External links
- D&E Media
- DukeDollars
- D&E Media Networks at Internet Adult Film Database
- Interview with Donald Vollenweider by Brian Solonge
D&E Media, LLC (also known as DE Multimedia Ltd., [1] DukeDollars, [2] and Exploit It All Media, Inc. [3] ) is a private, limited liability American independent pornographic film company based in East Orange in Essex County, New Jersey. It was founded by Donald Vollenweider, also known as Duke Skywalker, in 2003, and is best known for producing Internet gonzo pornography series centered on erotic humiliation, violence, racial abuse, and rough sex like Facial Abuse, Latina Abuse, and Ghetto Gaggers. [4]
The company has faced serious and repeated accusations of violating performers' consent, i.e. luring models to the filming location on the pretenses of filming a far less severe/violent scene, clearly discussing boundaries and then inflicting severe physical and psychological harm during filming by purposely violating those boundaries. Another model has accused them of purchasing heroin for a model and doing the shoot while she was under the influence of heroin [5] . These allegations, made by performers and industry watchdogs alike, point to a pattern of abuse, coercion, and reputational intimidation that has sparked widespread condemnation within and beyond the adult entertainment industry. [6] [7] [8]
D&E Media was founded in 2003 in New Jersey by Donald Vollenweider, who directs for the company under the name Duke Skywalker. [1] [9] Other directors for D&E Media include Jimmy Hooligan [10] and Just Dave. [2] [11] Ernie Rossi is a booker [12] and recruiter for the company, and listed in the company's copyright violation takedown notices as the CEO. [6] The company's webmaster in 2004 was Mark Tiarra. [13] Sherm Steele was hired on as marketing director and head of affiliate management in October 2004 [14] and was reported to still be with the company in June 2011. [15]
DukeDollars was one of the sponsors of the Players Ball held at the Shelter Pointe Hotel in San Diego during the 2005 Cybernet Expo in April, [16] and acquired a rival company, Evil Genius Cash, in August 2008. [17] The D&E Media series Facial Abuse won in the category "Most Extreme" in RabbitsReviews Best of the Web 2010, [18] and DukeDollars signed on with digital payment processor SegPay in 2012. [19]
Steve Holmes began visiting the sets of the D&E Media series Facial Abuse and Latina Abuse in 2018 and performed in scenes for them for his YouTube docuseries Behind the Porn Scenes. According to Holmes, he wanted to show "a violent rough scene can be totally consensual" and that the casts and crews of such scenes are "all professionals and work as a team." [11]
D&E Media and another company, Criterion Management, were sued by a creditor, Isprime, in April 2019. The case was dismissed by the court without prejudice in December 2020. [20]
Paul Kryscuk, a Neo-Nazi who regularly performed for D&E Media [4] under the name Pauly Harker, including in series that "degrade Black women" [21] like Ghetto Gaggers, [22] was arrested in October 2020 along with other members of a contingent of the Atomwaffen Division [23] that was running guns to raise funds for plotted terrorist attacks like bombing a Northwestern power grid [24] and shooting members of Black Lives Matter. [25] Vollenweider, when reached for comment in 2023 by Tommie McDonald of the podcast Offbeat, denied knowing Kryscuk was a Neo-Nazi. [26]
DukeDollars was one of the sponsors of a three-day webinar hosted by Pineapple Support in Chatsworth, Los Angeles in August 2024. [27]
Many D&E Media series, such as the flagship one, Facial Abuse, are premised around dominant men engaging in erotic humiliation and rough sex with submissive women, who are often subject to being spat on, choking and other forms of erotic asphyxiation, deep-throating and irrumatio-induced vomiting, golden showers and urophagia, impact play like slaps to the body and face, and threats and verbal degradation [1] such as, "Is this how your daddy fucks you? Have you ever felt this degraded? Do you feel like a totally worthless whore now?" [28] Women appear to be in distress and pain and have cried and suffered psychological breakdowns during scenes, though Donald Vollenweider maintains all acts depicted in D&E Media's videos are consensual, are discussed beforehand, and employ precautions such as safewords and non-verbal cues, with Vollenweider asserting, "We are not in the business of hurting people. We pay well, everyone leaves happy." [9]
Multiple D&E Media series focus on race play, with Ghetto Gaggers (established in 2004) [14] featuring White men dominating Black women [29] [30] and Latina Abuse (established in September 2006) [31] featuring White men dominating Latin women. [5] Black on Black Crime (established in 2010) features Black men dominating Black women, [32] while another series, Black Payback, features Black men dominating White women. [33] These series contain race-based insults like "puta" [5] and "dumb White whore" [33] and racial stereotypes, like force-feeding watermelon to Black women. [34]
D&E Media hires amateur and professional actresses, such as Gina Lynn [35] (whose monster truck was sponsored by Facial Abuse and Ghetto Gaggers) [36] and Violet Monroe. [11] Amber Rayne's website, Club Amber Rayne, is a part of the D&E Media network Adult Doorway. [37] Regular male performers for D&E Media include Big Red, [12] Bruno Dickemz, [38] David "Bootleg" Horter, Michael "Gio" Sims, Paul Kryscuk, [6] Sam Cox, Tommy Pistol, and Vaccinated Vandal.
All D&E Media-owned websites besides Black Payback, Facial Abuse, and Radical Jizzlam are split between three networks, Adult Doorway, Ghetto Doorway, and Hardcore Doorway.
Scenes directed by Donald Vollenweider for Human Toilet Bowls, a defunct IncrediPass (also known as IncredibleDollars) website, were released on DVD by Incredible Digital in 2007. [4]
Vanessa Belmond, who did a scene for Latina Abuse in September 2010 under the name Alexa Cruz, said after the shoot, which was directed by Donald Vollenweider and co-starred David Horter and Paul Kryscuk, she looked like she was "beaten up" with injuries that included "red marks all over my body" and "eyes [that] were so swollen that I looked like I had pink eye." According Belmond, before the shoot, a D&E Media employee told her, "You're lucky you're not working for Ghetto Gaggers, we're meaner to the Black girls." [5]
Gina Lynn, in an April 2011 interview with Mike Dickinson of Free Speech Revolution, was queried as to whether she was ever asked to do something on camera she personally felt was "crazy" or caused her to wonder "if it was offensive/legal"; Lynn answered, "Well I did do a scene for Facial Abuse.com and will never do it again. I think that is drawing the line and it's probably only a matter of time until they are looked at." [35]
Clayra Beau, who did a Facial Abuse scene in June 2011, stated while she knew beforehand the shoot, which was directed by Vollenweider, would entail rough sex, she was still taken aback by how violent it was, claiming the irrumatio she was subjected to prevented her from using a safeword while her non-verbal gestures to the male performers, Big Red and Paul Kryscuk, that were supposed to signal for them to stop were ignored, with Beau noting, "I was clawing at their legs and slapping their thighs and they still wouldn't let up." According to Beau, the shoot left her with injuries, but the contract Facial Abuse had her sign had clauses preventing performers from seeking reparations for emotional or physical damages they may incur during a shoot; "Therefore they could literally fuck a girl up for life and she can do nothing about it. It's as close to rape as you can get in consensual porn and puts all pornographers in danger." [28]
Felicity Feline, who did two Facial Abuse scenes in 2015, stated while she knew beforehand the first Facial Abuse shoot would entail rough sex, she was still taken by surprise by how violent, as well as demeaning, it was, calling it a "bomb of physical abuse" in which the director and male performers, Paul Kryscuk and Michael Sims, tried to "break" her by asking her questions like if she was molested as a child or a victim of incest, Feline explaining that, despite this, she did not call for filming to stop because, "If I stopped, I wouldn't get paid." [39] According to Feline, after the second Facial Abuse scene, she was offered a "50/50" website deal by Vollenweider. Feline backed out of the deal, allegedly after Vollenweider had her perform oral sex on him, and claims Vollenweider retaliated by creating the website, felicityfeline.com, anyway, and with it a fake blog, written from Feline's point-of-view, containing provocative statements such as, "I'm Felicity Feline and I enjoy when men completely dominate me as they force their hard cocks down my throat." According to Feline, Vollenweider made numerous demands when she asked him to take the website down, among them her representing his company at Exxxotica Expos, and her doing another Facial Abuse video, as well as a bestiality one in which she would have sex with a German Shepherd. Vollenweider, in response to Feline's allegations, posted behind-the-scenes footage, showcasing things like discussions about safewords and non-verbal "stop" signals, of her second Facial Abuse scene on felicityfeline.com in June 2022. [6]
In July 2016, Gene Ross of AdultFYI reported that Charlie Ann, who agreed to do a Facial Abuse scene, opted out of it at the last minute, having reportedly done so because she was misled by Vollenweider about multiple aspects of the shoot and one for Sperm Suckers. According to Ann, Ernie Rossi, the booker for D&E Media, informed her before the Facial Abuse shoot was set to begin that sex acts Ann was reassured were voluntary were now mandatory, that Ann calling for a break at any time would stop the shoot entirely without her being paid, and that Ann was contractually prohibited from suing D&E Media "for permanent bodily harm or injury" even though the shoot "may hurt me." In response to Ann's allegations, Vollenweider asserted Ann had no intention of performing for his company and merely used it to pay for travel expenses so she could visit another adult film performer named Justin "Paul" Beaver. [12]
In March 2018, Leigh Raven uploaded a video to YouTube in which she alleged she was sexually assaulted during a shoot for the Los Angeles-based series Black Payback directed by Just Dave and co-starring Rico Strong. According to Raven, the roughness of the shoot's sex and the race play element of it were more intense than she was led to believe, her non-verbal gestures that were supposed to signal for Strong to stop were ignored, and instructions she gave about sexual positions she did not want to perform in were also ignored, causing her distress, pain, and injuries, including, "a vaginal tear and a bruised cervix." Raven's video contained testimony from Riley Nixon, another actress who claimed to have been similarly mistreated during her own Black Payback shoot with Just Dave and Strong in January 2018. [40] [41] [42] [43] Just Dave, Strong, and Tofu, a production assistant for the Raven shoot, denied Raven's version of events, prompting a rebuttal from Raven. [3]
Just Dave provided the LAPD, as well as news outlets like AVN and Jezebel, with what he cited as being exculpatory behind-the-scenes footage of Raven's Black Payback shoot in April 2018. [3] [44] The footage appeared to contradict Raven's allegations, and in June 2018, the L.A. District Attorney declined to press charges against Black Payback, and Raven decided not to file a civil suit against Black Payback. [45] According to Raven, the police, as well Cal/OSHA, were indifferent to her complaints about Black Payback, the behind-the-scenes footage released by Just Dave was missing hours of content, and she only appeared compliant in it because she was frightened and disassociating, with Raven declaring, "How could I believe it was safe to say how I really felt about that scene? In what world would that have gone over well? I was alone, surrounded by men who had just crossed my boundaries. They were all 50 pounds heavier than me. Bottom line, I was willing to say anything to get out of that warehouse safely." [46] Nixon and Raven, who were ridiculed and called liars in promotional material for their Black Payback scenes, had their scenes uploaded to the Black Payback website in October 2018 and January 2019, respectively. [47] [2]
Anastasia Rose, in support of Leigh Raven, posted on social media in March 2018 that her "no list" stipulating sex acts she did not want to do or have done to her was ignored and she was maltreated in an October 2017 shoot, directed by Vollenweider and co-starring John Strong and Mr. Pete, she was not informed would be for Facial Abuse. Rose's allegations were contradicted by text messages showing her knowingly agreeing to the Facial Abuse shoot, as well as behind-the-scenes footage of the shoot, given to Mike South by Facial South. [48] [49]
Journalist Paul Mulholland posted an article, containing interviews with multiple actresses and consultation with Derek Smith Law Group, about D&E Media on Medium in July 2023. The article alleges D&E Media has a history of abusing, exploiting, and misleading actresses, one of whom was quoted as saying, "They pretty much [did] everything I said no to" in regard to her scene for Facial Abuse. She vivdly detailed the injuries she suffered during her shoot with Facial Abuse, stating that it was difficult for her to walk or even use the bathroom for days afterward. She explained that she was kept in positions in which it was physically impossible for her to withdraw consent, such as having one male model in front of her with his penis in her mouth while a second model stood behind her and pulled her wrists behind her back and/or with his foot pressing on her back in between her shoulder blades. The consent withdrawal methods discussed before the shoot, such as movement of hands or a verbal cue, were impossible for her to do in such a position. Indeed, many of her consent withdrawal taps were essentially ignored. She further elaborates on the deliberate disregard of safewords or consent withdrawal cues, stating "I kept tapping him and he wouldn't let me up", "I literally dug my nails into his thighs and drew blood until he fucking let me up so I could breathe", and "I started hitting him and he wasn't letting me up", all of which are plainly visible in the published video. Michael Sims, one of the male performers in this scene, repeatedly ordered Anna to keep her hands to her sides as she used her hands to protect herself or secure herself room to breathe, and responded to her non-verbal gestures that were supposed to signal for him stop by yelling, "Get your hands off me or I'll fucking slap the shit out of you." She stated that she contemplated suicide for a long time afterwards due to the trauma she underwent in her scene. [6]
Another woman stated the director, Vollenweider, and male performer, David Horter, in her Facial Abuse scene kept mocking her over how she was once raped, despite her repeatedly asking them to stop, before they urinated on her without her permission, with Vollenweider allegedly responding to her pleas and protests by saying, "It's going on your face. You don't have to swallow it, but it's going on your face." A third woman, Bailey Rae, alleged Facial Abuse director Jimmy Hooligan took advantage of her drug addiction and withdrawal by buying and giving her heroin, which she was high on while filling out paperwork and having sex with a male performer, David Horter, and provided evidence of social media correspondence between herself and a woman claiming to be in contact with Facial Abuse who claimed the studio acknowledged the presence of narcotics during the shoot but insisted they belonged to Rae. [9] .
During his two-year investigation into D&E Media, Mulholland claims the company repeatedly harassed him through means such as attempted bribery, threats of legal action, doxxing his mother and sister, and a smear campaign in the form of the creation of websites such as "paulmulholland.com" dedicated to trying to discredit Mulholland by accusing him of being a fake journalist, a pornography addict, an undercover employee of D&E Media, and a participant in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Mulholland also claims Vollenweider obliquely boasted to him about being responsible for the creation of multiple anti-D&E Media websites such as "abuseisnotporn.org" and "shutdownabuseporn.org" as a means of fermenting disinformation about his company, Vollenweider having allegedly told Mulholland, "You have to ask yourself how much information is out there that I've purposefully seeded in the hopes that someone cites it as fact." [9]
In October 2008, Raven Williams, a contestant on the VH1 reality shows Rock of Love with Bret Michaels and Rock of Love: Charm School , was outed by D&E Media and TSB Magazine as having done a Ghetto Gaggers scene under the name Fiona. [50]
Miriam Weeks's pornographic film debut, and the scene for which she was recognized and outed as adult film actress Belle Knox, was a January 2014 Facial Abuse scene directed by Jimmy Hooligan [10] and co-starring Paul Kryscuk. Knox initially stated she enjoyed it [51] and it was consensual and she was not coerced or harmed, [52] but later noted the shoot was "not the best experience" because, "They try to figure out what makes you tick and fuck with you" [53] even though Facial Abuse personnel reassured Knox, "It's not that bad; they'll be very nice to you" during their initial talks with Knox. [54] According to Knox, she began disassociating as she was "hit, pushed, spit on" and mocked for being a "cutter" while also being told, "I was fat, that I was a terrible feminist, was going to fail all my classes, was stupid, dumb, a slut." The experience prompted Knox, who booked the shoot without an agent, to "better protect herself" by signing on with adult film talent agency Matrix Models. [53] In retrospect, Knox stated, "No, it wasn't a negative experience, I just regret doing it. I don't like talking about it." [55]
Clips of Facial Abuse and Latina Abuse were featured in the 2015 Netflix documentary Hot Girls Wanted. [56] [57] Anna Merlan of Jezebel called the "choking, horrifying racial slurs and racialized scenarios" of the Latina Abuse scene "vile" [58] while the Facial Abuse segment was labelled "easily the most disturbing scene of the documentary" by Barbara Herman of the International Business Times. [59] Mark Kernes and Rachael Madori of AVN both defended Facial Abuse over how the studio was depicted in Hot Girls Wanted, the two feeling the portrayal was inaccurate and misleading, with Madori writing, "When things are said such as 'I didn't know I could tell him no' when referring to a porn shoot, I become confused. For every shoot a plethora of paperwork is reviewed and signed by the female and male talent, plainly stating that you are able to cancel and leave the set if you are made to feel uncomfortable in any way." [60] [61]
Pornographer Bryan Gozzling, creator of Hookup Hotshots, stated in a December 2015 announcement about him signing on as a director for Evil Angel that his inspirations include Facial Abuse. [62]
Facial Abuse was renamed "Facial Assault" in From Straight A's to XXX, a 2017 made-for-TV Lifetime film based on Belle Knox. Peter Warren, in his coverage of the film for AVN, wrote on the studio's portrayal, "Facial Abuse may not be the industry norm for respecting talent's boundaries, but it's a pretty safe bet they're not conducting business on this level of illegality." [63]
Ghetto Gaggers was joked about in a February 2023 episode of The Adam Friedland Show guest starring Matty Healy. [64] This and other controversies associated with Healy led to him being publicly criticized by Rina Sawayama four months later at the Glastonbury Festival. [65]
Adult film actress and director Sinnamon Love, in a February 2008 interview with Phonte Coleman for HipHopDX , lambasted Ghetto Gaggers, feeling that it was taking advantage of desperate and inexperienced Black women, and further commenting, "I think that what they're doing crosses the line between BDSM and abuse. There's a difference. BDSM is all consensual. It's the same as consensual sex. But what [Ghetto Gaggers] does is purely abusive. You can see it. You can watch the women on those films and see the mood shift. You can watch the emotion change in their faces as they go from 'I can do this' to 'what the fuck have I gotten myself into?'" [66]
In a July 2014 article about misogyny in the pornographic film industry written for HuffPost , Gail Dines singled Facial Abuse out, opining the acts depicted in its videos were comparable to torture, and the website's own descriptions of the videos characterized women as "disposable 'sluts' who are undeserving of dignity, bodily integrity, or the slightest shred of empathy" while also showing "no pretense that this is about consensual or mutually enjoyable sex." [67]
Pornographer Rob Zicari, in a July 2016 article written for AdultFYI, expressed disgust over Ghetto Gaggers, calling it "kind of disturbing" before writing, "I look at a site like Ghetto Gaggers and they have a girl sitting there and a guy says, 'Tell everybody that you're a dirty fucker. A low end piece of shit.' What kind of girl sits there and lets these guys do that? It's horrible." [68]
