Scott A. Weiss source

On the night of Wednesday, June 30, 2021, the body of adult entertainment industry performer Dahlia Sky was found in her car in the Devonshire area of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was 31 years old.

The LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner confirmed her death was indeed a suicide, and the LAPD agreed. “Based upon the evidence and the investigation, everything we saw from the moment the officers got there, there’s no indication of any evidence of foul play,” said LAPD investigator Dave Peteque. “We concur with the coroner’s findings.”

Sky, born Melissa Sims-Hayes, was a veteran performer with more than 600 credits to her name and had been battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer and depression, something she regularly posted about on social media. “I’m devastated to hear of (Dahlia’s) passing,” tweeted 2015 AVN industry performer of the year award winner Annika Albrite. “She was my first real friend in this industry. This hit too close to home. It could be any of us next. Depression is a bitch & something many battle w/ every day.”

Sky’s suicide comes on the heels of the death of another industry performer who ironically shared the same stage name as her. On June 10, 2021, 27-year-old Dakota Skye was found dead by her husband at a motorhome in Los Angeles, a victim of what appeared to be suicide. As people close to her would soon reveal, Skye, born Lauren Scott, had been battling alcohol and fentanyl addiction, and was the recent victim of a “cyber-bullying” campaign targeting her after she made the questionable choice to post on social media an image of herself standing next to a George Floyd mural, topless.

Skye’s aunt Linda Arden told The Sun that the adult film actress was found “with nothing. All she had was a plastic bag with some clothes.” Arden also said that Skye had battled demons all of her life, and “was a product of a highly dysfunctional family involving drugs, alcohol, physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse.”

Death by suicide after an apparent cyber-bullying campaign targeting a porn star is not new to the industry. In December 2017, 23 year-old August Ames, born Mercedes Grabowski in Canada, was found hanging from a tree in a park in Camarillo, California. Ames, who struggled with depression and had made an attempt on her own life only a few months prior, had drawn criticism in the weeks leading up to her death for publicizing her decision to not participate in a scene with Jaxton Wheeler, a male performer who had been known to do male-on-male scenes. Labeled “homophobic” by some of her peers, including Wheeler, who suggested she “take a cyanide pill” or retract her statements, the online trolling proved to be too much for Ames, who left behind a suicide letter outlining her struggles.

Add those names to the growing list of famous porn stars who took their own lives and what starts to emerge is a troubling statistic that adult entertainment industry performers are killing themselves at an alarming rate.

Emma Hix, a popular performer and close friend of Ames up until her death, believes what is happening to her friends and colleagues is a reflection of a problem that goes beyond the adult entertainment industry. “I don’t think it’s necessarily just porn stars committing suicide,” she says.” The suicide rate has gone up drastically, but when a porn star commits suicide, the news spreads like wildfire.” According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Leading Causes of Death Report, in 2019, suicide was the second leading cause of death in the United States among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34, and from 1999 to 2019, the total age-adjusted suicide rate increased 35.2% from 10.5 per 100,000 to 13.9 per 100,000. Though official numbers have not yet been recorded for 2020, a year in which Americans experienced unprecedented medical and economic challenges, preliminary estimates suggest that the U.S. had 2,677 fewer suicide deaths in 2020 than in 2019, a 5.6% decline, according to an analysis of government data published in the medical journal JAMA. While that statistic may provide some relief, it’s hard to ignore the 35% historical increase over a 20 year period.

Academic scholars around the country have been working tirelessly to try and identify the causes of the spike. In the opinion of Jean Twenge, a social psychologist at San Diego State University who wrote about teenage suicide for the Washington Post in 2017, “all signs point to the screen.” According to Twenge, teens who spend five or more hours per day online were 71 percent more likely than those spending just one hour per day to have at least one suicide risk factor. In the cases of August Ames and Dakota Skye, both victims of aggressive cyberbullying who simply couldn’t shake their social media habit, there exists a clear link between their screen time habits and the decision to take their own lives. But for the 47,511 people in the US who took their own lives in 2019, social media addiction may have only been part of the problem.

Other possible factors include untreated depression, drug use, or a combination of both. In an article published by the American Journal of Psychiatry, Michael Esang, M.B.B.Ch., M.P.H., and Saeed Ahmed, M.D. site research concluding that “90% of people who die by suicide have one or more concomitant psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, unipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia or anxiety disorders.” When combined with substance use disorders, according to the research, the risk of suicide increases further, with the prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts among patients with alcohol use disorder and bipolar disorder reported to be between 21% and 42%, for example.

Does that mean that many, if not most of the women who choose to enter into a career in the adult entertainment industry suffer from one or more of these afflictions? Cheri DeVille, a 42-year old veteran performer, wrote about her experiences for the Daily Beast in the midst of last year’s pandemic. “Like many porn stars,” she writes, “I would likely be dealing with mental health even if I wasn’t a sex worker during the pandemic.” She goes on to share the details of her bouts with anxiety, dating back to childhood. “The disease — and it is a disease―runs in my family. Some families fight genetic heart conditions; others tackle anxiety. I have succeeded in porn both despite and because of my mental health problems.”

While many performers bring their mental health and/or drug and alcohol abuse problems with them to the adult entertainment industry; some develop symptoms as a direct result of working in a business known for its often punishing and stressful working environment, where discrimination, exploitation, and outright abuse is often tolerated. Shelley “Roxy” Luben, a one-time performer who left the industry to start the Pink Cross Foundation, a faith-based organization designed to provide outreach and evangelism to performers and support to those wishing to leave the industry, was vocal about her belief that working in porn causes irreparable physical and psychological harm to performers. Lubben, who died in 2019 of unknown causes at age 50, had battled drug and alcohol dependency problems of her own both in and out of the industry, had stated that the sex acts women perform on film sets are physically harmful (including anal and uterine hemorrhaging), and psychologically traumatizing.

Many who decide to get out of the business and try to lead a civilian life often find that transition difficult, if not impossible. Gauge (real name Elizabeth Deans), a popular performer who started working in the industry at age 18 and racked up over 140 credits before leaving the business in 2005, attempted several “legitimate” careers, and even went to school to become a surgical tech. Forced to change jobs multiple times after someone would inadvertently recognize her, she eventually returned to the industry at age 33, unable to generate the kind of financial support for her family working outside of porn that she could get working in it.

At every job you apply for you will either have to disclose your background, or hide your past and prove yourself, hoping when the truth comes out you will be kept on,” Cindi Loftus, the editor of porn website Luke Is Back, told Salon Magazine in 2013. This inability to reinvent yourself once you’ve become established in the adult entertainment industry could be a big reason why so many performers stay working in the business, despite the risks to their mental and physical health. It could also be a contributing factor to the high number of suicides amongst performers.

At a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 2011, researcher Igor Galynker presented his theory that “a state of mind of intolerable anxiety, overwhelming negative emotions, and frantic hopelessness that influence people to act on suicidal thoughts. Galynker and his colleagues created a “Suicide Trigger Scale”, designed to measure the reactions of at-risk individuals when asked if they feel “trapped”, like their “head could explode from too many thoughts”, or if “there is no exit” and it feels like “the world is closing in around you”. The scale is designed to help prevent more suicides, but it only works if a friend or family member can get through to someone in trouble. And even then, there’s only so much they can do to stop it.

The family of August Ames knows this all too well. Born Mercedes Grabowski in Canada in 1994, Ames, after taking her own life, left behind a loving mother, father, two brothers, husband, and friends in and out of the industry who adored her. Her older brother James, a lumberman in Edmonton, Alberta, encouraged his sister to come home after her first attempt on her own life, which landed her in the hospital. “I knew she needed to be around people that loved her for her, not for the image she portrayed on screen,” says James. “She was planning to visit me over the Christmas holiday, but unfortunately, that never happened.”

In a statement posted on her website shortly after her death, Ames’ widower, Kevin Moore wrote about the challenges performers who need the most help seek in receiving it. “The performer community does not have adequate access to mental health services. While Mercedes did have professional support that cared about her, it was unnecessarily hard for her to find someone who would treat her,” he said. Part of the problem is a lack of resources. Performer Nikki Hearts told Rolling Stone in an interview shortly after Ames’ death that most performers, both contract and freelance, still lack health insurance or benefits from their employers.

Some performers are taking matters into their own hands. Leya Tanit, a performer in Britain, created a performer hotline, Pineapple Support, after learning about the increasing number of performer suicide in the industry. On its website, the group describes itself as “free support and therapy service for all persons working in the online adult industry — no matter their gender, ethnic origin, social status, age or sexual orientation. We have an ever growing team of sex-worker friendly, kink-aware therapists who offer face-to-face and online video therapy sessions.” The service operates a network of volunteer therapists who provide in-person and online counseling, and funds itself through donations and charitable contributions.

Few would argue that the porn industry is alone in its efforts to battle the increasing number of suicides amongst its performer population. Arthur C. Brooks, a professor of public leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and a bestselling author, wrote about the suicide epidemic in the United States for the Washington Post in 2020. “To turn the tide on this crisis, in addition to better identification and treatment of suicidality, we urgently need to raise public awareness and shift the direction of public opinion on suicide in the United States.” The efforts of people like Brooks appear to be working. In April of this year, President Biden issued a proclamation declaring May, 2021 “National Mental Health Awareness Month.” “Even before COVID-19, the prevalence of mental health conditions in our Nation was on the rise,” the President said in the proclamation. In 2019, nearly 52 million adults experienced some form of mental illness. We must treat this as the public health crisis that it is and reverse this trend.” Only time will tell whether or not this administration takes any meaningful steps to address the crises.

For those struggling with mental health disorders and the people closest to them, James Grabowksi says that what happened to his sister should serve as a cautionary tale. “In hindsight, Mercedes didn’t have the resources she needed to help her get through what she was going through. I wish there was more I could have done for her, and if I could, I’d go back in time and make sure she received the care she needed.”

Hopefully others will heed his advice.

Why porn stars are dying at an alarming rate

By Linda Massarella source

Olivia Lua, a 24-year-old doe-eyed brunette from Philadelphia, was an instant hit when she joined the LA porn scene in 2016.

She shot dozens of scenes for hard-core movies like “Helpless Teens” before being handed a lucrative contract in April 2017 with porn producer LA Direct Models.

Lua — who also went by Olivia Voltaire — described herself as an “exhibitionist” and posted graphic images of herself having sex on social media.

She thrived in her new career, and was nominated last year for Best New Actress at the Adult Video News Awards.

It was when the cameras were off that she fell apart.

“Unlovable,” she wrote on Twitter Jan. 13, three months after LA Direct Models canceled her contract. They later said she had been showing up to work high.

On Jan. 18 — the day before she was found dead of a suspected overdose of drugs and alcohol — she tweeted a picture of herself with the caption: “I feel it everywhere. Nothing scares me anymore.”

Lua was the fifth porn star to die in seven months, with industry officials attributing the tragedies to either suicide or overdoses.

The statistic is shocking, insiders say — but the root of the problem is not. Like the underemployed and unemployed across America, the young women struggled with a lack of steady work.There are now more porn actors than ever, thanks to increasing platforms, as well as growing mainstream acceptance. That makes the competition fierce.

Meanwhile, the pay hasn’t gone up in years. To make any kind of decent money, porn performers have to work a lot — or do super kinky scenes.

Ela Darling, an eight-year veteran of the porn industry and past president of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee, said actresses are paid between $500 to $700 to have sex with another girl and up to $1,000 to get down with a guy.

But the rate can double or triple if a performer is willing to have multiple partners or participate in anal sex or “anything extreme,” she said.

She said the money hasn’t increased, partly because studios say they’re making less profit now, since content is often pirated by streaming sites that show it for free. There also are the “outliers who are happy to accept lower rates,’’ Darling said.Still, she said, high-demand performers can routinely pull in six-figure salaries because they have enough clout to negotiate ownership rights and can rebroadcast footage elsewhere.

 

“When the camera is on, everybody is happy,” said behavioral scientist Gad Saad, a chair at the John Molson School of Business in Montreal, who studies the porn industry.

“The problem is that the work dries up. The phone stops ringing, and they say, ‘Now what?’ Porn stars aren’t the best at making a ‘what if’ plan for their future.”

He insisted that people who enter porn are no more prone to mental issues than anyone else.

In 2012, “the widest study ever conducted . . . showed porn stars did not come from a background of sexual abuse and, in fact, had higher esteem than the normal population,” Saad said.

Darling, 31, agreed.

“Porn is a fine job,” she said. “What’s tough is that it’s freelance. What’s tough is the down periods when you’re alone with yourself, thinking, ‘Will I ever work again?’ ”

Darling said the “feast-or-famine” business — new recruits are often in demand until they’re not — is part of the reason her best friend, January Seraph, killed herself.

Seraph, who hanged herself July 22 in her San Francisco apartment, is considered the first in the rash of deaths.

Seraph, 31, was a star of more than 50 videos with titles such as “Digital Sin” and “Leather Dominance.”

But Darling said Seraph, whom she described as “the sweetest person in the world,” struggled with the lulls and often discussed what to do when producers stopped calling.

“It’s not like you can stop being a porn star and be a teacher. And not being busy can lead to bad things,” Darling said.

APAC President Mia Lia, a veteran sex performer, called the rash of deaths a troubling pattern.

“One death is a lot to deal with, but five? That’s just unheard of,” she said. “We are collectively rattled.”

Yuri Luv was one considered a rock-star veteran of the porn industry. Born Yurizan Beltran in Los Angeles, the buxom brunette worked for eight years and was nominated for several awards, including an XBIZ for “Best Scene — All Girls” for 2014’s “Lesbians Unchained.”

She was featured in 28 movies in 2012 and 22 in 2013, but in 2016, she appeared in just three.

On Dec. 13, Luv’s body was found in her Bellflower, Calif., apartment by her landlord. She was 31.

Nickey Milo, a fellow performer, said pills were found near her bed.

Performer Carmen Valentina told The Post that porn is a rough business to age in.

Valentina, who started her own sex webcam business because she didn’t want to rely on outside producers, is also 31 and constantly struggling to remain relevant.

“When you first get in, everybody loves you, but there are always new girls coming in, and it’s easy to feel discarded. You really have to have your head on straight to get through it,” she said.

Valentina said porn is no different than being a regular movie star where you rely on image — and feel crushed if you don’t get called.

“It’s a career where you have to rely on your looks. When you’re young and pretty, you think it’s going to last forever, but when it doesn’t, that’s when you have to tap your inner strength.”

Like Luv, Adult Hall of Famer Shyla Stylez saw the work dry up as she got older.

Stylez, from Vancouver, moved to the so-called Porn Valley in California after high school to become an adult-film star. She appeared in more than 400 films, including “Perverted Point of View,” before calling it quits in 2016 and going home.

She passed away on Nov. 9 at age 31. Her family would not reveal the specifics.

Fellow adult film star Alana Evans called Stylez a tragic film goddess, like Marilyn Monroe.

She tweeted, “At a loss for words. So sad that my old friend @MsShylaStylez has left us. You were one of the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

August Ames, 23, said on Dec. 3 that she had been “replaced” for a LA Direct films scene the week before, tweeting out what seemed to be a sour-grapes message.

“Whichever (lady) performer is replacing me tomorrow for @EroticaXNews, you’re shooting with a guy who has shot gay porn, just to let cha know,” she wrote.

Ames suddenly found herself being trolled by bullies who accused her of being anti-gay. The Nova Scotia native committed suicide Dec. 6 in her Los Angeles apartment.

Porn queen Jenna Jameson, 43, called Ames’ death “disappointing and tragic.”

“The scariest part of the attacks on @AugustAmesxxx is that they were led by quite a few big females in the adult industry. These women fanned the flames of the trolling against August,” she tweeted.

APAC’s Lia said she had worked with Ames and thought she was “super sweet.” But she added it’s hard for performers to switch to private mode when dealing with family and friends — or social media’s judgment.

“It’s exhausting,” she said.

To compound matters, Lia said many sex workers do not have health insurance and can’t afford to pay for therapy. She and her colleagues have begun distributing a list of affordable “sex positive” mental-health workers as a result.

Saad said the one thing that might help stars is an exit strategy.

“According to the data . . . they’re happy when they get there,” he said. “But when my star starts to dwindle and my body has been used 33,000 times, what do I do? What’s going to happen? They don’t seem to think about that.”

The Average Life Expectancy Of A Porn Star

Rev. Daniel R. Jennings, M.A. source

          The pornographic industry has become a colossal, worldwide business empire. In 2006 revenue from pornography equaled some $97 Billion dollars. In times past pornographic actors were shady characters who kept their real identities secretly under guard. Now, with the growing acceptance of pornography into the mainstream, they are going on the talk show circuits, appearing on network news, publishing best seller biographies and working their way into the idol status that once only traditional actors and sports players held. With their growing acceptance into the mainstream has also come an unprecedented look into the real, day to day lives of the average porn star. While porn stars are quick to defend themselves as average and normal people who have only chosen an “unusual” profession an analysis of their lives shows that porn stars live and die in a completely abnormal way.

          When the deaths of 129 porn stars over a period of roughly 20 years were analyzed it was discovered that porn stars experienced an unusually large number of premature deaths from such causes as drugs, suicide, murder, alcohol abuse, accidental death, and disease. When the death ages of these porn stars were averaged it was discovered that the average life expectancy of a porn star is only 37.43 years whereas the average life expectancy of an American is 78.1 years.

          The following chart was created to demonstrate this. These numbers were not “rigged”. The death of any porn star, regardless of whether they were young or old, was included. Most, however, as the chart shows, died young. After reviewing the chart please scroll down to the bottom for a final message

THIS IS SAD, TURN YOUR LIVES AWAY FROM SIN, FIND GOD AND PEACE PLEASE DO NOT HARM YOURSELF, HEAL YOURSELF WITH GOD AND GOOD THOUGHTS!
JESUS FORGIVES EVERYONE YOU ARE INCLUDED IN THE WORD EVERYONE, JUST WALK AWAY FROM IT! YOU CAN DO IT, GOD IS WAITING! 

Average Life Expectancy Of A Porn Star = 37.43 years

Average Life Expectancy Of An American = 78.1 years

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap. Gal 6:7

The Bible tells us that in one day God struck 23,000 fornicators dead and He is doing the same thing to immoral people today:

Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them

committed, and in one day twenty three thousand fell. 1Co 10:8

Becoming involved with pornography will bring God’s judgment upon you. Learn from the mistake of these men and women and do not allow their fate to become yours.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God

comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. Eph 5:6-7