2023 TEA Show Strikes Uniting, Uplifting Chords

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—The votes were in, which meant it was time for Steven Grooby to perform what has become a February routine. With his laptop on the desk before him and a notebook just to the side, the president of Grooby Productions began sifting through emails to tabulate the votes in each category for the upcoming Trans Erotica Awards show on March 19. Keeping with tradition, Grooby saved the most high profile award—Hardcore Performer of the Year—for last. “I know it was going to be close,” Grooby said. Indeed. One vote for Emma Rose. One for Ariel Demure. Two more for Demure, and then two for Rose. Back and forth it went until the final ballot has been counted. When Grooby added up the checkmark by each name, he realized something unprecedented had happened. For the first time in the category’s history, there was a tie in the voting. Grooby, though, wasn’t frustrated. He vows he never considered fudging the numbers or enforcing a tiebreaker. Instead—when Grooby envisioned Rose and Demure, the two biggest names in trans porn, standing on the TEAs stage as co-winners—he could only smile. “I was actually excited,” Grooby said. “I was like, ‘This is perfect. This is awesome!’ I don’t see how anyone could pick between the two of them, especially based off the years they both had. The tie was was very fitting.” One month later, with nearly 500 of their industry colleagues cheering with approval from their seats, Demure and Rose received their trophies on the stage at Avalon, the nightclub just off of Hollywood and Vine that has played host to the TEAs and other industry-related events for years. “We’re two poor, white-trash individuals from Southern Florida,” Demure said. “We’re very grateful to be here tonight.” For both Rose and Demure, the journey to the top was meteoric. Rose won the award for the second straight year, and did so just two months after being crowned Trans Performer of the Year at the AVN Awards. A Tampa native, Rose worked in marketing and made side money via stripping and OnlyFans before delving into studio porn in 2020. Demure—who is considered one of the top actors in the adult industry—was voted prom queen at her high school in Fort Lauderdale. The former makeup artist shot a handful of solo scenes for Grooby in 2013 and 2018 but didn’t enter the industry full time until 2021. Impressive as their resumes may be, the most praiseworthy quality about Rose and Demure is their reputation away from the camera. Whether it’s a studio head such as Grooby or Bree Mills, a director like Stella Smut, Aiden Starr or Jim Powers, or any of their many scene partners, everyone who has worked with Rose and Demure gush about their likability, their professionalism and their focus on elevating their entire trans industry, rather than just themselves. Those traits were on full display Sunday, when Rose used her pulpit on stage to call for more inclusivity and awareness of Black performers, who are few and far between in the trans genre. Demure echoed those sentiments during an interview shortly after the show’s conclusion. “I’m grateful for everything I’m given in terms of accolades,” Demure said. “But the entire evening was a celebration of what we’ve been able to accomplish (as a community). We’re making progress, but we’re not done.” Even so—from the moment the red carpet opened at 7 to the time the show ended shortly before 2 a.m.—a sense of family, a vibe of togetherness, permeated throughout Avalon. The industry’s biggest names talked shop and took photos in the bar area for more than two hours before the start of the show. Legends such as Morgan Bailey, Domino Presley, Foxxy and Jessy Dubai mingled with current stars like Khloe Kay, Daisy Taylor and Ava Holt. Newcomers like Saphira Blu, Amanda Riley and Paige Turner had opportunities to network with directors and producers while crew members huddled and talked about the latest equipment and technology. “Overall,” Grooby said, “this was the smoothest show we’ve ever done. Everyone was happy, and there were very few sour grapes.” The show opened with three musical performances, all of which featured adult entertainers. Jane’s World, a group led by fast-rising star Gracie Jane and AVN Trans Newcomer of the Year Brittany Kade, kicked off the festivities. Teyana Trendz took the stage next and kept the energy going for the The Gurls, a trio led by Presley that performed before 40,000 fans in London last summer—and also at L.A.’s Cobra Club on Thursday night. Presley then quickly transitioned from pop star to host, as she served as the TEAs “Mistress of Ceremonies” for the fifth straight year. A few days earlier Presley had marveled at how far the awards show had come since its early days in 2009 and 2010. “There were only three or four photographers there,” Presley says with a laugh. “I told them, ‘Quit calling this a red carpet. It’s a red rug.’” More than a decade later, the TEAs is now sponsored by some of the industry’s top companies, none bigger than PornHub, who flew in brand ambassador Asa Akira for Sunday’s event. Seated directly in front of the stage next to reigning AVN Performer of the Year Kira Noir, Akira was animated and supportive throughout the ceremony and presented the PornHub Model of the Year Award to Foxxy. “You are all fucking superheroes and you should be treated as such,” Akira said to the trans performers. “You’re fucking gorgeous. You’re important to the porn industry and you’re important to the world.” Akira’s powerful monologue was the first of many Sunday, when the mood ping-ponged from moving to uniting to uplifting. Jade Venus and Tori Easton took home the trophy for Best Girl-Girl scene, an award that was especially meaningful to the Montana natives considering they’ve known each other since they were teenagers and came out together during middle school. “It was the first time we’ve ever fucked, and we won an award for it,” Easton joked. Khloe Kay, the presenter for Grooby Girl of the Year award, handed the trophy to winner Kasey Kei, her closest friend in the industry. “She’s heard me memorizing lines as she’s driving me to set, literally going over the dialogue line by line,” Kei said during a post-show interview. “She’s taught me to just be yourself. Be humble. Be who you naturally are. Don’t let ego take over you.” The 2023 Industry Professional Award went to Alison Boden, the Executive Director of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC). A 20-year industry veteran, Boden labeled the past 12 months as “the worst year I’ve seen in my time in terms of attacks on this industry and the human beings in it.” Boden continued, “Everyone in this room, every single one of us, is under attack right now, and the Free Speech Coalition has your back. We need your strength. Join us. We’re going to beat ‘em!” Also getting a rise from the crowd was Bailey Archer, whose work had been limited to camming when she attended her first TEA Show as an unassuming newbie in 2022. One year later, Archer generated one of the loudest ovations of the night during the show’s most moving acceptance speech. “This award is not just for me,” Archer said. “It’s for every trans man, trans woman, anyone who has gone through the shitshow of being treated like crap, treated like you’re nothing, like you’re worthless and you’re not deserving of love. But then you get to a point in your life when you’re like, ‘I can make the choices, I can call the shots, I can make a different life for myself.’” The most heartfelt moment of the show revolved around an “In Memoriam” video honoring performers who passed away in 2022. At the conclusion of the footage, Grooby gave performer Gracie Jane permission to take the stage to talk about one of the deceased, Angelina Please, who was Jane’s best friend. Please was found dead in her apartment in March of 2022. An autopsy determined she’d died just hours before she was supposed to board a plane from Las Vegas to L.A. to attend the TEA show. Jane said Please’s passing gave her the wake-up call she needed to change her life and revitalize her career. “It’s sad that it took her passing for me to realize just how cool this is and how amazing this is and how beautiful this industry is,” Jane said. “She always wanted an award really bad but she never got to win one. I was thinking, ‘If she got an award, what would it be?’ If there was an award for someone who reached out a hand to help girls this industry—especially newer girls starting out—someone who just went out of their way to make sure there was a path, that award would be called the Angelina Please award. “She loved this career. She loved everybody here. I’m so, so, so sad that she can’t be here right now. It’s been one year without her and I’ll miss her forever.” Winning the Fan’s Choice Award for the second straight year was Izzy Wilde, who was working 50 hours a week as a gas station manager when she decided to enter the adult industry three years ago. Wilde could be in store for even bigger things in 2023, with more confidence and energy than ever following her facial feminization surgery (FFS) in November. As her ad in the TEAs commemorative program read: “With a brand new face comes a whole new taste.” Other than Hardcore Performer of the Year, the most-anticipated category of the TEAs is Best New Face. “We’ve got our finger on the pulse of things pretty good,” Grooby said. That’s hard to debate, as past winners such Natalie Mars, Chanel Santini, Daisy Taylor, Rose and Kade propelled to immediate stardom. This year’s winner, Zariah Aura, is already on a similar trajectory. Aura attended her inaugural TEA Show in 2022 just weeks after shooting her first scene. One year later, the charismatic, 5-foot-10 brunette has been named the first-ever Grooby Ambassador and is quickly becoming one of the more in-demand performers in the genre. Aura tallied a TEA Show high eight nominations Sunday, but she said the Best New Face trophy is the one she wanted the most. “The last year has been city after city, set after set,” Aura said. “I came into the awards show last year as a guest. I’d just shot (my first scene) two weeks before the awards. I was just known by my Twitter handle and my OnlyFans. To get on set on work my ass off and learn from amazing people. I’m so, so proud. It’s been amazing experience. Aura said her goal in 2024 is to follow in Rose’s footsteps and win the Hardcore Performer of the Year trophy one year after being named best newcomer. Aura is evidently popular among her peers, as the ovation she received was among the loudest of the night. “It felt amazing,” Aura said of the applause. “I have so much support. I’m a networker through and through, I want to meet everybody. I want to have an interaction with you. I will remember your name every time. That’s my goal. I want to make everyone feel included.” A few minutes later—after Rose and Demure were presented with their Hardcore Performer of the Year trophies—the show was over. Models paid their bar tabs and headed toward the exits, the winners stopping by the red carpet one last time to do interviews and pose with their new hardware. One of them was Demure. After such a great year, Demure was asked, what could she possibly do next? “I’m thinking Jack in the Box,” Demure said as onlookers chuckled. “Denny’s is also a possibility. I’m not a huge fan of IHOP, but it’s an option.” Truth be told, Demure had just cracked open a fresh Bud Lite. Instead of seeking late-night comfort food, she hopped into an Uber with Venus and Easton and headed to an after-party at a multi-million dollar mansion in Studio City. Rose was there, too, along with Wilde, Kay, Maxim, Morena, Archer and others eager to celebrate not just how far they’d come. But how much further they can go. It wasn’t just the big names at the soiree. Some of the porn’s newest models were there, too. Included on that list was Olivia Would, a stunning, statuesque blonde who had flown in from North Carolina a few days earlier to shoot her first-ever studio scene. As colleagues frolicked around them, Demure and Would climbed a ladder to a balcony that provided a postcard-worthy view of the city. As the clock moved past 4 a.m., they chatted for nearly 20 minutes, the conversation zig-zagging from food to to weightlifting to shooting tips to travel. “I love her,” Demure said. “She’s going to crush it!” The interaction may have seemed simple, but in a deeper sense, it illustrated why porn’s trans community is so special, so unique. The industry’s most-established model—just hours removed from a career milestone— endearing herself and showing warmth to its freshest face. Demure and Would may not have known each other. But they knew each other. And every other performer that night could say the same.