The owner of porn company BoyCrush, Bryan Schwandt, has retired after denying he has raped stars at the ‘twink porn’ firm.
Warning: this story contains difficult experiences and allegations of sexual assault, violence, and rape. Links to support can be found at the end of this article.
A series of young porn actors working for the firm have now accused Schwandt of sexual assault. He denies all the allegations.
Posting a statement on his Twitter account, that is now private, he has announced his retirement.
GSN has been sent a copy of this statement which denies all the allegations of nonconsensual sex. But Schwandt does apologize for acting in an unprofessional way:
‘I want to state that some of the accusations against me are exaggerated or outright false. I never raped anyone. But I have run the studio in an unprofessional way, sleeping with and dating models. I want to apologize to all the models over the years that I have treated so poorly or that have had a bad experience here. I am truly sorry.’
The statement also says he is now receiving harassment and death threats. Adding that this has led him to retire from BoyCrush:
‘I have been considering a new career for some time and now is the right time for me to move on.’
The statement names Phillip Ashton, who has been filming BoyCrush movies for six years now, as his replacement.
GSN previously spoke to one of the models, Kadence Pinder, who wanted to share her story. In that story about Pinder, who identified as a gay man at the time of the alleged assault but has since transitioned, we didn’t name Schwandt for legal reasons.
But Schwandt has now admitted that Pinder was one of the models he had sex with. However, he denies much of the model’s story and denies any accusations the sex was not consensual.
Now five models have shared their stories with us, and on social media. They allege inappropriate behavior, sexual favors and rape whilst working with or at a casting for BoyCrush.
Schwandt denies any of them were raped.
After initial hesitation and fear of doing so – two of the models have now reported incidents to the police.
Gay Star News is also aware of at least two more former BoyCrush models that are considering speaking out. Numerous other models have taken to social media with messages of support confirming a malicious ‘casting couch’ culture at BoyCrush.
Is this the porn industry’s #MeToo moment?
In our interview with Kadence Pinder in November last year, she was the first former BoyCrush model to come on the record with allegations about the porn owner.
The vulnerable, young, trans YouTuber described a casting session with Bryan Schwandt.
She said he forced sex on her and his advances were unwelcome.
Struggling desperately to work out their gender identity, Pinder told GSN they looked to porn to ‘validate’ living as a gay man.
But deep down Pinder knew she was trans. However, in a last-ditch attempt to find solace with their body, they reached out Schwandt to arrange a casting shoot.
She says what followed was a cruel attack, that was filmed.
Bryan denies any allegations that the sex was not consensual, and much of Pinder’s account. But he has now admitted they did have sex, and it was ‘wrong.’
Her story came in the weeks after Hollywood, and institutions around the world faced disturbing allegations of sexual assault in November.
Ever since the #MeToo campaign has been gathering momentum worldwide – and is now invigorating the porn industry too.
Pinder hoped that by telling her story, more people would feel empowered to share their own stories about sexual assault:
Four models now accuse the owner of BoyCrush, Bryan Schwandt, of sexual harassment
The blog Straight Up Gay Porn has been following the allegations as they have come out.
In April, another actor at BoyCrush Ethan Steele accused Schwandt of only paying models that would perform sexual favors on him.
In response, Schwandt told Straight Up Gay Porn that his use of the phrase of ‘sexual favors’ were always ‘just a joke.’
The blog also asked the BoyCrush owner about Pinder’s revelations to GSN. He confirmed he did have sex with Pinder, who had ‘catfished him in order to get the casting.’
Days later he would also go on to tell the blog, having sex with Pinder was ‘wrong.’
The most recent model to come forward is Cole Claire, now a model for Helix. He too says Schwandt was habitually ‘sticking his dick’ in his model’s mouths. His story closely matches that of other models who have spoken with GSN.
Claire’s tweet was sparked by another model, Justin Stone.
Stone posted a video with similar allegations. Stone, who like all of BoyCrush’s models, looks very young.
Justin’s video also inspired another model Crystal Thayer to tell her story on a live Periscope.
Stone tells GSN:
‘When I got there, he kept giving me drinks and edibles I could barely move after I drank his “special drink” he took me to his bed and threw me down and shoved his dick down my throat and I can still see him biting his lips the look in his. He’s an evil evil man.’
Gay Star News has reached out to all the models who have posted allegations online.
BoyCrush Studios and Bryan Schwandt’s reply:
GSN reached out to BoyCrush studios to speak to Schwandt directly. Phillip Ashton who is now managing their Twitter account confirmed Schwandt’s retirement adding: ‘He won’t be talking about this situation anymore.’
Ashton confirmed to GSN he had taken management of BoyCrush Studios. But he told GSN ‘I won’t be talking about it either, seeing this has nothing to do with me’.
Although Schwandt will not speak to GSN directly, we need to make it clear that he denies many of the claims.
The statement shared with GSN, from Schwandt’s Twitter account in full:
‘I want to state that some of the accusations against me are exaggerated or outright false. I never raped anyone. But I have run the studio in an unprofessional way, sleeping with and dating models. I want to apologize to all the models over the years that I have treated poorly or that have had a bad experience here. I’m truly sorry.
‘I have had my real name and information publicized and I am receiving harassment and death threats. These accusations are affecting our employees that have done nothing wrong. I have decided that it is best me and everyone else that I retire from BoyCrush. I have been considering a new career for some time. Now is the right time for me to move on.
‘Phillip Ashton has been filming our movies for six years and I fully trust him to run the company. Phillip is an experienced director and already manages the office. I have no doubt he will do a great job replacing me. And I trust that he will continue to produce the same high-quality movies without me.
‘I have had a great time in the porn industry over the last 17 years. I appreciated all the models and fans that have been publically and privately supporting me.
‘Thank you and goodbye,
‘Bryan’
Looking for support?
If you want more information about rape, sexual assault or any of the issues in this article you may want to try some of these organizations:
- Galop – UK LGBT anti-violence charity
- Survivors UK – UK rape survivors group
- RAINN – US Sexual Assault resource and advocacy group
- Stay Brave – Male rape survivors group
Globally we have also compiled a list of LGBTI friendly organizations you may wish to seek help from.
Read more from Gay Star News:
Need support? LGBTI helplines for those in crisis or seeking advice
