Pornstar August Ames died at age 23. She committed suicide. Online bullying seems to have played a part in her death but she also revealed struggles with depression in an interview that surfaced past interviews.
Ames said: »Some days I’ll be fine and if I’m not doing anything I’ll get these awful flashbacks of my childhood and I get very depressed and I can’t get out of bed and cancel my scenes for like a week or two.«
Shortly before her death, August Ames got into a social media shitstorm after she chose not to work with an actor who had previously starred in gay porn. She tried to defend herself against accusations of being homophobic and tweeted again: »NOT homophobic. Most girls don’t shoot with guys who have shot gay porn, for safety.« She added: »That’s just how it is with me. I’m not putting my body at risk, I don’t know what they do in their private lives.«
In the interview with Holly Randall, August Ames said that her mother was bipolar and that she herself was molested by her grandfather. After her father refused to believe her claims she had to live in a group home at age 12.
She said she had difficulties finding a therapist because of her profession. »I would get in contact with some people and then I would feel bad because they’d be like ‘what’s your profession and I’d be like ‘oh I’m in the adult industry’ and then I’d feel like they’re like ‘oh that’s the whole reason that you are the way you are’ and then I’d get turned off.«
Ames, who was born as Mercedes Grabowski in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1994. Before joining the industry she worked as a bartender. Four years ago she started working in adult entertainment and got a nomination for Best New Starlet at the 2015 AVN Awards and nominations for Female Performer of the Year in 2016, 2017 and 2018. She has more than 100 IMDB credits and worked for studios like Brazzers, Evil Angel, Pure Play Media, Naughty America, Twistys, Wicked Pictures.
In an interview with AVN her husband, director Kevin Moore, said »She was the kindest person I ever knew and she meant the world to me. Please leave this as a private family matter in this difficult time.«
Reactions to her death came from every part of the industry, she was well-liked.
Pornstar Nikki Benz wrote on Twitter »Another beautiful soul taken too soon. RIP @AugustAmesxxx I’m still in disbelief.«
Pornstar Keisha Gray also chose Twitter to express her feelings: »Reast easy August Ames. Thank you for being there for me during that hard time.«
Bree Mills wrote: »What a sad day. Let us remember social media can (and should) be a great place for discourse…but it can also have a tremendous impact. There has been too much negativity in the past few months, with infighting & subtweets. Let’s cool it and support one another instead.«
Billy Visual tweeted a photo of August Ames’ first shoot for Brazzers: »I had the pleasure of shooting her first scene with @Brazzersand @KeiranLee. We knew than she was going to kill it. So sad she has left us too soon.«
The official Brazzers account also reacted: »Like everyone else we’re just hearing about @AugustAmesxxxand we’re devastated. Our thoughts go out to her friends and family. Heartbreaking news.«
Pornstar Kendra Lust wrote: »May you RIP beautiful.«
Abella Danger added: »Beautiful girl, I wish this was all some messed up joke. You’ll never EVER be forgotten. Your energy was one of a kind, gone WAY too soon I still can’t even believe it.«
Jules Jordan tweeted: »Rest In Peace to August Ames. One of the best, nicest people I ever knew in the business.«