10 Gay Porn Stars We Lost In 2020
In August of 2020, porn star Koldo Goran tweeted about three fellow performers who had recently died. In one of those instances, Goran’s tweet remains the only public notice that the performer, Dani Rivera, had been murdered. “I realize nobody talks about it, we are unprotected and forgotten;” Goran tweeted “We are humans, people, enough of contempt.”
Most gay news outlets choose to ignore the passing of all but the biggest names in the adult film industry. Porn companies also seem reluctant to broadcast the passing of a performer who is still on their roster, forever young and present in their website content. An obit is a real boner killer, ya know? Why jeopardize the profit margin? Additionally, performers who abandon their porn personas and return to live with their real name often pass away unnoticed by former employers and co-workers.
Case in point: Roman Heart was about as big a star as you will find in gay porn: 2006 Freshmen of the Year, GayVN Best Newcomer winner, Falcon cover boy with an exclusive contract and a career lasting over a decade. Yet he passed away unnoticed in September of 2019. It was nearly a year before anyone in the business became aware of it.
Here is a list of 10 gay porn stars of note that were lost in 2020. I post them here to prove Koldo Goran wrong – they are not forgotten:
1. Macanao Torres
Although Goran mentions that Macanao Torres died of cancer in the above tweet, the 35-year-old Spaniard actually passed away in an apparent suicide on 12/30/19. He had worked for Cazzo, Jalif, UKNM, and other studios.
2. Scotty Knox
Scotty Knox was only 20 years old when he died in a car accident on 1/13/20, but he had already appeared in over 20 scenes for Colby Knox.
3. Terry DeCarlo
Earlier this year I wrote about the passing of Terry DeCarlo after a battle with cancer on 1/27/20. He worked primarily for Catalina and Robert Prion Studios in the early 1990s before becoming an activist and community leader.
4. Sebastian Young
One would have to overlook a huge pile of reprehensible baggage to still be a fan of Sebastian Young, who met his end in a shootout with police after a high-speed chase (3/11/20). The 37-year-old convicted sex offender appeared in close to 90 scenes over a decade for Bromo, Jet Set, Lucas Entertainment, MEN.com, NextDoor, Cockyboys, and other studios.
5 Ryan Fields
The news of Ryan Fields‘ suicide (3/29/20) was tweeted out by fellow Broke Straight Boys model Damien Kyle. Fields was 25 years old and had been with Broke Straight Boys for over 5 years.
6. Dani Rivera
Dani Rivera was relatively new to adult films, with just a handful of recent releases for Men At Play. As mentioned by Koldo Goran in his tweet, Rivera was murdered on 8/21/20, although no other articles have appeared to fill in the details.
7. Ridder Rivera
33-year-old Ridder Rivera passed away from unknown causes (8/29/20). Over the past 3 years, the Cuban muscleman had worked with TimTales, Kristen Bjorn, Fuckermate, and Raw Strokes, among other companies. I found this post on social media: “Born in Havana in 1987, he was a teacher and those who knew him to stand out about him that he spoke several languages and that he took great care of his family, especially his mother. He loved to dance…. took great care of his body and liked to show his followers on Facebook his training routines.“
8. Theo Barone
Brazilian Theo Barone worked exclusively with the Hotboys website since 2018, although he had announced his retirement earlier this year. He was 27 when he succumbed to stomach cancer on 9/27/20.
9. Mack Daddy
Mack Daddy/Maximus Sky, 27, was killed in a Cincinnati, Ohio car collision (10/15/20). He had appeared in scenes for Flava Works, Bromo, and Raw Rods, among other companies.
10. Chip Tanner
Chip Tanner‘s death (12/11/20) was officially ruled a suicide, although people who knew him have spoken out to say that the cause was autoerotic asphyxia. The 32-year-old gymnast appeared in scenes for Randy Blue, NextDoor Studios, and several other companies between 2010-2015.
This post originally appears on Brian Ferrari’s blog.
