Kira Nicole Kener (born Stephanie Knain on August 11, 1974 in San Jose, California) is an American pornographic actress. Her father is of Norwegian ancestry and her mother is of Vietnamese ancestry. She has legally changed her name to Kira Kener as well as registering it as a trademark.
As with many hardcore porn stars, Kira began her career in the adult industry as a feature dancer before being approached by Vivid Video in 1999 for her hardcore debut in the film Nurses. She was Penthouse Pet of the Month for December 2002 and also shared the cover of Playboy Magazine in March 2002. She has also been awarded for the best partner by many other porn stars. She was a contributing writer to the book How to Have a XXX Sex Life: The Ultimate Vivid Guide, published in 2004. She is also one of thirty porn-stars featured in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' book, "XXX 30 Porn-Star Portraits". In February 2007, Digital Playground released the DVD "Virtual Sex With Kira Kener".
Kira was under exclusive contract with Vivid from 1999 to 2005. The website that Vivid created with her was its second most popular website as of July 2006.
Kira currently resides in North Carolina and continues to feature dance at clubs across the United States.
In January 2007, a series of PDF files were posted by porn industry gossip Luke Ford detailing various filings made by Kener in a lawsuit against Vivid for wrongful termination, breach of website agreement and federal trademark dilution. The lawsuit included allegations of unsanitary health conditions on a Vivid set and Vivid's disregard for the health and safety of the performers in its films and videos. The suit was settled in April 2007; while terms of the settlement were not disclosed, Ford speculated first that it involved Vivid paying Kener over one million dollars. He subsequently reduced his guess to $300,000.00. However, the terms of the settlement have not been revealed. Ford has also speculated that other former Vivid Girls might sue Vivid Entertainment on grounds similar to those found in Kira's lawsuit.
