Update, 8/18/20, 11:00 a.m.: We have published an Op-Ed, "When Adult Performers Go M.I.A.," about this confusing situation.
Update, 8/17/20, 6:14 p.m.: The Facebook accounts from friends and relatives of performer Anastasia Knight that had confirmed her death to press and members of the industry connected to her career this morning, by this afternoon posted other messages contradicting those reports and claiming the performer has not, in fact, passed.
XBIZ will continue reporting the story with updates.
LOS ANGELES — Performer Anastasia Knight has passed away, industry sources familiar with her career have confirmed. The model, who would have turned 21 next month, had been active in the adult industry since 2017, although she had retired some time before her passing and relocated to Idaho.
The news reached the industry through people with non-industry friends in common from Idaho, who revealed Knight's death occurred last week, on August 12.
Since retiring from the industry and getting married, Knight had expressed frustration about "being bullied in Idaho for her former career choice," said a performer who knew her and others who were close to her and were commenting on the news last night on Facebook.
"Apparently people were making fucked-up memes about her," the performer added. "The world was not nice to her when she decided to get out of the industry. It’s sad and it happens. She was so young.”
With over 130 scene credits on IAFD, Knight performed for top studios like Tushy, Bang Bros, True Anal, Team Skeet, Reality Kings and many others.