HOLLYWOOD—Boardner's, the one-time animators' hangout located just a few steps off Hollywood Boulevard, hosted the 40th X-Rated Critics Organization awards on Sunday night. The Red Carpet started at 6 p.m., with adult-industry luminaries running a gauntlet down the narrow entry passageway between a step-and-repeat backdrop and a coterie of video and still photographers, leading to a sheltered patio with a fountain and bar. The awards ceremony took place in Boardner's adjacent nightclub, a high-ceilinged black-walled goth paradise with chains hanging from the walls, a mezzanine, and a large bar with a dramatic shadowboxed backdrop.
"I am putting in the effort," awards show co-host Lauren Phillips said. "My co-host Caitlin Bell and I have rehearsed and we are ready to rock it. We are coming with our A game. I'm excited. We want to joke about what our industry is, because it's fun and funny at the same time. I want people to love what I have brought to the table. I worked really hard on this."
Bell, a three-year veteran, said she was looking forward to "hosting my very first awards show. We rehearsed yesterday and today. I'm not nervous, I'm excited. What's the worst that could happen? I forget a line?"
Early arrivals included Amber Lynn, Leya Falcon, director Ivan, AVN Hall of Famer Sonny Malone, and Coralyn Jewel, talking about her experiences at the World Sex Championship in Spain. New trans performer Michelle Danielle, sitting on the edge of the fountain, said she was "here to make friends and get work."
"This is an absolutely wonderful night," new XRCO Hall of Fame inductee James Bartholet told AVN. "The weather couldn’t be better. Not only am I being inducted into the Hall of Fame, but I'm also one of the sponsors. I'm working on a lot of mainstream stuff, but I'm still around."
"I feel like I'm coming back to family when I'm here," Leana Lovings said, standing at the bar in the patio. "I see so many familiar faces and it's such an intimate setting. I don’t have to worry about fans crossing over. I'm thinking about everyone that I've met and all the wonderful scenes that I've shot with all these fantastic people. I can focus on the people that I know and catch up in conversations. XRCO is a celebration. A personal celebration of everything that we've done together."
"I'm always excited to come here and see how everybody's dressed, what they're doing, what they've got going on," Ana Foxxx told AVN. "All the glitter—look, there's a glittery butt right there. And another one right there."
A starlet strikes a pose against a black wall, her sheer dress disappearing in the photographers' lights revealing her X-shaped pasties.
Unsung Starlet nominee Olivia Jay said, "I'm so excited. I really appreciate XRCO for acknowledging me and giving me this nomination. We all work so hard. I don’t have a speech ready, I'm not really expecting to win. If I get picked, I don’t know what I'm going to say. Maybe I'll just run out of here," she added with a laugh.
"I'm on a roll. My work is getting better and better every year, so to get recognized this year really does mean a lot."
"I might win something and I'll have no idea, because it's so loud in here," five-times-nominated Jennifer White said.
The awards ceremony started at 9, with Phillips and Bell mostly inaudible in the conversational cacophony, as the XRCO nominations video played on a repeating loop on a screen above the makeshift stage. Ricky Greenwood got a substantial ovation when he stepped on stage to accept an award. Phillips got a cheering response when she asked "IS EVERYBODY HAVING A GOOD TIME?!??" but she had to repeat it. In the crowd, Blake Blossom—holding one award—asked, "Have they given out Personal Favorite yet? I can't hear anything." Looking at presenter Cherry Kiss, Blossom said, "She's my director tomorrow."
Offstage, taking a respite between presenters, Phillips reflected on the hubbub drowning out the presentation. "I worked too hard on this. I'm going through with it. Determination!"
"I was here a couple of years ago and I won an award and I didn’t hear it," director Mike Quasar observed. "Later that evening somebody handed me an award and said, 'You won this.' O-kay..."
"We won for Love, Sex & Robots, I think it's our 15th or 16th Best Comedy award at XRCO," director Will Ryder said. "The ironic thing is I wrote the damn thing as a scripted drama. When I saw the categories, I thought 'What the fuck? How did it wind up in the Comedy category? I didn't write it that way.’"
The show ended with the Hall of Fame presentations. Tommy Gunn paid tribute to performers Kagney Linn Karter and Jesse Jane, and encouraged performers to reach out if they need help. "We're all good-hearted people," he said after the ceremony. "I had a couple of young male performers telling me, 'Thank you for doing what you do.' They called me inspirational. That's why I got in this business. We have to look out for each other. I'm a survivor of suicide. Not that I tried, but a family member of mine did it and I found them. It's not just our business, it’s the world. Mental health is a real thing, and [suicide] is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. We leave behind a wake of pain and agony that our friends and family and peers have to bear."
Bartholet and Misty Stone ended the show with their Hall of Fame induction, with Stone saying she was "honored to be in the Hall of Fame" and Bartholet saying they wanted to thank "everybody at XRCO, all the production companies, and all the wonderful performers we’ve worked with in our 20-plus years in this industry."
"I think this show was absolutely fabulous," XRCO chairman Dirty Bob told AVN. "I am so proud of everybody on stage and the audience. They all had fun, and so did I. It doesn’t get any better than that."
Standing in front of the stage, Jennifer White proudly brandished her Star Showcase award. "I heard this one!"
"I won Personal Favorite tonight, which I'm very grateful for," Angela White said after the ceremony. "They must love me," she added with a laugh. "It's always an honor. It was an amazing night. I want to say thank you to XRCO, and of course my agent Mark Spiegler, and to Brazzers for all the incredible content we've shot this year. And I couldn't hear anything. [Laughter]"
For the complete winners list, click here.
Photos by Jeff Koga/@KogaFoto
