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Porn’s flashiest night will be a stripped-down affair this year.
Smut giant PornHub has niXXXed celebrity performances at its infamous awards show for 2022 — in favor of giving away the cash it would otherwise have spent on starry musical acts.
In the past, Kanye West, Bad Bunny and Ty Dolla $ign have all appeared at the PornHub Awards, and Bella Thorne was given a special prize in 2019. Director John Waters and reality star Leah McSweeney have also appeared.
But this time around, the site says it’s “giving $1 million directly to models and non-profits” that benefit sex workers.
“This year, for the first time, nominees and winners alike will be receiving a cash prize in
recognition of their achievements; in addition to, of course, the iconic Peter Saville-designed awards statuette,” said a PornHub spokesperson, “We are also thrilled to be further supporting the advocacy efforts of two key wide-reaching organizations within the sex work community. After over two years of digital events and virtual get togethers, our inclination this year was to put more of the Awards budget back into the community instead of spending on another large scale, performance focused event.”
It says donations will be made to SWOP USA, a “national social justice network focused on ending stigma and violence to those in the sex trade through education and advocacy and the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee, “an organization
run by and for adult performers advocating for improved safety and working conditions within the adult entertainment industry.”
Sex star and PornHub model Asa Akira told Page Six, “It’s no secret that the people of our community are some of the most ostracized and ridiculed in the world, and this is an especially scary, disheartening time if you are one of us.”
In the last couple of years, the site has been hit with allegations that it profited from unethical sex videos uploaded by sketchy sources. It responded by removing content from creators that had not been verified by the site.
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