LAS VEGAS — Phoenix Marie has filed a lawsuit against Aylo, performer/producer Danny D and other defendants, alleging she has suffered defamation and damage to her career over a 2023 incident on a Digital Playground set in Spain.
The lawsuit was filed February 15 in Nevada, but was only recently made public.
In October 2023, Marie was booked for a multi-day shoot in Barcelona for the Aylo-owned studio. The project was produced by Danny D and also featured Zaawaadi, among others.
Zaawaadi had a medical emergency during the last day of the shoot, and Marie alleges she was scapegoated by the company for the incident.
Marie alleges that her career and brand have been “ruined,” and that she has been “defamed by the same executives that she always thought were like her family and friends and close colleagues.”
Aylo and its affiliates, the complaint claims, are responsible for Marie’s lost earnings and for “defamatory statements about her circling the industry.”
Marie is seeking restitution, claiming she has already lost more than $100,000 per month in revenue because of “tortious interference with the promotion of her videos and sites” through Aylo platforms.
Marie also holds Aylo responsible for “severe emotional distress caused by being subjected to forced sex acts to finish the orgy video after a girl that she knew almost died in her arms, being interrogated, assaulted by, and lied to by Danny D about the incident, and the statements by the executives regarding her emotional state.”
Kerr Simpson, the Henderson, Nevada law firm representing Marie, issued a press release this morning claiming that Aylo and Ethical Capital Partners run an “unregulated porn monopoly.”
The Kerr Simpson release states that Marie has suffered “devastating trauma and financial losses from retaliation by Aylo and its affiliates after refusing to be a scapegoat and take a payout to stay quiet following a grossly mismanaged shoot.”
Danny D.’s Reply to Lawsuit’s Allegations
Danny D spoke to XBIZ on Tuesday, refuting Marie’s version of events.
“The claims made against me are completely false and unfounded,” Danny D said. “On a Spanish production, Phoenix Marie gave tablets to Zaawaadi, who then had a medical emergency due to taking those tablets. Thankfully we were able to save her life.
“The whole production and cast were present, including a talent assistant who can verify that at no point was anyone compelled or forced to perform in any manner,” Danny D added. “We have all footage, sign-ins and -outs, plus statements from everyone on set. We pride ourselves on our professionalism and safe working environments for all talent.”
An Aylo spokesperson told XBIZ, “Out of respect for the integrity of court proceedings, our policy is not to comment on ongoing litigation. We look forward to the facts being fully and fairly aired in that forum.”
Phoenix Marie’s Version of the Events
The lawsuit’s complaint describes Marie as not only a performer but also “a medical professional” who has “worked in the medical field of sexual wellness for 10.5 years” and is “passionate about female sexual health.”
According to the complaint, prior to the incident, Marie had suggested over-the-counter medications to Zaawaadi to prepare for the last day’s anal shoot.
The complaint states that, as an adult industry veteran, Marie “tries to educate and assist the younger actresses about sexual health issues whenever she can. She spoke with Zaawaadi prior to her anal scene, and she gave Zaawaadi two probiotic pills and two laxative pills called Senokot, due to her ingestion of three Imodium pills. She told Zaawaadi that taking the Imodium could be harmful. These over-the-counter remedies were to be taken immediately after the scene to prevent issues associated with anal sex scenes.”
On the day of the incident, the complaint states, when the cast and crew were alerted that Zaawaadi was having trouble breathing, Marie “yelled for someone to call an ambulance, and she then started emergency care.”
The complaint states that Marie “tried to keep Zaawaadi calm and regulate her breathing while she evaluated her, called [her] sister for her medical history, and got her some fluids once her sister was on the phone.”
Marie alleges she then asked Zaawaadi “if she had taken any drugs or medicines lately, and she said, ‘The four pills you gave.’”
Marie alleges she “knew that the pills that she had given Zaawaadi would not have caused this reaction. The girl continued to shake and have difficulty breathing as a person would during a seizure or neurological episode.”
According to the complaint, Marie cared for Zaawaadi for over an hour. She alleges that, during that period, Danny D “was reluctant to call for the ambulance.”
Zaawaadi was taken to the hospital in that time period and, the complaint alleges, wanted Marie to come along with her in the ambulance.
“However, Danny D demanded to finish the scene immediately,” the complaint states. Marie “was very upset and declined to continue the scene,” and “pleaded with Danny D to shoot the scene at another time.”
Danny D, the complaint alleges, “insisted that they finish the scene,” so Marie “continued filming the orgy scene against her will.”
After the scene was over, Marie alleges, she was “very distraught at how the situation with Zaawaadi had been managed and how she was forced to continue by Danny D.” The complaint states she “wanted to go to the hospital to check on Zaawaadi, but Danny D. told her that she could not go, and he would go without her.”
The following day, Marie alleges, Danny D “forcefully grabbed” her, pulled her into a room and told her that Zaawaadi “had overdosed on lithium, and she was in a medically induced coma.”
Marie alleges that Danny D interrogated her about lithium. Marie alleges that the only person who had lithium in the shoot house — where the performers and crew were also staying — was Danny D’s partner, who also served as makeup artist, production manager and talent liaison.
Marie alleges that, with Zaawaadi in critical condition, Danny D was protecting his partner from potentially being investigated for having caused the lithium poisoning.
After the shoot, Marie traveled to the Venus Berlin expo. There, she alleges, she was confronted by several Aylo reps attending the event, who she says “falsely blamed” her for Zaawaadi’s lithium poisoning “and told her to go home.”
Marie alleges that she “was completely shocked and devastated as she had done her best” to save Zaawaadi’s life while everyone else “sat around and watched” and she “even called for emergency help when asked” and “now she was being blamed for what had happened.”
According to the complaint, after Marie left Berlin, “the Defendants and others spread falsities” about her “all over the industry to protect themselves.”
Attorney Preston Sterling Kerr of Kerr Simpson said through a statement that Marie “saved a girl’s life on set and was rewarded by Aylo and Ethical Capital Partners with physical intimidation, sexual assault, humiliation, alienation, substantial financial losses, and a smear campaign unconscionably centered on her dead child.”
The Kerr Simpson press release alleges that Aylo used the 2019 death of Marie’s 18-year-old daughter from cancer “to falsely paint her as an unhinged, grieving mother on lithium.”
Kerr said his firm is seeking to help Marie “reclaim her daughter’s memory, but also to hold the Aylo-Ethical Capital Partners Big Porn conglomerate accountable and stop them from continuing to wield their unregulated monopoly power to destroy people’s lives.”
A Kerr Simpson representative told XBIZ that Marie was not available for comment on Tuesday due to travel plans.
Zaawaadi’s Statement
Zaawaadi spoke with XBIZ on Tuesday to offer her thoughts on the situation.
“First I am happy I am alive,” she said. “But even if am physically doing better, my mental health was completely destroyed due to the incident in Barcelona.”
“Phoenix gave me two tablets each of two different types of medicine, telling me they would help to relax my body,” Zaawaadi added. “Danny’s partner never gave me any tablets.”
