CHATSWORTH, Calif.—AVN Media Network culminated its first-ever open house party Thursday night by announcing that live-cam superstar Aspen Rae and reigning AVN Female Performer of the Year Riley Reid will co-host the 2017 AVN Awards Show.
The two women, who share the AVN Awards stage on January 21, 2017, were both at AVN’s newly redecorated office to talk to members of the press and pose for photos. The party was sponsored by MyFreeCams.com.
AVN Media Network CEO Tony Rios expressed his delight. “It was so wonderful to share the thrill of revealing the news with so many adult stars and industry powerbrokers around us. We’re delighted with the new hosts and look forward to seeing what’s in store for the fans at the 2017 AVN Awards Show.
“We had a great night,” Rios added. “And we’ll keep the fun going in Vegas, starting off with the opening day of the AVN Show on January 18 all the way to the last cocktail at the awards show after-parties.”
Fans and members of the industry will remember both Reid and Rae from the 2016 show.
Wearing a dress made entirely of lavender bondage rope, Riley Reid took the stage multiple times to pick up the top awards of the night, including Female Performer of the Year. Her showcase movie, Being Riley (Blacked.com/Jules Jordan Video), garnered multiple awards.
Before that, Reid was far from a stranger to AVN Awards audiences. A nominee for Best New Starlet in 2013, Reid earned her first AVN gold in 2014 with a triple win for Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene, Best Girl/Girl Sex Scene and Best Three-Way Sex Scene – Girl/Girl/Boy (in Mandingo Massacre 6, Girl Fever and Remy 2, respectively).
Describing how she felt when she was asked to co-host, Reid recalled, "When I went to the AVN office I was expecting to just pick up my awards and maybe see a sneak peek at what the edit of the awards show would be that will be premiering on Showtime. Which is exactly what happened: [AVN Awards director] Gary Miller invited me to his office and presented the Female Performer of the Year award, congratulated me as well as showing me some of his favorite parts of the show. ... Afterwards he took me around the office to meet the staff, but most importantly the new owner of AVN, Tony.
"We were laughing and exchanging stories when all of a sudden Tony invited me to be the host of the 2017 awards show. I was simply shocked and at first ready to say no for the fact that the last two shows had a song and dance routine, which isn't my forte. ... Gary and Tony laughed and were quick to tell me ... they wanted me for the fact that while winning my awards this past AVN they said that I conquered the stage, my personality shined through.”
Also at the 2016 AVN Awards was Aspen Rae. The 2016 Penthouse Pet runner-up was one of the presenters of the Fan Award for Most Epic Ass. A girl/girl performer, Rae has largely done work on DVD for Girlfriends Films and Gamma Entertainment’s All Girl Massage and Fantasy Massage lines. But her movie titles do not reveal why this massively popular performer has almost 90,000 Twitter followers and 122,000 more on Instagram.
Rae earned those followers in large part for her work on MyFreeCams.com. She started on the live cam site in March 2010 and by October had been named Miss MFC. And she has been ranked in the top 20 models ever since, with live shows that often draw 2,000 to 4,000 viewers.
When Rae got the news from AVN, she recollected, “I was in disbelief! After I received the phone call asking if I wanted the opportunity to co-host, it felt like I was being proposed to. ‘Yes! Yes! A million times yes!’”
For Rae, her appetite was whetted by her participation in last year’s show. “It was the first time I had the honor of presenting an award,” she said, adding that she enjoyed appearing “alongside the drop-dead-gorgeous Adriana Chechik.” Last year was not, however, her debut at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. “My first expo was 2011,” she said. “First time in Vegas, first expo, first time meeting people in the industry, and a LOT of other firsts.”
This also isn't Rae's first time in the mainstream spotlight. “Appearing on Howard TV was the first thing I did that was not webcamming. Riding his Sybian on live radio was something I will always cherish and NEVER forget,” Rae said.
For Rae, another first she's looking forward to is working with Reid. “I have not had the pleasure before,” Rae said. “I've been wanting to for some time now—the stars have finally aligned.”
The selection of Rae to fill one of the hosting slots at the AVN Awards clearly shows the rise of the live webcam industry. Noted Rios, “Over the past few years at our annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, we have seen increasing participation from webcam models. When Aspen Rae joins Riley Reid onstage in January, it will be a significant milestone for the cam industry.”
Rae and Reid may diverge considerably in their path to success in the adult entertainment business but they share plenty in common. Both are independent women who have taken charge of both their own careers and their own websites: respectively, ReidMyLips.com and MyAspenRae.com. And they’re both embracing the challenge of hosting AVN’s January show wholeheartedly.
A passionate advocate of fitness, Rae competes in bodybuilding shows around California and dreams of someday going pro. And she has another lofty goal. While she’s rehearsing for the 2017 AVN Awards Show, she’ll also be learning to fly helicopters. “It requires so much focus and every limb has a separate job just to keep the damn thing in the air. It’s often been described as the closest thing there is to actually flying. The feeling is sublime and I look forward to advancing further and further with my licenses.”
For Reid, she’ll be flying high in her co-hosting role, which represents the apex in a sky-rocketing career. "Being asked to host the awards show is an honor and a pleasure alike. I never once ever thought I'd be winning awards year after year, let alone hosting the awards show. Not that hosting the awards show changes how I feel about where I am with my career, but at the same time it feels so damn good to know that I'm recognized by my peers. ... This is another incredible experience I get to add to my list of life experiences."
Photo of Riley Reid and Aspen Rae at the AVN Open House; photo by Chris King/ReelSeduction.com
