LAS VEGAS—Four years ago, a burgeoning performer with less than a year of content under his belt graced the stage as a trophy presenter at the GayVN Awards, soaking in the atmosphere as his name was just beginning to take off. Last night, he came full circle by returning to claim the big prize—winning Performer of the Year at the 2024 GayVN Awards and cementing his status as one of the industry’s all-time greats.
Having since redefined the business and what the term “porn star” means, he is now so famous he doesn’t even need a last name. Fans across the globe instantly know who “Rhyheim” is. Just don’t tell him that.
“I hate that you all are making me stand up here by myself,” said Rhyheim Shabazz, the humble icon smiling through his own discomfort talking about himself all alone on stage. “So first let me give credit to everyone in Brazil, because the guys down there, if it were not for them, I would not be up here. They know who they are. I just want them to know that I love them and thank them very much. I thank my assistant Adam, I thank my boyfriend Elijah (Zayne), thank my camera guys, (director) Alternativa, EyeFilmz…and I would just like to thank GayVN and all the performers that worked with me. I hate this. Thank you!”
Shabazz then quicky picked up two more wins as he was doing interviews and taking photos with his hardware behind the curtain. At the same time on stage, his fan-voted award wins for Favorite Creator Site Star and Favorite All-Male Creator Collab (with Zayne and Matthew Ellis) were announced, capping a stellar night. But he was still just interested in spreading the love to everyone else backstage.
“This is a lot of appreciation for the people I got to work with. It’s a lot of appreciation for as far as I’ve come from being a content creator who didn’t show his face to where I am now, a lot of appreciation to the industry and GayVN. This is all just so crazy. God, you’re gonna make me talk about myself,” he laughed in anticipation of more questions. “Honestly, I acknowledge it, but again, I really like to keep the focus on the people that I work with—because I always feel like as long as you keep yourself humble, you stay grounded and you keep growing. When you think you’re ‘the shit,’ I feel like that’s when you stop growing, that’s when you stop climbing.”
That was one of many emotional moments of the night on the world-famous Strip in Las Vegas, where acclaimed entertainer Alec Mapa returned for his sixth-straight year (and eighth overall) to host the biggest night in gay porn. He was joined by co-host Cade Maddox, the 2020 GayVN Performer of the Year—ironically, the same year Shabazz was a trophy presenter.
Rhyheim was first backstage when the Best Group Scene winner was announced, as his NakedSword X Rhyheim effort Blame it on Rio took the prize for the popular “Beau Butler Gang Bang” that paired the bottom with Blessed Boy, Gabriel Coimbra, Marcelo Caiazzo, Markin Wolf, Gael, Samuel Hodecker, Grande Simões, Andy Rodrigues and Alex Rosso—with Butler the only performer from the scene in attendance.
“I have to take all of that in my luggage to Brazil? Customs is gonna kill me!” Shabazz laughed when he saw all of the performer trophies backstage, then expressed his appreciation for the collaboration—which was the first of many with NakedSword.
“Literally, we kind of had beef, me and Falcon | NakedSword, because I thought they didn’t like me. But Beau came to Brazil, we had a conversation and he introduced me to the NakedSword team, and it’s been all love since. The things they have taught me, invaluable. It’s been one of my greatest experiences. They’ve helped introduce these performers to a new audience, so credit to NakedSword and the Falcon team.”
Trenton Ducati was backstage with them, noting the studio was “really honored to have Beau on the team because he introduced us and really made this project happen, and we’re so thankful for this opportunity to work with all these guys.”
Chimed in Butler: “I really look up to both of these men so much, so it’s an honor.”
“You’re a beast on your own!” complimented Shabazz.
“Well, it takes one to know one,” countered the equally humble Butler. “It was amazing. I wish all those guys from Brazil could be here, because they’re such hard workers, and they’re the nicest fucking people you’ll ever meet, literally. They’re all my friends to this day. I’m so happy—it’s my favorite scene I’ve ever done, and my first ever onscreen gang-bang. There’s never been a gang-bang like that.”
Meanwhile, the tears were flowing for performer Derek Kage, who picked up two big wins: Best Newcomer and Best Actor (for Raging Stallion’s Overdrive).
“It feels really fucking good—it’s like total validation. I’m exactly where I need to be,” he said early in the night after picking up his first win. “It was the busiest year of my life, and I’m coming from a really bad place and a really dark time in my life to now, being the Best Newcomer (along with other industry awards). It’s the best possible rebound and best possible comeback from a bad time in my life, and I’m just so fucking happy.”
Backstage later in the evening, Kage needed a minute to compose himself as the weight of his second win sunk in, covering his eyes with his hand to wipe away the tears. A hug from a stranger backstage helped him release the emotion.
“Alright, I’m here…I’m here,” he said as he centered himself. “I’m so incredibly happy. I am so grateful to everybody on the Falcon/Raging Stallion team that believed in me and had me in mind when they created this film. So it’s an award for them as well. Because of them, I was able to do this. I spoke with (writer/co-director) Ben Rush at length about what we wanted for this character—and so well before we even started filming, I was well-prepared. We discussed how to deliver certain lines, certain mannerisms, even facial expressions. Probably for two weeks we went over and over certain things that I needed to do.”
Overdrive was another big winner of the night, picking up awards for Best Supporting Actor (Paul Wagner) and Best Feature. Backstage, Rush reflected on why the horror/thriller connected so well with fans.
“The horror audience and the gay audience, there’s a huge overlap. Many people attribute that to the fact that in a horror film, there’s always that underdog, that person who has to survive, has to make it out against all odds—which is what many of us have had to live through as gay people growing up. So what I wanted to do was mix the genres and address something that could be scary in real life—so I didn’t want a wolf, I didn’t want a phantom, I didn’t want a zombie. I wanted something that we all actually worry about. You know, we get in a (ride-share) car, we don’t know who we’re getting in a car with. We have somebody deliver something to our house, we don’t know who that person is. They know our address, they know our phone number, so I felt like it would be something that people would connect to on more than one level.”
Rush also had praise for his award-winning cast.
“Derek was the perfect lead—I wrote it for him. And there was definitely chemistry between Paul and Derek that seemed to transcend the production. They both really turned it out and killed it, no pun intended. Well, pun intended I guess!” Rush laughed. “Derek showed true commitment; he had to be there every single day of shooting, he was there from morning to night, going over the script. He was so committed to doing it, and Paul the same. He flew in specifically for this movie, and it was a little bit of a comeback for him in terms of a narrative feature. I wanted to make it worth his while, and I think we did that.”
Wagner was not in attendance, but reached afterward noted, “Wow, that’s awesome. I’m super happy, and thanks to everyone—my scene partners Derek and Sean (Xavier), the studio and the crew—and especially the fans!”
It was Raging Stallion’s second win in a row for Best Feature after taking the prize for Ride or Die last year. Rush noted how committed the Falcon | NakedSword team is to keeping the feature format alive in an era of changing content creation and consumption formats.
“It’s very important in terms of normalizing sexuality, which is such a human thing. When we can put it in a context, a format, some kind of package of entertainment that allows people to see what they enjoy sexually in a real-world environment or circumstance—it’s important that people have that relatability.”
But there was an upset in the Best Director (Feature) category when Overdrive didn’t win the anticipated trophy. Co-director Rush had to cede control of the honor…to himself. He won for Raging Stallion’s Guilty as Sin, which he co-directed with Tony Dimarco.
“I’m really disappointed in myself on one hand, and I’m thrilled for myself on the other,” Rush smiled. “I love both movies. Both were labors of love with amazing casts, so it’s a little hard to have to pick. So I’m glad GayVN did it for us.”
Directors Jake Jaxson, Raphael Massicotte and RJ Sebastian were also repeat winners. Last year Jaxson and Sebastian won for their feature Love Happens, while Massicotte directed the Best Featurette winner (“Under the Neon Sky”) in the category’s debut year. This year, all three picked up a trophy for Best Director (Non-Feature) with the CockyBoys/RandyBlue collaboration Boys Will Be Boys.
“I kind of grew up with RandyBlue before I became a porn director, so it has always sort of been the gold standard for me, along with BelAmi. When Davyd Dixon asked for some help resurrecting it, I was like, ‘Please!’ It sort of brought me back to when I was ’little’,” Jaxson laughed. “And I had worked with Raphael on another project and asked him to come help, because we just have a vibe and a way of going with the flow—and it just worked. In my mind, (he) is the future of the porn business.”
The project brought popular performers Diego Sans and Andrew Stark back to RandyBlue, delighting fans. “It was my first scene with Diego, and I feel very grateful to have had that opportunity through that film…it was amazing,” Massicotte shared.
Added Jaxson: “Andrew was once again someone I had a crush on growing up, and I told Davyd that we should bring some of these (RandyBlue) guys back. I looked Andrew up and he’s an airbrush artist. I called him, and he was like, ‘Really? You think?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, this would be huge!’ And I told him I wanted to include his art in the project, and that was the thing that finally got him into it. I think the world of him. He’s a gentle giant, because he looks like he would rip your head off,” Jaxson laughs. “He’s a sweet guy.”
It was an emotional night for another RandyBlue veteran: 2023 GayVN Performer of the Year Roman Todd was back on stage this year, picking up a win for Best Bi Sex Scene with WhyNotBi’s “Call Center Cocks” (also starring Finn Harding and Izzy Wilde).
“It feels great,” Todd exhaled backstage. “I was not expecting to win anything this year…it’s crazy! This past year was a tough one, especially at the end of the year. I was going through a lot—my biological mother passed away, and then I’m in the middle of a divorce. I’m just looking to better my life and my career. It’s definitely been a good year for me so far; 2024 has been a blessing, and I’ve met so many good people in Vegas since moving back here. It’s the start of a new chapter in my life, honestly.”
Todd reflected on how his life changed since his win last year, as he has arguably had the best two years ever of his long career.
“It just totally blew my mind winning Performer of the Year; it was totally unexpected, but it did feel great to be recognized. And being No. 1 in AEBN for male performer, that just blew my mind away. I don’t give myself enough credit sometimes, I really don’t,” he said. “I started off very much gay-for-pay for RandyBlue, but I’ve always been bisexual, so I’ve since embraced that and been more comfortable with my sexuality and being open with myself and my fans. Because of that, my performances have gotten better. I stopped being shy, and definitely just let it go. Ever since then, it’s been the ride of my life—especially the last two years, it’s been crazy.
“I did not expect to win this tonight, and it makes me feel good being recognized for something that just started in the last year-and-a-half, especially since I am bisexual and have this award now. Not having Finn and Izzy here kind of sucks. I’m also missing P-Man…he had surgery and is recovering, and he would have loved to have seen this.”
Another former GayVN Performer of the Year had a memorable night, as Maddox picked up two fan-voted wins for Favorite Body and Favorite Top—adding to his massive trophy case (he also has three Best Cock wins, another Best Body trophy, and the inaugural Favorite Porn Star Creator from last year). But it was his co-hosting duties that proved to be the most rewarding.
“It was a lot easier than I thought. I’ve gone into clubs and hosted little events like that sometimes, but nothing like this. I told Tony (Rios, CEO of AVN Media Network) yes immediately on the phone. I’ve been asked to do other award shows before but turned them down because I just didn’t feel like it was my time, or that I was ready for it. But this time when Tony asked, I felt like it was time to step out of the box. Working with Alec was amazing—that’s one of the reasons I said yes. He makes it so easy. And the fan awards feel great—it never feels less amazing to win awards. It’s a great feeling, especially when it’s fan voted.”
Another double winner was Spikey Dee. His first win was for Best Fetish Scene (for Men.com’s “Self-Sucking Twink Is Packing Large”), which he shared with Joey Mills—who was more excited to see Dee win his very first award than he was for himself.
“This means a lot,” Dee said with breathless excitement. “2023 has been amazing. I’ve met so many nice people, and I’m just so excited. I had a great time filming this. Joey’s amazing. It’s really important to build a friendship with everyone you meet. It’s not just work; I really do like to get to know who I’m working with and really connect with that person, because it makes the experience a lot better.”
Mills was pleasantly surprised with the win, and noted he has learned to enjoy these moments more.
“This has very much been a year of reflection for me. This was the first year I kind of took a step back and really appreciated the work that I’ve done in the industry, and it took a second to realize, ‘Oh, I actually have done this!’ With me starting to branch out into kink in the last few months, it’s really cool to win this one. I get a lot of comments about this scene.”
Dee was backstage again later with his win for Best Duo Scene (in Helix’s “Big Cock Swap”), which he shared with Silas Brooks—a Trophy Boy who was already on stage. “Damn, I’m a Trophy Boy and now we have the fucking trophy…hell yeah! I wanna thank Helix and GayVN for hosting me as a Trophy Boy. This is fun…scary, but fun.”
And Dee was still in shock from his huge night.
“This has been an amazing year. Oh my God, I can’t believe I got into porn. I enjoy it so much; it’s what I love to do. My heart is beating so fast. This is a good night, this is a good year! I feel amazing—my hard work paid off. Silas is amazing to work with. We did a really good collab before, and we’re already good friends. This scene is really awesome—we killed it. It was so much fun.”
Brooks had little time to savor his hardware backstage as he was quickly pulled into his Trophy Boy duties with his peers Heath Halo, Dex Devall and Zacc Andrews.
“This was super fun, but it was a little nerve-wracking,” smiled Halo at the end of the night. “To be up there and see all these pretty people looking up at you is nerve-wracking, but it was a blast. My buddy Cole Connor won a (fan) award; he’s a trip. I loved his acceptance speech—it was very him. Seeing Beau win so many things, I’m proud of him. Those were good moments for me, seeing my friends win.”
The joy was also apparent early in the evening on Noah White’s face when the Best Three-Way Sex Scene winner was announced. He jumped to the stage when the Gaycest/CarnalPlus effort “The Professor: Meeting the Assistant” was announced, joined by co-star Cole Blue (Adam Snow was not in attendance) and Carnal owner Legrand Wolf—who asked writer/directors Foxtrot and Brian Fitzgibbons to join them on stage.
“This award actually deserves to be given to them as well—this award belongs to this group of people,” said Wolf. “This is a huge deal for us.”
Fitzgibbons was humbled on stage, receiving an added round of applause as he shared: “This has always been my dream, to be a part of porn. I’ve only been doing it for a couple of years, and this is the first time we’ve received an award for the work we’ve done, so we’re really excited about that, so thank you.”
The celebration continued backstage, where White was still soaking it in.
“It means a lot. It’s my first award, and I’m so excited to have been able to come on board, and the whole experience—to be able to travel the country and do something new and exciting that you’ve never been able to do before, and be recognized for something that you’ve tried so hard for and that you really care about, it’s just amazing.”
Added co-director/writer Foxtrot: “It reminds me of being in college; I got to re-live some sort of 21-year-old fantasies of mine, so it was fun to be able to do that.”
“For CarnalPlus, it really matters,” added Wolf. “People are paying attention, and we’re creating really great shit. Our team is making this, they are putting it out there—they wrote this, and they were the ones that co-directed it, and they made magic, absolute magic. It matters a lot for us.”
Jayden Marcos was another excited first-time winner, picking up the trophy for Best Actor – Featurette in the Disruptive Films/ASGMax effort “Marriage Material.”
“I’m shaking,” laughed the performer backstage. “This is absolutely insane. I didn’t expect to win anything, so the fact that I got this is truly amazing. I enjoy these story-driven scenes and getting the opportunity to play these characters, and this kind of shows me that everyone else seems to enjoy them also—and that really means a lot. Calvin (Banks) was such an amazing person to work with, and all the crew from ASG has always been fantastic.”
BelAmi picked up the win for Best All-Sex Movie for Deep Blue: A Greek Adventure, with cast member Helmut Huxley in attendance to accept the award. “Our group is really tight and everybody works well together. I have just a lot of good memories from this shoot, and it’s really a great pleasure to win this award. It’s always beautiful to come together at events like GayVNs with people who love this job and can share experiences, share some memories and even collaborate on future projects.”
BelAmi was also in the spotlight when COO Stuart Davis was inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame, the executive emotional onstage as his voice trembled in front of the appreciative crowd.
“I feel very privileged to be part of this dynamic, resilient and very inclusive industry. I’m very lucky that I stumbled into this work about 20 years ago, and I’m very happy to still be here now today. In addition to George (Duroy) and everybody at BelAmi, I really want to like to say thanks to all the people who work behind the scenes to bring our art form to life: editors, programmers, designers, and everyday else—and especially the performers, whose talent our whole industry is built on.”
Davis was still emotional backstage, the weight of the moment evident on his face, “I’m very nervous,” he smiled. “I’m used to being only behind the scenes, not in front of the camera and in a spotlight.”
Also inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame was Michael “Shante” Youens, an art department and talent relations industry veteran who passed away two months ago. He was honored on stage by colleagues and friends Sister Roma, Ch Chi LaRue and Ethylina Canne.
Dante Colle and Jkab Ethan Dale’s Icon Male scene from Kinky Scenarios won Best Featurette, with Colle picking up more hardware with his fan award for Favorite Versatile. In other fan-voted GayVN Awards, Butler picked up his second trophy of the night with his win for Favorite Bear. Another double winner was Drake Von, who claimed Favorite Cock and Favorite Twink: “It’s amazing…I’m so grateful to my fans for pushing through and getting me those awards, I’m so happy. I’m having such a good time here this week; it’s been great.”
Legrand Wolf repeated as Favorite Daddy, while Colby Chambers and Mickey Knox repeated as Favorite Cam/Creator Couple. Clark Reid won Favorite Newcomer, while Felix Fox won Favorite Bottom and Alejo Ospina had the Favorite Butt. Noah Way won Favorite FTM Star, while Favorite Cam Guy was Cole Connor—keeping his winning streak alive after his Best Leading Actor win last year and his Best Newcomer win in 2022.
“CAM4 approached me with an opportunity to be one of their influencers, so I did some shows for them. It was a new experience for me. I don’t like camming by myself, so I always had guests—my friends and other creators, I have them over and we’d do a show. This was the first fan award that I’ve gotten, so it’s really nice.”
Like Maddox and Von, Austin Wolf was another double winner in the fan-voted categories, winning Favorite Dom and Favorite Porn Star Creator—an impressive second year in a row winning two, having picked up Favorite Body and the first-ever Favorite Creator Site Star trophy last year.
“Especially the creator one feels great. I’ve been in this industry for 13 years, and there’s been a constant evolution of the way things are going, and the one thing we have to remember is that we have to recognize the people in the industry and outside the industry who got us here. And saying that, I just want to thank the fans—but you notice I didn’t say ‘me,’ I said ‘we.’ I don’t make solo content, so I have to thank everybody here because I’m pretty sure I’ve made videos with almost all of them,” Wolf laughed amid the crowd after the show.
The veteran then addressed the growth of the content creator awards, now in their second year of existence: “Having to have awards for it, I don’t think is important—it’s nice, and I dig that the rest of the industry is recognizing our work in that realm. But we’re gonna keep doing what we’re doing either way, and it’s not gonna stop growing—so you can ether get on board or get out of our way, one or the other.”
Wolf could be seen congratulating Shabazz in the crowd afterward, the two titans striking quite an impression side by side as they shared smiles and kind words.
“This is the third one (Shabazz has) been to, and in the beginning we had to push him towards it a little bit—and he’s now embraced it so much,” Wolf said. “And me and my team, we saw this coming a long time ago. We knew this was going to happen—he is going to be a Performer of the Year at some point. That is hands-down exactly what we thought it should be, and exactly who should have gotten the award this year. I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy for a Performer of the Year at any award show I’ve ever been to.”
But asked about his Favorite All-Male Creator Collab win, Shabazz was once again only interested in complimenting his co-stars.
“Let me say this: Matthew Ellis is probably the content creator that I am most impressed with since I started my journey in this industry, because even my collaboration with him, I think I was so exhausted because I had just gotten back from Brazil. But I remember I had promised him a collab, and I hate canceling on people. And it ended up being an amazing collab, and now it’s an amazing friendship and working relationship.”
As for his future, Shabazz is hoping to grow his recently launched membership site Voyr (hosted by parent company Aylo)—whose purpose perfectly encapsulates the performer’s encouraging, giving nature.
“I wanted to create a studio that focused on promoting content creators and allowing them to create content—and also teach them to create content that’s not necessarily more professional, but kind of more presentable than the usual homemade porn that’s put on the internet. I also want to do more with NakedSword because I love them; and also to work with all the other studios. For me, it’s about teaching the studios that you don’t have to be in competition with each other, you can work together.”
And as he ponders his own future, Shabazz envisions one where he isn’t in front of the camera.
“You can at some time hopefully expect Rhyheim’s retirement from performing in the industry,” he laughs, sounding uncertain about when that will specifically be, but hinting it could be in 2024. “Hopefully, Rhyheim goes into full producer mode soon.”
For the complete winners list, click here.
For photo galleries, click here.
Photography by Toby Acuna
