HOLLYWOOD—Dedicated to co-founder Bill "Papa Bear" Margold, who passed away in January, the X-Rated Critics Organization's 33rd annual awards show kicked off around 9 p.m. Thursday night with video tributes to both Margold and another beloved member of the adult industry community who passed shortly before him, Mark Stone, whose band provided live background music at last year's XRCO Awards.
Despite the bittersweet opening, triple-X icon Evan Stone made sure the show's traditional rambunctious spirit remained intact right from the top, exclaiming, "We lost Mark Stone, we lost Bill Margold ... he started this 33 years ago, and we're going to still be doing this 33 years from now! And all of you who knew him know that if Bill was here right now, he'd be screaming, 'Be quiet! Everybody pay attention!'"
Naturally—as is de rigeur at the self-proclaimed "world's largest private adult industry party"—no quiet came as Stone rolled into the preliminary Hall of Fame induction portion of the ceremony. Two inductees, Raylene and Andrew Blake (whose 1990 film House of Dreams was the actual honoree), were not in attendance, but in Blake's case, frequent subject of his lens Justine Joli accepted on his behalf, declaring, "To the man who once said 'the world is my ashtray,' this is to you, you wonderful pervert."
Also inducted were Eric Masterson, Ruby and Darla Crane, who offered an amusing retrospective on her career pairings with Stone: "The first time I worked with him he pretended to force himself on me as a date, the second time I worked with him I played his wife, and the third time I worked with him I played his mother."
Ruby, who disclosed that she's been working on putting together a support system for members of the industry, issued a stern plea for performers and directors to think twice about the types of scenes they're creating. "I am not seeing the intimacy, the passion, the romance anymore," she said. "I want to see the romance. This is important to me, because I am now a parent. So when you're shooting these rough, violent scenes, remember that your kids are going to see that and this is the main form of sex education now. I don't want to have to tell my kids that porn sex and real sex are not the same thing. They should be the same thing and it should be beautiful."
After introducing "Heart-On Girls" Honey Gold and Haley Reed, followed by co-hostesses Eva Lovia and Angela White, the main event got underway with first presenters Romi Rain and Moe "The Monster" Johnson announcing MILF of the Year—whose winner, Cherie DeVille, did not show to accept. New Stud Ricky Johnson did, however, and thanked "OC Modeling, Erika Icon, every director that's shot me and every female performer that I've had sex with, and every future female performer that I'll have sex with. And most of all, Keisha Grey, the most beautiful girl in the room."
Perennial Orgasmic Oralist Vicki Chase picked up the award once again, but this year she also scored Orgasmic Analist for the first time. "I finally won!" she cheered upon collecting the latter. "I've been doing this for like five years, and I'm like, really? You finally gave me an anal award?! I'm so thankful for you reviewers, thank you for loving what I do! Keep stroking it! I hope you're stroking it."
Another giddy acceptance came from Holly Hendrix when she was crowned Superslut. "Oh my fucking god!" she shrieked. "Once again, I am so honored to have this award in my hands. Wow! Superslut! I am so honored, thank you. So guys, I'm a superslut!"
Among the most memorable presenters of the night were the trio of Ron Jeremy, Savana Styles and Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof, the latter of whom got off perhaps the ceremony's best line while reading the Superslut nominee list: "...and last but not least, Bill O'Reilly's daughter, Maddy O'Reilly." He also at one point offered a word of appreciation for his longtime attorney Allan Gelbard, to which Jeremy cracked, "What a sweet Jewish thing he just did. Thanks the lawyer."
Not far behind was Xander Corvus, who spat continuous zingers such as "You and that sexy beard, get up here!" when Greg Lansky won the Best Director (Non-Features) prize. Lanksy himself let a little more loose than usual, bellowing, "Alright! Everybody fucked up yet or what?! I have never had an XRCO show without being totally fucked up! I know I piss some people off when I call adult performers 'artists,' but they can go fuck themselves, because they are motherfucking artists!"
When Brad Armstrong later took the stage to accept Best Release for his powerful drama The Preacher's Daughter, he called out to Corvus, the movie's lead, "After seeing you up here, I was thinking you should totally host the XRCO or AVN, one or the other."
Two of the night's most illustrious winners, Elsa Jean for New Starlet and Adriana Chechik for Female Performer of the Year, also turned out to be absentees. The latter, presented by Lovia as the evening's final award, prompted her to quip, "That was a little anti-climactic."
And with that, Stone wrapped things up by proclaiming, "Remember to take care of each other, because we're all in the same family!"
See the full winners list from the 2017 XRCO Awards here.
This year's XRCO Awards were sponsored by AGW Entertainment, Adam & Eve, GlamorGirl, Blacked.com/Tushy.com, Pipeline Multimedia, SS Entertainment LLC, The Mall, IAFD.com, DVDErotik.com, Axel Braun Productions, ATMLA, Vrai Voyeur, Naughty Business, Dennis Hof's The Art of the Pimp, Wicked Pictures and Girlfriends Films.
Pictured: XRCO chairman Dirty Bob with hosts Angela White and Eva Lovia; photo by Chris King/@ReelSeduction.
