25 Years Later – Has the Adult Industry Changed Too Much?
When I started doing this back in 2002, the adult industry was a very different place. Obviously, technology has changed. The internet has changed. Cameras have changed. The way we sell content has completely changed. But after nearly 25 years, I think one of the biggest changes has actually been how people work with each other.
Back then, there seemed to be an unwritten code of conduct.If somebody developed a reputation for being unreliable, constantly cancelling shoots or simply not turning up, eventually people stopped booking them.It sounds harsh, but everything was much more based around paid production work. A studio was paying performers, photographers, camera operators, locations and other expenses. If somebody didn't turn up, they weren't just ruining their own day — they could potentially cost everyone involved money.
And money has a funny way of making people fall into line pretty quickly. Studios and producers therefore had certain standards. There was only so much they would put up with before deciding somebody simply wasn't worth the risk anymore.
Fast-forward 25 years...
Today we have an industry dominated by independent, self-employed content creators.And there are actually a lot of positives to that.People control their own businesses. They decide what they shoot, who they work with, what they charge and where they sell their content. Nobody needs permission from a traditional studio to build a successful career anymore.But that independence has also completely changed the rules.There isn't really one industry anymore.There are thousands of individual businesses, all operating by their own standards.Something that would make one creator immediately refuse to work with somebody might not bother another creator at all.Poor communication? Some people won't tolerate it.Repeated last-minute cancellations? Some people will give another chance.
Not turning up to a shoot without telling the producer, studio or the other performers?Twenty years ago, that could very quickly destroy somebody's reputation. Today, somebody might post a warning about them and, within hours, somebody else will say:
"I've worked with them loads of times and they've always been professional with me." And this is where things become incredibly complicated.
When people's experiences don't match
I've seen this more and more over the years. One person warns people about somebody. Another person says they've experienced exactly the same behaviour. Then somebody else comes along and says they've worked with that person several times, had absolutely no problems and would happily recommend them. Who do you believe? The uncomfortable answer is that sometimes all of those people could be telling the truth about their own experiences.Someone can be completely professional with one person and unreliable with another. That's difficult enough when we're talking about communication, cancellations and work ethic. But what happens when the allegations are much more serious? There can be claims or warnings involving things such as assault, sexual assault, consent violations or falsified sexual-health documentation. Those aren't things that should simply be dismissed as industry gossip. Equally, an allegation isn't automatically proof that something happened exactly as described. And that's where this becomes a minefield.
How much vetting is enough?
We vet people before working with them. But how far can any producer or creator realistically go? You can ask around. You can check references. You can search someone's name. You can speak to people who have worked with them. You can check documentation. And nothing comes back. So you work with them. Six months later, you hear something you didn't know before. Does that mean you were wrong to work with them? I don't think it's necessarily that simple. There are probably people all of us have worked with over the years who have been accused of doing something wrong and we've simply never heard about it. You cannot act on information you genuinely didn't have. The harder question comes after you do hear something.
When do you stop working with somebody?
That's the question I find interesting about today's industry. Suppose you've worked with somebody ten times and they've always been professional with you. Then you start hearing warnings from other people. Do you stop working with them? Do you investigate? Do you ask the person directly? Does it depend on how serious the allegation is? Does one warning change your mind? Three? Ten? And what happens when other respected creators continue working with them and insist they've never had a problem?
At what point does:
"They've always been fine with me" stop being enough? I genuinely don't think there is an easy answer.
Or do we all eventually live in our own bubbles?
Maybe that's what the modern industry has become. You find a group of performers and creators you trust, everybody works well together, everybody makes money and you largely stay within that circle. If somebody behaves professionally around you, you continue working with them. But even that raises uncomfortable questions. At what point does concentrating purely on your own experience become turning a blind eye? And at what point does listening to every rumour make it impossible to work with anybody? Those are two very different extremes Somewhere between them has to be a sensible position.
Then there are awards and industry recognition
This is another interesting one. Sometimes you'll see somebody receiving awards, nominations or major industry recognition while, elsewhere, there are people publicly warning others about that same person. Again, I'm not talking about anybody specifically. But it raises questions. Have the people giving the award never heard the allegations? Have they heard them but don't believe them? Have they investigated them? Are the claims unsubstantiated? Or have they simply decided someone's professional achievements should be judged separately?
There's another consideration too: reputation by association.
Even when allegations haven't been proven, organisations have to decide whether publicly associating themselves with somebody carries a reputational risk. That's not necessarily about deciding somebody is guilty. It's about deciding what standards an organisation wants to represent. And different organisations will draw that line in completely different places.
So when is enough, enough?
After almost 25 years doing this, I don't think the industry has become completely better or completely worse. It's become different. Creators have far more independence than they ever had when I started, and that's a brilliant thing in many ways. But independence also means there isn't one universal rulebook anymore. Every studio has its own standards. Every creator has their own boundaries. Every producer decides what they're prepared to tolerate. And everyone has their own definition of what makes somebody too risky to work with. Maybe that's ultimately what has changed the most. Back in 2002, the industry tended to decide whether somebody's behaviour was acceptable. In 2026, increasingly, individual creators decide for themselves. So I'll finish this one with questions rather than answers.
When should somebody's reputation stop you working with them?
Is your own positive experience with somebody enough to ignore other people's negative experiences?
How many warnings should it take before you listen?
Should serious allegations be treated differently from somebody simply being unreliable?
How much responsibility does a producer have to investigate the people they work with?
Should awards organisations consider allegations and reputation when deciding who they recognise?
And at what point does "they've always been fine with me" become turning a blind eye?
I have my own rules about who I'll work with and what I'll tolerate, built from nearly 25 years of doing this. But they're my rules. Other creators will have completely different ones. And maybe that's the biggest difference between the industry I entered in 2002 and the one we're working in today. There used to be something resembling an industry rulebook. Now everyone seems to be writing their own.
So what do you think?
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