About The Sex Awards

The Sex Awards is the adult industry's dedicated annual recognition of excellence in feature production, performance, craft, and online-first work.

Established in 2013 under the sponsorship of Adult Video News (AVN), The Sex Awards was founded to complement AVN's long-running trade honors with a ceremony structured around audience engagement, editorial curation, and cross-format eligibility. Where AVN's flagship awards emphasize the trade view, The Sex Awards was designed from the outset to open several of its categories to direct audience voting, giving the industry's readers and subscribers a formal role in the honors.

The founding editorial board drew from working directors, cinematographers, industry journalists, and adjacent-industry professionals. That mix continues to shape the judging panels today, with each category evaluated by a slate of judges whose professional backgrounds map directly to the craft being recognized.

The inaugural 2013 ceremony spanned fifteen categories, including flagship honors such as Adult Movie of the Year, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, and Porn Star of the Year, alongside craft honors like Best Cinematography and format honors including Best Solo Girl Site and Webcam Girl of the Year. The category structure reflected the industry's rapid shift toward performer-led online businesses and live streaming as core revenue formats, in addition to traditional feature production.

The awards' mission has remained consistent since its founding: to recognize excellence across every corner of the adult industry, to give audiences a meaningful voice in the outcome, and to serve as a lasting editorial record of the year that the industry can reference in the years to come.

For sponsorship inquiries, editorial submissions, or general questions, please see Contact & Sponsorship.