Last November, Sasha Grey caused a bit of an uproar when she participated in the Read Across America program by reading to elementary school kids in Compton. Now, the story of the porn star and the classroom is in the news again, as a company releasing an adult film in which Grey is featured has offered to donate some of the film's proceeds to the National Education Association's program. more ›

"2011: The Adult Industry in Photos" is a candid look back at the past twelve months at a business that is headquartered in the San Fernando Valley. more ›

"2011: The Adult Industry in Photos" is a candid look back at the past twelve months at a business that is headquartered in the San Fernando Valley. more ›

When Grey got asked onto the View to discuss her reading-to-first-graders scandal, we asked what we all were so afraid of. In the same vein, adult actress Aurora Snow asks whether her work in porn should completely disqualify her from ever working with young school children. more ›

Actress and adult entertainer Sasha Grey was on "The View" this morning to serve as a "living Hot Topic" to talk about the whole reading to school kids debacle. The hosts managed to not impersonate a henhouse and pressed Grey on her decision not only to pursue a career in porn, but to participate in a program that had her reading to youngsters at a Compton elementary school. more ›

Officials at Emerson Elementary School are being asked to do some explaining after mortally offended parents demanded to know why former porn star Sasha Grey was allowed to commit the sin of reading to a classroom of first-graders. Grey was at the Compton school on November 2 as part of the Read Across America program. School officials at first just outright denied that she had been there... more ›

When you think of Sasha Grey, a number of things might come to mind: violent sex. Playing a prostitute for Steven Soderbergh. Going buck naked on "Entourage." But if you don't immediately conjure up an image of her reading a storybook to a group of first-graders, you will now. TMZ reports that Grey was brought in to Emerson Elementary School in Compton on November 2 as part of the Read Across America program... more ›

Winner reaction was one of elation among many, tempered by humility. "'This is so amazing. I can't believe I won Female Performer of the Year,'" Andy San Dimas told XBIZ. "'I'm just happy to be doing what I do. I just showed up and did my best. I'm kind of speechless to be honest, but this is a great day,'" Male Performer of the Year winner Tommy Gunn confided. more ›

Thousands of miles, 12 set visits, 4 award shows, 2 conventions, 2 colleges, and 1 benefit. Those were the statistics for LAist last year in covering the adult industry, headquartered in the San Fernando Valley. more ›

HBO's "Entourage" has been throwing around topical Los Angeles references all season and last night it all came to a head (If you haven't seen Sunday night's episode, be warned, there are spoilers!). more ›

Last weekend, the fifth annual Fans of Adult Media and Entertainment Awards, co-hosted by Jessica Drake and Sunny Leone, were held during the inaugural edition of eXXXotica Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center. If the AVN and XBIZ Awards are the Oscars and Golden Globes of the adult industry, the FAME Awards are the equivalent to the People's Choice Awards. more ›

It's no Banksy, but these won't last long either. Poster-sized photos of adult superstar Sasha Grey laying naked went up on the streets of Los Angeles last night. Director and actor Kimberly Kane posted a few online -- it's in promotion of her beau Dennis McGrath, who has a photography opening this week. more ›

With the ongoing recession and continued threat of piracy, 2009 may have been tough for the multi-billion dollar adult industry, but it was also Sasha Grey's most prominent thus far. With the leading role in Steven Soderbergh's labeled her "The Dirtiest Girl in the World" and Fleshbot included her in their Top Ten Crush Objects of 2009 (NSFW). So it's no surprise that she will be honored with The Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year at the AVN Awards this Saturday at the Pearl Theater inside the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. more ›

As mentioned earlier this month, pornstar-directors Belladonna and Kimberly Kane organized the "Winter Wonderland" fundraiser, benefiting the besieged Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, at Busbys East. more ›

Reportedly a month in the making, pornstar-directors Belladonna and Kimberly Kane have organized a star-studded holiday-themed "Winter Wonderland" fundraiser, benefiting the beleaguered Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, this Saturday night at Busbys East. more ›

Last Wednesday, the nominations for the AVN Awards, considered the Oscars of the adult industry, were announced. Hosted by Digital Playground's Kayden Kross and Wicked Pictures' Kirsten Price, the 2010 edition will take place on January 9th inside the Palms Casino Resort at the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas. As in previous years, it will be held the week of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, which will be on January 7th-10th at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. more ›

How is it that every Pixar film is an absolute gem, yet every other animated movie from every other large American studio is just okay? Oh right -- John Lasseter. I watched The Wizard of Oz plenty of times when I was a kid, and I admire it as an important film in the American film canon...but...would I ever watch it again? Probably not. Man, Jennifer Aniston just can't seem to pick good movies in which to star, huh? Management was a dud despite the presence of the great Steve Zahn (see him in Rescue Dawn and Safe Men). Away We Go has more of an Eggers feel to it than a Mendes stamp, huh? Does anyone not like John Krasinski? more ›

Last Wednesday, the inaugural edition of "Sex, Drinks, and Rock 'N Roll Freedomfest," hosted by Hustler Hollywood and benefiting the Free Speech Coalition, took place at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood. While it's easy for recent punching bag Perez Hilton to snark that "...porn stars want to be able to say what they want in and out of the filmed orgies," the reality is that the adult industry has been targeted by the federal government, with XRCO Hall of Fame inductee Max Hardcore currently serving a 46 month prison sentence and Evil Angel founder John Stagliano indicted last year. more ›

You've probably seen the billboards and other advertising promoting this weekend's Erotica LA at the LA Convention Center. While smaller in scale than AVN's Adult Entertainment Expo, the 13th annual incarnation is still the city's largest yearly adult consumer exposition, with predictions of over 40,000 people in attendance, many of whom will be women and couples. more ›

LAist favorite Sasha Grey has been quite a media sensation due to her leading role in Steven Soderbergh's , with film critic Roger Ebert even observing that "I haven't seen any of [her adult work], but now I would like to see one, watching very carefully, to see if she suggests more than one level." more ›

I was never a huge fan of the Terminator movies, so I wasn't too upset about the mythology-raping that goes on in Terminator Salvation. For me it was just good, loud fun with cool robots and Moon Bloodgood's amazing cleavage. During a family visit over Christmas I was snookered into seeing the first Night at the Museum. That will not be the case with the dreary-looking Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Yes, the flicks are stupid, but I am a fan of whatever the Wayans' brothers touch so I'll queue up for Dance Flick. In shame. more ›

If the AVN Adult Movie Awards are the Oscars of the adult industry, then the X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) Awards would be the equivalent of the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. more ›

LAist has been fortunate to run into pornstar and mainstream crossover artist Sasha Grey (MySpace) already a few times this year -- at AVN's Adult Entertainment Expo and Adult Movie Awards as well as Vivid-Alt's release party. more ›

Last Tuesday, pornstar/director Kimberly Kane (MySpace) celebrated the release of her new Vivid-Alt (MySpace) movie "...is an extreme hardcore fetish feature from the most primal reaches of [Kane's] psyche," and is highly recommended by XCritic, who gave it four out of five stars. more ›

Joanna Angel, nominated for 14 AVN Adult Movie Awards, including Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year, blogged (NSFW) about her experience: more ›

So what's the Adult Entertainment Expo like? Scenester photographer Igor from Driven By Boredom explained that "This is just a huge room filled with booth after booth of sex related things. Mostly porn companies in the front, but towards the back there are booths for hookers, strippers, sex toys and a lot of ugly clothes that only the biggest manor of scum bag would wear. (Discounting the rad kids at the I <3 Vagina booth)... I met a bunch of people and saw a lot of friends." It should be noted that while Igor didn't mention the marketplace on the lower level, his description of the upper level is mainly accurate. more ›

Longtime Adult Entertainment Expo patrons such as Dan Kartz also noticed the decline in business, stating that "'My girlfriend is Czech, so I really like European women, and because it has become so expensive to fly internationally, you don't have nearly as many international women here... Before, you could fly women over from the Czech Republic, from Germany, England, Spain, but it has gotten so expensive that it's mostly an American crowd. There are a lot less foreigners, a lot less foreign companies, too... There used to be a lot more free DVDs and free publications, but they've gotten pretty stingy. There are not a lot of quality giveaways this year.'" more ›

As mentioned last Friday, the adult industry has gathered this week for AVN's annual Adult Entertainment Expo and Adult Movie Awards in Las Vegas, with the convention running through Sunday at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, and the awards show on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. And while Thursday, the first day of the convention, was only open to members of the adult industry and press, it will be open to the public from today onward. more ›