LOS ANGELES — Pleasure product brand Screaming O has promoted Dan Holman to the role of vice president, replacing the departing Conde Aumann.

“Dan has been a tremendous asset to Screaming O for over 10 years, and we are thrilled to promote him to the position of vice president,” said CEO Hui Newnham. “He has the expertise, leadership skills and passion for the industry that we need to continue our growth and success in the years ahead.”

Holman returned the praise, saying, “I’m honored to be promoted to vice president of Screaming O and look forward to continuing to work with our amazing team to drive the company’s success. I’m committed to building on the strong foundation that Conde helped to establish, and I’m excited about the future of our company.”

Aumann, who has been with the company since 2008, is leaving to pursue new opportunities.

“We would like to thank Conde for her contributions and commitment to Screaming O over the years,” Newnham continued. “She has been an integral part of our team, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”

For more information, visit Screaming O online.

Feb 22, 2023 4:01 PM PST

NEW YORK — Live VR cam platform DreamCam will team up with Dezyred, Stripchat and SexLikeReal for its upcoming “VR Pornstars Show” livestream on Friday at 1 p.m. (PST).

The event will feature Catherine Knight, Christy White, and Emilio Ardana.

“Keeping the show really immersive, we’ve got no hard script for this performance, so you could make it up in your own style. Share your kinks with the stars. The stream starts with a tender FF session and ends up with a rough FMF threesome, the way it goes is totally up to you though,” DreamCam VP Daniel Goldin said.

The show will stream on DreamCam, Dezyred, Stripchat and SexLikeReal.

Follow Catherine Knight, Christy White and Emilio Ardana on Twitter.

Feb 22, 2023 3:56 PM PST

PATTAYA, Thailand — Tristan and Rutger of WeCamGirls are the latest industry figures to guest on “Adult Site Broker Talk.”

The two talked about why the left previous careers to found WeCamGirls. Created in 2012, the company differentiated itself as a chat system and forum for performers.

“Tristan and Rutger have been friends for a long time. What they’ve done with WeCamGirls is important to the community of performers,” podcast host and Adult Site Broker CEO Bruce said. “It was fun, and I learned a lot.”

The interview can be found here.

Follow WeCamGirls on Twitter.

LOS ANGELES — BaDoink Studios has partnered with VR player HereSphere to optimize its streaming capabilities and to deliver a fully customizable interface and more personalized user experience.

HereSphere’s built-in browser allows users to log in to their favorite BaDoink Studios site and instantly enjoy an immersive theater experience that offers them the ability to browse and stream its premium VR catalog.

BaDoink’s Director of VR Content Lucas Elliot said, “Downloading our 7K VR scenes is a great way to enjoy our content, but HereSphere offers a quicker, more direct route to a VR experience, without filling up hard drive space with heavy files. We’re excited to be working with HereSphere as they continue to provide cutting-edge, custom-tailored streaming solutions.”

HereSphere is an experimental application that “pushes the boundaries of VR player immersion,” a rep explained. “Their new autofocus feature allows users to selectively focus on scene subjects using eye-tracking technology to create a more cinematic atmosphere within their headset. While Stereoscopic VR videos are perceived differently by each individual, HereSphere’s technology allows users to find the right settings for them through distance-based head tracking and IPD correction.”

Users will also have access to a time-stamped file tagging system, making it easy to skip to their favorite scene segments. Color adjustments, key-framed settings, and lens distortion settings are also available to further personalize the user’s experience.

For more information, visit BaDoink.com.

HOLLYWOOD — Will Ryder’s Black Is Beautiful Television imprint will begin production this spring with features starring black actresses in all of the main roles.

Black Is Beautiful Television, a rep explained, will be “a new company featuring beautiful black women.”

Ryder’s idea is “to create a first-class platform for today’s most beautiful African American actresses and models in a multitude of delivery platforms, including high quality feature movies for television broadcast, clips, interviews and entertaining behind-the-scenes expose’ style pieces that feature black female actresses living the black experience,” the rep added. “The stories will be smart, intelligent and creative which is exactly what all actresses want.”

Ryder said, “It’s no secret that I adore beautiful black women, so after a lot of planning, I wanted to create a new company that will deliver high quality movies and scenarios and a venture that will become a truly beautiful creative outlet for black women. I’ve worked with some of the most talented ebony actresses and the common complaint was that there weren’t enough high quality opportunities for many girls of color — well, I want to help give them a place.”

“We will embrace blackness to our collective best ability because black is beautiful,” Ryder concluded. 

For more information, follow Will Ryder on Twitter.

Main Image: Will Ryder and Olivia Jay (inset)

WASHINGTON —  The U.S. Supreme Court today heard oral arguments on the second of two important cases concerning online speech, content moderation and Section 230 protections.

Today’s oral arguments were on the case Twitter v. Taamneh, in which the platform is being sued by the family of Nawras Alassaf, a Jordanian citizen killed in a 2017 ISIS attack in Istanbul. The plaintiffs allege that Twitter contributed to the Istanbul attack “by hosting content unrelated to the specific incident,” CNN reported.

Unlike yesterday’s Gonzalez v. Google case, which directly dealt with a request to narrow Section 230 protections, Twitter v. Taamneh concerns whether the anti-terrorism laws underlying both cases can even be applied to content moderation, before any Section 230 protections can be invoked.

According to CNN’s legal analysts, the Supreme Court during both hearings “appears reluctant to hand down the kind of sweeping ruling about liability for terrorist content on social media that some feared would upend the internet.”

The court’s conservatives, the CNN report noted, “appeared more open to Twitter’s arguments that it is not liable under the Anti-Terrorism Act, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett at one point theorizing point-by-point how such an opinion could be written and Justice Neil Gorsuch repeatedly offering Twitter what he believed to be a winning argument about how to read the statute.”

The court’s liberals, however, “seemed uncomfortable with finding that Twitter should face no liability for hosting ISIS content. They pushed back on Twitter’s claims that the underlying law should only lead to liability if the help it gave to ISIS can be linked to the specific terrorist attack that ultimately harmed the plaintiffs.”

Parsing ‘Knowingly’ and ‘Substantial Assistance’ in the ATA

The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) states that liability can be established for “any person who aids and abets, by knowingly providing substantial assistance, or who conspires with the person who committed such an act of international terrorism.”

Today’s hearing hinged on the interpretation of the words “knowingly” and “substantial,” with the justices making confusing analogies between online platforms like Twitter and unrelated, smaller-volume businesses and services such as banks.

“We’re used to thinking about banks as providing very important services to terrorists,” Justice Elena Kagan pointed out. “Maybe we’re not so used to, but it seems to be true, that various kinds of social media services also provide very important services to terrorists. If you know you’re providing a very important service to terrorists, why aren’t you [said to be] providing substantial assistance and doing it knowingly?”

Although, as XBIZ reported, the justices yesterday both acknowledged their ignorance about technical aspects of the internet and also showed curiosity about three decades of debates regarding moderation, today’s hearing reverted to the more usual strange and far-fetched analogies.

Kagan’s wish to superimpose the KYC protocols of financial institutions to the gargantuan amount of online accounts and content a service like Twitter handles on a daily basis was a clear example of that, which could indicate a verdict adverse to the online platform.

However, legal observers also pointed out that Eric Schnapper, the attorney who argued on behalf of both the Alassaf family and the Gonzalez plaintiffs yesterday “again struggled to answer justices’ questions as they sought to find some limiting principle to constrain the scope of the Anti-Terrorism Act,” CNN reported.

Justice Clarence Thomas warned that “if we’re not pinpointing cause-and-effect or proximate cause for specific things, and you’re focused on infrastructure or just the availability of these platforms, then it would seem that every terrorist attack that uses this platform would also mean that Twitter is an aider and abettor in those instances.”

Ambiguous Legal Considerations

Section 230 expert Jess Miers, legal advocacy counsel at Chamber of Progress, told XBIZ that “today’s oral arguments foreshadow how Internet litigation will look post-Gonzalez should the Court fail to uphold the current Section 230 precedence.”

According to Miers, today’s hearing featured “ambiguous legal considerations, such as whether the defendant aided and abetted terrorism, which invite inconsistency with how the law is applied. This is the very issue that Section 230 was enacted to remedy.”

Rulings in both cases are expected sometime in the Summer.

WILMINGTON, Del. — Cherry.TV has tapped Britney Amber to be the company’s brand ambassador.

Amber will do her first exclusive livestream for the platform March 3 at 6 p.m. (PST).

“I’m so excited to join the Cherry.TV family,” Amber enthused. “I really love livestreaming and being able to interact with my fans in real time. Camming also definitely frees up my spontaneous side, so who knows what will happen when they start showering me in ‘cherries’ or ‘luxury yachts’ … or ‘diamonds.'”

Zuzana Kasinski, Cherry.TV’s head of business development and PR, added, “Britney has an incredible fan following, a huge social media presence, and such a diverse amount of content that she’s really the perfect fit. We couldn’t be happier as a company to have such a multi-talented, award-winning industry veteran step into such a visible and important role.”

For more information, visit Cherry.TV.

Follow Amber on Twitter.

LOS ANGELES — Rock Candy Toys will begin shipping Fresh Vibes toy cleaning wipes this week. 

Compatible with all sex toy materials, Fresh Vibes are single-use towelettes designed to quickly freshen up sex toys, before and after use.

A fragrance-free formula incorporates chamomile extract and antimicrobial ingredients to help remove lube and residue without leaving behind fiber particles. 

Disposable, biodegradable and packaged for portability, Fresh Vibes are sold as a box of 20 individually-wrapped towelettes or in a 20-count travel pack with resealable packaging. A 100-count bulk option is also available for wholesale customers. 

Director of Sales Tracy Leone commented, “Rock Candy Fresh Vibes are a quick, hygienic and convenient way to support a healthy personal care routine. Caring for sex toys routinely helps to ensure safety and product longevity.” 

For more information, contact tracy@rockcandytoys.com and visit RockCandyToys.com.

LOS ANGELES — XBIZ is pleased to announce the award categories and opening of the pre-nomination period for the 2023 XBIZ Creator Awards, formerly the XBIZ Cam Awards.

Presented by premier webcam community Chaturbate, the XBIZ Creator Awards honor the most captivating personalities and creative artists in adult entertainment, and will once again serve as the glamorous capstone event to the XBIZ Miami conference.

To submit pre-nomination entries, click here; the last day for entries is Tuesday, March 21.

The 2023 XBIZ Creator Awards categories are:

• Best Female Cam Model
• Best Male Cam Model
• Best Fetish Cam Model
• Best Cosplay Cam Model
• Best BBW Cam Model
• Best MILF Cam Model
• Best Trans Cam Model
• Best Cam Model Duo
• Rising Cam Sta
• Best Female Clip Artist
• Best Male Clip Artist
• Best Fetish Clip Artist
• Best Cosplay Clip Artist
• Best BBW Clip Artist
• Best MILF Clip Artist
• Best Trans Clip Artist
• Best Clip Artist Duo
• Rising Clip Star
• Best Female Premium Social Media Star
• Best Male Premium Social Media Star
• Best BBW Premium Social Media Star
• Best MILF Premium Social Media Star
• Best Trans Premium Social Media Star
• Rising Premium Social Media Star

LOS ANGELES — The content creator and influencer behind the popular “Coconut Kitty” online persona has reportedly passed away, according to a notice posted on her social media accounts.

That report was confirmed by a post on a close relative’s social media.

Although mostly known online simply as Coconut Kitty, the creator had used the name Diana Deets to differentiate herself from that specific character.

Deets was 37 years old, although several tabloid outlets continue reporting her age as 24.

The Message Reporting Coconut Kitty’s Passing

On Saturday, a message addressed to “all lovers and fans of Coconut” was posted to her Twitter account and to her 5.4 million Instagram followers, explaining that the previous weekend, on Feb. 12, “Coconut took her own life.”

The unsigned message continued, “it’s unfair. Life isn’t fair. We wish you guys could get to know her the way her friends and family did. She was such a light to this world, truly, she was always glowing. You could never slow that girl down. She was so hard-headed and strong, but also just so kind. With the biggest heart we have ever known. She was always trying to lift everyone up around her, she wanted everyone to win.

“She always took in animals that needed a home. She was the type of person who would drop everything to help you with your problems and would always be in your corner. She would go to war for you if anyone ever date try to hurt someone she loved. That smile of her could light up a whole room, it would turn your whole day around. Her laugh was so contagious. She was so funny. She would get you to laugh till you couldn’t breathe.

“She loved to dance and sing, and just be herself. She was always her true self with her family and friends. Her energy was so pure.

“And we wish so much that we could have taken some of the darkness that was weighing on her heart. She always felt so deeply, with her whole body, mind, and soul.

“She loved creating. She loved to make art and to express herself and we know a lot of you loved her too and she was always so grateful for you all.”

“She was so strong for so long. She was amazing and just a beautiful person. We miss her so much and life is never going to be the same without her.

“She was a mom, a sister, a daughter, a best friend for a role model for so many of you. Above all she loved her kids and being a mom. Her kids were her whole world. She was devoted to them and she wanted to make sure that they were loved. And they were so loved.

“All we ask is that you check on your friends and loved ones. You never truly know what someone is going through. Call them and tell them you love them. You never know how much time you’ll have left with the people you love.

“We love you forever Coconut, rest easy beautiful.”

A TikTok-Driven Attack Led to Doxxing

A popular cam model, creator and influencer and a 2020 XBIZ Cam Awards’ Best Premium Social Media Star nominee, Deets came to mainstream prominence in 2021, when a TikTokker singled out Coconut Kitty for criticism over the use of filters and editing to turn Deets’ face and body into the character.

The criticism soon turned into a full-blown attack by an online mob, including Q-Anon believers, anti-porn activists, incels and misogynists, who targeted and doxxed Deets, claiming the face-tuning that turned her into Coconut Kitty was deliberately crafted to look like a minor.

Rolling Stone magazine published at the time a story analyzing both Deets’ work as a creator and the out-of-proportion backlash against her unleashed through social media and anonymous posting sites like 4Chan.

Deets spoke then to Rolling Stone journalist EJ Dickson and explained that, after feeling burned out as regular cam performer in 2018, she had used her art background — she was a prolific painter and tattoo enthusiast — to create the Coconut Kitty character as a form of what she called “digital art.”

“I wanted to make something that looked like a real-life anime character — small chin, big eyes — that was made in my likeness, because I use a picture of myself and I edit it,” Deets told Dickson. “I just wanted to create a fantasy, just a character. And I was able to hide my identity and still make money off my art.”

After the doxxing and simultaneous online attacks on her, her reputation and her family — which were still ongoing by the time of her passing and continue after Saturday’s announcement — Deets’ mental health deteriorated through 2022, according to sources.

Following Her Passion

After Christmas, Deets posted on the Coconut Kitty Instagram account an unedited video of herself singing karaoke with the caption, “This is the real creator of Coconut Kitty. If you do not like my anime, follow [Diana Deets Instagram account] @rabblerousewrdianadeets and keep up with that, OK? I’m a young, intelligent businesswoman who follows her passion, despite what other people say, so stop complaining if you don’t like the anime. Otherwise, let me keep all my creations [and] my destiny and my passions. Thank you, I appreciate it.”

Then she added, “I’m young and beautiful, and the creator of Jessica Rabbit was a man who looked nothing like her.”

At the time of her passing, Deets was developing a fully-animated Coconut Kitty cartoon, which she described as a “my cartoons meets Looney Tunes” adult humor series.

On Jan. 10 she posted that she would “go silent for a month” as she worked on that project. Her last posts featuring the Coconut Kitty persona are from Feb. 4, a week before her reported passing.