*Note: This is the eighth and final entry in a series of lists that will reflect on another banner year in the adult industry.

Dec. 16: Best Comeback Performers

Dec. 17: Best Fresh Faces

Dec. 18: Unsung Starlets

Dec. 20: Breakthrough Performers

Dec. 23: Best Adult Ambassadors

Dec. 27: Top 10 Stories of 2024

Dec. 30: Scenes of the Year

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The porn industry gave us plenty of things to watch in 2024.
And also plenty of things to write about.

Whether it was beloved performers capturing awards, politics creating fear and division, or new technology altering the landscape, there seemed to be a fresh hot-button topic every month.

Here are PornCrush’s “Top 10 Stories of 2024”

10. PARTY TIME

No one could complain about a shortage of industry events in 2024, when the number of parties and social gatherings reached its post-COVID peak. AVN brought back its pre-noms party—and also it’s summer “house party”—for the first time since 2019. XBIZ Miami drew rave reviews and the TEAs pre-party (which occurs two nights before the awards show) was lit once again. But there were plenty of other noteworthy shindigs, too. Kazumi—who is known as one of the industry’s elite party hosts—got piped down by Alex Jones at her birthday party in February as hundreds of her friends watched and recorded. Ryan Pownall, who hosts the popular podcast “Pillow Talk with Ryan,” threw multiple high-end parties, the most memorable of which was a Halloween bash that featured oompa loompas and a live orgy. Speaking of Halloween, mega-star Violet Myers hosted an epic soiree sponsored by Vixen while Jones threw a party of his own one week earlier. And the Heaven and Hell party returned to Hollywood. Of course, we’re partial to the Second Annual PornCrush Pool Party, which featured an open bar with margarita machines, killer tacos and quesadillas, and a weed booth—not to mention wet t-shirt, twerk, and bikini contests. Don’t miss version three in 2025.   

9. LEAH GOTTI CAN BOX

It’s natural for people to roll their eyes upon hearing that an influencer or entertainer has been added to the card for a boxing or MMA match. The bouts rarely live up to the hype, as the “celebrity” is ill-prepared, mechanically flawed and usually out of their element. Jake Paul is an obvious exception—and so, too, is Leah Gotti. After a rigorous training schedule that occupied most of her spring and summer, Gotti absolutely annihilated Amber Fields in an Aug. 11 match for DAZN’s X Series 16. Gotti dominated Fields in the opening round and then wobbled her in the second with repeated shots to the head, forcing the referee to stop the fight and declare Gotti the winner. Gotti vowed after the fight to return to the ring, but those plans have been put on a brief hold, as Gotti announced this month that she and her husband are expecting their third child this spring.

8. GANGBANGS BECOME A THING

Getting absolutely railed by a gaggle of super-hung swordsmen used to be something performers saved for a special time in their career—maybe in a showcase or a heavily marketed scene. But in 2024, gang bangs seemed to become normalized, with companies releasing scenes in that genre like never before. AVN and XBIZ were inundated with more pre-noms than ever in the “Best Gangbang” award category. Some of PornCrush’s favorites include Anna Claire Clouds and Alex Grey (both for Jules Jordan),  Coco Lovelock for Blacked, Jennifer White for Evil Angel, Brittney Kade for Gender X, and Liz Jordan for Brazzers.

7. THE AI DEBATE

Adult performers are no strangers to signing model releases that grant companies the right to use their likeness or voice in various forms of media. But in 2024 performers discovered a potentially problematic twist in the fine print of these contracts—clauses that allow companies to also use their images and voices in the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence (AI). With its unprecedented ability to generate realistic human-like voices and images, AI poses a novel and multifaceted challenge not just for the adult industry but for the broader entertainment industry, as well. While AI-driven applications can be a source of amusement and convenience, they can also be used in ways that could infringe upon performers' rights, exploit their likenesses, and disrupt the boundaries of consent. There is undoubtedly a need for a more comprehensive understanding of how AI can and will be used. The technology's potential applications range from simple voice assistants and chatbots to more complex projects like deepfake videos and digital performances by deceased artists. Whether these uses should be considered an extension of traditional media or an entirely new category is undetermined. Performers, who typically sign model releases for specific purposes, often receive additional compensation for each new medium in which their likeness or voice appears. However, when it comes to AI, the landscape is murkier. As model releases are evolving to account for the unique capabilities and consequences of AI-generated content, they may leave performers potentially shortchanged in terms of compensation and control over their likeness. "I don't consider AI to be our enemy,” performer Charlie Forde said. "It creates a really interesting space for porn. However, if companies want to own the likeness for AI, it has to have a time period. And there has to be a clause in there where you’re being paid each time your likeness is being used.”

6. VANNA BARDOT’S AWARD SHOW SWEEP

No performer had a better start to 2024 than Vanna Bardot. The Vixen Angel kicked things off in Hollywood by winning Female Performer of the Year honors from XBIZ for the second straight year. Six days later, she claimed the same honor at the AVN Awards in Las Vegas, where Bardot won four individual trophies overall. Making the AVN honor extra meaningful was that it was presented to her on stage by Codey Steele, her boyfriend to whom she would later become engaged. “It’s just so much more special to me that I got to share this moment with him,” Bardot told AVN. Bardot’s good fortune continued in May when she nabbed Performer of the Year honors at the XRCO awards, making her the first model to pull off the “triple crown” since Emily Willis accomplished the feat in 2021 and 2022. Bardot will enter awards season next month boasting a slew of nominations—including one for Female Performer of the Year—from both AVN and XBIZ.

5. CRAVEN MOOREHEAD SETTLES LAWSUIT, CLEARS NAME; OTHER LEGAL NEWS

For Craven Moorehead, it was never about money. Instead the director sued Gamma Films Group and performer Aria Lee because he was determined to clear his name after Lee accused Moorehead of assaulting her on one of Gamma’s sets in 2019. Moorehead filed a $1 million lawsuit against Gamma in the wake of his contract termination in the summer of 2020. Gamma had initially backed Moorehead in January of that year when Lee went to company executives and accused Moorehead of sexually assaulting her during a break in shooting. According to the lawsuit, after the corporation hired an investigator to look into the claims, Gamma president Karl Bernard informed Moorehead that the probe found “no validity” to Lee’s allegations and that he “had nothing to worry about.” Moorehead continued to work for Gamma for the next five months. But on June 8, 2020—three days after Lee went public with her claims on Twitter—Bernard telephoned Moorehead and informed that, even though he “still did not believe the allegations against him,” he was terminating his contract “due to public backlash.” Moorehead’s case against Gamma was scheduled for trial in May of 2025, but the two sides settled in September. Sources indicate that Moorehead received a substantial sum of money from Gamma but agreed to not discuss the case publicly. He also dropped his separate lawsuit against Lee. “Took 4 years,” Moorehead tweeted, “but I can now move on peacefully and get back to making award-winning scenes and movies without any distractions.”

In other legal news, Phoenix Marie in April sued performer/director Danny D along with Ethical Capital Partners (which owns Aylo) for an incident she alleges occurred on a set in Barcelona in October of 2023. Marie claims D forced her to resume shooting following an emergency incident involving fellow performer Zawaadi, who was rushed to the hospital after taking a bad combination of medications. Marie said the situation left her shaken and distressed, but D insisted she continued to work. D and multiple others who were on set that day insist Marie’s claims are false.

4. HIGH-PROFILE DEATHS ROCK INDUSTRY

A proverbial dark cloud hovered over the AVN Expo on Jan. 25 when news surfaced that porn icon Jesse Jane and her boyfriend had been found dead in Jane’s Oklahoma home one day earlier. Toxicology reports later revealed that the couple died of an accidental drug overdose, as they’d ingested cocaine laced with Fentanyl. Jane was 43. More bad news followed in February when Kagney Linn Karter died in Ohio of a self-inflicted gunshot at age 36. Karter shot more than 1,000 scenes during a career that began in 2008. Police initially suspected foul play upon discovering the body of adult star Sophia Leone in her New Mexico apartment on March 1. But toxicology reports released five months later indicated that Leone died of an accidental overdose. Tragedy struck again in September when surging male performer Jay Hefner was shot and killed while trying to break up a fight in Lincoln, Nebraska. Hefner, who had recently become a father, worked for high-profile studios such as Vixen and Brazzers. The adult community suffered another major hit earlier this month when trans performer Apollo Moon took his own life. Moon’s popularity in the adult community extended through all genres, as he was highly praised for being a great friend and confidant and also for advocating for the trans-masculine community. 

3. AGE VERIFICATION LAWS IMPACT ADULT CONTENT ACCESS IN MULTIPLE STATES

As of June, 19 states imposed laws requiring users to verify that they were 18 years old or older before accessing adult content online. Live in Texas and wanna watched a scene on Vixen or Brazzers? Be prepared to send them a picture of your driver's license .Organizations such as the Free Speech Coalition (FCS) have argued that such laws are unconstitutional and that they impact a user’s right to consume free speech. Plus, many studios also don’t feel comfortable owning images of a subscriber’s driver's license or other personal information a state may require to verify age. PornHub was so opposed to this scenario that it completely cut off access to users in those states. So, yes, if you live in Texas or Arkansas or Alabama or any other of the impacted states, PornHub isn’t even an option. Unless, of course, you set up a VPN, but do your own research on that. Whatever the case, the dwindling access to porn in those states—Florida is up next, by the way—has been a serious hit to the industry and to performers trying to enhance not just their bank accounts but their brands.

2. EMILY WILLIS SUFFERS HEART ATTACK, STATUS REMAINS UNCLEAR

Willis—one of the most successful and popular adult stars in history—was found on Feb. 5 unconscious in her room at an undisclosed drug rehab facility in Malibu and rushed to the hospital. TMZ initially reported that Willis had overdosed but her brother later clarified that Willis— who weighed less than 80 pounds when she checked into the facility—had suffered a heart attack. According to her brother’s posts on a GoFundMe page, Willis was in a vegetative coma for more than a month and feared to be brain dead. She eventually opened her eyes and began to track movements in her room, but she could not move or verbally communicate. This is often referred to as “locked-in syndrome.” Information about Willis has been challenging to come by, as her family restricted visitors before she was eventually transferred to a facility in her native Utah. Her GoFundMe page has generated nearly $100,000, but her brother hasn’t provided an update on that page since May. Willis, who turns 26 on Sunday, won 13 AVN awards from 2020-22. Nine of those trophies came in 2021 when she was named Female Performer of the Year. She remains wildly popular as the 15th-ranked performer on PornHub, where her videos have more than 1 billion views.

1. ELECTION RESULTS SPARK FEAR, CAUSE TENSION WITHIN THE INDUSTRY

While Donald Trump’s landslide win over Kamala Harris may have been celebrated throughout most of the country, it didn’t go over well in Porn Valley. There is a deep concern that the adult industry will be negatively impacted—and maybe even abolished—during the Trump regime. The fear stems from Project 2025, a political initiative aimed to promote conservative and right-wing policies to reshape the federal government and consolidate power. As outlined in a 920-page book—which was written by influential Republicans—Project 2025 envisions sweeping changes to economic and social policies and the federal government and its agencies. One excerpt of the book suggests that pornography “has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.”

Trump has denounced Project 2025, insisting that he hasn’t read and disagrees with many of the bullet points on which he’s been briefed. Still, some of Project 2025’s authors are now members of Trump’s staff and could use their influence to sway the president. Knowing things could get sticky if Trump won, adult community members were vocal in their disdain for Trump leading up to the election. Director/performer Siouxsie Q and photographer Holly Randall spearheaded a #HandsOffMyPorn campaign that raised more than $200,000 that was used for advertisements encouraging adult site subscribers to vote for Harris and warning them that porn may not be allowed if Trump won.

Ultimately, it all went for naught as Trump emerged with a lopsided victory, taking 31 of the 50 states and winning the popular vote.