Rentboy.com was a commercial social networking site which connected male sex workers and masseurs with potential clients. Rentboy.com is also the major organizer of the International Escort Awards and a traveling

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

called "Hustlaball." Formerly, Rentboy.com published a manifesto on their website intended for sex workers and clients. This statement promoted a philosophy of "safer sex because the vast majority of sex-workers will not engage in unsafe sex", and says, "while this job may not be for everyone, it has its rightful place among honorable careers." On August 25, 2015, CEO Jeffrey Hurant and six others were arrested at Rentboy.com headquarters.

Company profile

Jeffrey Hurant founded Rentboy.com in 1997, making it the first male escorting website, and today it is still the largest website with this focus. Since then, Davids has acted as CEO with Sean Van Sant as company director. The company is based in Manhattan. Van Sant describes Rentboy.com as follows:

Rentboy.com is not an
escort agency An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort' ...
. We are an ad listing service for male escorts, where men place their own ads and work for themselves, so that clients can contact them directly. Our mission is to create a non-judgmental space where anyone curious about exploring male-male companionship can hire a man by the hour.

, rentboy.com employed 10 people in three offices and hosted 40,000 escort profiles. In 2009, 1.4 million unique clients visited the website. On August 25, 2015, Federal agents from the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

and members of the New York Police Department raided Rentboy.com's headquarters.

Sponsorships

Rentboy.com has sponsored its own

float Float may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Float'' (Aesop Rock album), 2000 * ''Float'' (Flogging Molly album), 2008 * ''Float'' (Styles P album), 2013 Songs * "Float" (Tim and the Glory Boys song), 2022 * "Float", by Bush ...

every year since 1998 in the New York City Gay Pride March.

International Escort Awards

The International Escort Awards, also known as the "Hookies", were founded by rentboy.com's Jeff Davids and Sean Van Sant. The first ceremony was held at the Roxy in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in October 2006.

Hustlaball

Hustlaball is a sex cabaret and dance party organized in part by rentboy.com as a party to destigmatize and honor sex workers. Since 2007, Rentboy.com has hosted Hustlaball three times yearly with a

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

show in January, a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

show in May, and a

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

show in October. Part of the proceeds from this event go to charities such as th
Lambeth Hate Crime Initiative
the

Terrence Higgins Trust Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns about and provides services relating to HIV and sexual health. In particular, the charity aims to end the transmission of HIV in the UK; to support and empower people living with HIV, to ...

, and the

Gay Men's Health Crisis The GMHC (formerly Gay Men's Health Crisis) is a New York City–based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization whose mission statement is to "end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected." His ...

History

Founder Davids said of Hustlaball, "This is a chance for sex workers to be open and proud of what they do."

Federal and state investigation

On August 25, 2015,

DHS The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

and

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

agents raided the Manhattan headquarters of Rentboy.com as part of a money laundering and state prostitution investigation. Seven people, including CEO Jeffrey Davids, were arrested. "As alleged, Rentboy.com attempted to present a veneer of legality, when in fact this Internet brothel made millions of dollars from the promotion of illegal prostitution," acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Kelly Currie said in a statement. DHS was involved in the raid in part because the investigation involved transferring money across state lines. The seven defendants are charged with conspiring to violate the Travel Act by promoting prostitution. On October 7, 2016, Hurant pleaded guilty in federal court of promoting prostitution. In August 2017 Hurant was sentenced to 6 months in federal prison. While the case had prompted allegations of anti-gay bias, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated that "any insinuation that a specific population was targeted is categorically false."

References

{{reflist, 35em

External links

rentboy.com
Internet properties established in 1996 Male prostitution Sex worker organizations in the United States American social networking websites