LOS ANGELES — The instant celebrity offered teen mom Farrah Abraham after the release of her sex tape has even gotten FOX News excited over porn’s top power brokers.
FOX asked the question “who’s the most powerful person in porn” and although missed the boat on many of porn’s real movers and shakers, threw a spotlight on the adult’s most visible captains of industry — some known, and some more recent, including Steven Hirsch, Larry Flynt, Jenna Jameson, Peter Acworth, Fabian Thylmann and Lisa Ann.
Hirsch, whom FOX said by virtue of numerous celebrity sex tapes, and the ever-growing Vivid empire, has become somewhat of a household name, and deemed by most to be the de facto king of the kingdom and “father of Hollywood film parodies.”
Of course Hustler founder Larry Flynt was noted for his media, retail and gentlemen’s clubs empire, and last year’s pay-per-view coup that came with the purchase of New Frontier Media.
Burning Angel founder Joanna Angel lauded Hirsch’s ability to maintain the Vivid brand and said that he’ll always be “a big power player in the industry.”
Short on many of the real accomplishments of porn’s mighty, the story did manage to mention Thylmann’s Manwin online mega-presence, noting the sites generate nearly 16 billion hits a month. And Kink.com’s Peter Acworth was heralded as an “up-and-comer” and noted for Kink’s Sundance Film Festival movie documentary produced this year by actor James Franco.
But Pink Visual’s Quentin Boyer had a different take on just who’s running the big show now that the industry dynamic has shifted from DVD purchasing.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that the industry leaders are all guys like Larry Flynt with big, outrageous personalities, who got started primarily out of a personal interest in creating porn, or on the other end of the spectrum, shady anonymous characters who are connected to organized crime,” Boyer told FOX. “These days, you find a lot more adult companies owned and operated by people who got started in the business simply as entrepreneurs who saw a money-making opportunity.”
And talent got its somewhat dubious due noting Jameson and Lisa Ann.
If ever there was a “queen of porn” then Jenna Jameson sits on the throne. Her performing acumen notwithstanding, the story points to Jameson’s founding of Clubjenna Inc, and its subsequent sale to Playboy in 2006.
Somewhat of a surprise — although possibly not with her throngs of fans — adult star Lisa Ann made the list.
“Aside from the company owners, some performers are also power players in their own right. Lisa Ann, considered the most popular porn actress in the world right now, told us that she proudly hands out her self-starring, XXX-rated DVDs — kinda like candy – everywhere she goes,” FOX reported.
