LOS ANGELES — Director Nica Noelle and Sean Tompkins, owner of the adult industry blog TRPWL.com, have joined forces to launch a new gay adult news site, PassTheTea.com.
"We've been working on this project for a while," Noelle said. "So it's an exciting day for us."
PassTheTea.com will focus strictly on gay porn news and gossip and will feature original articles and interviews with popular gay performers.
Tompkins said, "Gay fans of TRPWL were always asking me to cover more of the gay side of the industry. So I would try to run some stories here and there, but gay and straight are really two distinct sides of the industry with very different audiences."
Explaining her decision to reach out to Tompkins, Noelle said, "There are a lot of good bloggers in gay porn, but I also saw a void. There are blogs that consist mostly of press releases, and then there are tabloid blogs that get traffic by humiliating performers and creating scandals. I saw a need for a site that doesn't shy away from covering scandal, but also gives the performers a voice and maintains some basic journalistic standards.
"PassTheTea.com's launch includes original interviews with adult stars Brandon Wilde, Billy Santoro, Jaxton Wheeler and Killian James and "roundups" where multiple performers chime in on controversial topics such as "gay for pay" performers. Feature articles explore social topics such as why so many women are fans of gay porn.
"I have direct access to countless performers and gay porn fans because I run (gay porn studio) Icon Male," Noelle said. "I also hear all the gossip, so it will be fun to investigate stories and present an unbiased view."
Noelle also said that Icon Male's parent studio, Mile High Media, "is not involved with" PassTheTea.com and that "Icon Male will be treated the same way as any other studio. That's why we (have) staff several writers: so there's no conflict of interest with stories I might not feel comfortable investigating or writing."
Tompkins said, "The most prominent gay blogs right now seem very anti-industry. PassTheTea.com won't be bashing the industry or performers for the sake of Web hits. When we run an editorial, we'll say it's an editorial. Opinion pieces and news items are two different things.
"In addition to her activities in the adult industry, Noelle freelances for the Huffington Post.
"I was a magazine writer before I came to porn, and I've continued doing freelance journalism throughout my directing career," Noelle said. " So this is a cool way for me to bring my two careers together."
Tompkins said that having some philosophical differences with Noelle will be good for PassTheTea.com.
"I liked the idea of doing this with Nica because we're so different," Tompkins said. "She's a Democrat, I'm not. She's a female, I'm a guy. We don't agree on a lot of things, but that's good because we kind of rein each other in."
Noelle said, "I have so much respect for Sean. He's an adult industry friend, but he's also a badass. You can't control or intimidate him, period. I think our combined skills and perspectives will make for a very unique site."