We Miss Them All: A Decade of Broken Smiles

 

They have been our companions since this journey began back in 2011. Our blog has seen its pauses—some quite long—but as we find ourselves here again in 2026, telling the stories of this industry, we realize how many voices have gone silent. We won't see their smiles or their sensuality again, except in the frames of old videos, from a time when they were beautiful, acclaimed, and at the top of their world.

In the last ten years, from 2016 to today, too many have left us. It is easy for some to demonize the adult industry; certainly, the business has its faults. Being a performer is a high-stress, difficult, and demanding profession. It is even harder in a society that watches them, enjoys their work, and is then the first to point an infantalizing, hypocritical finger.

But I don’t want to argue. I only want to remember.

Which of these losses hit the hardest? Was it Jesse Jane? Kagney Linn Karter (pictured)? August Ames? Shyla Stylez? They were the titans, the legends, and their absence is a void. But we miss them all—Amber Rayne, Yurizan Beltran, Jessica Jaymes, Dahlia Sky... the list is a painful litany of talent gone too soon.

And then there is the living tragedy of Emily Willis. The 2021 Female Performer of the Year, a star on a meteoric rise, left completely paralyzed in 2024 due to a tragic delay in medical response following a cardiac arrest.

What links these dramatic stories? Their profession, certainly. But also an underlying emotional fragility, and in some cases, the shadow of substance abuse. Some stories share common threads; others are unique in their sadness. But what remains for us is the silence where there used to be laughter. We are left with the memories of women—and men—whom we admired.

We miss them... every single one.