A call to producers in the adult industry: I know you can do better

Writings from Cliff Media, a community-based porn production company.

I am nervous to share this because it challenges very normalized behaviors, even by otherwise great people, including colleagues and friends I otherwise admire. I also know that it’s easy for this to make me look like an uncool, stick-up-my-ass prude. So be it. This is important.

Industry producers, I ask you to hear me out because I’m genuinely calling for action, not shaming you. If you’re a good-hearted person and desire a better culture, I see and support you. I’m asking you to be self-reflective, understand the potential impact of your actions, and make choices from the highest version of yourself.

The dish:

It is incredibly common for paying producers to solicit further unpaid sex after the negotiated, agreed-upon sex has concluded. Sometimes that’s right after the cameras go off, in the same room. Sometimes that’s later on, at night after taking the model out for dinner, or the next day, in the hotel the producer booked for the model. Sometimes it’s weeks later.

I don’t know how often producers’ solicitations are accepted, but I do know the rate of success is high enough for it to be a well-established trend. It’s so common that no one raises an eyebrow when it’s discussed. There’s a widespread sense that of course producers fuck their models.

And it’s easy to shrug and say, why not? We’re sex-positive and enthusiastically slutty. So, yay sex, right? Why is fucking models a problem?

Because there is a massive power dynamic.

If you’re a paying producer, you’re the one waving the dolla dolla bills.

As a performer, hustling to land paid shoots is HARD. I can say that after 6 years doing this. It’s still hard. The industry is competitive and often shallow. That’s why so many performers go to absurd lengths to try to make themselves look desirable to producers and agencies, getting breast enhancements, tummy tucks, and cosmetic surgery to modify facial features. Eating disorders are pervasive.

The myth that porn performers make lots of money is ignorant fantasy. Sure, a very small percentage make bank, but most live paycheck-to-paycheck. Especially for people doing paid shoots as their exclusive form of income, getting a producer to hire you back could mean the difference between paying rent on time or emergency hustling to forestall an eviction threat.

Under these conditions, it’s no surprise that performers are more likely to agree to producers’ advances. Performers want to be liked so that they’ll be invited back. That’s not wrong on the performer’s part; it’s survival instinct. That’s on the producer for taking advantage of their position of power.

Before any producers get up in arms – I know, you think all your sexual encounters were totally consensual, the models really wanted it and there was wild, mutual sexual tension that just HAD to be consummated – let me stop you there. There are still major issues.

As a producer, especially in your first encounter with a model, you don’t know if the enthusiasm is real. A good performer knows how to perform. Acting like we’re wildly turned on is literally the job.

There’s a significant disincentive for the model to say no. Models don’t want to disappoint you or make you think they’re not cool and chill. Coercive dynamics are unavoidable. It’s like fucking someone who is drunk. Sometimes the drunk person really wants it, and sometimes they wake up the next morning feeling assaulted. In this context, you have no way of knowing if yes really means yes.

Even if there is truly authentic mutual desire, your actions still contribute to a culture of exploitation. Sex between models and producers creates conscious and subconscious favoritism. When other models see this, it cements the idea that the way for them to get more gigs, and therefore more economic stability, is not only to be reliable, professional, and skilled in front of the camera, but also to cater to producers’ sexual desires off camera – that is, to do unpaid sex work.

Sex work is WORK. It’s not a hook-up; it’s a professional contract. During the time and under the conditions in which we agreed to have sex, we are working as negotiated. When employers ask for personal sexual favors, that’s harassment, just as it would be in any other occupation. Let that sink in.

Instead of performers feeling used, manipulated or coerced, can you imagine how amazing it would be if all participants treated one another as intelligent, creative colleagues and artists? There’s no reason it can’t be that way.

I know this will upset some people who feel their behavior is completely justified, who perceive this perspective as slut-shaming sex-negativity.

But if you’re one of the people who can set aside your indignation to think about the power dynamics at play, I hope this moves you. I ask you to sincerely consider what matters more to you: supporting an ethical and respectful environment for all performers in the adult industry, or getting your dick wet?

Now you know better, so do better.

One Response

Dianne Boatwright-Frost says:

June 28, 2026 at 2:55 pm

Well said Vanessa. Unfortunately, like all professions, many of those those at the top are unknowingly driven by their own egos. As egomaniacs, they are incapable of introspection and unaware that self-realization is valid goal.

I agree it is sad to see people being taken advantage of but I fear the ego-laden producer will continue in their trumpish ways revelling in their greedy deeds and believing the notch on their bedpost makes them greater than others. It is actually they who deserve the pity for their ignorance.

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A call to producers in the adult industry: I know you can do better

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