Sen. Ted Cruz's campaign pulls ad featuring adult-film actress

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The actress from Houston with a "colorful" film history was supposed to star in a total six Ted Cruz campaign ads before they were pulled last week.

Amy Lindsay shot six ads last December in Los Angeles. She's in Houston visiting family this week and tells Eyewitness News the reason she has gone public is to clarify the different between an "X" and "R" rating.

"I'm not a "Rated X" person. I've never done anything like that," said Lindsay who has felt compelled to defend her past work.

Her last role was in the Ted Cruz campaign commercials, but it's her early work that's being scrutinized. Lindsay, who lived in Houston from when she was a baby until just after college, has several adult film credits on her resume, in addition to many others in which she's fully clothed.

"I'm absolutely not ashamed," said Lindsay during her first local television interview.

She believes she was an asset for the campaign and that's why she was chosen during an open casting call. The ads were pulled because of her background.

"I can understand from a political side, a conservative side, why they would do it. I don't necessarily agree with it. I was pretty disappointed," Lindsay said.

Cruz's campaign blamed the casting company for not vetting Lindsay's film history. Cruz, himself, was more matter-of-fact.

"It happened that one of the actors who was there had a more colorful film history than we were aware of," Cruz said at a campaign stop in South Carolina on Friday.

But Lindsay's vote counts, too, and what might be surprising is that one of the Republican candidates will get it. She says she believed in the message she was delivering in her lines for Cruz and calls herself fiscally conservative. She likes Donald Trump but the practicing Catholic hasn't ruled out Cruz or the others either.

"There are woman like me who are voting Republican," Lindsay said.

The actress is surprised her acting role has given her a bit of a political platform, even if it's for a short time.

"I think it's going to open some opportunities for me and if it doesn't, what a cool 4 or 5 days we've had," she added with a smile.

The Ted Cruz campaign would not tell us how much scrapping the ads cost them.