WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—The 16th annual Cybersocket Web Awards were handed out Tuesday night during a ceremony at Penthouse nightclub in West Hollywood emceed by Chi Chi LaRue. BelAmi, CockyBoys, Helix Studios and NakedSword as well as performers Antonio Biaggi, Trenton Ducati, Pierre Fitch, Colby Keller and Sebastian Kross, claimed top awards. The night’s highlights included a performance by recording star Frenchie Davis and a man in a banana suit.
LaRue announced all of the categories and winners and kept the 90-minute show moving at a swift pace, aided by DJ Pornstar (a/k/a performer Dominic Pacifico). A quartet of trophy boys included CockyBoys exclusives Tayte Hanson and Kody Stewart, Helix Studios star Kyle Ross and newcomer Jack Hunter, about whom LaRue exclaimed, “He’s got a great big cock. That’s all you need to know. Now get off the stage.” Later, she joked about an “international incident” after reporting that Hanson and Ross had hooked up backstage.
Fitch claimed the title of Best Webcam Performer from last year’s honoree Adam Killian, while Sebastian Kross was crowned Best Newcomer (Hanson was last year’s honoree). Best Porn Star, a marquee category that has gone to Brent Everett, Dean Monroe, Johnny Rapid and Jimmy Durano in recent years, was awarded to Antonio Biaggi. The Cybersocket Wall of Fame Award of Excellence was given to performer-activist Trenton Ducati.
CockyBoys and Helix have dominated the Cybersocket Web Awards in recent years and kept their winning streaks alive. Helix was crowned Best Content Producer (a category CockyBoys claimed last year) and took the trophy for Best Sex Scene for Two Americans for a Frenchie; they also won the category last year for Sex en Rouge. Helix won the Best Movie or Web Series of the Year category in 2013 and ’14, before ceding last year to CockyBoys with Answered Prayers. The New York-based studio kept their title as Meeting Liam won that award. CockyBoys director/producer Jake Jaxson was also named Businessperson of the Year. In his acceptance speech, he paid tribute to industry pioneers, and pointed out that some of them went to prison for making porn. “Everybody here should be celebrating them,” he said.
Additional winners include fashion designer Andrew Christian, who claimed the award for Best Product/Retail site. “I get to make a lot of gay guys happy and I get to make them look fucking sexy!” he said; NakedSword for Best VOD Site; BelAmi as Best Video Site; Str8toGay.com (“Aren’t they all?” LaRue cracked) for Best Niche Site; and Grindr for Best Hookup Site/Mobile Hookup App. “They don’t want a piece of plastic,” LaRue said. “They just (made) $93 million dollars!” (News had broken a day earlier that Grindr sold a 60-percent stake to Chinese gaming company the Beijing Kunlun Tech Company.)
The Best Affiliate Program trophy went to Flirt4Free and a scrum of highly enthusiastic partiers took the stage to accept the award. “We’re the nerds behind the scenes!” exclaimed one of their number. Before announcing that RentMen had won the Best Escort Site category, LaRue called for “a moment of silence” for Rentboy.com, which has been shuttered since a summer raid in its New York City offices by the Department of Homeland Security.
Keller won for Best Personality, one of the night’s A-list categories claimed in recent years by dragstress Sister Roma, Steve Pena, Austin Wilde and LaRue. Keller is on a crowd-funded, cross-country trip filming his self-described “art-porn” series Colby Does America and sent a man in a bright yellow banana suit to accept the award in his absence. “I’m gonna peel the fuck out of you,” LaRue joked. “Banana bread is in your future.”
Go-go dancers were provided by Ducati Models and red carpet interviews were conducted by Scotty B. The presenting sponsor for the 16th annual Cybersocket Web Awards was Flirt4Free. Diamond sponsors were CCBill Mr. Man and Supermen.com. Gold sponsors were 2Gay4FB.com, Cam4, Chaturbate, Clock Cleaners, Mania Media, Men.com, Mobius Payments, Orbital Pay, Playgirl.com and Pride Card Services.
For the complete list of winners, click here.
