LAS VEGAS – Phoenix Marie has filed a lawsuit against Aylo, 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 has only recently been 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 was interrogated, assaulted and lied to by Danny D. about the incident, and the supervisors’ statements about her emotional state.”
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 time 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, when the cast and crew were alerted that Zaawaadi was having trouble breathing, the complaint states that Marie “screamed for someone to call an ambulance, and she 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 cared for Zaawaadi for more than an hour, during which time she claims Danny D. was “reluctant to call the ambulance.”
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 the way 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.”
The next day, Marie claims Danny D. “forcibly grabbed her,” pulled her into her room and told her that Zaawaadi “had overdosed on lithium and she was in a medically induced coma.”
Marie claims Danny D. questioned her about lithium. Marie claims that 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 makeup artist, production manager and talent liaison.
Marie claims that while Zaawaadi was in critical condition, Danny D. protected his partner from an investigation into his death by lithium poisoning.
After the shoot, Marie traveled to the Venus Berlin expo, where she claims she was confronted by several Aylo representatives who attended the event, and that they “falsely blamed her” for Zaawaadi’s lithium poisoning “and told her that she had 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 even shouted for emergency help when asked” and “now she was blamed of what had happened.”
According to the complaint, after Marie left Berlin, the defendants and others spread “falsehoods” about her “throughout the industry to protect themselves.”
XBIZ has reached out to Phoenix Marie and Zaawaadi for comment.