The Biggest Porn Stories of 2018
The past year will go down as one of the most monumental in porn’s history — and perhaps the most significant since the dawn of the internet. Legislation, scandals, politicians, censorship left us reeling, applauding, laughing and cringing week after week.
Below, the most covered and most significant porn stories of 2018. — Alex Hawkins, Vice President xHamster
Törölve
11. Nina Hartley Controversy in Wisconsin
Porn star and sex educator Nina Hartley was paid $5000 to speak with students at the University of Wisconsin-LaSalle about consent, and angry parents — not to mention Fox News — were outraged! The Chancellor who approved the payment ultimately had to pay the $5000 out of his own pocket, lest any tax dollars go to teaching k1ds about consent. Oh brother.
10. Starbucks Bans Porn
Bowing to pressure from conservative group Enough is Enough, burnt coffee chain Starbucks announced it would ban all porn from its wifi. A venti frap of congratulatory news stories followed, with virtually none of them pointing out that it’s a non-issue manufactured by anti-porners, as no one has actually been accused of watching porn in Starbucks. (That said, based on xHamster uploads, plenty of people seem to be MAKING it there there.)
9. India Bans Porn
India banned porn. Or did it? The Indian government released a list of 827 banned sites in the country, only major porn sites reported no traffic dips. A similar ban in Nepal produced similar (non)-results. Still, it was enough to get the New York Times on the case — with an assist from us, of course.
8. Blackmail Bot Targets Porners
Trust us: there’s nothing funnier than working at a porn company and getting an email that says “Send me some bitcoin or I’ll expose your porn browsing history.” But millions of people who don’t work at a porn company were scared when a scammer bearing the fake threat tried to shake them down for cash.
7. Florida Bans Porn, Not Assault Rifles
In the wake of the Parkland shooting, many thought Florida politicians would take quick action on limiting access to AR-15s. Not exxxactly. On the same day it declined to take on the gun legislation, the legislature passed a non-scientific resolution labeling porn a “Public Health Crisis.” Rounding out the crazy, a Tennessee politician blamed porn for the rise in gun vioIence.
6. Sex Workers Say #MeToo
Leigh Raven, Riley Raven, Jenny Blighe, Tasha Reign and others came forward this year with harrowing accounts of harassment, boundary vioIations and assault. We were proud to see so many speak up — and happy to see media outlets finally begin to listen.
5. Porn for Women Explodes
Few things captured the public imagination in 2018 as the idea that women were abandoning sugar, spice and The Good Wife to watch … porn! Yes, from the New York Post to Maxim, mainstream media was on the hunt. What did they find? Women search for pretty much the same things that men do — although “daddy” and “pussy eating” rank a bit higher. But we’ve known this all along. Which is why we launched a Porn for Women channel in 2018, and created a Porn for Women Fund to help fill it! The result? Visits from women rose an ASTOUNDING 41% in 2018!
4. The FOSTA Freeze
When FOSTA legislation — an anti-trafficking bill that holds websites libel for content users post — was passed in the US, many predicted that it would have a dangerous ripple effect on porn. And it did! Soon after, fundraising site Patreon shut out porn stars who were producing, and Craigslist and Reddit shut down whole channels. Even Facebook jumped in, prohibiting people from talking thirsty, lest someone think it was prostitution.
3. August Ames, Kevin Moore and Jessica Drake
When porn star August Ames committed suicide in late 2018, her husband, director Kevin Moore was bereft. In January, during an AVN Awards speech, and in tweets after, Moore attacked those who he felt were responsible for her death, including porn star, director and activist Jessica Drake. The speech made headlines worldwide — coming on the heels as it did of other high-profile porn star deaths. Expect another flurry of headlines in 2019: Ames’ death will be the subject of a high-profile new podcast from The Butterfly Effect’s Jon Ronson, in January 2019.
2. Tumblr Porn Ban
Perhaps nothing changed pornography in 2018 as much as the loss of Tumblr. For fans, it was a platform with limitless, well-curated, adult content. For amateur porn stars, it was a source of income. For others, a source of community. The loss of Tumblr will reshape the modern porn industry, perhaps pushing people to tube sites or subscription content, and leave communities of trans, gay and fetish folks scrambling for new homes.
As tech journalist Violet Blue put it, "The Internet War on Sex is Here".
1. Stormy Daniels
The most searched for porn star of 2018 is no mystery. Stormy Daniels was the President’s nemesis, the media’s darling and the porn industry’s champion. Stormy started off the year with a bang, added in a lawsuit, and appearance on 60 Minutes, a dancing tour, an arrest in Cleveland, a book deal, a toadstool and a defamation suit … say what you will, Stormy Daniels is our Woman of the Year 2018!
*Lest we not forget our runners up in this amazing year, which included a Bigfoot porn loving legislator, Drake’s porn star babymama, sex robots, porn loving Kanye West, the South Korean spycam protests, the Digital Economy Act and the #NoFap Nazis. Maybe we can rest in 2019?
Below, the most covered and most significant porn stories of 2018. — Alex Hawkins, Vice President xHamster
Törölve
11. Nina Hartley Controversy in Wisconsin
Porn star and sex educator Nina Hartley was paid $5000 to speak with students at the University of Wisconsin-LaSalle about consent, and angry parents — not to mention Fox News — were outraged! The Chancellor who approved the payment ultimately had to pay the $5000 out of his own pocket, lest any tax dollars go to teaching k1ds about consent. Oh brother.
10. Starbucks Bans Porn
Bowing to pressure from conservative group Enough is Enough, burnt coffee chain Starbucks announced it would ban all porn from its wifi. A venti frap of congratulatory news stories followed, with virtually none of them pointing out that it’s a non-issue manufactured by anti-porners, as no one has actually been accused of watching porn in Starbucks. (That said, based on xHamster uploads, plenty of people seem to be MAKING it there there.)
9. India Bans Porn
India banned porn. Or did it? The Indian government released a list of 827 banned sites in the country, only major porn sites reported no traffic dips. A similar ban in Nepal produced similar (non)-results. Still, it was enough to get the New York Times on the case — with an assist from us, of course.
8. Blackmail Bot Targets Porners
Trust us: there’s nothing funnier than working at a porn company and getting an email that says “Send me some bitcoin or I’ll expose your porn browsing history.” But millions of people who don’t work at a porn company were scared when a scammer bearing the fake threat tried to shake them down for cash.
7. Florida Bans Porn, Not Assault Rifles
In the wake of the Parkland shooting, many thought Florida politicians would take quick action on limiting access to AR-15s. Not exxxactly. On the same day it declined to take on the gun legislation, the legislature passed a non-scientific resolution labeling porn a “Public Health Crisis.” Rounding out the crazy, a Tennessee politician blamed porn for the rise in gun vioIence.
6. Sex Workers Say #MeToo
Leigh Raven, Riley Raven, Jenny Blighe, Tasha Reign and others came forward this year with harrowing accounts of harassment, boundary vioIations and assault. We were proud to see so many speak up — and happy to see media outlets finally begin to listen.
5. Porn for Women Explodes
Few things captured the public imagination in 2018 as the idea that women were abandoning sugar, spice and The Good Wife to watch … porn! Yes, from the New York Post to Maxim, mainstream media was on the hunt. What did they find? Women search for pretty much the same things that men do — although “daddy” and “pussy eating” rank a bit higher. But we’ve known this all along. Which is why we launched a Porn for Women channel in 2018, and created a Porn for Women Fund to help fill it! The result? Visits from women rose an ASTOUNDING 41% in 2018!
4. The FOSTA Freeze
When FOSTA legislation — an anti-trafficking bill that holds websites libel for content users post — was passed in the US, many predicted that it would have a dangerous ripple effect on porn. And it did! Soon after, fundraising site Patreon shut out porn stars who were producing, and Craigslist and Reddit shut down whole channels. Even Facebook jumped in, prohibiting people from talking thirsty, lest someone think it was prostitution.
3. August Ames, Kevin Moore and Jessica Drake
When porn star August Ames committed suicide in late 2018, her husband, director Kevin Moore was bereft. In January, during an AVN Awards speech, and in tweets after, Moore attacked those who he felt were responsible for her death, including porn star, director and activist Jessica Drake. The speech made headlines worldwide — coming on the heels as it did of other high-profile porn star deaths. Expect another flurry of headlines in 2019: Ames’ death will be the subject of a high-profile new podcast from The Butterfly Effect’s Jon Ronson, in January 2019.
2. Tumblr Porn Ban
Perhaps nothing changed pornography in 2018 as much as the loss of Tumblr. For fans, it was a platform with limitless, well-curated, adult content. For amateur porn stars, it was a source of income. For others, a source of community. The loss of Tumblr will reshape the modern porn industry, perhaps pushing people to tube sites or subscription content, and leave communities of trans, gay and fetish folks scrambling for new homes.
As tech journalist Violet Blue put it, "The Internet War on Sex is Here".
1. Stormy Daniels
The most searched for porn star of 2018 is no mystery. Stormy Daniels was the President’s nemesis, the media’s darling and the porn industry’s champion. Stormy started off the year with a bang, added in a lawsuit, and appearance on 60 Minutes, a dancing tour, an arrest in Cleveland, a book deal, a toadstool and a defamation suit … say what you will, Stormy Daniels is our Woman of the Year 2018!
*Lest we not forget our runners up in this amazing year, which included a Bigfoot porn loving legislator, Drake’s porn star babymama, sex robots, porn loving Kanye West, the South Korean spycam protests, the Digital Economy Act and the #NoFap Nazis. Maybe we can rest in 2019?
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