Canadian Porn Performer August Ames Dies After Twitter Controversy

Canadian porn performer August Ames was found dead on Tuesday, December 5. Ames, 23, died days after being attacked on Twitter and branded as homophobic after suggesting she wouldn’t perform in scenes with men who had done gay porn.

Ames’s death is being reported as a suicide. Her last tweet, posted on December 4, read “Fuck y’all.”

Ames, aka Mercedes Grabowski, was from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and was 23 years old when she died. She had appeared in hundreds of porn films, won two AVN awards, and is currently ranked ninth for most popular pornstars on Pornhub.

Her brother, James Grabowski, wrote (and later deleted) the following post on Facebook following her death, the Toronto Sun reports:

“Bullying is not a joke. It took my sister’s life and I can’t get her back. This pain I feel cause people couldn’t keep their opinions to themselves is unbearable, although I have nothing but hate for each and everyone of you people who drove her to this i still do not wish this pain on you. This has forever changed me and who I am as a person.”

A number of big names in the industry, including Jenna Jameson and Brett Rossi (Charlie Sheen’s ex), have taken to social media to express their thoughts about how the internet backlash affected Ames.

Jameson quoted a tweet (which is no longer available) in which a man suggested that the world was waiting for Ames to either apologize or swallow a cyanide pill. “You are directly responsible for her death. I will not rest until you are deleted from social media all together,” Jameson tweeted.

Ames was married to director Kevin Moore, who issued the following statement to AVN after her death: “She was the kindest person I ever knew and she meant the world to me… Please leave this as a private family matter in this difficult time.”