JustFor.Fans Speaks Out: “No” To Racism

By Alexander Rodriguez

Veteran porn star Billy Santoro’s JustFor.Fans profile was shut down by the company immediately after Santoro released a racist tweet amid this week’s social and political climate in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.  We sat down with JustFor.Fans founder, 12-year adult industry pioneer Dominic Ford, for a candid chat about his decision to cancel Santoro, the racism that exists in the adult film industry, and today’s cancel culture. 

Billy has been a longtime fan favorite both through his studio work and his highly popular personal content on platforms such as JustFor.Fans.  In fact, Dominic tells us, Billy has been a model since day one of JustFor.Fans’ existence.  The site has since become an industry award-winning company with the help of popular models such as Santoro.  The decision comes at the price of losing income from a porn star main player, but, according to JustFor.Fans founder, there is no price tag when fighting racism. 

Billy’s JustFor.Fans account was canceled immediately after Dominic heard of Billy’s tweet:

“Lol. America! Lol you let your blacks loot as a way of protest. Wake the fuck up. Shoot first.”

JustFor.Fans, via Twitter, responded:

“His account is gone. Policing is a slippery slope and we won’t be puppets to cancel culture. This was not debatable though. It was vile. BLM.”

JustFor.Fans also added Black Lives Matter to its charitable giving list. 

Billy Santoro texted Dominic with the excuse that one of his friends had been killed during the looting.  Billy also responded on his Twitter (his Twitter that has now decreased to 2 followers):

“I sincerely apologize for hurting the POC with my statement. I have fallen in love with many POC and understand the frustration.”

Santoro’s boyfriend also reached out to Dominic stating they would be looking to their lawyers regarding legal and financial repercussions from canceling Billy’s account.  I guess Billy’s boyfriend can put a dollar amount on racism.

JustFor.Fans’ decision has sparked a wave of LGBT businesses and consumers making a statement and holding each accountable for racist behavior.  Grindr has since stated that they are removing Ethnic Preferences from their profiles as well as canceling profiles with racist content.  Companies that Santoro represented as a brand ambassador have dropped him.

Dominic had more to say about the issue and about what is happening in our community:

Why did JustFor.Fans take a stand?

In the middle of some of the worst days of civil unrest this country has seen in a long time, posting something that amounts to “kill the blacks,” is not the same as the other stupid things (Billy) says for attention. I don’t need to overstate the obvious on that. So, in the context of the world stage, it was beyond tone-deaf, vile, and disgusting.

And in the context of my personal and professional life, it simply could not stand. The night before I presented at the Grabby Awards, all the winners kept saying “black lives matter!”  As the night rolled on, they played clips from all the movies nominated for Best Picture. And guess what, there was NOT ONE black actor in any of them. And yet as the various studio owners accept their awards for Lifetime Achievement, best story, etc… they kept saying “Black Lives Matter!.” When it was my turn to present the JustFor.Fans Fan Favorite Award, I could not stay silent. (This is a problem I have.) I, very nicely, pointed out the hypocrisy of everyone saying “black lives matter” while not casting ONE model of color in any of the feature films. I told the industry to do better, and to HIRE models of color in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the office. And that BLACK LIVES MATTER, not just as a pin you wear at an awards show. But they will STILL matter when they cast their next movie. I said this very politely, but I was irate.

The next morning, a lot of people were asking the platforms (like JustFor.Fans) to make an official stance on Black Lives Matter. Little did they know we were working on something major for days and were about to release it that morning. We have a Charitable Giving program at JFF. Models can choose between our approved charities and donate, automatically through the platform, a percentage of their earnings to their selected charities. We work with two trans charities, HIV charities, etc… the morning after the Grabbys we added Black Lives Matter to our list of charities. So now, any model can have part of their income going to the cause. This hopefully will help quell the screams of people online telling sex workers not to promote their work right now — not like they tell doctors, lawyers, gas station attendants or anyone else not to work right now, but somehow they can pass judgment on the value of sex work during these times. And it will enable models to give to the cause seamlessly and allow users to know their money is going to help not just the models, but also BLM. 

Is canceling Billy’s account a form of censorship?

So, the Grabbys happened, and then we added BLM as an official charity. And THEN this awful, racist crap comes out of Billy, and EVERYONE asks me what JFF is going to do about it. The only other time I have kicked someone off for social issues, he could at least argue that what he said was being misinterpreted. There was no ambiguity in what Billy said, and I will NOT be a puppet to cancel culture every time someone takes an issue with something someone said. But this was clear as day and goes against EVERYTHING I have been working for in terms of supporting our models of color. Is it censorship? JFF is a private website, so there really isn’t any freedom of speech for which the counter would be “censorship.” And while there are principals I am happy to have large debates over — especially because this IS a slippery slope I am not willing to go down — Billy’s “right” to say blacks should be shot, and also remain on my site, is not the hill I am going to die on. Sorry. I am not comfortable with that being part of the story of JFF. And at the end of the day, that’s my call alone to make. The other people I kicked off called me a tyrant because of this. If it means keeping the community I am trying to build safe, and the models I work with protected, call me what you want. I will bear the brunt of their anger so my models don’t have to.

Cancel Culture is also hypocritical. No one holds our competitor’s feet to the fire the way they do ours, for example. Probably because I actually respond and they don’t. Just today a model was “canceling” a bunch of models HE didn’t think are doing enough to support Black Lives Matter. But he’s only advertising his OnlyFans link — and they are doing NOTHING to support BLM. He has a JFF account, but he makes more on OF so that’s what he advertises. Somehow, holding THEM accountable isn’t a priority for him. It’s funny how a paycheck alters one’s moral indignation. That is a hypocrisy I can’t stand. When I removed the models last year causing a problem, they were the #1 sellers on JFF and doing so came at great financial loss to me personally. And Billy is big too. But morality is more important than money. To me, anyhow. Those who would hold my feet to the fire to cancel these people don’t seem to feel the same way, because they find their paychecks to be more important than the morality they casually throw at other people.

Would he be allowed to come back?

I try not to look too far into the future with things like this. The other people we kicked off were desperate to come back, and maybe had they really changed their ways, it would have been possible after enough time went by. They didn’t so it wasn’t an issue. So, who knows. I like to think I am fair and open-minded. But I can’t imagine it, and certainly not anytime soon.

Should porn stars, or any celebs for that matter, even be getting involved politically?  

We live in a cancel culture. And if you are going to stick your neck out, be prepared for someone to try to chop it off — no matter which side you are on. When we released our PR saying we added Black Lives Matters to our charities, one of my models said on twitter “I will be leaving JustFor.Fans because I will not be part of a site the promotes anything George Soros does,” or something like that. Don’t even TRY to unpack all the things wrong with that. But my response is, “Bye, Felicia.” I am choosing to make a political statement by having JFF officially support Black Lives Matter. And that will anger some (awful) people. But if you show your voting card for Trump, or Boris, you don’t do that without knowing how many people you will anger. What I DON’T understand is the people who make political statements and NOT think there will be repercussions. Yes, if you write an article called “Why I voted for Trump,” or show you ballot for Boris Johnson, you are ASKING for a dialogue. I am fine to be ASKNG for a dialog about the underrepresentation of models of color. I am FINE to open a conversation about the high murder rates of trans women of color. I WANT to have those conversations. Otherwise, I would not be constantly sticking my neck out to try and help them with the visibility and presence they need.

In your opinion, is there a big issue of racism within the LGBT community?

I listen to the people being the most oppressed and take their opinion. And they say yes RESOUNDINGLY. From one spectrum to the other: from people who don’t like various races, to people who only fetishize those very same races. To a club that has a “Latin” night — because obviously the rest of the nights must just be “white” nights unless you are giving permission to a certain race to show up? In the porn industry, it’s “mainstream” studios not hiring models of color, and those models getting subjugated to “fetish” studios that often play on the worst stereotypes of those races because they are purely there for fetish (things like thug porn studios).  Models of color need to be in better shape and do everything 300% better to get hired because there will be one of them in a movie. God forbid you are a black twink. Twink studios only consider white models twinks. And other studios only hire black guys if they have a 14-pack and 16-inch penis. So where is a black model with a normal penis, or a thin black twink going to work? The white actors, while obviously needing to be “porn material,” simply don’t have the odds stacked against them in this way. This is why I LOVE JustFor.Fans. The top 10 models on the site last year were at LEAST half minority. And they set their own prices, so there are no wage gaps where they would be get paid any less than anyone else. They are their own bosses and set their own rules. They don’t need studios to validate their existence.

Are we too focused on being angry and missing the point of having an open dialogue with the purpose to educate and listen?

Well, let me answer the question slightly differently. Do I believe in cancel culture? No. EVERY day, someone (actually, typically the same three models) tries to rope me into some small squabble they are having with another model who looked at them the wrong way, thinking I will play traffic cop. It’s a lot easier to banish someone than have a dialogue with them. I have been on both ends of that, and it’s not fair to anyone.

Having said that, there are levels of misspeak. Being ignorant, naive, or uneducated is one thing. Billy LIVES to incite riots. I have been friends of Billy for 12 years. I think we are the same age and have spent a LOT of time together. So, understand that none of this comes easy for me right now. He was the first person of note to really get behind JFF, and he trumpeted us to anyone who would listen because he thought it was so much better than OnlyFans — and for no money. He did it out of friendship and because it was the right thing to do. I owe Billy a lot for that early period of growth at JFF.

But, as I said, he often does things to incite conversations — I hate to say, “to stay relevant,” but I don’t know why else one does this. Often, I just ignore it as “Billy being an idiot for attention,” like when he was parading out in Australia and having orgies during COVID. I thought he was just drumming up attention for his movies. Ignorant? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Attention-seeking? Yes. But worthy of canceling (in whatever form that takes)? No.

What does the LGBT community need to focus on most right now?

Our LBGT community just loves to turn on itself. I mean, the letters don’t even go together. Tell me the last time Lesbians, Bisexuals, Gays and Transgender people were EVER in the same room together doing ANYTHING. So even the idea that there is an LBGT “Community” seems a bridge too far. Where DO you find this? Smaller towns where fighting for equality and visibility is a uniting force. I often see smaller towns where the “gay bar” is full of all these letters, intermingling. In cities you don’t see that. You see that on higher levels — lobbyist groups and those who are on the front lines fighting for our rights.  You don’t see this in the middle though. So, what do we need to focus on? Remembering that we share a common thread. Remembering that we can use our strength as a united group. Remembering that issues like Black Lives Matter are our issues too, especially when we look at murder rates of trans women of color. If we can realize that these issues of oppression are at once targeted AND universal, maybe we can stop bickering and trying to cancel each other for wearing the wrong color on a Tuesday, and start working together to solve the issues we can only do when we have a united front.

How do we successfully hold each other accountable for actions and words that can hurt our community and beyond?

We educate each other, not cancel each other — when the harm was not intentional. I made a huge gaff a few months ago with the non-binary community. I don’t try to hide that. I embrace it and learned from it. I misunderstood what was important to that group, and I got some stuff REALLY wrong. Did some cancel me? Yes, there are those who hate me and won’t join JFF because of if. But I am not sweeping stuff like that under the rug. I wear my shortcomings proudly. Those who didn’t cancel me taught me what I wasn’t getting. And now I don’t think anyone would argue that I am probably one of the loudest supporters of the NB community in terms of adult platforms. And that couldn’t have happened without a culture of education instead of cancelation.