Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025 | 2 a.m.
Promoting yourself at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, the industry’s largest trade show, is no cheap task.
When not backed by a company, independent performers shell out thousands to get to Las Vegas, book a hotel and set up a booth with merchandise.
It’s one of the most important weeks of the year in the industry, especially when it comes to networking with other professional creators.
But some models are considering skipping this year’s event and awards show due to the strike from Culinary Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, which is hosting the event for the first time since 2020, when the property was the Hard Rock.
Alana Evans, an inductee into the AVN Hall of Fame, already had appearances booked for the expo when she learned of the strike. And as president of the first federally recognized union for adult entertainers, she’s not crossing the picket line.
The union’s officers voted unanimously to support the Culinary strike.
“My fans can meet me outside on the picket line,” Evans told the Sun. “They can come outside and get pictures with me there. I’ll sign their autographs for free … to show solidarity for the Culinary workers.”
The union president is one of a growing list of adult entertainers who have taken to social media to share that they won’t come to AVN unless the strike is resolved by the time the expo opens Wednesday. Most blamed Virgin Hotels for the strike, which started in mid-November.
“A lot of people who are involved in sex work also are waiters, are waitresses, are people in housekeeping,” said Sasha Bee, an organizer with the transgender-led Sex Worker Action Alliance. “So I don’t think that Virgin Hotels understand that we are connected in our struggle.”
While AVN wouldn’t provide comment to the Sun, Virgin Hotels wrote that the property is “excited” to host the show and looks “forward to providing exceptional service to the thousands of guests attending the expo, events and award shows.”
The hotel emphasized that its attempts to resolve the strike, most recently through a third party, have been shot down by the Culinary Union. The union publicly responded that it never settled a strike through arbitration.
Virgin’s invitation to come back to the negotiating table “remains standing,” the property told the Sun. The most recent offer from Virgin amounts to a 30-cent increase in hourly wages each year of a five-year contract, union officials said.
Culinary has embraced the adult entertainers’ support online, reposting many of the models announcing they won’t come. It’s not just minor accounts, either, with some having over 100,000 followers.
Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer, thanked Evans’ Adult Performance Arts Guild (APAG) for its vote.
“Workers across industries share the same fight for dignity, fair pay, respect and protections,” Pappageorge said this month. “Culinary Union is proud to stand with APAG in solidarity as strikers continue to take on a billionaire-owned company that refuses to treat workers fairly.”
The support isn’t limited to individual entertainers.
Pornhub, the world’s largest adult website by traffic and a mainstay at the yearly expo, announced Jan. 10 that it wouldn’t attend AVN or XBiz, an industry event staged this weekend in California. But the popular website didn’t provide an explanation.
A Pornhub spokesperson later told the Sun that the company plans the two events together and the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires, along with its support of the Culinary Union, led to the decision.
Evans called the company’s move “massive.”
“If Pornhub is backing out because of what’s happening without saying it, that’s because the models made themselves loud and clear,” she said. “Honestly, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s not easy to get support for unions, ourselves included.”
MintStars — a smaller, worker-centric alternative to OnlyFans — wrote on X this month that it also wouldn’t attend this year’s AVN.
Despite AVN being one of two events MintStars typically goes to every year, CEO Daniel Sargent said the company couldn’t act like it advocates for sex workers while also crossing the Culinary Union’s picket line.
“We’re waiting to see what AVN says and if there is any movement. We’re still optimistic that there will be either a resolution or an alternative venue found,” Sargent said. “Otherwise, we’re in the process of scrambling for a plan B.”
Having already booked her flight, Evans is also still making her way here for the event. She won’t be staying at Virgin Hotels and is still planning on networking, just not on the hotel’s property.
But support isn’t universal.
Model and Las Vegas resident Em Indica, and asked to go by her stage name to protect her anonymity, believes only around a third of the attendees support the union.
She’s sympathetic to the union’s efforts and joined the striking workers on a march from the Strip to Virgin Hotels this month. However, she said most of the pro-union voices online aren’t from the industry’s top stars.
“The thing that comes with internet fame and all that stuff; I think a lot of people tend to lose themselves a little bit,” she said. “But there is a very strong group of people, especially APAG, joining.”
Indica said some people also can’t afford to throw away the money they already spent on the expo and show.
Both models were critical of AVN’s lack of communication, with Evans saying most people only learned of the strike in late December or early January. But the show did publish a “frequently asked questions” page online.
A spokesperson for the union said some information on the website is incorrect.
While the FAQ states that 80% of Virgin’s striking staff are back to work, the “vast majority are out and stayed out,” union spokesperson Bethany Khan said. A Virgin Hotels spokesperson told the Sun in November that 60% of workers crossed the picket line.
AVN also wrote on the page that “Virgin Hotels Las Vegas has successfully hosted multiple events … without any issues. Guests have experienced no delays, disruptions or room complaints related to the strike.”
In December, the union launched a website hosting negative reviews of Virgin Hotels related to the strike from across the web. Some complain about not being told about the ongoing protest. Others say they were chastised by union members. And a few take issue with the speaker the hotel set up near the picket blaring music.
Comedian Steve Hofstetter, who has over 800,000 followers on Facebook, also canceled his January show at Virgin Hotels, writing that he was doing so “in solidarity with the striking (C)ulinary workers.”
He added a new Vegas show to his tour for May at Town Square’s Wiseguys comedy club.
Still, Evans and Indica don’t blame AVN for the rough return to the property.
“We asked (AVN) to reconsider their relationship with Virgin, and if that means that they can’t cancel the show because of the contracts that are involved — the money that’s involved — it’s understandable,” Evans said. “However, going forward, I would seriously reconsider that, because Virgin can fix all of this.”
