Close friend (31F) was an escort... my boyfriend (32M) doesn't like that I (30F) am friends with her. Is he being a jerk?

I'll preface this by saying that I live in the US but my home country is somewhere else. My culture really looks down on sex workers, escorts, hostesses, etc, a lot more than Western countries do. Last year, I met a girl at a bar (me crying and drunk in the bathroom after a really bad break up, she helped me clean up, took me outside for air, got me water, talked to me). We really hit it off as friends and since then we have been very close.

She is from the same country as me and confided in me that she used to be a hostess and sometimes escort when she was in her early 20s. She quit, but then she moved to the US in her late 20s and started the lifestyle again because she wasn't making enough money as a server. She had had a rough childhood, had no education or skills, so quick money was addicting for her. She didn't seem to be ashamed to talk about it but I could tell she was getting sad, especially when admitting that she still occasionally works in bars as a "hostess." I was empathetic to her situation and experiences. Not everyone has the opportunities to go to college, get an office job, pay off debt, etc. I told her I didn't judge her for it and our friendship got stronger. Maybe because I was non-judgmental and kind to her, she started to be more open to me, wanting to hang out more, sometimes buying my meals and drinks if we go out, sometimes buys me small presents, like chocolate or socks "because she likes to spoil her friends."

My boyfriend, who I met about 6 months ago, has met her a few times and has expressed to me that he doesn't like her and doesn't like me being friends with her. When asked why, he shares the same judgments my country has - she is a gold-digger, materialistic, manipulative, shady, and uses men. I told him my argument that sometimes people don't have a choice, or they get so deep into the life, they don't have any skills for other jobs. He doesn't care. He thinks that she is being nice to me and buying me things in order to manipulate me into something sinister, possibly even recruiting me
or grooming me into being a hostess with her. He also says he basically doesn't like the way she looks because she has had plastic surgery and is usually very well-dressed and pretty and looks "shady."

I will be the first to admit- I am kind of naive. I have trouble reading people and I usually have no idea if someone is manipulating me until it actually happens. But my boyfriend seems to be coming from a place of pure judgment, not necessarily truth. She has never tried to recruit me. We talk about other things, not work. I also have a career I love and so even if she did try to persuade, I have no interest or need for a side hustle.

Is my boyfriend being a judgmental jerk or is there a need to be cautious? I just honestly can't tell.

TLDR: Friend used to be an escort/hostess. Boyfriend doesn't like her, didn't have a good first impression of her, and thinks she is possibly grooming me. Is he being a jerk or should I be cautious?

Submitted March 01, 2019 at 11:44AM by lovelyday1111 https://ift.tt/2GSNCzH