August Ames was one of the porn industry’s biggest up-and-coming stars when she took her own life in December 2017.

Her shocking death came just one day after she was engulfed by a Twitter scandal, with many people, including her own husband, blaming the 23-year-old’s suicide on cyber-bullying.

But now, a podcast is revealing brand new information including a “triggering event” and “shady character” which could be linked to Ames’ death.

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The Last Days Of August podcast by Audible, produced by journalists Jon Ronson and Lina Misitzis, aims to “unravel the never-before-told story” of the potential connection between Ames’ suicide and the devastating Twitter bullying she encountered.

The Twitter storm began after Ames revealed she refused to work with male porn actors who had previously appeared in gay porn films.

whichever (lady) performer is replacing me tomorrow for @EroticaXNews , you’re shooting with a guy who has shot gay porn, just to let cha know. BS is all I can say🤷🏽‍♀️ Do agents really not care about who they’re representing? #ladirect I do my homework for my body🤓✏️🔍 — August Ames (@AugustAmesxxx) December 3, 2017

“Whichever (lady) performer is replacing me tomorrow for @EroticaXNew, you’re shooting with a guy who has shot gay porn, just to let cha know,” she tweeted on December 4, 2017.

The tweet unleashed an avalanche of abuse, with many accusing Ames of homophobia — including gay porn actor Jaxton Wheeler, who tweeted he was “awaiting your apology or for you to swallow a cyanide pill”.

Ames, who was also known as Mercedes Grabowski, was also allegedly criticised by fellow porn star Jessica Drake, a respected figure in the industry, in a series of now-deleted tweets.

The following day, Ames’ body was found, prompting her husband, porn producer Kevin Moore, to release an emotional statement paying tribute to his wife.

“Mercedes made a choice about her body and she was viciously attacked for that choice on Twitter,” Mr Moore wrote in a blog post.

“Perception shapes reality and for a younger generation that reality is social media. That day she believed everyone hated her. She could not see past that. Social media has become a cancer on our industry and on society at large. This isn’t the first death from social media and it won’t be the last.

“I write this to make it crystal clear: Bullying took her life. If the harassment had not occurred, she would be alive today. She ended her life the day after the bullying began. To think they are unrelated is delusional.”

However, the new podcast reveals there could be a very different side to the story.

“What neither Kevin (Moore) nor (Jon) Ronson realised was that Ronson would soon hear rumours and secrets hinting at a very different story — something mysterious and unexpected and terrible,” an Audible spokesperson revealed recently.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Ronson and Misitzis refused to reveal more details of their findings ahead of the podcast’s release.

However, they also “make some startling observations about Ames’ demise”, reporter

Aurora Snow wrote.

“The pair highlight a particular event — a supposed triggering incident, if you will — and the involvement of a shady individual, hoping to bring some much-needed clarity to a shocking event that began with allegations of cyber-bullying,” she wrote.

The pair also stressed that the purpose of the podcast was to highlight the repercussions of cyber-bullying and trial by social media.

“Every time we tear someone apart on Twitter, we are wilfully ignorant of the context. We don’t want to think about what else is going on in that person’s life,” Ronson told The Daily Beast.

“Real courts have sentencing hearings for a reason and Twitter has eliminated that justice process.”

The Last Days Of August will be released by Audible on January 4.

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