gay dating app by a 23-year-old man, who sent me many pictures. Each one showed quite clearly that he is obviously a man in his twenties. He also stated multiple times that he was of age. After a couple of very flirtatious days online, he invited me to come to his place to enact his fantasy of role-playing with an older man.

I arrived at a house I later learned was equipped with hidden cameras. Almost immediately, the leader of the scam emerged from another room with 10 other people, some impersonating police officers. They accused me of meeting up with a 15-year-old boy – an utterly ridiculous lie. They subsequently used intimidation, theft, and threats of physical harm if I did not comply with their demands.

Since I refused, they smeared me online and sought to ruin my reputation. They sent the illegally obtained video taken with the hidden cameras to all my family, friends, and business colleagues on my social media accounts. The scammers also sent the video to their network of online trolls and bots who disseminated it even more widely.

A subsequent internet search of the ringleader and his gang revealed that scamming and threatening innocent older gay men like me is the true nature of their enterprise, and they've been quite successful. The "game show" I refused to be part of can best be described as torture porn, which they apparently monetize.

Even though I did nothing wrong, this blatant hoax won their battle and managed to hurt my reputation. The Gersh Agency, where I have been a loyal client for 28 years, dropped me without so much as a phone call, or email. This is the insidious nature of this type of false allegation: it doesn't matter if it is an obvious lie – the result of a flagrant scam, for once a person has been tarred with that label, they are instantly too toxic for most companies, employers and many people to associate with

But as I deal with all of the public shame, loss of livelihood, and deep uncertainty about my future, I am taking action. I have been in touch with law enforcement, and am pressing local authorities to bring criminal charges against these scammers.

If there is an upside to any of this, it is the fierce devotion from my kids, the unwavering support from my manager, and the love that has been expressed by family and friends. I refuse to let an extortion ring that exploits innocent people for "likes" define who I am, and hope you will not let it shape your view of me as well.

— C. Jay Cox

Biography

C. Jay grew up in Eastern Nevada and made his first film when he was eight years old (a two-minute film noir called Vampire Cave). Growing up, he continued writing and creating short films. He graduated with a BA in Journalism from Brigham Young University. He then moved to Los Angeles (where he currently lives) and worked as an actor, performance artist, photographer and other jobs. He began making video shorts, industrial films and documentaries. After he wrote his screenplay for The Thing in Bob's Garage in 1998, he was given a number of jobs rewriting other people's screenplays. His own screenplay, Sweet Home Alabama, became a box office hit when the film, starring Reese Witherspoon, was released in 2002. His next film Latter Days, which he wrote and directed, won him several audience awards at film festivals. The title Latter Days refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His familiarity with the subject matter came from his upbringing as a fifth-generation Mormon. When he moved to Los Angeles he came out as gay. The film is not autobiographical, but it is deeply personal. He directed and produced the 2008 film Kiss the Bride, starring Tori Spelling, and is a screenwriter for the 2009 film New in Town, starring Renée Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr. He mentioned in a 2004 interview that some of his idols are James L. Brooks, Sydney Pollack and Billy Wilder.