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Porn star August Ames was found dead just days after she tweeted something many said was homophobic.
24-year-old Ames died of suicide by hanging on Tuesday. In her four years in the industry, she appeared in over 270 X-rated films and was nominated for an AVN award for Best New Starlet in 2015 and Female Performer of the Year in 2016, 2017, and 2018 which is set to take place in January.
Unfortunately, her death comes amidst accusations that she was cyberbullied into committing suicide. On Sunday, December 3rd she tweeted, “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. BS is all I can say. Do agents really not care about who they’re representing? #ladirect I do my homework for my body.”
Immediately she was getting accused of being homophobic. One person tweeted, “Do they not following the same procedures for safety as in straight porn such as HIV testing? Just sounds homophobic” This prompted a debate where a fellow porn star Noelle Easton claimed that gay and straight people have different testing protocols.
But then porn star Sinn Sage called bullshit. She chimed in saying, “Before your shoot w/ said performer, for a bg shoot, he would have to get tested, by the same testing companies we all use. When the results are clear, you are clear to fuck him. AND you can ask to use a condom if you want. So there is literally no reason to discriminate.”
And, fellow porn star Alexis Monroe replied saying, “I think it’s hilarious that you’re discriminating against a man who does/did gay porn when half of this industry has performed with such performers. ALLLLLLL performers must subject to the SAME testing in order to work.”
Despite the backlash, August Ames stuck to her word.
In response to another person saying she was homophobic, she said, “NOT homophobic. Most girls don’t shoot with guys who have shot gay porn, for safety. That’s just how it is with me. I’m not putting my body at risk, I don’t know what they do in their private lives.” And continued in another tweet, “How am I homophobic if I myself am attracted to women? Not wanting to have sex with gay men is not homophobic; they don’t want to have sex with me either so byeeeee.”
She continued tweeting and retweeting in defense of her original statement up until her last tweet. On December 4th at 6pm she tweeted, “fuck y’all.”Until it was discovered that August Ames had committed suicide, the backlash continued.
Now, the most troubling thing is people deciding where to place blame.
While many are placing that blame and guilt on the people who called her out, her friends and family say she was battling depression. Three months ago she was on Holly Randall Unfiltered where she discussed having mental health issues. She even talks about being molested by her grandfather as a child and how that’s affected her overall mental health.
She talks about trying therapy, but feeling judged by [therapists] for being a porn star who was molested at a young age. Regardless of the controversy, it’s unfortunate that August Ames was battling her mental health without a professional who she felt truly understood her.
August Ames and her friends and family are in our thoughts.
