Photographer Talks About Performer Whose Photo Went 'Viral'

In any horrendous tragedy or crisis, one thing is certain: Someone out there will seek to profit from it, or at least play it for laughs. The coronavirus crisis has been no different—and one widespread online prank involved a well-endowed porn performer. Sadly that performer is now deceased. The online prank went something like this: a text or email would arrive promising important, breaking news about a new development in the coronavirus pandemic. One such text claimed falsely that New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio had ordered the city’s subway system to close down.  The “breaking news” comes with a link for more information. But click on the link and what comes up is not information about the pandemic, but instead, in the words of VICE reporter Alex Zaragoza, “a big, naked Black man and his humongous penis.” That man is pictured at the top of the page, but those who really want to see the full image can click on this NSFW link.  With some online sleuthing, Zaragoza managed to track down the model in the photo, whom she found was described in his own online biography as a “hot 'n' beefy ex-pro football player with a warm personality and a BIG fucking cock!"  The only name Zaragoza could find for the man, however, was “Wood.” Whether he was actually a former pro football player remains unclear.  The Internet Adult Film Database contains one entry for a performer by the single name “Wood.” The performer had 11 listings, eight of them credited to Bacchus Releasing. His titles include Bad Ass Black Men 7, Black Sex Party 8, and Black Workout 13. Sadly, when Zaragoza tracked down the photographer who took the photo, Walter Smith, he informed her that “Wood” had died “several years ago.” The photographer also said that he hopes the publicity from the viral prank can be used to gain some financial assistance for the deceased man’s family. Though Smith declined to provide Wood’s legal name, citing legitimate privacy concerns, he told the celebrity site TMZ that he would “put vendors in touch with the family if they want to donate to them.” Contacted by AVN, Smith elaborated on the photo shoot. “I met him at what was then Gold’s Gym in San Francisco in, like, 2009,” Smith recalled. “I actually looked it up and I shot those photos in 2010. ... I don’t remember how we met, but we started talking and I asked him if he wanted to do some photos.” The photos were shot for Pantheon Productions, a company founded in 2003 by Chris Roma. Smith has been involved with Pantheon since 2004 and bought out Roma in 2016. “He actually did a solo video for us, too,” Smith said. “So that’s still on my website. And he was obviously a great, big, sexy guy but just as sweet as could be. The nicest guy in the world. But unfortunately he died in 2016. I don’t really know more than that—I don’t know any details.” For those who are willing to pay for their porn (and we here at AVN thank you), Wood's video and much more can be found at HotOlderMale.com. “It’s a membership site as well as pay-per-view downloads,” Smith said, adding proudly, “And we did just win the Cybersocket Award for Best Bear/Scruff Site. We’re still going strong, even in these uncertain times.” In fact, Pantheon's “Desert Daddies” scene, directed by performer-turned-director Brian Davilla, was nominated for a 2020 GayVN Award. Photo by Walter Smith