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ing Noire and his wife Jet Setting Jasmine have been bridging the gap between the mainstream industry and the world of “ethical porn” for over a decade. The award-winning queer performer and filmmaker is the co-owner and founder of Royal Fetish Films, a production company focused on creating blazing hot adult films without falling into the racist tropes that so often plague people of color in porn.
The queer, poly performer and business man was kinky enough to make a career out of it, throwing “Fantasy Flight” parties with his spouse and offering professional fetish training in a variety of BDSM skills, both technical and interpersonal. He’s also a musician and outspoken anti-racism advocate.
In this wide-ranging discussion– shared today in recognition of Juneteenth– Noire discusses some of the most horrific parts of American history, their impact on Black men today, and how he navigates the challenges of being a person of color in the industry.
A Painful Introduction to Porn
Growing up in New Jersey, the son of a white dad and Black mom who separated at a young age, Noire learned self respect against racism from his mother’s example.
“I love her so much,” he says, smiling as the warmth flows out as he remembers the values she instilled and the white supremacy she fought against. “She desegregated her elementary school in Camden, New Jersey... She’s dealt with this shit for her entire life. She marched with Dr. King. She did sit-ins in DC at the five-and-dime or the Woolworth.”
He lists some of the significant directives that were central to his upbringing: “Do not tolerate people disrespecting you;” “Don’t let people question your intelligence or your worth or undermine what it is that you are there to do based on the color of your skin;” “Whatever it is that you do, even if you’re out here shaking your ass (as she would say), those principles still matter.”
Living up to these standards throughout his life hasn’t always been easy. He experienced racism in porn before he ever set foot in the industry. His relationship with his white father had never been easy, but that didn’t make him any less shocked and disturbed when he found his dad’s hidden porn stash. While most kids in the 80’s might have stumbled across Hustler or Playboy magazines, what Noire found sent chills down his back: photo after photo of Black women being fucked by white men dressed up as Klan members. These Black women, not uncoincidentally, looked a lot like his own mother, from their hair to their skin tone.
“It definitely turned me off from porn,” Noire shared in an interview on Holly Randall’s podcast. “I wasn’t really seeking out porn after that.” He might have avoided it forever if it weren’t for the turn his life took.
Sex Work, Safety and Survival
Noire’s experience in sex work began, like that of so many, out of necessity. As a teenager he’d found himself homeless and desperate for income and stability. That was when a friend asked for his help. She’d been offered money for a porn shoot, but she really didn’t want to perform with a random man and asked him to do it instead. Despite his aversion, he couldn’t turn down the opportunity. It was good money and he was comfortable enough with the girl at the time that it didn’t seem like such a big deal. He remembers thinking, “Oh shit! I got paid for doing something I love to do that…I don’t think I’m gonna get arrested for. This is good, right?”
With a fresh perspective on porn, he felt a bit more open to sex work. He started looking for other opportunities and, like a significant number of Black men, he found that many of the gigs available to him were in the sphere of professional cuckolding. Simply put: men wanted to pay him to fuck their wives while they watched.
“Having that first really-fucked-up introduction as a young person I kind of thought it was going to be racist,” he says. Unfortunately, the reality of cuckolding matched his low expectations.
Professional Cuckolding
The world is full of anti-Blackness, but cuckolding specifically is a kink that does often heavily stereotype Black men. They are often used, in the cuckolding fantasies of white couples, as a degrading object or sex toy more than a third person who happens to be Black. The paying husbands would frequently say things about Noire like, “I got you a big black cock” or even use racial epithets. He would often have to decide whether or not to address these comments and risk his income. “This is just how this shit is,” he’d often tell himself, feeling resigned to racist bullshit if he wanted to work and feed himself.
“I was in a survival mode,” he recalls, thinking of the times he held his nose through racially degrading situations. He wanted to stand up for himself like his mom had taught him, setting boundaries around people’s language which he did his best to adhere to. But this was easier said than done.
“I won’t even lie: there were times where I was like ‘I’m just gonna have to eat that little thing right there because I need to get paid,” he admits. He did his best to check people when he felt he had to, “but that might lead to never working with that person again, you know what I’m saying?” His rule of thumb was, “check them where you need to check them and get your money.”
Pleasure and Sex Parties
Despite all the insulting experiences that kept coming up, Noire found joy in the world of professional pleasure. “I definitely was super sexual. I loved being an exhibitionist. I enjoyed the sexual attention, involvement and all that shit,” he laughs. “I could just do without the racism! The other shit is fine.”
Even as he worked in professional cuckolding for survival, he was getting a taste of sex work that felt fun and exciting without the undertones. “When I was dancing at parties and clubs and doing things like that, it was primarily within the Black and Brown community” he explains, where the bigotry “wasn’t even a thing.”
Who knows how long he might have stomached the prejudice and stereotyping that saturated the professional cuckolding sphere if it weren’t for the breaths of fresh air he got around other sex positive people of color. “It was kind of getting an opportunity to see what it could be like and then also dealing with what it is at the same time,” he recalls.
With those parallel experiences, he was inspired to move towards a vision of Black and Brown sexuality and kink outside of the narrow, fetishizing framework he saw while cuckolding, as he reflects, “I think that exposure kind of made me think of how I can shape it to what I wanted it to be.”
Making a Difference Outside of Adult
Carving out a place for himself came in time, but the road was bumpy; he even quit sex work all together for a while. He’d started his music career at that point and ended up pouring a lot of his time, energy, and passion into his art. He worked at a school in his neighborhood— a career choice which, unfortunately, can be a treacherous balance with sex work.
“My mentor was like ‘you can’t be doing other shit that’ll get you in trouble,” he remembers. Of course being a sex worker didn’t make him any less qualified as a teacher, but it wasn’t worth the risk to his reputation and employment. So, he switched gears, focusing entirely on helping local kids in Jersey City. He played chess with them, taught them creative writing, and worked with the Urban League Of Hudson County, which he’s still proud of today.
“It was amazing... I was working with kids who were either coming out of the Youth House or had court ordered community service,” he says of the work, which was particularly meaningful because of his own experiences within the justice system at a young age. “My job was to help them find actual community service.”
Working for ULOHC, he got to help kids in a similar situation. They made art for the neighborhood, countering “bad interactions with people in their community,” he says. It was an extremely meaningful experience…until the program got cut.
A Partner in Porn
Once Noire’s opportunities with kids ran dry, he was back looking for gigs. He was still doing music, touring and signed with Viper Records, but that wasn’t a full time job. He knew someone who started throwing sex toy parties, so he got back into dancing to help her out. Then, through his longtime friend DJ Victoriouz, he met his future wife Jet Setting Jasmine, who was also involved with the periphery of sex work, throwing parties and teaching pole dancing lessons. She thought there was an opportunity to make money together and he was happy to explore the idea. They started throwing sex and kink parties together, traveling the country spreading bacchanalia and making memories.
The Fantasy Flight parties were a great experience for him. He was finally working with sex and kink in a way that felt liberating. “I danced for everybody. All genders,” he says proudly. An openly pansexual man, he never wanted to restrict himself. “I like turning people on” and for him, it never mattered how they identify, present, or what’s in their pants.
Fantasy Flight parties also centered people of color, a welcome change from traditional sex work. Most of the customers were Black women between the ages of 25-45. Ultimately, these women inspired him to get into adult film. While they were sex positive, “ so many of these women would be like ‘Porn is terrible.’”
They were interested in porn, but found that “everything [was] disrespectful to Black women,” he explains. “Everything is racist to Black everybody.” Partygoers and people in that scene encouraged Noire and his partner to change that. “I hadn’t made porn in a while and people were like, “you should make it!”
Royal Fetish Films Rules
Even though he was woefully out of practice and Jasmine had never even tried making porn before, the couple decided to take a swing at it. That was the origin of Royal Fetish Films. They had a submissive friend film them having oral sex in Orally Yours, a feature length that was very well received. Even though it was their first go together, they entered it into the 2016 FetCon Fetish Awards and to their surprise, they won best full length feature.
It was an unconventional start that made for a great marketing strategy. Instead of having to vie for studio work he modeled promotion after his music career approach. “I got signed because I sold lots of mixtapes,” he thought. “If it works for music it’ll work for porn.”
As he traveled with the Fantasy Flight parties, he attracted new fans of his sex shows and stroke sessions who wanted to see more. When people approached him after the performances, he’d say, “you wanna see us? Oh, well go to our website. You can see more here.” The award for Orally Yours only added to the exposure. His fan base grew with more people of all races, genders and orientations discovering what he did. Soon, other performers and studios started reaching out and bringing more opportunities.
Fighting Stereotypes in the Adult Industry
With the security of his brand already building, Noire was able to be picky about who he worked with and what roles he took on. He’s made a point to avoid scenes when he noticed any element of fetishizing or stereotyping his Blackness. “There are studios I would never work with,” he says, describing the racism he’s seen normalized by production companies in the business. For him, scenes that play with storylines related to stereotypes or the real systemic oppression Black people face, only add to people’s biases, making the world worse for people of color.
While some stereotypes might seem flattering to outsiders —like the idea that Black people have “natural rhythm” or athleticism— they ignore the years of hard work and discipline that goes into developing skills in any field. The idea in porn that Black men are naturally hotter, stronger or better at sex actually diminishes performers' hard work and these ideas have roots in slavery, depicting Black men as insatiable, wild, and animalistic. They made Noire feel like a caricature, which he continues to fight against to this day. The current administration’s assaults on civil rights and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) make his work even more significant.
“They will not teach Black history in school because…it makes white people uncomfortable? That’s inane,” he says. “Not knowing what happened in history is why you’re doomed to repeat it.”
Education, including LGBTQ+ history and struggle, is key. “I think it’s super important, within the Black community, for us to be standing with our Black trans folk, Black gay and lesbian folk,” he adds. “At Stonewall the village removed T and the Q when literally that shit wouldn’t have happened without a Black trans woman.”
In the years since he entered the industry, Noire has changed the landscape of porn for both people of color and queer folk. He and his wife have won numerous awards for their work with Royal Fetish Films. In 2024, he was crowned “Pansexual Performer Of The Year” by UrbanX. And he’s clearly got much more to accomplish, with the empowered principles his mom taught him always in mind. “I do this because I want to do it,” he says. “I do this because I’m good at this. It took skill and talent to be able to get to this.”
