Racism In Porn Industry: Black Performers Reveal They're Paid And Hired Less

Black adult performers are speaking out on the racism they have faced in the porn industry.

Amid ongoing nationwide protests, the adult entertainment sector has gained scrutiny for its discriminatory treatment of porn actors who are people of color. Black porn stars, as opposed to white actors, are reportedly paid and hired less in the industry.

This was the case for black adult performer Ana Foxxx, who appeared on set earlier this year for a porn shoot with director Kayden Kross. Foxxx, who was more than thrilled, was to be featured in an orgy scene with Kross’ husband, Manuel Ferrara, alongside three other black women.

“There aren’t that many roles. It seems like companies only shoot us [once every few months],” Foxx revealed to Rolling Stone. “So we’re never really on set together.”

With black roles being such a rarity in the porn industry, the performers were excited to be working together.

But when it was time for them to take photos, Foxxx noticed that her co-performers were carrying bananas and were instructed to get in the frame and hold the fruit together. Foxxx immediately found this to be rather off.

“I was like, this doesn’t feel good to me,” she said.

The female performers ended up sharing the same sentiment, with one of the performers, Demi Sutra, even revealing that she had cried in the bathroom. But even with such a grueling 12-hour shoot, Sutra decided to stay as she didn’t want to be the cause of any complications.

“You never know who really needs the money, because there just aren’t so many opportunities for black actresses,” the performer shared.

Meanwhile, Kross apologized after receiving complaints from the performers, even promising to delete the photos. The porn director addressed the allegations and told Rolling Stone that she had failed to recognize the sensitivity behind her decision.

“For the record, I stand with the movement and I believe that real systemic change is needed for our society to grow and flourish,” she stated. “With that said, and in light of some of your questions, I am also hoping we do not start to see this sentiment become misdirected in the pursuit of opportunistic personal agendas and OnlyFans subscriber revenues.”

With regards to using bananas as props, Kross said that they were part of a Valentine’s Day shoot and were originally intended to be dipped in chocolate and glitter.

“I did not recognize the bananas to be especially problematic at the time, though I now understand why this could be sensitive and regret this decision,” she said.

Racial slurs and the marginalization of black people still remain relevant topics today, especially in the adult entertainment sector. Per Rolling Stone, cases of discrimination have long been a common issue for black performers who often find themselves torn between speaking out or staying quiet for the sake of their career.

One of the most racially demeaning strategies in porn is how white female performers charge higher rates for the so-called “IR” or “interracial” scenes, which often refers to black performers filming sex shoots with white counterparts.

Adult entertainment companies would allow A-list white female performers to charge above their standard rate in order to get them to shoot with black performers. This practice, however, does not seem to apply to the black male performers who are tasked to shoot porn videos with white females.

Strategies such as this have curated a deeply uncomfortable racial economic hierarchy for black performers, on top of their already limited opportunity reach in the industry.