CHATSWORTH, Calif. – Allegations of racism on adult video sets arose on Twitter over the July 4 weekend. The heated back-and-forth on the social network prompted stern warnings from both industry trade association Free Speech Coalition and performer health-and-safety organization Adult Performer Advocacy Committee.
“The incidents described have no place in the adult industry, or any industry,” the FSC admonished in a statement. “No worker should be subjected to racist slurs, degradation or verbal abuse on set. It’s appalling in 2017 that we would have to issue a call for respect and equal treatment in regards to a performer’s race.”
The statement also noted FSC has spoken with the offended performer and is gathering more information about the incident, presumably to mediate some sort of truce.
In a related statement, APAC took a similar approach, reminding directors and producers, specifically, that “racially-motivated hiring practices, pay discrepancies and verbal harassment are illegal…
“Minorities across the workforce are protected by several laws, including Title VII, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and state and federal workplace harassment laws,” the APAC statement continued. “Racial harassment in the workplace is a criminal offense. In this regard, production companies are subject to the same laws as other industries and ignore these laws to their own detriment.”
Despite the adult industry comprising one of the most diverse workforces in the world, allegations of racism, sexism and homophobia are nothing new. Performer Aurora Snow tackled the subject in a March 2013 Daily Beast article titled “Interracial Sex Still Taboo for Many Porn Stars.” Snow delivered an insider’s perspective, propped up with input from other industry heavyweights.
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how much racism exists in the porn business, or in our society, for that matter,” Snow wrote. “Consumers are still buying stereotypes. An interracial porn shoot frequently portrays the big black man with the tiny white girl. This remains a popular marketing strategy… Perhaps this isn’t about the industry’s view of race, but that of the customers and the market demand.”
In “James Deen Is Pissed Off About Racism in the Porn Industry,” a September 2015 article in Vice’s Broadly, Deen railed against the financial racism he sees in the industry.
“[T]here are women who have never had sex with a black man on camera and want to be paid $500 extra for it, as if it’s a chore,” he told writer Rachel Bell. “It’s racist and it’s belittling and it’s keeping me from making a good product and it’s hurting good performers…”
The racism discussion began heating up again in January 2017, when Bobby Box penned a post-mortem of the Adult Entertainment Expo entitled “Why The Porn Industry Is Actually Really Racist.” Based on a seminar he attended, Box drew several conclusions:
Ethnic actors are often hired because they can’t afford white ones.
Actors routinely walk off sets because their roles are racist representations.
Ethnic films are given incredibly modest budgets.
Ethnic actresses can’t even play their own race on camera because they’re overlooked in favor of racially ambiguous caucasian women.
Scenes are only called “interracial” when white women are involved.
Only one black actor or actress is allowed in the limelight at any given time.
Then, in February, brief but intense controversy erupted when Exposed Models LA announced it was offering a sale in honor of Black History Month: “February is Black History Month and all of this month our talent will be doing IR BG scenes at their lowest rate,” an email sent to directors, producers and performers stated.
Black performer Ana Foxxx was particularly incensed by the offer.
“You should be ashamed of yourself for this and you know who you are!!” she wrote on Instagram (@foxy_locksy). “This goes for producers who go along with stuff like this. It’s disrespectful on so many levels. I don’t wanna work with anyone who changes their rate to work with someone or of a different race.”
Image: Scene from Blacked.com, a website devoted to interracial porn.
