Following August Ames‘ tragic suicide by hanging on December 6, her friend and fellow adult film star Alison Tyler EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife.com in an interview that she felt other members of the porn community went too far attacking August for her tweet which some felt crossed the line into gay-bashing. Alison admitted that in her experience with the late porn star, August was never “homophobic.” “She was a very sweet, happy girl, I know she battled depression and all that, but being on set with her and seeing her at conventions, she was always a very sweet, genuine person, which is why this is so heartbreaking,” Alison said. “I know there was a lot of speculation that she was battling heavy depression, and I feel that everything that happened to her over Twitter and social media got to be too much for her. It is very upsetting. The industry as a whole should have been more supportive, and they weren’t.” When it came to August’s refusal to do a scene with a man who had done gay porn, Alison believes we need to respect when adult film stars make a choice regarding their body. “She made a decision about her body and I don’t feel that she needed to defend that decision,” Alison added. “If you feel uncomfortable doing something, you have every right not to do it or to turn it down or to back out of a scene, and that should not be questioned. Instead of people supporting her for her decision, they attacked her for it, and I feel that is very, very wrong.” Alison also believes that the porn industry needs to be more of a loving community. “There have been a lot of rumors in the industry about who did what to her and what happened,” Alison said. “As an industry, we could have done more to be more loving and more supportive of her decisions and not just of her, but of anyone — guy or girl — who decides they don’t want to do something.”
Alison revealed that, “A couple of people from the gay industry attacked her pretty hard, were pretty hard on her about her decision, and a few females from the straight industry were also very hard on her and were also very verbal about it and they were some big names in our industry,” Alison said. “It was more than fans bullying her on Twitter, it was performers as well, and that is the part that is heart-breaking because we are a community and a family. We as an industry need to be more close-knit, and we need to protect each other. If you have something to say about somebody, don’t do it on social media. If you have a disagreement with another performer, do it quietly.”
When it comes down to it, Alison believes that August’s decision to not film a scene with someone who had done a gay scene came down to her personal health. “The homophobia she was accused of was unfair,” Alison added. “I don’t think that wanting to protect yourself while doing a sexual act has anything to do with how you feel about gay people. There are numerous people in this industry who don’t want to shoot with somebody who does both gay and straight scenes. There is a certain level of risk there… There is a certain amount of risk, when someone is performing high risk sex acts and then coming into the straight industry and also shooting. So, for a girl to say I don’t want to participate in that because I want to protect my body, it makes me uncomfortable, which is what she did, that should be OK. She didn’t name names, and people attacked her for being homophobic. She was just protecting her own health.”
HollywoodLifers, do you think August had every right to refuse doing the scene in question? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.