LAS VEGAS – Phoenix Marie has filed a lawsuit against Aylo, artist/producer Danny D and other defendants, claiming she has suffered defamation and damage to her career over a 2023 incident at a digital playground in Spain.
The lawsuit was filed in Nevada on February 15, but was only recently made public.
In October 2023, Marie was booked for a multi-day shoot in Barcelona for Aylo’s studio. The project was produced by Danny D and featured Zaawaadi, among others.
Zaawaadi had a medical emergency during the last day of the shoot, and Marie claims she was made a scapegoat by the company for the incident.
Marie claims her career and brand have been “ruined,” and that she has been “insulted by the same executives she always thought were similar to her family, friends and closest colleagues.”
Aylo and its subsidiaries, the complaint alleges, are responsible for Marie’s lost income and for “defamatory statements about her circulating in the industry.”
Marie is seeking restitution, claiming she has already lost more than $100,000 a month in revenue due to “unlawful interference with the promotion of her videos and sites” through the Aylo platforms.
Marie also holds Aylo responsible for “severe emotional distress caused by undergoing forced sexual acts to complete the orgy video after a girl she knew almost died in her arms while being interrogated, assaulted and lied to by Danny D about the incident. , and the statements made by those in charge about her emotional state.”
Kerr Simpson, the Henderson, Nevada law firm representing Marie, issued a press release this morning claiming that Aylo and Ethical Capital Partners have an “unregulated porn monopoly.”
Kerr Simpson’s release states that Marie “suffered devastating trauma and financial losses as a result of retaliation by Aylo and her subsidiaries after refusing to be a scapegoat and receive a payout to remain quiet following a grossly mismanaged shoot.” “
Danny D.’s response to the lawsuit’s allegations
Danny D spoke to XBIZ on Tuesday and refuted Marie’s version of events.
“The allegations against me are completely false and unfounded,” said Danny D. “During a Spanish production, Phoenix Marie gave tablets to Zaawaadi, who subsequently suffered a medical emergency due to ingesting those tablets. Fortunately, we were able to save her life.
“The entire production and cast were present, including a talent assistant who can verify that at no point was anyone coerced or coerced into performing in any way,” Danny D added. “We have all the footage, sign-ins and sign-outs, plus statements from everyone on set. We are proud of our professionalism and our safe working environment for all talent.”
A spokesperson for Aylo told XBIZ: “Out of respect for the integrity of legal proceedings, it is our policy not to comment on pending litigation. We look forward to the facts being fully and fairly aired in that forum.”
Phoenix Marie’s version of events
The lawsuit’s complaint describes Marie not only as an artist, but also as “a medical professional” who has “worked in the medical field of sexual wellness for 10.5 years” and is “passionate about women’s sexual health.”
According to the complaint, prior to the incident, Marie Zaawaadi had suggested over-the-counter medications in preparation for the final day’s anal shoot.
The complaint states that Marie, as an adult industry veteran, “seeks to educate and assist younger actresses with sexual health issues whenever she can. She spoke to Zaawaadi prior to her anal scene, and she gave Zaawaadi two probiotic pills and two laxative pills called Senokot, due to her ingestion of three Imodium pills. She told Zaawaadi that taking Imodium could be harmful. These over-the-counter remedies were to be taken immediately after the scene to avoid problems associated with anal sex scenes.
On the day of the incident, the complaint states, when the cast and crew were alerted that Zaawaadi was having difficulty breathing, Marie “screamed for someone to call an ambulance, and then initiated emergency care.”
The complaint states that Marie “attempted to keep Zaawaadi calm and regulate her breathing while assessing her and calling [her] sister for her medical history, and gave her some fluids while her sister was on the phone.
Marie claims she then asked Zaawaadi “if she has been taking any drugs or medication lately, and she said, ‘The four pills you gave.’”
Marie claims that she “knew that the pills she gave Zaawaadi would not have caused this reaction. The girl continued to shake and had difficulty breathing, as someone would during a seizure or neurological episode.”
According to the complaint, Marie took care of Zaawaadi for over an hour. She claims that Danny D was ‘reluctant to call the ambulance’ during that period.
Zaawaadi was taken to the hospital during that time and, the complaint alleges, wanted Marie to go with her in the ambulance.
“However, Danny D demanded that the scene be completed immediately,” the complaint states. Marie “was very upset and refused to continue the scene”, and “begged Danny D to shoot the scene at another time.”
Danny D, the complaint alleges, “insisted that they finish the scene,” so Marie “continued filming the orgy scene against her will.”
After the scene was over, Marie claims, she was “very distraught at how the situation with Zaawaadi was handled and how Danny D forced her to move on.” The complaint states that she “wanted to go to the hospital to check on Zaawaadi, but Danny D. told her she couldn’t go and that he would go without her.”
Marie claims that the next day Danny D “forcibly grabbed her,” pulled her into a room and told her that Zaawaadi “had overdosed on lithium and that she was in a medically induced coma.”
Marie claims Danny D questioned her about lithium. Marie claims the only person who had lithium in the shoot house – where the artists and crew were also staying – was Danny D’s partner, who also served as make-up artist, production manager and talent liaison.
Marie claims that while Zaawaadi was in critical condition, Danny D protected his partner from possible investigation for the cause of the lithium poisoning.
After the shoot, Marie traveled to the Venus Berlin exhibition. There, she claims, she was confronted by several Aylo representatives attending the event, who she says “falsely blamed” her for Zaawaadi’s lithium poisoning “and told her to go home.”
Marie claims she was “completely shocked and devastated because she had done her best” to save Zaawaadi’s life while everyone else “sat around watching” and she “even called for emergency help when she was asked” and “now got they are to blame for what happened.”
According to the complaint, after Marie left Berlin, the defendants and others spread “falsehoods” about her “throughout the industry to protect themselves.”
Kerr Simpson attorney Preston Sterling Kerr said in a statement that Marie “saved a girl’s life on set and was rewarded by Aylo and Ethical Capital Partners with physical harassment, assault, humiliation, alienation, significant financial losses and a smear campaign that was unconscionably centered on her dead child.”
Kerr Simpson’s press release claims Aylo used the 2019 death of Marie’s 18-year-old daughter from cancer “to falsely portray her as an unhinged, grieving mother on lithium.”
Kerr said his company wants to help Marie “reclaim her daughter’s memory, but also to hold the Aylo-Ethical Capital Partners Big Porn conglomerate accountable and stop them from continuing to exercise their unregulated monopoly power over people’s lives.” to destroy.”
A rep for Kerr Simpson told XBIZ that Marie was unavailable for comment Tuesday due to travel plans.
Zaawaadis Rack
Zaawaadi spoke with XBIZ on Tuesday to share her thoughts on the situation.
“First of all, I’m glad I’m alive,” she said. “But even though I am doing better physically, my mental health has been completely destroyed by the Barcelona incident.”
“Phoenix gave me two tablets each of two different types of medicine, telling me they would help relax my body,” Zaawaadi added. “Danny’s partner never gave me any tablets.”