HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Unlike the inclement weather that greeted last year’s XBIZ Awards ceremony, the storm gods and the porn gods seemingly brokered a truce on Sunday night, parting the looming clouds over Hollywood and mercifully sparing the glitzed-out throng of adult performers and industry figures from an umbrella-mandatory edition of the 2024 XBIZ Awards, the adult industry’s biggest night.
As the crowds of pornaratti strode the red carpet, located on iconic Sunset Boulevard right outside the historic Hollywood Palladium, a battery of illuminating flashes from the assembled media captured them in their swankiest grandeur.
As nominees were interviewed by red carpet host Alexis Fawx, attendees mingled at the newly redesigned Palladium bar, which still retains the old-timey aura that made it a celebrated haunt of spinning swing dancers in the Sinatra generation.
The festive occasion, as is the case every year, lent itself to meeting new friends, encountering online pals IRL, and getting to socialize with fellow performers minus the pressures that come with having to deliver a great scene — or make small talk in the buff.
After the crowd was ushered into the Palladium ballroom, transformed into a marvelous awards venue to rival any similar mainstream event, the lights dimmed and it was time for XBIZ’s signature rock rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” along with porn’s version of the pledge of allegiance, an invitation to inclusivity and pride for the entire community.
Dazzling the capacity crowd of industry grandees were the evening’s hosts: incumbent XBIZ Performer of the Year Cherie DeVille in a flawless golden va-va-voom gown, and reigning Trans Performer of the Year Emma Rose, living out her every princess fantasy complete with flowing blue-and-white dress and glittering tiara.
DeVille offered a super-inclusive welcome: “Ladies, gentlemen, nonbinary whores, dominant daddies and my personal favorite, stepsons across the globe!”
The hosts then flirted with each other, exchanging increasingly heated bits of salacious banter.
“Good girl,” DeVille cooed, to which Rose responded, “Thank you, Mommy!” — only to be gently chided that she should have said “Stepmommy” because “Mastercard might be watching.”
“I am the very first-ever trans host of the XBIZ Awards!” Rose proudly announced.
“Yes, a trans icon hosting the XBIZ Awards!” DeVille confirmed. “It is fucking delicious and I think we should all be giving it up for Emma right now.” The crowd obliged with a massive ovation, as Rose twirled in delight.
Both hosts reiterated the theme of championing inclusivity in the industry — one of XBIZ’s chief stated missions in the community.
“We love every single person in this room, am I right?” DeVille asked the audience, who assented enthusiastically.
“All genders, races, sizes and ages — 18-plus, of course!” Rose added.
“Damn straight, Emma,” DeVille said.
“And damn gay, and bi and pan, and every damn color of the rainbow, baby!” Rose retorted.
Lead-off presenters Kendra Sunderland, in a pink minidress with pearl appliqués, and Nicole Doshi, in transparent metallic grey, announced the award for Performer Showcase of the Year, which went to “Influence: Vanna Bardot.”
Barely clad in what was quite possibly the least fabric-onerous garment of the entire evening, Bardot took to the stage to accept the award for her ambitious five-part all-anal crossover showcase in collaboration with Vixen Media Group. She thanked VMG’s Mike Miller and Mike Moz for giving her the opportunity to show the world what she is capable of, director Derek Dozer and screenwriter Kayden Kross, and the award voters for recognizing all of the hard work that went into “Influence.”
“And thank you to every performer in this showcase who fucked my ass!” she concluded.
Doshi and Sunderland next announced the category Best Sex Scene in a Performer Showcase. The winner was a group scene in Brazzers exclusive Luna Star’s spy-themed vehicle “Seduce and Destroy,” co-starring Mick Blue, Damon Dice and Oliver Flynn.
The curvaceous Star, wearing a skintight sparkling bodysuit and escorted onstage by the always debonair Blue, thanked Brazzers, her co-stars and agent Mark Spiegler, and reflected on the sexual acrobatics of the winning scene.
“It was this crazy position I had never done before,” she revealed. “We did so many crazy things to make this happen!”
The next presenters were Demi Sutra and Kimmy Granger, both in minidresses, who announced the winner for Featurette of the Year. The trophy went to the makers of labor-of-love short “Hopeless,” a carefully crafted piece of filmmaking produced by Holly Randall, written and directed by Jeffrey John Hart and starring Casey Calvert and Lumi Ray as star-crossed friends and lovers.
Visibly stunned, industry veteran Randall told the audience she had never won an award before.
“However, as much as I would love to take credit for this movie, it was this man’s dream,” she declared, pointing at Hart. “This was a grassroots production. It was completely self-produced. So many amazing people here worked for free. Jeff wrote, directed, shot, edited, scored everything.”
Hart thanked Calvert and Codey Steele — both onstage trying to FaceTime Ray, who was in Paris — as well as Ivy Wolfe and the production crew.
“We want to make another movie, so hit up Holly!” Hart encouraged the applauding attendees.
Steele, in a suitably star-studded suit, left the stage — only to quickly make his way back after Sutra and Granger announced that the award for Best Sex Scene in a Featurette went to his tryst with Anna Claire Clouds in Pure Taboo’s stepfamily-themed “Polar Opposites.”
“Thank you so much to Cody for fucking the shit out of me,” Clouds declared. “It was so much fun!” She also thanked the studio for letting the pair improvise their dialogue and collaborate on the scene, and her agency, OC Modeling. Steele thanked his scene partner in turn, and also singled out for praise the work of “Polar Opposites” director Seth Gamble.
The next awards were introduced by Britney Amber, Leana Lovings and TruKait, all shining examples of the ever-growing population of performers who are also independent creators. They first presented the award for Creator Site of the Year to Fansly.
“It’s been a really intense few years of building this platform for you guys,” said the company’s director of marketing, Leah. “We’re so proud to represent loudly and proudly sex work and we just love you guys! We’ve tripled our staff in the last year. We want to keep coming in and fucking kicking ass and taking names for you guys. Come yell at us. We want to hear your feedback. We want to hear what you love and what you hate. Thank you for having us. We appreciate you!”
Next, the Freemium Cam Site of the Year trophy went to Chaturbate, which sent several of its most prominent broadcasters up onstage to accept it.
“I’ve personally been camming on Chaturbate for almost nine years now,” said Alex Coal. “It’s how I got my start in the industry.”
“I love everything about it!” added Mya Malone.
Real-life besties Romi Rain and Charlotte Stokely presented the award for Best Gonzo Sex Scene to the Manuel Ferrara-centric reverse gangbang “Take Me to Your Breeder,” starring Blake Blossom, Kendra Sunderland, Angela White and Angel Youngs.
“One word: boobs!” said Blossom, as Sunderland giddily giggled.
“Three words,” White corrected. “Big natural boobs!”
The trio thanked Brazzers, director Lea Lexis and Youngs, who was unable to be present at the show.
“And of course, thank you to Manuel Ferrara for fucking us so well,” White added.
“Would love to have a good time with them,” Stokely deadpanned as the boobie-ful trio left the stage. It was then time for the industry’s favorite Sapphic blonde, resplendent in a Marilyn-worthy gold gown, to announce the winner in her very own signature category: Best All-Girl Sex Scene.
“I think I know a thing or two about girls,” Stokely ad-libbed, before proceeding to passionately make out with gal pal Rain, which set the whole Palladium hootin’ and hollerin’.
The winners were Penny Barber and Serene Siren, for their brunette-blonde pair-up “Through My Window” for AllHerLuv.
Barber accepted the award for the duo, thanking publicist Erika Icon — as well as her husband, for sacrificing everything to support her.
“I would not be here without you, baby!” she proclaimed. “Thank you so much. And later, if you want to spit in my face while I hold the trophy, that’s cool with me. Or if any of you ladies onstage want to spit in my face, that’s cool too. I love pussy!”
Afficionados and afficionadas of ample bosoms were once again in luck as Lily Lou and Abigaiil Morris, awards-night outfits struggling to contain their exuberant figures, took the stage to present the award for Best Career-First Performance Sex Scene.
The winner was Lilly Bell, for her work alongside co-stars Richard Mann, Jax Slayher, Hollywood Cash, Jamie Knoxx, Don Sudan and King Frank in the Blacked gangbang “People Pleaser.”
“This is crazy!” an overwhelmed and newly brunette Bell told the audience as she held up the trophy. Bell thanked her family, Ricky Greenwood, her publicist and agent Mark Spiegler, then said, “I remember sitting in my room at home in Portland and being like, ‘I wonder if I’ll ever win one of these.’ And now I’m standing right here. I went through a lot this year, medically, but this is just… everything. It’s just major.
“And all the beautiful men that fucked me!” she added. “I can’t wait to do another gangbang where I get fucked in my ass.”
Next came one of the evening’s most celebrated moments, as beloved industry multi-hyphenate and newly anointed XBIZ Award-winning producer Holly Randall returned to the stage to present one of XBIZ’s rarest accolades, the Pioneer Award, to someone very near and dear to her.
“This past week, I was honored with a request to be a part of a women directors panel at XBIZ LA,” Randall began. “I got to share the stage with some really incredible and inspiring women, people whom I consider to be the backbone of the industry today. And as I looked around at my fellow panelists, reflecting on how it wasn’t always this way, it made me think about the person I’m here to honor today, and everything that she had to go through to become a success story.
“She began as the first female staff photographer at Playboy in the mid-1970s, moved to a contract with Hustler and eventually branched out to shoot for all the top men’s magazines, and direct some movies of her own. Imagine a world where you are essentially the only female working behind the scenes in an industry run by men, most of whom do not want you there. It was in this world, in the face of some pretty unimaginable misogyny, that this woman clawed her way to the top with a mix of talent, charm and a whole lot of guts.
“This woman has been an incredible source of inspiration to me — I’m going to cry — and I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for her. Not only because she so graciously let me ride in on her coattails, but because I would literally not be on this Earth if it wasn’t for her. And so it is with the utmost pride that I present the Pioneer Award to my mother, Suze Randall.”
A rousing standing ovation followed, as the screens displayed a montage of images chronicling Suze Randall’s storied career. The very-much still dynamic, take-no-prisoners icon then took to the stage to deliver a stirring speech full of her trademark irreverence, raunch and inspirational delight.
“Wow, what can I say?” the elder Randall began. “I was very lucky. These days, the women rule. It’s amazing. But in those days, I had to kick the men’s asses. I liked it! Because if you’re brave and you’re a woman, you can fuck ’em both ways.”
The crowd — most of whom had not even been born during Randall’s heyday but who nevertheless had been fangirling and fanboying all over her before the ceremony — went wild with cheers.
“I was very lucky, and luckily I fought with all the big boys,” she continued. “They threw me out and I ended up shooting for myself. So when the internet came around, I was the only photographer who owned her own pictures, so I guess bad behavior is a good thing.” More cheers. “I wish I could still behave badly, but I’m having to behave now because of my daughter.”
Randall also thanked her husband and business partner, Humphry Knipe, who passed away a year ago, for being “such a perv.”
”He made me do everything, and he edited everything,” Randall explained. “I just shot and had fun. If it wasn’t for him, I’d still be a nurse!”
“We love you, Dad, and we miss you!” Holly Randall concluded as she walked her mother, the pioneer, offstage as the audience gave them another standing ovation.
Hosts DeVille and Rose, both sporting an outfit change, returned for more saucy banter, reminding the audience that the industry is a pretty amazing community.
“Being in adult, it’s kind of like being in community theater, but with smaller outfits, smaller scripts and a lot bigger…” Rose quipped, leaving the rest to the audience’s imagination.
The next presenters, Regan Foxx and Natassia Dreams, in skintight black and pink respectively, announced the category Vignette Movie of the Year. The award went to the Brazzers comedy “MILFS Take Miami,” starring a trio of the category’s top stars: Alexis Fawx, Natasha Nice and CJ Miles.
“Let’s go, Miami!” the stars cheered.
After exhorting the crowd to amp up their energy, Dreams announced the winners for Best Vignette Sex Scene: Vicki Chase, Dan Damage, Alex Jones and Richard Mann, for their airtight scene in Deeper’s “Mouths of Babes Part 2.”
Chase thanked her scene partners for “rocking her holes,” and Deeper creator Kayden Kross for her “talent and brilliance.”
“It was a very long day, but we got through it,” Jones added. “I think the three of us got a lot closer that day and became good friends.”
Kazumi and Jewelz Blu presented the award for Best Trans Sex Scene, which went to Brittney Kade and Dante Colle for their scene in Digital Playground’s post-apocalyptic “Wasteland Ultra” — and then for Best Sex Scene in a Feature Movie, which went to the ambitious orgy scene that is the centerpiece of Dorcel’s “Climax 3.”
Several of the “Climax 3” group scene performers, including Alexis Tae, Lilly Bell, Kira Noir, Maya Woulfe, Nathan Bronson, Alex Jones and Isiah Maxwell, came onstage.
“This is so cool!” Tae enthused. “Five years in, my first XBIZ Award — and it’s for literally my favorite thing ever, which is an orgy. I want to thank all of these hot people who fucked me, and also Kira Noir for doing anal that day when we were all supposed to!”
Noir thanked her agents and director Ricky Greenwood.
“And all these people behind me that I got to taste!” she added.
Bell offered, “It was amazing being the center of attention and getting all the cum on me, and having all those beautiful people that I got to have sex with this year. I got to have so many great sex scenes, and this one was one of them. I remember thinking that this would be a highlight that I’ll always look back on.”
“I wish I could do it again with all of you!” Maxwell added.
Next up were cosmopolitan stunners Bridgette B and Cherry Kiss, to announce the Best Lead Acting award. The honor in this highly competitive category was bestowed upon Nicole Kitt for ERIKALUST’s period piece “Ashford Manor,” directed by Inka Winters.
Kitt, who is active on both side of the Atlantic and also won the 2023 XBIZ Europas award for Best Acting, thanked Winter and Lust for giving her the showcases that enabled her transcontinental back-to-back accolades.
The next category announced was Director of the Year — Body of Work (Narrative). The winner was Ricky Greenwood.
Dapper in a blue velvet blazer, Greenwood thanked publicist Erika Icon and the studios he worked for, including Digital Playground, Adult Time, Dorcel and Model Media. He then added, “Yes, I get the award for best director but I can’t do anything without my crew: Matty Holder, Manny, Shawn, Andy, Carrie, Dante, everybody else here. You do a great job and you help me be great. I love you guys!”
Multi-XBIZ-Award winners Kira Noir and Jane Wilde presented the award for Gay Feature of the Year. The winner was “For You I Will,” a Disruptive Films production directed by the powerhouse team of Siouxsie Q, Michael Vegas and Jessica Jasmin.
The pair thanked leads Dante Colle and Carter Woods, as well as the writing and production teams. Jasmin then joined them to thank studio mastermind Bree Mills.
“She believed in me,” Jasmin said. “She believed in me and she gave me this project. So thank you, Bree. Thank you for giving me Disruptive.”
The Gay Performer of the Year award went to Derek Kage, who joked, “The ‘Gay Twitter’ haters are going to just lose their shit over this!” He then thanked “every studio every director, performer, producer, all the way to the PAs.”
“Without y’all, I would not be standing here,” Kage declared. “I also want to thank the fans, and I definitely want to take this opportunity to thank the Free Speech Coalition. They are on the front lines, fighting the battles that keep us able to do what we do, so donate to them. Become a member, become a patron!”
Melissa Stratton, in an Ava Gardner-esque red gown, and Kayley Gunner, evoking Gina Lollobrigida in shimmering pink, announced the Girl/Girl Performer of the Year category and nominees.
The winner was the statuesque Giselle Blanco, who radiated her signature warmth in an emotional speech about how much she loves “pussy and fucking beautiful people.”
“Beautiful women and nonbinary people!” she said. “I wasn’t expecting this. I’m on my period. I’m so emotional right now!”
After thanking her agents, Blanco acknowledged the many beautiful women she has gotten to work with during the past year. “
You guys are fucking incredible!” she said. “I love the taste of each and every one of you.”
The title of MILF Performer of the Year went to Lauren Phillips, sporting the evening’s most dramatic makeup and hair design, perfectly merging glam and goth sensibilities.
The Adult Time ambassador and veteran performer thanked her agents at Nexxxt Level and her publicist, Erika Icon.
“I want to thank everyone I’ve worked with,” she added, before addressing the whole room. “And I want to thank my porn family, because you guys are the ones that I care about the most and you’re my community.”
Aubrey Kate and Skye Blue presented the trophy for Trans Movie of the Year to Transfixed’s runaway hit “Office Ms. Conduct.”
Jane Wilde and Kira Noir held the applause until co-star Ariel Demure — in a vintage-inspired look that evoked the Palladium’s historic heyday — made her way onstage.
“We’re grateful, we’re here, we’re present,” Demure told the crowd, before touching upon a truth now proved many times over: “And I’m not going to talk anymore about how trans sells!”
Co-director Suzie Q thanked Adult Time and Bree Mills, to which Michael Vegas added, “Go watch this movie, you will laugh hysterically the entire time! It is so good.”
Kate then presented the award for Trans Performer of the Year, with the title going to none other than the evening’s co-host and reigning holder of the title, Emma Rose, whom the stage announcer declared the current undisputed “Queen of Trans,” now officially a two-years-in-a-row, back-to-back winner.
“I put my blood, sweat and tears — and cum! — all over this year,” said an exhilarated Rose. She thanked publicist Lainie Speiser, then added, “It’s been an amazing year. I thought 2022 was crazy, but 2023 has been even crazier — and I cannot wait to see what I do for 2024!”
Siri Dahl, in a skintight cream number, and Blake Blossom, sheathed in brown vinyl with a front-side slit up to “there,” presented the award for Cam Model of the Year to globe-trotting industry and fan favorite Chloe Wildd.
“I started camming three years ago, and I’m so honored to be here today,” Wildd, in midriff-baring white, told the audience. “I want to thank my fans for being the best ones ever. I want to thank Chaturbate for being such a great platform and giving me the opportunity to be myself and realize my dream. And I want to thank my husband for being with me since Day 1 — always my biggest fan.”
Dahl and Blossom next presented the award for Clip Artist of the Year to collab royalty couple Hailey Rose and Max Fills.
“We started this a year ago,” said Rose. “I never imagined myself standing onstage. I’ve had the most amazing time meeting all of you and becoming friends with so many people. I love you. Thanks for letting me be a crazy slut online and supporting it!”
“Shout out to both our families for being supportive,” Fills added. “I love everyone here!”
“Future collab!” Blossom quipped at the lovey-dovey couple, before moving on to the category of Premium Social Media Star of the Year. That trophy went to America’s Top Waifu herself, popular creator and performer Violet Myers, who had left the Palladium temporarily to go home and feed her cats, and therefore accepted the award via a cellphone that Dahl held up to the mic, to the cheers and delight of the audience.
Brand-new winner Vicky Chase and evergreen icon Jennifer White teamed up to announce the award for Feature Movie of the Year, which went to “Influence: Vanna Bardot.”
“I’m so glad I can be up on the stage with my co-star Vicky Chase,” Bardot said. “This movie means so fucking much to me! It’s inspired by my life, but it’s also very crazy. Just so much hard work went into this movie, two weeks straight-up of just nonstop anal, acting — just craziness, and I couldn’t be more thankful.”
Then it was time for the final stretch, as White announced XBIZ’s Best New Performer of 2024. The winner was multimedia creative artist Queenie Sateen, who also enjoys thriving careers as a musician, fashion model and all-around style icon.
“Holy shit, this is so surreal!” a stunned Sateen, impeccable as always in a fashion-forward light-pink gown, told the Palladium. “I’m just a weird bitch from New York. I was in a cult disco band, but to be winning an award for anything is insane to me. Thank you to all the people I fucked this year! I’m in shock.”
It was now down to the traditional final three categories. Alexis Fawx presented the Male Performer of the Year award to the prolific Zac Wild, known for being held in high regard by his scene partners. Wild’s acceptance speech was a veritable tour de force.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” he began, with the deliberate, breathless cadences of an auctioneer or a revival preacher. “This was seriously the last thing I expected. How much time do I have? Not enough time to thank all the people in here! The people who love me, the people who hate me. Ladies and gentlemen, I was picked out of an ocean of dicks dying to get into this industry in 2018. I had been told by every scout and agency for 10 years from 2008 to 2018 that I would never make it. ‘You’re not big enough. You’re not tall enough. You don’t have enough hair. Your dick’s not big enough.’ I am so grateful for this.”
Wild then recited, from memory, Rudyard Kipling’s famous inspirational poem “If,” in its entirety, all the way from “If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, / If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you …” down to the final “If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, / If all men count with you, but none too much; / If you can fill the unforgiving minute / With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, / Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, / And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!”
“That was amazing,” Fawx said, giving voice to the whole audience’s reaction, before moving on to the next main event: Female Performer of the Year.
In a crowded field of worthy candidates, an unquestionably deserving Vanna Bardot won this top accolade — for the second year in a row.
“I really don’t know what to say!” Bardot admitted. “Thank you for recognizing all the hard work I put in this past year. It was one of the biggest years of my life, with some of the biggest projects I think I’ll ever do.”
Finally, Deeper star, bestselling author, Fleshlight girl and 2022 XBIZ Performer of the Year Maitland Ward took the stage to reveal the night’s topmost accolade.
The all-inclusive Performer of the Year, Ward said — creating a crescendo of suspense to cap off the show — was someone who went above and beyond the call of stardom.
“To be Performer of the Year,” she noted, “means to not only be prolific, delivering high-impact scenes. It also means to be an entrepreneur, a community figure and a role model who exemplifies what it means to be on top of one’s game. It’s all about uplifting the community, innovating and evolving adult to be a better and brighter future.”
The person embodying those qualities, whom she then crowned as 2024 XBIZ Performer of the Year, was Seth Gamble.
“I was not expecting this at all!” Gamble said.
After graciously acknowledging the many female performers with whom he has worked — virtually every starlet in the business — as well as wife Kenzie Taylor, his production crews and associates, companies like Gamma, Wicked, Adult Time and his own new studio, LucidFlix, plus his many mentors, Gamble concluded by saying, “I just want to keep making great work and I just want to make great things with you guys. Thank you so much! I love every single one of you. I love this industry and I want to just keep seeing it get better. Let’s keep making this industry better, please.”
And with that, this year’s XBIZ Awards became one for the books, providing a fittingly inspiring start to a sure-to-be-epic 2024.
