'It's Gonna Be Softcore': Porn Director Jimmy Lifestyles Accused of On-Set Sexual Assault
LatestOn Sunday, porn performer Emma Hix wrote on Twitter, “A director stuck his tongue up my ass today and I confronted him and he laughed in my face and said ‘I’m over reacting.’” In a tear-filled video that followed, she alleged that the director, Jimmy Lifestyles, had told her that the scene in which he would be briefly appearing would be only simulated. “He said I’m gonna pretend to eat you guys out and all this stuff,” said Hix of the conversation that allegedly took place before filming began. “He said clearly, ‘It’s gonna be softcore.”
Lifestyles repeatedly denied the allegations on Twitter, but Hix’s co-star, Emma Starletto, corroborated her account. Several other performers weighed in with their own allegations against Lifestyles, as well as messages of support. Within a couple days, Lifestyles posted an emotional apology video in which he said, “It was a bad, bad choice. A mistake, indeed.” Lifestyles, who did not respond to Jezebel’s request for comment, alleged that he’ll no longer be performing on camera.
A change is coming.
This story, which has played out on Twitter over the course of just four days, is something of a counterpoint to the outcome of other recent allegations of abuse within the adult industry. It’s also led many to call for a formal system for reporting allegations of on-set abuse. On Twitter, director Jacky St. James solicited stories of abuse within the industry and said, “Your courage & bravery inspires & will be the change that is imminent,” she wrote. “A change is coming.”
In March of last year, director Just Dave and performer Rico Strong were accused of on-set boundary violations by Leigh Raven and Riley Nixon during separate shoots for the porn site Black Payback. As Jezebel previously reported, Black Payback, a site built on the premise of black men exacting sexual revenge for racism on white women, posted footage from one of the shoots in question alongside mocking commentary about the accusations. Then, late last year, director Stills by Alan was accused by performer Lily Adams of sexual assault offset. In the aforementioned cases, all those accused have denied the allegations.
Earlier this year, allegations surfaced that porn performer August Ames, who died by suicide in December of 2017, was abused a few weeks before her death during a shoot with performer Markus Dupree. Part of the alleged evidence was a series of text messages purported to be sent from Ames to Hix, who was a close friend. (At the time, Dupree did not respond to Jezebel’s request for comment.)
In many cases of sexual abuse allegations within the industry, accusers have suffered greater career consequences than the accused. Just recently, James Deen, who in 2015 was accused of abuse by several women, was welcomed back by Evil Angel after a three-year ban, and in a film titled, Consent. (Deen denied the allegations.) The timeline of events around the allegations against Lifestyles stands in contrast to these cases.
“Yeah I really don’t wanna do the scene now. But oh well.”
Shortly after her initial tweet, Hix posted a cellphone video recorded on set as she and Lifestyles argued about the alleged incident. “Oh my god! I didn’t stick my tongue up your ass,” says Lifestyles in the recording. He is then heard saying of Hix’s co-star, Starletto, “Yes, I licked her a little more than you.” He adds, “I’m sorry, I was in the mode.” The scene in question featured Hix and Starletto wearing lingerie alongside Lifestyles, who was dressed as “a creepy [sic] lepracaun,” as he put it on Twitter. It was all a setup for the hardcore portion of the shoot featuring a male performer who was not Lifestyles.
Hix followed up with a screenshot of an alleged Twitter direct message conversation with Starletto that appears to have taken place during the the shoot. Hix wrote that Lifestyles “licked my vagina when doing the ‘soft core’ part” and asked if the same had happened to her. “Yes he did I didn’t think he should’ve or was supposed to,” Starletto wrote in response. “Yeah I really don’t wanna do the scene now,” wrote Hix. “But oh well.”
Hix then tweeted a cellphone video recorded on set as she and Lifestyles argued about the alleged incident. “Oh my god! I didn’t stick my tongue up your ass,” he says in the recording. Lifestyles is then heard saying, “Yes, I licked her a little more than you” and “I’m sorry, I was in the mode.”