The Top Ten Adult Entertainment-Related Stories of 2018

It’s safe to say 2018 was an unusual year in news, regardless of which subjects one chooses to focus on in the last twelve months. Part of the strangeness lay in it being a year when claims of “fake news!” seemed to ring out daily – not just regarding stories which clearly were literally fake, but also stories which appeared to be true, but were simply disfavored by the person(s) who were subject of the reporting.

Below are ten of the most significant adult entertainment-related stories of 2018, as chosen by the YNOT editorial staff. Naturally, many readers will disagree both with the topics chosen and the order in which they’re ranked – this isn’t a math problem, after all, or a trivia question with a single correct answer.

In any event, we hope recalling these stories sparks interesting discussion and useful reflection on the year which has just passed.

#10: Kink Sells the Armory – While Kink ceased producing content inside the historic Mission District Armory in 2017, reports of the company selling the building didn’t surface until February of this year. The sale was big news not just because it was the culmination of Kink’s relocation out of San Francisco, but due to the sizable price tag (a reported $65 million) and what the relocation itself represented. As Kink owner Peter Ackworth said of leaving the Armory, “It’s the end of an era.”

#9: Deepfakes – While the AI-driven form of fake celeb porn has yet to take serious root in the commercial porn industry (and may never, given the potential legal landmine of right of publicity claims which could arise from such content), Deepfakes set a lot of media outlets afire in 2018 – especially VICE.

#8: Porn as a “Public Health Hazard” – For once, Utah can say it was ahead of its time. When the state passed a nonbinding resolution declaring porn a public health hazard in 2016, it began something of a miniature trend which appears likely to continue. Last year saw Florida and Kansas follow Utah’s lead – and one gets the feeling we’ll see more states pass similar resolutions in the year to come. While the resolutions are not laws and change nothing in terms of the regulation of adult content, many observers consider them harbingers of anti-porn statutes to come.

#7: Adult-Focused Cryptocurrency – For years, early adopters and enthusiasts have been touting the natural synergy between the adult industry and cryptocurrency. In 2018, several new adult-focused tokens emerged, moved ahead with previously announced plans and/or struck significant deals.

#6: The UK’s Age Verification Measures – Although the implementation of the UK’s age-verification protocols won’t arrive until April 2019, the revelation in November that the measure may be extended to include social media sites considerably expands the impact of the measure. It remains to be seen if other European countries will adopt age-verification requirements like the UK’s – but there’s no doubt companies are lining up to provide age-verification services, regardless of what additional markets may someday require such by law.

#5: Social media porn-tolerance shrinkage – Most social media platforms have never been particularly adult content-friendly, but 2018 saw the number which do the tolerate the presence of erotica dwindle further still. Just last month, Tumblr changed its content policies to ban porn and Facebook – already a place where sexual depictions were almost entirely verboten – tightened its policies on “objectionable content” to disallow all content that “facilitates, encourages or coordinates sexual encounters between adults.” So far, Twitter has resisted calls to join in the social media world’s porn-prohibition. Will the company continue to do so in the year to come?

#4: SESTA/FOSTA – Although the legislation is positioned as an effort to combat human trafficking, SESTA/FOSTA has impacted the lives of willing, self-directed sex workers as well. Due to its broad scope, the new law has the potential to implicate commercial speech like ads from content producers seeking performing talent, should an eager prosecutor decide to test the outer reaches of the statute’s interpretation.

In July, a group of plaintiffs led by the Woodhull Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit challenging the law. That lawsuit was dismissed, but the dismissal has been appealed. The appeal is now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

#3: Big ruling on 2257 – In August, U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson permanently enjoined the government from enforcing portions of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2257 and 2257A against any producer. While the government has appealed the ruling and it didn’t represent a total victory for the Free Speech Coalition and the broader adult industry, the decision was rightfully hailed as a major win in a long-running battle over the recordkeeping regulations.

“We have been fighting this battle since 2005, at more than $1M in legal costs,” FSC Board Chair Jeffrey Douglas said following Baylson’s ruling. “However great the cost, I can think of no greater argument for supporting a trade organization such as ours. This complex and morality-based regulation has been costing our industry untold millions, and exposed adult producers, performers, affiliates, press and others to broad and biased prosecution by the Federal government.”

#2: Adult performer mental health needs get long overdue attention – It shouldn’t have taken a heartbreaking series of tragic deaths to make it happen. But, at long last, the adult industry, media and porn-watching public appeared to at least start getting the message: There needs to be more support, services and concern for the mental health of adult performers.

Unsurprisingly – and maybe even a little sadly – it was an adult performer who moved quickest to answer the call of her peers. In April, British adult performer Miss Leya announced the launch of Pineapple Support, an organization designed to offer performers 24/7 support without “discrimination, judgment or stigma.”

“What is required is a proactive network where performers have the support they need, realize they are not alone and are reassured that the help is there for them,” Leya said in announcing the launch. “I want to provide a safe place for all performers and hopefully avoid such tragedies from occurring in the future. It is from the current need for such a support system, that Pineapple Support is born.”

Here’s hoping that 2019 sees only an increase in the much-needed support for adult performers – not just from peer-operated organizations like Pineapple, but from all who produce, promote, consume and profit from the content which would not exist without them.

#1: Stormy v. Trump – It’s ironic that the biggest story of the year with a connection to the adult industry is one which doesn’t have much to do with the industry – or with the porn career of the woman at the center of it, for that matter.

Still, when an alleged affair (and subsequent cover-up of it) involving an adult performer results in a guilty plea being entered by the former personal attorney to the sitting President of the United states – and even has at least the potential to unseat the President himself – it’s hard to argue there was a bigger adult-related story in 2018.

It’s also a story which has been rich in its twists and turns. It has included valuable legal lessons, the filing of ill-advised lawsuits, laughable denials which strained credulity, the abandonment of an NDA by the same parties which previously had argued it should be strictly enforced and more than a few instances of alleged highly questionable lawyering.

2018 is now behind us, but the ongoing saga of Stormy v. Trump is far from over. Among other things, there’s Michael Avenatti’s (likely unwise) appeal of the award of attorney’s fees to Trump in the now-dismissed defamation case and the open question of whether Stormy will be awarded such fees in the NDA case.

Of course, the biggest question to arise from the case is one which could shake the country at its political core: Will the presidency of Donald Trump fall over campaign finance charges?

Simply put, there’s never been an adult entertainment-related story which led to a question of this magnitude – making Stormy v. Trump the clear #1 in our year-end countdown.