Update: Ventura County Medical Examiner media spokesperson Shelia Murphy has confirmed to Hornet that Ames (birth name, Mercedes Grabowski) died of asphyxia due to hanging, adding “[The] manner is suicide.”

Today, AVN.com announced the death of 23-year-old straight porn star August Ames, an actress who recently came to prominence in the gay blogosphere for homophobic tweets saying that she refused to work with gay or bi male porn stars for “safety reasons.”

Various tweeters have begun blaming the gay media for her death, even going so far as to imply that she may have committed suicide over the negative media attention following her tweets.

According to AVN.com, the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed Ames’ death. Initially, The Blast reported:

Law enforcement sources tell us Ames was found early Tuesday morning in Camarillo. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and we’re told there is no indication of foul play or any other crime occurring. We’re told toxicology tests are also being conducted while the death is investigated.

They add that Ames’ close friends reported that she “suffered from longterm depression, and believe a recent incident with online harassment may have contributed to her death.”

Hornet has since learned from the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s office that her death was caused via a suicide by hanging.

In their coverage of her passing, AVN.com wrote:

A native of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, Ames was a two-time AVN Award-winner with more than 270 credits since her debut in 2013. She earned a nomination in 2015 for AVN Best New Starlet, and was a nominee every year since for Female Performer of the Year, including in the current race for the upcoming 2018 AVN Awards.

On Dec. 4, 2017, Ames tweeted that she had refused to work with a male adult film performer in a shoot for the porn studio EroticaX because he had previously acted in gay porn.

Several websites, including ours, covered her tweet, and several gay porn stars publicly criticized Ames for spreading homophobia and ignorance about how testing in the adult film industry works.

While some of Ames’ Twitter fans have begun publicly mourning her passing, others have blamed the gay community for covering her tweets, with one outright saying that “gay activists bullied August Ames into suicide because she tweeted she didn’t wanna have sex with a gay man.”

So let me get this straight…..gay activist bullied @AugustAmesxxx into suicide because she tweeted she didn't wanna have sex with a gay man??? — John Love (@JohnLoveIAm) December 6, 2017

So August Ames killed herself because gay people bullied her. Bring back homophobia. — Rev. Templeton Jones (@TempletonTJones) December 6, 2017

LGBTQ sjws cyber bullied August Ames into suicide because she didn't want to have sex with gay men. :/ — Chip the Stampede (@chipocity) December 6, 2017

@Twitter what are y'all gonna do about the gay SJW's that drove August Ames to suicide? — Connor (@Connor_Clarke98) December 6, 2017

It’s ridiculous that GAY people, who constantly complain about being oppressed and bullied, were the ones that bullied August Ames to death. Y’all are fucking STUPID — Nvm (@pxstxr) December 6, 2017

damn. @AugustAmesxxx took her own life because ¨social activists¨ bullied her on account of not wanting to film with a gay man for her own sexual health. what happened to her body, her choice? — Yung Chalkboard (@maclanphear6) December 6, 2017

So in a series of pure irony some in the LGBT community cyber-bullied August Ames to commit suicide. — Demogorgan SZN (@TeufelTitan09) December 6, 2017

SJW's have hounded August Ames to death, cruel is not the word, these people will never be held accountable because media organizations give these people unquestionable support which will embolden them to do it to someone else, the sad thing is @Twitter supports these beasts — LJS (@NorthernmostEng) December 6, 2017

If true that August Ames took her own life after barrages of abuse regarding personal choices in her work then ever single person who took part in that contributed to the mental state that led to her suicide. They should be ashamed. They should also be held to account. — Giacomo G Casanova (@CasanovasTool) December 6, 2017

Omg,I can’t believe she’s dead. You people should have known better than to berate her over her personal thoughts! Shame on all you for beating it into the ground. Online harassment is a real thing & it claimed another life. Someone who I liked & would have even called a friend! — Anikka Albrite (@AnikkaAlbrite) December 6, 2017

I hope all you people who gave @AugustAmesxxx a hard time over her choices feel like shit today. I hope you are all proud of yourselves. Porn performers are delicate people. — Alana Evans (@alanaevansxxx) December 6, 2017

Interestingly, one of Ames’ most recent tweets expressed disappointment with the reaction she received via Twitter for her homophobic tweets.

“Choose who YOU want to work with”

“Don’t do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable”

“Share your thoughts” Hmm. Well, I did all three, and twitter took a dump on me??‍♀️ — August Ames (@AugustAmesxxx) December 4, 2017

Her final tweet simply read, “Fuck y’all.”