The porn king star of hit Netflix documentary Hot Girls Wanted has been accused of sexually ‘exploiting’ teenage girls.
Talent agent Riley Reynolds, 29, founder of Hussie Models, is being sued by adult movie star Lenna Lux over claims he took an unauthorized slice of her earnings, charged her extortionate fees leaving her thousands of dollars in debt, and ‘used that debt as a means to control her while exploiting her.’
In a cease and desist letter from Lux’s lawyer to the agent’s attorney, she also claimed that when she tried to leave Reynolds’ company, he attempted to ‘blacklist’ her from the industry and went after her for the money he insisted she still owed him, the Daily Beast reports.
Talent agent Riley Reynolds, 29, (left) founder of Hussie Models, is being sued by adult movie star Lenna Lux (right)
Lux is the first model to take Reynolds, who rose to fame after the 2015 documentary which followed the lives of teenage girls joining the amateur porn industry, to court. But the allegations echo the cases made by three former models to Florida police in 2015 and 2017.
Adult entertainment lawyer Brandon Kolb, who represents Lux, said Reynolds was never authorized to work as a talent agent in Florida – a third-degree felony in the state of Florida, and is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Reynolds denied the allegation and told the Daily Beast wrote that ‘Hussie Models LLC is Licensed and Bonded in the State of California and we do not take commission in the state of FL.’
He declined to comment on Lux’s other allegations.
Hussie Models website states it is ‘a licensed and bonded adult talent agency.
But the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation has no record that Reynolds was ever licensed in the state of Florida, the Daily Beast reports.
Reynolds’ application for Talent Agency License in 2016 was refused because of his ‘alleged criminal record indicating moral turpitude and/or dishonest dealings,’ according to his court file. He appealed in 2018, but the FDBPR gave a final refusal in March.
The agent has a criminal record which includes criminal mischief, burglary of an unoccupied structure, and grand theft.
Reynolds rose to fame after the 2015 documentary which followed the lives of teenage girls joining the amateur porn industry
Kolb said if Reynolds was found guilty, he could face multiple counts for each model.
Lenna Lux, her porn name and who declined to give her real name, first made contact with Reynolds shortly after her 18th birthday in late 2017, after she saw his ad on Craigslist promising ‘free flights to Miami’ for wannabe porn stars.
She says Reynolds told her he would pay for her airfare, provide accommodation, and find her work in porn to make her a ‘substantial amount of money.’
Lux flew to Florida and in January, she signed a two-year contract with Hussie Models, offering the agency exclusivity to book her jobs and 15 per cent of her earnings, according to her suit.
But she says that as soon as she signed, she found her flight was not ‘free’ but would be taken from her future earnings.
She also had to pay $40 a day to live in the shared ‘models’ houses and pay for her own biweekly STD tests at $155 a time, according to the lawsuit. Lux says she also had to pay for her own travel to gigs, including airfare, and she spent hundreds on her makeup, hair and clothing.
Despite all the heavy outgoing costs, Lux claims the agency only booked her nine shoots over four months – each of which only paid between $600 and $1100. But the amount was almost irrelevant as she says she never received a cent as Reynolds kept the entire amount.
Adult entertainment lawyer Brandon Kolb, who represents Lux, said Reynolds was never authorized to work as a talent agent in Florida (pictured left if Reynolds with adult film actress Gia Page at the 2016 Adult Video News Awards)
By April, Lux says was $891.64 in debt to Hussie Models and so on April 4, decided to quit. But, according to her lawsuit, Reynolds wouldn’t let her, telling her ‘he was not consenting to such termination.’
Needing money to pay off her debt, and with no more shoots being offered by Hussie, she joined 101 Modeling agency but says Reynolds contacted the company, insisting they remove her and pay him her fee.
Lux says she agreed to pay Reynolds her booking fee but 101 then cancelled the shoot.
She then received an $2,610 invoice from Hussie Models to cover her ‘contract termination’ fee and debts.
Other models have made similar claims, and even accused Reynolds of trafficking them although neither pressed charges.
Lux is the first model to take Reynolds to court. But the allegations echo the cases made by three former models to Florida police in 2015 and 2017
In 2015, a Pennsylvania woman called the North Miami Beach Police Department reporting that, like Lux, she too had answered an advert offering free flights to Florida.
But she claimed that when she arrived, Reynolds seized her Social Security card, birth certificate, Pennsylvania I.D. card and all her cash, telling her he would manage her finances from now on.
She told the Daily Beast that many of her roommates in Reynolds’ model houses seemed to abuse alcohol and illegal drugs.
The woman said she was coerced to do several shoots and whenever she expressed her discomfort, Reynolds told her she had nowhere else to go and threatened to kick her out the house.
On one occasion, when she asked to cancel a shoot because she was ill, she claimed Reynolds appeared with a small cup of blue liquid, which ‘smelled like alcohol’ and she claims when she tried to refuse it he ‘grabbed me by the throat and dumped this liquid down my throat, and it made me cough, and choke and throw up a little.’
She quit shortly afterwards but says that when she finally got possession back of her identity cards and money – he had taken all but a few hundred dollars.
Two other people reported Reynolds for fraud in 2017, according to another police report.
A male pornstar and his girlfriend claimed they flew from New Jersey to Florida to work for Hussie Models in January last year and moved into one of the model homes in Margate where they told police they found a pistol and ammunition on the kitchen counter.
They say Reynolds tried to set them up just a few days after they joined the company, with him claiming they stole $5,000 from his company.
The pair denied the theft and said Reynolds tried to get them into a ‘sex trafficking scheme,’ warning they were in his debt and needed to work to pay him off.
The actor said Reynolds, who they claim was using narcotics, made repeated death threats about ‘dumping their bodies in a lake.’
Reynolds and his agency first came to light in Hot Girls Wanted,’ which offered an insightful look at the world of pornography shows just how easy it is for teenagers, in particular, to get caught up in a sex trade that promises big bucks and fame.
But in a revealing peek into the billion dollar industry, documentary filmmakers exposed how professionally produced films are being made to look like home movies.
Girls: In a revealing peek into the billion dollar industry, documentary filmmakers exposed how professionally produced films are being made to look like home movies
Hot Girls: The director/producer Ronna Gradus, actress/producer Rashida Jones, center, and director/producer Jill Bauer from ‘Hot Girls Wanted’
‘Hot Girls Wanted,’ was shot by Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus, and produced by Rashida Jones.
It showed how Craigslist ads which promised free flights to Miami bring in a constant stream of would-be porn stars.
Reynolds appeared in the movie, saying at one point: ‘Every day, another girl turns 18.’
But the brutal world of pornography only gives girls aged 18- to 21 a career span that typically lasts just three months, due to high turnover.
Tressa, an 18-year-old girl featured in the film, admits she was attracted to porn as a way to escape her Texas hometown.
Tressa Silguero in ‘Hot Girls Wanted’: The 18-year-old featured in the film and admits she was attracted to porn as a way to escape her Texas hometown
Film subjects Kendall Plemons and Tressa Silguero attend the ‘Hot Girls Wanted’ Premiere during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2015 in Park City, Utah
She said she earned $25,000 in her four months in the industry, but after paying for lingerie, manicures, makeup and biweekly STD tests, she only had about $2,000 in her bank account when she quit the business.
‘It’s easy to take advantage of an 18-year-old girl,’ she said.