Husband of Late Porn Star August Ames Accuses Jessica Drake of Bullying Her
“Mercedes herself said to me, ‘Jessica Drake hates me,’ several hours before she disappeared.”
![August Ames and Jessica Drake](https://www.maxim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/august-ames-jessica-drake.jpg?w=788&h=444&crop=1)
Porn star August Ames took her life late last year after an onslaught of cyber-bullying. The internet pile-on was prompted by her declaration she wouldn’t work with male stars who did crossover work—shifting between gay and straight porn—to avoid the possibility of contracting HIV.
Ames, 23, was accused of homophobia on Twitter by many in the porn business. In a lengthy statement posted on her website Thursday night, her husband Kevin Moore finally addressed his wife’s death and those whom he felt played a part in pushing her over the edge, which included adult industry veteran Jessica Drake.
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Drake—who last made headlines when she claimed President Trump once offered her use of his private plane and $10,000 in exchange for sex—is set to host the XBIZ Awards in LA on January 18th.
Former porn queen Jenna Jameson had previously called out Drake in December in an interview with The Blast:
Jameson tells The Blast, “I am so disappointed in some of the people in the adult industry,” adding, “I am also shocked and dismayed at a few FEMALES that attacked and helped fan the fire against my friend August.” Jameson is adamant, “Her blood is on their hands.”
The former “Queen of Porn” specifically calls out adult star Jessica Drake for allegedly attacking Ames “about her choice of who to work with.”
Drake was one of the big pornstars weighing in on Ames’ decision not to shoot a sex scene with a male performer because the guy had done gay porn. She claimed there were “safety” issues.
Moore mentioned her hosting duty and said that Drake “was involved in the bullying that occurred on social media.” Using Ames’ real name (Mercedes Grabowski), Moore continued:
Ms. Drake claimed she did not know Mercedes and did not tweet at her directly. This is false. She did and this link proves it. She deleted those tweets and then denied that they ever existed. Mercedes herself said to me, “Jessica Drake hates me,” several hours before she disappeared.
Ms. Drake has chosen to be a spokesperson for this industry. In doing so, her words carry more weight. Ms. Drake caused irreparable harm by using her followers and stature in an attempt to silence and bully a young, impressionable woman. The deleted tweets show that she knew exactly who Mercedes was.
Moore stated that Drake could’ve rejected the hosting gig and “shown herself to be a person of great character” in addition to cementing “her stature as an icon in this industry by taking responsibility for her actions.”
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Instead, Moore said Drake and her husband have been issuing threats of blacklisting anyone speaking out in Ames’ defense.
He claims Drake was motivated to go after Ames online not out of advocating against homophobia, but because Ames had issued “a legal complaint against Axel Braun, who, like Ms. Drake, is also under contract to Wicked Pictures.”
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Moore’s statement made it clear just how deeply he felt his wife was wrong by the porn industry, and that she’s been victimized by more than just other adult performers even after her suicide.
He’s getting litigious about it, too:
On January 10, we filed the first of several lawsuits related to Mercedes’ death. This suit was filed against the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office for releasing confidential and private information regarding her death.
They are legally allowed to release documents associated with medical reports or public documents; however they may not publicly release details simply because the public finds them of interest. The suit alleges negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, internal infliction of emotional distress, and public disclosure of private fact.
Suicide and early deaths dog the world of porn and may be an even bigger problem than anyone outside the industry knows; just months before the still-mysterious death of 20-year-old adult actress Olivia Nova, her boyfriend committed suicide.
In addition to Nova and the Canadian-born Ames, who as of Friday was still the most popular porn star on Pornhub, Yuri Luv, 31, aka Yurizan Beltran, and Shyla Stylez, 35, also passed away in recent months.
Some performers come from relatively stable homes and enter the industry for their own reasons, but porn has long been dogged by mental illness and substance abuse.
And it doesn’t seem like this tragic underside to a segment of the entertainment industry that has—thanks to the internet—attained a mainstream popularity that isn’t going away anytime soon.