Porn actor Lenna Lux is suing Riley Reynolds, the agent featured in the controversial Netflix documentary Hot Girls Wanted. Photo / Twitter
Porn actor Lenna Lux is suing Riley Reynolds, the agent featured in the controversial Netflix documentary Hot Girls Wanted. Photo / Twitter
Porn agent Riley Reynolds infamously declared in the 2015 Netflix documentary Hot Girls Wanted that his stream of young, "teeny-bopper" hopefuls would never dry up because "every day a new girl turns 18".
The controversial film followed the journeys of five women termed "barely legal" by the industry, exploring theirmotives for entering the seedy world of amateur porn under the wing of Reynolds.
Porn actor Lenna Lux is suing Riley Reynolds, the agent featured in the controversial Netflix documentary Hot Girls Wanted. Photo / Twitter
The then 23-year-old was shown recruiting the women via classifieds site Craigslist, flying them out to Miami to live in "model houses" where they would then be booked out through his talent agency Hussie Models LLC.
"I only work with amateur girls brand new to the industry," Reynolds said in the film. "I call them teeny-boppers."
While described variously by critics as "dead-eyed" and "sleazy", others said he came across as an "entrepreneurial young man" who has "carved out a niche in a business that depends on his ability to connect with" women.
Now one of those young women is suing Reynolds, alleging he illegally took a portion of her earnings, charged her fees leaving her thousands of dollars in debt, then "used that debt as a means to control her while exploiting her".
According to the complaint filed with the Pinellas County Circuit court, first reported by The Daily Beast, Lenna Lux met Reynolds shortly after her 18th birthday when she responded to his Craigslist ad promising "free flights to Miami".
She alleges Reynolds said he would pay for her airfare, provide accommodation and secure her work that would earn her a "substantial amount of money".
Soon after signing a two-year contract with Hussie Models LLC, she realised the cost of the trip to Florida was actually being deducted from her pay.
Riley Reynolds in Hot Girls Wanted. He has been accused of operating without a licence. Photo / Netflix
She was expected to pay $US40 a day to live in one of his "model houses", as well as fork out for STD screenings, travel to and from gigs, and her own hair, makeup and clothing.
The lawsuit alleges that Reynolds booked her just nine jobs over several months, four of which the actor was never paid for because the agency held the cash to cover her "debts".
Four months after starting work with Hussie Models, Lux was actually in debt to her employer. When she eventually managed to quit, she was given two invoices seeking a total of $US3525.11.
According to Lux, Reynolds was never entitled to collect a portion of her or any other performers' earnings because he was not a licenced and bonded talent agent in the state of Florida.
The Daily Beast reports Reynolds did apply for a talent agency licence in 2016 but was denied due to "alleged criminal record indicating moral turpitude and/or dishonest dealings". He appealed the decision in 2018 but was rejected.
The article outlines similar allegations made by two other actors, neither of whom ultimately filed charges. While the current lawsuit is in civil court, criminal charges could potentially follow as operating a talent agency without a licence is illegal in Florida.
The controversial documentary followed five young women entering the industry. Photo / Netflix
In a statement to the website, Reynolds did not comment on Lux's other allegations but said, "Hussie Models LLC is licensed and bonded in the state of California and we do not take commission in the state of FL (Florida)."
In a Facebook post shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Reynolds complained that he had "met the biggest pussies and pieces of sh*t from being in this industry and if I could ever be locked in a room with them, the horrible & disgusting things I would do to them".
"I would go straight to hell … and I would without hesitation," he wrote in the post, according to The Daily Beast. "I dream of it all the time. Screenshot this b*tches."
