Jon Ronson, the creator of Audible Original The Butterfly Effect, delves into the pornography industry again as he unravels the never-before-told story of what caused a beloved 23-year-old actress’s untimely death. In December 2017, famed adult film star August Ames died by suicide in a park in the Conejo Valley. Her death came just a day after she’d been the victim of a social media pile-on by fellow porn professionals—punishment for her tweeting out something deemed homophobic. A month later, August’s husband and pornography producer Kevin Moore connected with journalist Jon Ronson to tell the story of how cyberbullying via Twitter killed his wife. Neither of them could predict the rumors and secrets that Ronson would soon hear, revelations that hinted at a very different story—something mysterious and unexpected and terrible.
The last days of August contain some explicit and upsetting material involving sexuality, assault and self harm.
It may not be suitable for all audiences.
Can you tell us where we are?
James Hinton.
Hinton, Alberta.
In a hotel room.
This is James Grabowski, August Ames older brother.
Of course.
Throughout this interview we call her by her real name, Mercedes.
What was the town like that you and Mercedes grew up in?
Army base.
We grew up in Pettawalla, Ontario.
It's a military base.
It's second biggest in the commonwealth.
Dad was military, mom was a stay at home mom.
What was life like growing up on a military base?
Oh, fuck, that's strict.
Very strict.
My dad, he raised a strict household.
We had chores, we had curfew.