Grace Quek, known professionally as Annabel Chong, is a Singaporean former pornographic actress who became famous after starring in an adult film that was promoted as the World's Biggest Gang Bang. The film was commercially successful and started a trend of "record-breaking" gang bang pornography. Four years later, Quek was the subject of the documentary Sex: The Annabel Chong Story, in which she was interviewed about her pornography career. She retired from the adult industry completely in 2003 to work in software engineering.
Rocco Siffredi is an Italian pornographic actor, director and producer. Known as the "Italian Stallion", Siffredi has starred in more than 1,300 pornographic films since 1986.
Ovidie is a French director, actress, producer, journalist, former porn actress and a writer. First known as a porn actress from 1999 to 2003, she has since directed pornographic films as well as documentaries and has written several books.
Stacy Valentine is an American former pornographic actress. She is a member of both the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame.
Rashida Leah Jones is an American actress and filmmaker. She is best known for her roles as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series Boston Public (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series The Office, as Ann Perkins on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), and as the eponymous lead role in the TBS comedy series Angie Tribeca (2016–2019).
Michele Watley, better known by her stage name Midori, is an American singer, dancer, model, actress and former pornographic actress. She was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Urban X Hall of Fame in 2023. She was the first African-American woman to win an AVN award, when she was named "Best Supporting Actress" in 2001. Watley was also named one of the top 10 "hottest black porn stars" of all time by Complex and The Independent named her "the queen of the black hardcore market".
Pornography has been defined as sexual subject material "such as a picture, video, or text" that is intended for sexual arousal. Made for the consumption by adults, pornography depictions have evolved from cave paintings, some forty millennia ago, to virtual reality presentations. A general distinction of adult content is made classifying it as pornography or erotica.
The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the general public. This American period, which had subsequently spread internationally, and that began before the legalization of pornography in Denmark on July 1, 1969, started on June 12, 1969, with the theatrical release of the film Blue Movie directed by Andy Warhol, and, somewhat later, with the release of the 1970 film Mona produced by Bill Osco. These films were the first adult erotic films depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States. Both influenced the making of films such as 1972's Deep Throat starring Linda Lovelace and directed by Gerard Damiano, Behind the Green Door starring Marilyn Chambers and directed by the Mitchell brothers, 1973's The Devil in Miss Jones also by Damiano, and 1976's The Opening of Misty Beethoven by Radley Metzger, the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age, according to award-winning author Toni Bentley. According to Andy Warhol, his Blue Movie film was a major influence in the making of Last Tango in Paris, an internationally controversial erotic drama film, starring Marlon Brando, and released in 1972, three years after Blue Movie was shown in theaters.
A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinct pornographic subgenres and attempt to present a sexual fantasy; the actors selected for a particular role are primarily selected on their ability to create or fit that fantasy. Pornographic videos are characterized as either softcore, which does not contain depictions of sexual penetration or extreme fetishism, and hardcore, which can contain depictions of penetration or extreme fetishism, or both. The genres and sexual intensity of videos is mainly determined by demand. Depending on the genre of the film, the on-screen appearance, age, and physical features of the actors and their ability to create the sexual mood of the video is of critical importance. Most actors specialize in certain genres, such as straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, bondage, strap-on, anal, double penetration, semen swallowing, teenage, orgy, age roleplay, fauxcest, interracial or MILFs and more.
Bryan Matthew Sevilla, known professionally by the stage name James Deen, is an American pornographic actor and director.
Feminist views on pornography range from total condemnation of the medium as an inherent form of violence against women to an embracing of some forms as a medium of feminist expression. This debate reflects larger concerns surrounding feminist views on sexuality, and is closely related to those on prostitution, BDSM, and other issues. Pornography has been one of the most divisive issues in feminism, particularly in Anglophone (English-speaking) countries. This division was exemplified in the feminist sex wars of the 1980s, which pitted anti-pornography activists against pro-pornography ones.
Lorelei Lee is an American pornographic actor and writer. Lee is non-binary.
Feminist pornography is a genre of film developed by or for those within the sex-positive feminist movement. It was created for the purpose of promoting gender equality by portraying more bodily movements and sexual fantasies of women and members of the LGBT community.
xHamster is a pornographic media and social networking site headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus. xHamster serves user-submitted pornographic videos, webcam models, pornographic photographs, and erotic literature and incorporates social networking features. xHamster was founded in 2007. With more than 10 million members, it is the fourth-most popular pornography website on the Internet after XVideos, XNXX and Pornhub. As of January 2024, xHamster was the 20th-most trafficked website in the world.
Miriam Weeks, known by her stage name of Belle Knox, is an American former pornographic film actress. She is known for performing in pornography while studying at Duke University.
Mary Anne Franks is an American legal scholar, author, activist, and media commentator. She is a professor of law and the Eugene L. and Barbara A. Bernard Professor in Intellectual Property, Technology, and Civil Rights Law at George Washington University Law School, where her areas of expertise and teaching include First Amendment law, Second Amendment law, criminal law, criminal procedure, family law, and law and technology. She also serves as president and Legislative and Technology Policy Director of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. Prior to joining the faculty at George Washington University Law School, Professor Franks was the Michael R. Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair and Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law.
Jill Bauer is a Hearst and SPJ journalist, documentarian and non-fiction author. Bauer and Ronna Gradus co-directed two documentary films, Sexy Baby (2012) and Hot Girls Wanted (2015). Bauer also authored a non-fiction humor book called From ‘I Do’ to ‘I’ll Sue’: An Irreverent Compendium for Survivors of Divorce. Sexy Baby won the Founders Prize for Best Film by a First Time Director at the 2012 Traverse City Film Festival and Hot Girls Wanted was nominated in 2015 for a Primetime Emmy and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On is a six-part Netflix series that premiered on April 21, 2017. A follow-up to the 2015 documentary film Hot Girls Wanted, it was produced by Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus, and Rashida Jones. The series explores pornography, technology, and relationships.
Rashida Jones is an American actress, writer, and producer, best known for starring on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation (2009–2015) as Ann Perkins, and as Karen Filippelli in The Office.
Money Shot: The Pornhub Story is a 2023 Netflix documentary about Pornhub and its parent company Aylo. It presents interview footage from sex workers, ex-Pornhub employees, journalists, and anti-sex-trafficking figures. The documentary focuses on a 2020 scandal over Pornhub hosting non-consensual pornography, including of children, and how the aftermath affected pornographic performers.
