August Ames

About August Ames

August Ames, born Mercedes Grabowski on August 23, 1994, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, was a Canadian-American adult film actress. Her early childhood was marked by frequent moves due to her parents’ military service, making her a self-described "military brat." Of Polish descent with one-quarter African-American ancestry, Ames spent much of her youth in Petawawa, Ontario, and later Colorado Springs, Colorado. She faced significant challenges growing up, including allegations of sexual molestation by her paternal grandfather, which she claimed led to her placement in a group home at age 12 after her father dismissed her accusations. Her mother struggled with bipolar disorder, adding further complexity to her family dynamics. Despite this, Ames graduated from Oromocto High School in New Brunswick, where she was a cheerleader in her senior year. Before entering the adult industry, she held various jobs, including babysitting, working as a bartender, and training horses at a ranch in Colorado Springs.

Ames entered the adult film industry in November 2013 at the age of 19, after submitting a modeling application and being flown to California for her first shoot. Her career quickly gained momentum, and she appeared in over 270 scenes across a four-year span. She worked with major studios such as Brazzers, Evil Angel, Elegant Angel, Girlfriends Films, Jules Jordan Video, New Sensations, Sweetheart Video, and Lethal Hardcore, as well as websites like Twistys, Digital Desire, and Naughty America. Notable films in her portfolio include Safe Landings, Oil Overload, Spandex Loads, Dirty Talk, Big Wet Breasts, and Model for Murder: The Centerfold Killer, a 2016 non-pornographic thriller. Her performances earned her recognition within the industry, including two AVN Awards wins—one for Best New Starlet in 2015 and another in 2017—along with multiple nominations, such as three for Female Performer of the Year (2016, 2017, and posthumously in 2018). She also secured fan-voted awards like Cutest Newcomer in 2015 and Most Spectacular Boobs in 2017.

Fans admired Ames for her on-screen charisma, approachable personality, and striking physical presence. Standing at 5’6” with a shapely, buxom figure, her brunette hair and expressive features contributed to her appeal, which was reflected in her massive online following—over 600,000 Twitter followers and clips amassing 460 million views on Pornhub. Off-screen, she shared glimpses of her life, revealing a love for shopping at Target and a "dorkish" side that endeared her to many.

Ames’s career was not without controversy. In December 2017, she tweeted about refusing to work with a male performer who had filmed gay porn, citing personal safety concerns—a stance many peers shared but others labeled homophobic. The tweet sparked a fierce online backlash, with accusations of discrimination from colleagues and fans alike. She defended her position, emphasizing her right to choose her partners and that her critics were forcing her to have sex with someone against her will. But the criticism escalated, drawing comments from prominent industry figures like Jessica Drake and Jaxton Wheeler.

On December 5, 2017, only days after she was attacked on Twitter, Ames was found dead in a park in Camarillo, California, at the age of 23. The Ventura County Medical Examiner ruled her death a suicide by asphyxiation due to hanging. Toxicology reports later revealed cocaine, marijuana, sertraline (an antidepressant), and alprazolam (an anti-anxiety medication) in her system. Her husband, Kevin Moore, a producer at Evil Angel whom she married shortly after starting her career, blamed the Twitter pile-on for her death, a view he detailed in a statement titled "The Truth." However, Ames had openly discussed her struggles with bipolar disorder, depression, and dissociative identity disorder, rooted in her traumatic childhood, as well as a distressing filming experience with actor Markus Dupree six weeks prior, which she described as aggressive. Journalist Jon Ronson’s podcast The Last Days of August explored these factors, suggesting a more complex interplay of personal and professional pressures, although he admitted the Twitter backlash likely was the major factor that caused her to go into a greater depression. Her death, one of several in the adult industry that year, prompted initiatives like The August Project and Pineapple Support to address mental health among performers, leaving a lasting impact on discussions about well-being in the field.