Jon Hamm’s Adult Past, XMA and GayVN Winners and Demure is All the Way In
This week’s news round-up includes famous celebrities in porn, major award wins at the XMAs and GayVN Awards, behind-the-scenes in the “Silicon Valley of Pornography”, the impact of age verification laws, AI porn deepfake justice and how Demure is coming out on top on more than one occasion.
MODELS:
From Jon Hamm's early days as a set dresser in soft-core porn to Cameron Diaz’s unexpected past video footage, and including notable figures like David Duchovny, Sibel Kekilli, Bella Thorne, Helen Mirren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matt LeBlanc, Jackie Chan, Sasha Grey, Perrey Reeves, Sylvester Stallone, and Dustin Diamond, these celebrities have diverse, surprising histories in the adult industry before their mainstream fame. [Elle]
At the XMAs, Maitland Ward earned Best Lead Acting for "American MILF," while Jewelz Blu and Violet Myers captured Creator of the Year for Clips and Premium Social respectively, with Ariel Demure winning Trans Performer of the Year and Lilly Bell taking Girl/Girl Performer of the Year. [XBIZ]
Brooke Tilli, a Pennsylvania native with a background in mainstream modeling and short film production, is named Penthouse's January 2025 Pet of the Month. [Penthouse]
STUDIOS:
Holly Randall for Best Featurette
At the 2025 XMAs Holly Randall Productions' "Broken Butterfly: The Perfect Shade of Blu" won Best Featurette, Digital Playground's "Project X" took Best Feature Movie, Milfy's "American MILF" earned Best Comedy Movie, and Disruptive Films' "Honeyguide" was awarded Best Gay Feature Movie. [XBIZ]
Prague, known for its lively tourism scene, is rapidly emerging as the "Silicon Valley of Pornography," with The Sun’s Thea Jacobs uncovering the city’s booming adult industry in an exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary. [The Sun]
ForPlay Films founder Inka Winter has appointed Jasmine Sherni as the company's first brand ambassador for her women-led studio that produces erotic short films created from women's perspectives, praising Sherni's ability to connect with people and embody ForPlay's values of consent, creativity, and inclusion. [XBIZ]
INDUSTRY:
As 19 states implement strict age verification laws for porn websites (affecting over a third of Americans), with the Supreme Court set to hear a challenge this week, adult content producer Holly Randall draws a parallel to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, warning that the porn industry can't assume its First Amendment protections are secure. [WJCL]
At the GayVN Awards in Las Vegas on Monday night, Bastian Karim won Best Actor for "The Mafia" (Staghomme/CarnalPlus.com), Ben Rush earned Best Directing for "Bred & Breakfast: All the Way Inn" (NakedSword Originals), and Matthew Ellis was recognized as Best Newcomer. [Queer Me Now]
At this year's XMAs industry awards, AdultTime.com captured Paysite of the Year, LoyalFans earned Creator Platform Company of the Year, VRBangers.com claimed Virtual Reality Site of the Year, and Next by Womanizer was recognized as Best Luxury Pleasure Product. [XBIZ]
Kelly Jane Beach, a reality star and influencer who became an activist after successfully getting AI-generated explicit images of herself removed, highlights the need for new laws that will now criminalize creating and sharing sexually explicit deepfake content. [Channel 4 News]
The year-end Pornhub review revealed a link between viral social media trends and search behavior. The phrase “Hawk Tuah,” coined by Haliey Welch sparked 10 million searches on Pornhub and drove a 233% increase in searches for "spit on d*ck" while a boosted interest in authentic content was reflected in a 133% rise in the search for “demure,” a 92% increase in “ethical porn,” and a shift toward “very mindful” bangs. [Pornhub]
