The 2021 AVN Award Winners Announced!

The 2021 AVN Awards, often affectionately called the Oscars of porn, were held on January 23rd. The awards ceremony, which was virtual this year due to precautions related to the Novel Coronavirus, was hosted by Kira Noir & Skyler Lo.  365 trophies were issued in 111 different categories.  

Some Notable Winners 

Best Anal Sex Scene was awarded to Rocco's Back To America For More Adventures.  Women Seeking Women was given the award for Best All-Girl Series or Site.  Best Directing in a Comedy was awarded to Cougar Queen: A Tiger King Parody. The Best Screenplay in a Comedy went to Evil Tiki Babes. The Best Girl-Girl Sex Scene went to Elsa Jean: Influence. Vanna Bardot won Best Solo/Tease Performance for her performance in  Dance For Me.  Scarlit Scandal won the coveted Best New Starlet award.  

New Category for The “New Normal”

There was a new category called Best Quarantine Sex Scene, which was awarded to Teenage Lesbian: One Year Later.  Since lockdowns halted many productions for much of the past year, many of the adult films being released this year were quarantine themed, making this a fairly crowded category for consideration. 

PornstarTurned Director Wins Big

One of the biggest awards, Director Of The Year, was awarded to Kayden Kross.  Kross is a California native who got her start as an adult performer, before transitioning into writing and directing adult films. This is her 5th AVN award win, her second for directing, but the first time being named Director of the year.

Kross’s big film this year was Muse, staring Maitland Ward.  Muse was the recipient of several awards this year, sweeping a number of categories including Best Editing,  Best Directing in a  Drama, and Best Screenplay in a Drama.  In fact, Muse was the single most awarded film of the entire 2021 ceremony.

What About the Men?

As for male performers, Seth Gamble won the award for Best Leading Actor for his performance in A Killer On The Loose.  Gamble is a 12 year veteran of the porn industry.  In addition to taking the honor for Best Leading Actor this year, he was also one of the 10 performers to receive the award for Best Group Sex Scene for their work on Dorcel/Wicked’s Climax.  Another man to win big this year was Alex Mack, who took home the trophy for Best Male Newcomer.  According to Mack’s PornHub profile, you can find him in 3 new films, including Gangbang Creampie, Glory Hole Secrets, & Naughty America VR.

And The Best Female Pornstar?

Female Performer Of The Year went to  Emily Willis.  The Insatiable Emily Willis, which was released in October, also took home the award for Best Double Penetration Sex Scene. Willis is a Las Vegas native, has performed in over 150 adult films, and has won 9 AVN Awards throughout her career. 

Maitland Ward is Having a Very Good Year

While Emily Willis may have been named Female Performer of The Year, but, any many ways, it was Maitland Ward’s night.  She took home the Best Leading Actress award for her work on Muse, directed by Kayden Kross.

In addition to the numerous awards Muse garnered, Ward appeared in another film this year that garnered several awards.  Mistress Maitland, which was released July 30th of 2020, won in several categories including Best BDSM Movie Or Anthology, Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene, and Best Cinematography.

You may remember Maitland Ward made headlines last October when she announced her transition from traditional actress to adult film star at the age of 42.  The fiery redhead is actually a former Disney star.  She once played Rachel McGuire in the 90s sitcom Boy Meets World.  She warmed up to the idea of doing porn slowly, by indulging her inner exhibitionist on social media, often posting racy selfies displaying sexy cosplay costumes and body paint. 

She made it clear that, just because she was taking her career in a different direction, didn’t mean she intended to leave her standards as an actress behind. She said she was passionate about being involved in productions with good stories and strong cinematic qualities.  Given her the number of AVN Awards her projects have won, we’d say her first year as a pornstar certainly lived up to her goals.   

In addition to her stellar work in the industry this year, Maitland has also demonstrated her philanthropic side.  Last May, she said she was driven to help her fellow sex workers who were experiencing a financial crisis during the industry lockdown.  She said, “I think people are very community-driven right now. They want to be a part of something because we are so socially isolated right now.” She established a weekly webcam show, which she used to raise money for performers with pandemic-related hardships.  In addition, she said, “I also bought 150 Onlyfans accounts, so the performers’ names are seen by my fans who might want to subscribe and it helps them out that way too... It’s a really uplifting thing in the community right now. I think the outreach is going to mean more than just the money, it’s that we’re all looking out for each other, we’re all in this together.”

Big congratulations to Maitland Ward, and all the other 2021 AVN Award winners!