This feature appears in the January issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition.
LAS VEGAS—When Luna Star got the call about co-hosting the 2024 AVN Awards, she couldn’t contain her emotions.
“When they told me on the phone, I had to turn the phone on silent so they would not hear me screaming—I thought it was a joke,” Luna says. “After they told me you can scream if you like, I was like, I have been doing it already! And then I couldn’t speak.
“I was definitely in shock.”
Luna will team with MyFreeCams sweetheart Emily Lynne and the notorious independent creator Kazumi as the mistresses of ceremonies for the 41st annual ceremony tonight at Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas.
They will be joined on stage by comedian Lil Duval with a special music performance by rapper Iggy Azalea.
The group will preside over the biggest night in adult entertainment, when winners in more than 130 award categories will be announced in a show that will be live streamed for a global audience.
“Everybody at some point wishes to even present an award and even more to be hosting the show,” Luna explains. “It’s an incredible opportunity and an incredible achievement for myself.
“We all know that AVN is like the Oscars of porn and to be part of it I’m super blessed, I’m super excited. I’ve been in the industry for 11 years so I guess this is my moment to show the world what I love about this show.
“I know AVN makes every single host feel like a star and the opportunity to do comedy and be on stage with the artist performing a music show is something I’m looking forward to!”
Emily Lynne, a top draw on MyFreeCams ever since her debut in June 2014, calls the chance to co-host “surreal.”
“I’m waiting to wake up from this dream,” Emily tells AVN. “This is an incredible opportunity and what everyone dreams about. There literally is no bigger event above this. This is the height of our careers.”
The April 2019 AVN CAMStar recalls attending her first AVN Show in January 2015, when she absorbed the enormity of the occasion.
“I got to meet all my friends from the internet and at the time it was a big deal to meet people from the internet,” Lynne says with a laugh. “It was like getting to meet all these celebrities.”
The former Hooters cook, who now resides in Dallas, says the one constant in her life in the past decade has been change.
“Camming changed my life,” Emily continues. “I would be a completely different person if not for camming.”
Lynne tells AVN that two members of the Salt Squad—her longtime community on MFC—are coming to Vegas to hang out with her. One is traveling all the way from New Zealand and the other from California.
“I met them a couple times specifically at AVN and we developed a friendship. They were in my cam room from Day 1,” she says.
Emily reveals she’s become a fan of Lil Duval’s energetic brand of comedy after talking with him at one of the promotional shoots in LA.
“I loved meeting him and I follow him on Instagram now,” she says. “He’s so cool and down to earth.”
Lynne also has enjoyed networking with the adult stars who have been on set with her for the various comedy segments that will be featured in the show.
“It’s been fun to meet porn stars, like famous people in the industry. I feel starstruck,” Emily jokes. “And being able to fly to LA and do photoshoots makes me feel so fancy. Everybody has been so polite.”
Lynne tells AVN she is getting her awards show dress custom made in LA.
“It’s insane and amazing,” she teases. “It’s the most expensive dress I’ll ever wear. I’m very excited.”
Kazumi, a former marketing exec from LA who began her adult entertainment journey in early 2020 after achieving enormous success monetizing her Telegram, admits she still can’t believe she will be taking the awards stage as a co-host.
“I feel like I battle impostor syndrome all the time,” says Kazumi, who first graced the cover of AVN magazine in October 2022 during her breakout year. “Because I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve to be on the cover twice. But the more I talk to people, the more I’m seeing I must be representing something bigger than myself in terms of how the porn industry has evolved.
“I feel like me being on cover again and me being the host and representing independent creators proves that you can create your own path.
“I’ve never had an agent. My journey is really unconventional but I’m glad that people like me are represented in the industry.”
Fueled by her flair for guerrilla marketing, Kazumi took a fast track to stardom after deciding to focus on her OnlyFans in the spring of 2020. Even though she had yet to launch her Instagram, her first viral moment came in March of that year, when she decided to Photoshop her face with a Fox News headline that she got kicked out of Harvard.
Now the meme-friendly creator counts airplane banners, box trucks and Hollywood billboards as some of the numerous brand-building endeavors that have raised her profile in the past three years.
Kazumi tells AVN one of her looks on awards night is inspired by something that rapper Cardi B wore on her birthday—and the other is a shorter dress “because I want to get a little slutty and show some legs.”
“I’m nervous about being funny,” Kazumi jokes. “Because I’m so not funny.”
The curvaceous Filipino recently traveled to Europe and Japan, doing her first sex scenes abroad. She says it was intriguing “seeing how different countries are horny.”
“I did my first convention in Asia. I wanted to check out the Asian market,” she says. “I’m vying for an international sex icon situation. A role model of mine is Rae Lil Black. She does meet-and-greets all over the world.
“People like me pay attention to people like that. It’s so cool to continue to break boundaries and glass ceilings.”
Kazumi plans to further diversify her brand in 2024 with her sights set on fashion.
“I’m still doing porn. I didn’t do as much mainstream [porn] as I could’ve this year, but next year I have some big goals like doing a showcase, doing anal and pushing my limits.”
Luna Star, the Cuban-born resident of Miami, in October will celebrate 12 years in the industry. An exclusive contract girl for Brazzers since 2019, Star has racked up more than 800 credits, making her one of the most prolific performers of the past decade in adult.
Born and raised in Havana, Luna moved to Miami when she was 16, shattering swimming records as a junior and senior in high school.
Thanks in large part to her world-class performing prowess—not to mention her vivacious personality—Star has been on a steady ascent to the industry’s elite ranks.
Luna in recent years also has become a successful entrepreneur, opening her Espresso Cubano cafe in Miami in 2017.
This year she was the centerpiece of her first star showcase, headlining Luna Star: Seduce & Destroy for Brazzers. She also played a supporting role in the epic feature Machine Gunner for Digital Playground. Both movies are contending for major honors—Best Star Showcase and Grand Reel, respectively—on January 27.
She tells AVN hosting the industry’s most anticipated event is “very special and an unforgettable moment in my life.”
“It took me 11 years to be here but I worked really hard,” Luna says. “Every single one in the industry knows me. And I think I do a really good complement to this show.
“Plus I for sure will give more than my 100 percent to make this show the best one yet. Every time that I think about it I just smile. … I can’t wait to be on stage representing all my friends, [my agent] Mark Spiegler, Brazzers, and every single person who has ever watched my videos.
“It’s just going to be like the biggest experience of my life. I love this industry so much. And thank you to everybody, my fans, to bring me all the way up to here. I can’t wait for AVN Awards 2024—see you all there.”
