Yes, it’s true – a buyout firm called Ethical Capital Partners has bought the parent company of Pornhub – and some insiders say the deal isn’t about sex, but tech.
In a press release, Canada-based Ethical declared that the giant smut site’s parent company, MindGeek – which has spent the past few years fending off accusations of sex-trafficking and child porn – was “built upon a foundation of trust, safety, and compliance.”
But what may be still more surprising to some, according to industry insiders, is the fact that technology could be a key driver for the deal – and that tech could help solve ethical issues that have dogged porn since the beginning, even as it boosts the bottom line.
In particular, some believe that human porn stars are destined to become a relic of the past – as outdated as the mustaches and perfunctory plot lines that riddled porn flicks in the 70s and 80s – and that they’ll be replaced by computer-generated stars.
“Every major piece of technological change is mastered by porn first: from VHS tapes to DVDs to internet video—all became popularized because of porn.”
“And now the same thing is happening with generative AI and deep fakes — buying this is a great way to get into this business before most porn is computer generated and dramatically reducing the costs of content creation.”
The source adds that in a few years creating pornography could cost almost nothing — and ECP could end up with an asset that requires little investment to run and generates significant revenues.
Ethical Capital Partners has promised it will be transparent about the leadership it puts in charge of the company but is still refusing to disclose who that will be.
“We have defended sex workers and we have seen the stigma,” ECP Partner Solomon Friedman said in a press release. “There is stigma and there is shame and that means there are discussions and debates happening in the absence of those who are most affected by it.”
But some financial types think ECP’s spin is strategic — and makes the acquisition seem like it’s helping and empowering women.
“Many institutions are not allowed to invest in “sin stocks” like tobacco. Playboy had the same issue with their initial IPO. It seems that they are trying to spin this company into one that sells porn to one that protects the safety of children and sex workers,” one financial insider told The Post.
The acquisition was announced just one day after Netflix premiered a documentary about the company, “Money Shot: The Pornhub Story.” After a New York Times article accused the site of hosting child porn, the company was sued by 34 women who said the PornHub profited from videos in which they were trafficked. Visa and Mastercard temporarily suspended payment services.
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