Above, the 2018 Urban X Hall of Fame inductees with co-hosts Richelle Ryan, Ricky Johnson and Cindy Starfall; photo by Rick Garcia/@IndustryByRick
LOS ANGELES—The Urban X Awards were given out Sunday night in a venue that lent historical charm to the proceedings. The venue was the Globe Theatre on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, a 100-year-old vaudeville palace (est. 1913) retrofitted into a contemporary dance club/performance venue.
The main floor, long ago stripped of its theater seats and painted jet black, held rows of folding chairs, with sponsor tables in the rear. A contemporary elevated stage with video screen and DJ station featured a runway, carefully outlined in white for performer safety, jutting into the rows of chairs. The theater's vaudeville roots were evident in the two massive white fluted columns flanking the stage, augmented by deep red and gilded ornamentation. At the sides of the stage, two audience boxes faced away from the stage into the audience.
"I like this place a lot," performer Kira Noir said. "It has character."
In the foyer, a U-shaped red carpet had one side for still photographers and one for videographers, and performers and their companions posed and took selfies as they entered. Inside the auditorium, a starlet posed topless in a stageside box and the moment was recorded on a dozen cell phones. The awards ceremony itself started with James Bartholet and Misty Stone taking the stage and Bartholet starting with "I think it's safe to say... FUCK TRUMP!" with an upraised middle finger, getting cheers from the crowd, and then pointing out it was the awards' 10th year.
"Thank you so much, everybody, for coming out," he said to the cheers of the crowd. "This is a night about unity. No matter what color your skin, your gender, your orientation, it's all about equality, and that is what the adult industry is all about!"
After a set by comedian Kevin Tate and a musical performance by Bryce Williams, show hosts Richelle Ryan, Cindy Starfall and Ricky Johnson entered and gave shoutouts to performers sitting ringside. The awards started with the Hall of Fame presentations. Inductee Alexis Amore said, "I really appreciate our peers. We are one of a kind, and we have come a long way. ... It took me 19 years to get here." Performer/director Dapper Dan pointed out, "Here I am at 65 years old. ... Even now, I still perform, I still produce, I still direct."
The award for Rising Star went to Honey Gold, who was not present when the award was given ("I was shooting content for my website") but arrived before the show ended. "I knew that I was nominated, which is an honor in itself, but I didn't expect to win anything," Gold told AVN. "It's a bit surreal right now, I need some time to digest it. It's a lot to take in. This is my first time attending the Urban X Awards—although I was a little bit late—and it really is an honor to attend for the first time, meet everyone that put this event together and be honored as their Rising Star. There are a lot of girls who were nominated that I'm a fan of. You don't think that you're going to get it. The level of gratefulness that I have is deep and very genuine. To be able to carry this title is an accomplishment that I didn’t think I would ever be able to achieve. I have happiness and I also have that HOO-RAH! feeling. It's mixed emotions."
Nicest Booty went to Aryana Adin, who accepted with a quick, "I didn't have a speech, but ... How you doing? Thank you, guys. Bye." Male Performer of the Year honors went to Rob Piper, who said, "Seriously, I really want to thank every person who ever believed in me, every friend, every homie, every female. You should know: Whatever you want to do, you can do." Mr. Marcus presented the Industry Pioneer award to Sean Michaels, saying he did his first scene along with Michaels, and "he is an icon, he is a legend." Michaels approached the crowd on the runway and said, "I want to thank you all for allowing me to be here in this life for so many years. I want to thank my mother, who couldn’t be here tonight, and to my supporters, thank you. I couldn't have done it without your support. To all the new talent out there: Welcome. What we do matters. If you chose to be in this life, remember: You have to be good with you. Thank you all. Peace."
Co-host Richelle Ryan won MILF Performer of the Year, in a tie with Nina Elle, who did not come up to accept. Doing so for her, Ryan said a quick, "Thank you very much. I love you guys," before returning to her host duties. "I was extremely surprised," Ryan told AVN, taking a breather after the ceremony. "I was up against some amazing women, and it's a huge honor. I can say that nobody loves fucking 20-year-old guys more than me. ... I love 'em all. They're great performers, I have amazing scenes with them, if it wasn't for them I wouldn’t be winning MILF Performer of the Year."
Seven-month newbie and new Spiegler Girl Demi Sutra won Urban X Hottie. "I was friggin' shocked," Sutra told AVN after the ceremony. "I heard my name and I was like, 'Wait ... what?' I'm super excited. I'm a really humble person, so sometimes it's difficult for me to take a huge compliment, but nonetheless here I am accepting it, and I'm really proud of myself."
Jason Luv and Mia Malkova's scene in Interracial Icon 7 won Couples Scene, and Luv thanked "everyone who voted for me and the entire Blacked organization, for bringing me up here." Porn Star of the Year, open to both male and female performers, went to Flash Brown, who thanked the people "who supported me from day one. Shoutout to the beautiful people at the Urban X Awards ... I love all of you all. Urban X Awards, salute. Much love. Life." Best All-Sex Release went to Axel Braun's Brown Sugar 2 from Wicked Pictures. Braun said, "This is really unexpected. I'm very honored to be accepting this award."
Urban X Awards founder Giana Taylor took the stage to thank her team ("There's just five of us!") and detail the effort they had gone through to get the awards show done: "I haven’t had two hours' sleep in I don't know how many days." Moved to tears, she brought the members of the awards team to the stage for individual recognition and thanks. "Urban X Awards is about creativity, diversity and unity. I am so tired of this damn label: 'The Black Awards.' That's not true. Never been like that, since the beginning. Everybody is welcome to Urban X Awards."
Alexander DeVoe presented the Director of the Year award to MimeFreak, who related the story of being a PA on DeVoe's set and being inspired and instructed by him, which DeVoe didn't remember. "It's amazing," MimeFreak told AVN after the show. "I earned my position. Never stepped on anybody's toes to get here, put in a lot of hard work ... I attribute this award to consistency. I was focused this year. I told everybody, '2018, we get back to basics. Work and shut up. That's it. Work and shut up.'"
One big standout moment was the final award, Female Performer of the Year, presented by 2017 winner Misty Stone to Ana Foxxx. "Let me pass the torch," Stone said.
Foxxx received the award with a scream, and thanked "everybody I sucked and fucked this year. It was my pleasure. I hope I can suck and fuck all the people I haven't ... I see you, I see you, I see you ... I'm going to walk away now, because I wasn't ready."
Johnson closed the show saying, "Thank you, everybody, for coming out to the show tonight. We had a wonderful time. It's time to call your Ubers. Everybody get home safe. ... Now it's time to party."
Below is the list of winners at the 2018 Urban X Awards.
Hall of Fame
Alexis Amore
Nyomi Banxxx
Dapper Dan
Mone Divine
Kaylani Lei
LT
Richard Mann
Michelle Maylene
Gianna Michaels
Evan Stone
Nat Turnher
Porn Star of the Year
Flash Brown
Female Performer of the Year
Ana Foxxx
Male Performer of the Year
Rob Piper
Urban X Hottie
Demi Sutra
Urban X Stud
Rome Major
Rising Star—Female
Honey Gold
Best Male Newcomer
Jason Luv
Orgasmic Oralist
Lethal Lipps
Social Media Star of the Year
Nikki Delano
BBW Star of the Year
Ms. Ling Ling
Most Fashionable BBW Star
Farrah Foxxx
MILF Performer of the Year (tie)
Richelle Ryan
Nina Elle
Transgender Performer of the Year
Chanel Santini
Nicest Booty
Aryana Adin
Nicest Breast
Nia Nacci
Best Anal Performer
Kira Noir
Director of the Year
MimeFreak
Studio of the Year
Bang Bros
Best Couples Scene
Jason Luv and Mia Malkova, Interracial Icon 7 (Blacked/Jules Jordan Video)
Best All-Sex Release
Axel Braun's Brown Sugar 2 (Wicked Pictures)
Best Anal Release
Dredd Up Your Ass (Jules Jordan Video)
Best BBW Release
Hot Sexy Plumpers 50 (Sensational Video)
Best Big Butt Release
Big Black Wet Asses 15 (Elegant Angel Productions)
Best Girl Girl Release
Lesbian Beauties 19 (Sweetheart Video/Mile High Media)
Best Group Release
White Out 6 (Devil's Film/Pulse)
Best MILF Release
Black Mommas 4 (Elegant Angel Productions)
Best Pro Am Release
Queen of Spades (Richard Mann Productions)
Feature Movie of the Year
Dark Obsession (Digital Playground/Pulse)
Parody of the Year
Queen of Thrones (Brazzers/Pulse)
Best Male Website
ShaunDamXXX.com
Best Female Website
CherokeeDAss.com
Best BBW Website
AsstynMartyn.com
Webcam Company of the Year
Camsoda
Novelty Company of the Year
Fleshlight
Most Inventive Novelty
Hankey’s Toy
Best Novelty Website
Bad Dragon
The official site is UrbanXAwards.com.
Follow Urban X Awards on Twitter (@urbanxawards), Instagram (urbanxawards) and Facebook.com.
