January 27, 2024 |
2024 GayVN Awards Crown Kings of Porn |
LAS VEGASâFour years ago, a burgeoning performer with less than a year of content under his belt graced the stage as a trophy presenter at the GayVN Awards, soaking in the atmosphere as his name was just beginning to take off. Last night, he came full circle by returning to claim the big prizeâwinning Performer of the Year at the 2024 GayVN Awards and cementing his status as one of the industryâs all-time greats. Having since redefined the business and what the term âporn starâ means, he is now so famous he doesnât even need a last name. Fans across the globe instantly know who âRhyheimâ is. Just donât tell him that. âI hate that you all are making me stand up here by myself,â said Rhyheim Shabazz, the humble icon smiling through his own discomfort talking about himself all alone on stage. âSo first let me give credit to everyone in Brazil, because the guys down there, if it were not for them, I would not be up here. They know who they are. I just want them to know that I love them and thank them very much. I thank my assistant Adam, I thank my boyfriend Elijah (Zayne), thank my camera guys, (director) Alternativa, EyeFilmzâ¦and I would just like to thank GayVN and all the performers that worked with me. I hate this. Thank you!â Shabazz then quicky picked up two more wins as he was doing interviews and taking photos with his hardware behind the curtain. At the same time on stage, his fan-voted award wins for Favorite Creator Site Star and Favorite All-Male Creator Collab (with Zayne and Matthew Ellis) were announced, capping a stellar night. But he was still just interested in spreading the love to everyone else backstage. âThis is a lot of appreciation for the people I got to work with. Itâs a lot of appreciation for as far as Iâve come from being a content creator who didnât show his face to where I am now, a lot of appreciation to the industry and GayVN. This is all just so crazy. God, youâre gonna make me talk about myself,â he laughed in anticipation of more questions. âHonestly, I acknowledge it, but again, I really like to keep the focus on the people that I work withâbecause I always feel like as long as you keep yourself humble, you stay grounded and you keep growing. When you think youâre âthe shit,â I feel like thatâs when you stop growing, thatâs when you stop climbing.â That was one of many emotional moments of the night on the world-famous Strip in Las Vegas, where acclaimed entertainer Alec Mapa returned for his sixth-straight year (and eighth overall) to host the biggest night in gay porn. He was joined by co-host Cade Maddox, the 2020 GayVN Performer of the Yearâironically, the same year Shabazz was a trophy presenter. Rhyheim was first backstage when the Best Group Scene winner was announced, as his NakedSword X Rhyheim effort Blame it on Rio took the prize for the popular âBeau Butler Gang Bangâ that paired the bottom with Blessed Boy, Gabriel Coimbra, Marcelo Caiazzo, Markin Wolf, Gael, Samuel Hodecker, Grande Simões, Andy Rodrigues and Alex Rossoâwith Butler the only performer from the scene in attendance. âI have to take all of that in my luggage to Brazil? Customs is gonna kill me!â Shabazz laughed when he saw all of the performer trophies backstage, then expressed his appreciation for the collaborationâwhich was the first of many with NakedSword. âLiterally, we kind of had beef, me and Falcon | NakedSword, because I thought they didnât like me. But Beau came to Brazil, we had a conversation and he introduced me to the NakedSword team, and itâs been all love since. The things they have taught me, invaluable. Itâs been one of my greatest experiences. Theyâve helped introduce these performers to a new audience, so credit to NakedSword and the Falcon team.â Trenton Ducati was backstage with them, noting the studio was âreally honored to have Beau on the team because he introduced us and really made this project happen, and weâre so thankful for this opportunity to work with all these guys.â Chimed in Butler: âI really look up to both of these men so much, so itâs an honor.â âYouâre a beast on your own!â complimented Shabazz. âWell, it takes one to know one,â countered the equally humble Butler. âIt was amazing. I wish all those guys from Brazil could be here, because theyâre such hard workers, and theyâre the nicest fucking people youâll ever meet, literally. Theyâre all my friends to this day. Iâm so happyâitâs my favorite scene Iâve ever done, and my first ever onscreen gang-bang. Thereâs never been a gang-bang like that.â Meanwhile, the tears were flowing for performer Derek Kage, who picked up two big wins: Best Newcomer and Best Actor (for Raging Stallionâs Overdrive). âIt feels really fucking goodâitâs like total validation. Iâm exactly where I need to be,â he said early in the night after picking up his first win. âIt was the busiest year of my life, and Iâm coming from a really bad place and a really dark time in my life to now, being the Best Newcomer (along with other industry awards). Itâs the best possible rebound and best possible comeback from a bad time in my life, and Iâm just so fucking happy.â Backstage later in the evening, Kage needed a minute to compose himself as the weight of his second win sunk in, covering his eyes with his hand to wipe away the tears. A hug from a stranger backstage helped him release the emotion. âAlright, Iâm hereâ¦Iâm here,â he said as he centered himself. âIâm so incredibly happy. I am so grateful to everybody on the Falcon/Raging Stallion team that believed in me and had me in mind when they created this film. So itâs an award for them as well. Because of them, I was able to do this. I spoke with (writer/co-director) Ben Rush at length about what we wanted for this characterâand so well before we even started filming, I was well-prepared. We discussed how to deliver certain lines, certain mannerisms, even facial expressions. Probably for two weeks we went over and over certain things that I needed to do.â Overdrive was another big winner of the night, picking up awards for Best Supporting Actor (Paul Wagner) and Best Feature. Backstage, Rush reflected on why the horror/thriller connected so well with fans. âThe horror audience and the gay audience, thereâs a huge overlap. Many people attribute that to the fact that in a horror film, thereâs always that underdog, that person who has to survive, has to make it out against all oddsâwhich is what many of us have had to live through as gay people growing up. So what I wanted to do was mix the genres and address something that could be scary in real lifeâso I didnât want a wolf, I didnât want a phantom, I didnât want a zombie. I wanted something that we all actually worry about. You know, we get in a (ride-share) car, we donât know who weâre getting in a car with. We have somebody deliver something to our house, we donât know who that person is. They know our address, they know our phone number, so I felt like it would be something that people would connect to on more than one level.â Rush also had praise for his award-winning cast. âDerek was the perfect leadâI wrote it for him. And there was definitely chemistry between Paul and Derek that seemed to transcend the production. They both really turned it out and killed it, no pun intended. Well, pun intended I guess!â Rush laughed. âDerek showed true commitment; he had to be there every single day of shooting, he was there from morning to night, going over the script. He was so committed to doing it, and Paul the same. He flew in specifically for this movie, and it was a little bit of a comeback for him in terms of a narrative feature. I wanted to make it worth his while, and I think we did that.â Wagner was not in attendance, but reached afterward noted, âWow, thatâs awesome. Iâm super happy, and thanks to everyoneâmy scene partners Derek and Sean (Xavier), the studio and the crewâand especially the fans!â It was Raging Stallionâs second win in a row for Best Feature after taking the prize for Ride or Die last year. Rush noted how committed the Falcon | NakedSword team is to keeping the feature format alive in an era of changing content creation and consumption formats. âItâs very important in terms of normalizing sexuality, which is such a human thing. When we can put it in a context, a format, some kind of package of entertainment that allows people to see what they enjoy sexually in a real-world environment or circumstanceâitâs important that people have that relatability.â But there was an upset in the Best Director (Feature) category when Overdrive didnât win the anticipated trophy. Co-director Rush had to cede control of the honorâ¦to himself. He won for Raging Stallionâs Guilty as Sin, which he co-directed with Tony Dimarco. âIâm really disappointed in myself on one hand, and Iâm thrilled for myself on the other,â Rush smiled. âI love both movies. Both were labors of love with amazing casts, so itâs a little hard to have to pick. So Iâm glad GayVN did it for us.â Directors Jake Jaxson, Raphael Massicotte and RJ Sebastian were also repeat winners. Last year Jaxson and Sebastian won for their feature Love Happens, while Massicotte directed the Best Featurette winner (âUnder the Neon Skyâ) in the categoryâs debut year. This year, all three picked up a trophy for Best Director (Non-Feature) with the CockyBoys/RandyBlue collaboration Boys Will Be Boys. âI kind of grew up with RandyBlue before I became a porn director, so it has always sort of been the gold standard for me, along with BelAmi. When Davyd Dixon asked for some help resurrecting it, I was like, âPlease!â It sort of brought me back to when I was âlittleâ,â Jaxson laughed. âAnd I had worked with Raphael on another project and asked him to come help, because we just have a vibe and a way of going with the flowâand it just worked. In my mind, (he) is the future of the porn business.â The project brought popular performers Diego Sans and Andrew Stark back to RandyBlue, delighting fans. âIt was my first scene with Diego, and I feel very grateful to have had that opportunity through that filmâ¦it was amazing,â Massicotte shared. Added Jaxson: âAndrew was once again someone I had a crush on growing up, and I told Davyd that we should bring some of these (RandyBlue) guys back. I looked Andrew up and heâs an airbrush artist. I called him, and he was like, âReally? You think?â And I was like, âYes, this would be huge!â And I told him I wanted to include his art in the project, and that was the thing that finally got him into it. I think the world of him. Heâs a gentle giant, because he looks like he would rip your head off,â Jaxson laughs. âHeâs a sweet guy.â It was an emotional night for another RandyBlue veteran: 2023 GayVN Performer of the Year Roman Todd was back on stage this year, picking up a win for Best Bi Sex Scene with WhyNotBiâs âCall Center Cocksâ (also starring Finn Harding and Izzy Wilde). âIt feels great,â Todd exhaled backstage. âI was not expecting to win anything this yearâ¦itâs crazy! This past year was a tough one, especially at the end of the year. I was going through a lotâmy biological mother passed away, and then Iâm in the middle of a divorce. Iâm just looking to better my life and my career. Itâs definitely been a good year for me so far; 2024 has been a blessing, and Iâve met so many good people in Vegas since moving back here. Itâs the start of a new chapter in my life, honestly.â Todd reflected on how his life changed since his win last year, as he has arguably had the best two years ever of his long career. âIt just totally blew my mind winning Performer of the Year; it was totally unexpected, but it did feel great to be recognized. And being No. 1 in AEBN for male performer, that just blew my mind away. I donât give myself enough credit sometimes, I really donât,â he said. âI started off very much gay-for-pay for RandyBlue, but Iâve always been bisexual, so Iâve since embraced that and been more comfortable with my sexuality and being open with myself and my fans. Because of that, my performances have gotten better. I stopped being shy, and definitely just let it go. Ever since then, itâs been the ride of my lifeâespecially the last two years, itâs been crazy. âI did not expect to win this tonight, and it makes me feel good being recognized for something that just started in the last year-and-a-half, especially since I am bisexual and have this award now. Not having Finn and Izzy here kind of sucks. Iâm also missing P-Manâ¦he had surgery and is recovering, and he would have loved to have seen this.â Another former GayVN Performer of the Year had a memorable night, as Maddox picked up two fan-voted wins for Favorite Body and Favorite Topâadding to his massive trophy case (he also has three Best Cock wins, another Best Body trophy, and the inaugural Favorite Porn Star Creator from last year). But it was his co-hosting duties that proved to be the most rewarding. âIt was a lot easier than I thought. Iâve gone into clubs and hosted little events like that sometimes, but nothing like this. I told Tony (Rios, CEO of AVN Media Network) yes immediately on the phone. Iâve been asked to do other award shows before but turned them down because I just didnât feel like it was my time, or that I was ready for it. But this time when Tony asked, I felt like it was time to step out of the box. Working with Alec was amazingâthatâs one of the reasons I said yes. He makes it so easy. And the fan awards feel greatâit never feels less amazing to win awards. Itâs a great feeling, especially when itâs fan voted.â Another double winner was Spikey Dee. His first win was for Best Fetish Scene (for Men.comâs âSelf-Sucking Twink Is Packing Largeâ), which he shared with Joey Millsâwho was more excited to see Dee win his very first award than he was for himself. âThis means a lot,â Dee said with breathless excitement. â2023 has been amazing. Iâve met so many nice people, and Iâm just so excited. I had a great time filming this. Joeyâs amazing. Itâs really important to build a friendship with everyone you meet. Itâs not just work; I really do like to get to know who Iâm working with and really connect with that person, because it makes the experience a lot better.â Mills was pleasantly surprised with the win, and noted he has learned to enjoy these moments more. âThis has very much been a year of reflection for me. This was the first year I kind of took a step back and really appreciated the work that Iâve done in the industry, and it took a second to realize, âOh, I actually have done this!â With me starting to branch out into kink in the last few months, itâs really cool to win this one. I get a lot of comments about this scene.â Dee was backstage again later with his win for Best Duo Scene (in Helixâs âBig Cock Swapâ), which he shared with Silas Brooksâa Trophy Boy who was already on stage. âDamn, Iâm a Trophy Boy and now we have the fucking trophyâ¦hell yeah! I wanna thank Helix and GayVN for hosting me as a Trophy Boy. This is funâ¦scary, but fun.â And Dee was still in shock from his huge night. âThis has been an amazing year. Oh my God, I canât believe I got into porn. I enjoy it so much; itâs what I love to do. My heart is beating so fast. This is a good night, this is a good year! I feel amazingâmy hard work paid off. Silas is amazing to work with. We did a really good collab before, and weâre already good friends. This scene is really awesomeâwe killed it. It was so much fun.â Brooks had little time to savor his hardware backstage as he was quickly pulled into his Trophy Boy duties with his peers Heath Halo, Dex Devall and Zacc Andrews. âThis was super fun, but it was a little nerve-wracking,â smiled Halo at the end of the night. âTo be up there and see all these pretty people looking up at you is nerve-wracking, but it was a blast. My buddy Cole Connor won a (fan) award; heâs a trip. I loved his acceptance speechâit was very him. Seeing Beau win so many things, Iâm proud of him. Those were good moments for me, seeing my friends win.â The joy was also apparent early in the evening on Noah Whiteâs face when the Best Three-Way Sex Scene winner was announced. He jumped to the stage when the Gaycest/CarnalPlus effort âThe Professor: Meeting the Assistantâ was announced, joined by co-star Cole Blue (Adam Snow was not in attendance) and Carnal owner Legrand Wolfâwho asked writer/directors Foxtrot and Brian Fitzgibbons to join them on stage. âThis award actually deserves to be given to them as wellâthis award belongs to this group of people,â said Wolf. âThis is a huge deal for us.â Fitzgibbons was humbled on stage, receiving an added round of applause as he shared: âThis has always been my dream, to be a part of porn. Iâve only been doing it for a couple of years, and this is the first time weâve received an award for the work weâve done, so weâre really excited about that, so thank you.â The celebration continued backstage, where White was still soaking it in. âIt means a lot. Itâs my first award, and Iâm so excited to have been able to come on board, and the whole experienceâto be able to travel the country and do something new and exciting that youâve never been able to do before, and be recognized for something that youâve tried so hard for and that you really care about, itâs just amazing.â Added co-director/writer Foxtrot: âIt reminds me of being in college; I got to re-live some sort of 21-year-old fantasies of mine, so it was fun to be able to do that.â âFor CarnalPlus, it really matters,â added Wolf. âPeople are paying attention, and weâre creating really great shit. Our team is making this, they are putting it out thereâthey wrote this, and they were the ones that co-directed it, and they made magic, absolute magic. It matters a lot for us.â Jayden Marcos was another excited first-time winner, picking up the trophy for Best Actor â Featurette in the Disruptive Films/ASGMax effort âMarriage Material.â âIâm shaking,â laughed the performer backstage. âThis is absolutely insane. I didnât expect to win anything, so the fact that I got this is truly amazing. I enjoy these story-driven scenes and getting the opportunity to play these characters, and this kind of shows me that everyone else seems to enjoy them alsoâand that really means a lot. Calvin (Banks) was such an amazing person to work with, and all the crew from ASG has always been fantastic.â BelAmi picked up the win for Best All-Sex Movie for Deep Blue: A Greek Adventure, with cast member Helmut Huxley in attendance to accept the award. âOur group is really tight and everybody works well together. I have just a lot of good memories from this shoot, and itâs really a great pleasure to win this award. Itâs always beautiful to come together at events like GayVNs with people who love this job and can share experiences, share some memories and even collaborate on future projects.â BelAmi was also in the spotlight when COO Stuart Davis was inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame, the executive emotional onstage as his voice trembled in front of the appreciative crowd. âI feel very privileged to be part of this dynamic, resilient and very inclusive industry. Iâm very lucky that I stumbled into this work about 20 years ago, and Iâm very happy to still be here now today. In addition to George (Duroy) and everybody at BelAmi, I really want to like to say thanks to all the people who work behind the scenes to bring our art form to life: editors, programmers, designers, and everyday elseâand especially the performers, whose talent our whole industry is built on.â Davis was still emotional backstage, the weight of the moment evident on his face, âIâm very nervous,â he smiled. âIâm used to being only behind the scenes, not in front of the camera and in a spotlight.â Also inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame was Michael âShanteâ Youens, an art department and talent relations industry veteran who passed away two months ago. He was honored on stage by colleagues and friends Sister Roma, Ch Chi LaRue and Ethylina Canne. Dante Colle and Jkab Ethan Daleâs Icon Male scene from Kinky Scenarios won Best Featurette, with Colle picking up more hardware with his fan award for Favorite Versatile. In other fan-voted GayVN Awards, Butler picked up his second trophy of the night with his win for Favorite Bear. Another double winner was Drake Von, who claimed Favorite Cock and Favorite Twink: âItâs amazingâ¦Iâm so grateful to my fans for pushing through and getting me those awards, Iâm so happy. Iâm having such a good time here this week; itâs been great.â Legrand Wolf repeated as Favorite Daddy, while Colby Chambers and Mickey Knox repeated as Favorite Cam/Creator Couple. Clark Reid won Favorite Newcomer, while Felix Fox won Favorite Bottom and Alejo Ospina had the Favorite Butt. Noah Way won Favorite FTM Star, while Favorite Cam Guy was Cole Connorâkeeping his winning streak alive after his Best Leading Actor win last year and his Best Newcomer win in 2022. âCAM4 approached me with an opportunity to be one of their influencers, so I did some shows for them. It was a new experience for me. I donât like camming by myself, so I always had guestsâmy friends and other creators, I have them over and weâd do a show. This was the first fan award that Iâve gotten, so itâs really nice.â Like Maddox and Von, Austin Wolf was another double winner in the fan-voted categories, winning Favorite Dom and Favorite Porn Star Creatorâan impressive second year in a row winning two, having picked up Favorite Body and the first-ever Favorite Creator Site Star trophy last year. âEspecially the creator one feels great. Iâve been in this industry for 13 years, and thereâs been a constant evolution of the way things are going, and the one thing we have to remember is that we have to recognize the people in the industry and outside the industry who got us here. And saying that, I just want to thank the fansâbut you notice I didnât say âme,â I said âwe.â I donât make solo content, so I have to thank everybody here because Iâm pretty sure Iâve made videos with almost all of them,â Wolf laughed amid the crowd after the show. The veteran then addressed the growth of the content creator awards, now in their second year of existence: âHaving to have awards for it, I donât think is importantâitâs nice, and I dig that the rest of the industry is recognizing our work in that realm. But weâre gonna keep doing what weâre doing either way, and itâs not gonna stop growingâso you can ether get on board or get out of our way, one or the other.â Wolf could be seen congratulating Shabazz in the crowd afterward, the two titans striking quite an impression side by side as they shared smiles and kind words. âThis is the third one (Shabazz has) been to, and in the beginning we had to push him towards it a little bitâand heâs now embraced it so much,â Wolf said. âAnd me and my team, we saw this coming a long time ago. We knew this was going to happenâhe is going to be a Performer of the Year at some point. That is hands-down exactly what we thought it should be, and exactly who should have gotten the award this year. I donât think Iâve ever been more happy for a Performer of the Year at any award show Iâve ever been to.â But asked about his Favorite All-Male Creator Collab win, Shabazz was once again only interested in complimenting his co-stars. âLet me say this: Matthew Ellis is probably the content creator that I am most impressed with since I started my journey in this industry, because even my collaboration with him, I think I was so exhausted because I had just gotten back from Brazil. But I remember I had promised him a collab, and I hate canceling on people. And it ended up being an amazing collab, and now itâs an amazing friendship and working relationship.â As for his future, Shabazz is hoping to grow his recently launched membership site Voyr (hosted by parent company Aylo)âwhose purpose perfectly encapsulates the performerâs encouraging, giving nature. âI wanted to create a studio that focused on promoting content creators and allowing them to create contentâand also teach them to create content thatâs not necessarily more professional, but kind of more presentable than the usual homemade porn thatâs put on the internet. I also want to do more with NakedSword because I love them; and also to work with all the other studios. For me, itâs about teaching the studios that you donât have to be in competition with each other, you can work together.â And as he ponders his own future, Shabazz envisions one where he isnât in front of the camera. âYou can at some time hopefully expect Rhyheimâs retirement from performing in the industry,â he laughs, sounding uncertain about when that will specifically be, but hinting it could be in 2024. âHopefully, Rhyheim goes into full producer mode soon.â For the complete winners list, click here. For photo galleries, click here. Photography by Toby Acuna
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