LOS ANGELES — Evil Angel founder John Stagliano has issued the following statement on Twitter:
I need to talk about something. I think that Jessica Drake was unfairly treated by social media and Evil Angel at the time of August Ames' death. Jessica simply stated that she would have made a different decision about who she would work with in regard to August Ames' decision about working with a crossover from gay to straight performer. I was not following the social media storm at the time and was sympathetic to Kevin Moore and what had happened to his wife. This was an extremely traumatic thing that happened to Kevin. I felt that it was necessary that Evil Angel give him as much support as possible at the time.
However, I have become more informed on the situation recently. Late last year, I decided to take over running Evil Angel on a day to day basis for several reasons. One of those reasons was I was not happy with what Kevin had told me he was saying about Jessica Drake. As well, I was not happy that it appeared that Evil Angel was supporting Kevin in his position. I investigated further and came to the conclusion that my company had behaved badly at the time of Ames' death. I think Jessica has suffered unfair criticism for her position. But also, I absolutely support the right of any performer to choose who they work with, or don't work with. In that regard, I think August was completely justified in her decision.
I am appalled that somehow Evil Angel tweeted something horrible about Jessica (the tweet was removed shortly after it was posted). Most concerning to me is that I was not fully informed of this situation by my general manager at the time, but I should have investigated further. That is my fault, and regret. Any animosity between my company and Jessica, or Wicked pictures, was completely wrong.
My statement regarding Jessica Drake pic.twitter.com/eP7gEd3cKj
— John Stagliano (@JohnAStagliano) February 22, 2019