At porn’s biggest night of the year, Kevin Moore announces the inception of The August Project: a support system for adult performers.
At Saturday night’s 2018 AVN Awards ceremony in Las Vegas, Greg Lansky won the coveted Director of the Year trophy. Being a total class act, Lansky ceded his acceptance speech spot to Kevin Moore, the widower husband of the late performer August Ames.
In December, Ames, 23, took her own life after beings cyberbullied online and labeled homophobic for not wanting to have sex on camera with men who had done gay porn.
As you can see in the video below, Moore’s powerful surprise speech resonated with the assembled multitude at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. It was one of the most poignant moments in the history of the adult industry, and a high water mark for the AVN show.
[The video below begins after Moore began speaking. His introductory words were, “I’m uncomfortable with the applause because, quite frankly, I don’t deserve it. I failed her. I failed her family. And I’ve got to live with that.”]
The adult world has been rocked in recent months by the deaths of five female performers: Olivia Lua, Olivia Nova, August Ames, Yuri Luv, and Shyla Stylez. “There can never be another AVN Awards show that has a memorial full of young women,” said Moore from the stage, “Never again.”
“Without you, there is no industry. This [indicating the awards ceremony] only exists because of you guys. That means respecting your choices. That means who you work with is up to you. It’s your body, it’s your choice. No agent, no producer, no company, and certainly not social media, decides what you do with your body,” said Kevin Moore to thunderous applause.
“In the coming months, I’m going to be launching The August Project, in memory of my wife, which will be a support system tailored for performers in this industry. It will be a resource so that if any of you find yourself on the edge of a cliff, help is a phone call away.”
It was a lovely and purposeful tribute by Moore, and a classy move by Greg Lansky to provide Moore a platform. Bravo to both of you for endeavoring to make the adult business a better, saner place. We look forward to reporting on the development of The August Project. #NeverForget
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