This Juneteenth, we’re getting free of everything that has us (non-consensually) bound — including oppressive sex and relationship norms. Powerhouse porn star couple King Noire and Jet-Setting Jasmine are setting a beautiful example with their polyamorous relationship, and helping others get sexually free in the process.
Though King and Jasmine have been building their love story for a decade, you’d think they were in the early throes of passion when they stopped by the Venice office of Refinery29 Unbothered’s parent company, VICE. The incredibly affectionate pair couldn’t keep their hands (or mouths) to themselves as they taped a segment of R29Unbothered’s IGTV series, Dear Black Love, which explores Black romantic relationships. Touching, kissing and caressing each other as they talked about their 10-year journey, the master fetish trainers had to restrain themselves after giving a steamy demonstration of the flogging and paddling they do on tours across the country, teaching others how to safely and consensually explore their fetishes, by themselves or with partners.
“Hustling is foreplay”
Jet setting jasmine
“Hustling is foreplay,” Jasmine said of their mutual respect for each other’s business acumen and how they’ve successfully turned their porn production company Royal Fetish Films into an award-winning, bank-making endeavor. Snuggled up on VICE’s giant brown leather sofa, the love and the lust were palpable. “I think that one of the things that [I love about our love story] is that we set goals and we achieve those goals both personally and professionally,” said King.
But their erotic films are about so much more than just turning on their fans. They are intentional with the films they produce and direct, aiming to decolonize the violently racist, sexist porn industry. Not only do they call out racist perpetrators and profiteers, they also attack the systems that perpetuate dangerous imagery of Black people by making erotic films that show progressive and healthy images of Black sex and love. Through their films, they show that consent, passion, and mutual respect make up the sexiest encounters.
“We want a better industry for everybody”
King noire
“We’re working in an industry that is one of the most basic levels of human need — sexual satisfaction,” King said. “But even in that sh*t, we gotta deal with racism, we’ve got to deal with all types of different phobias, we have to deal with people who want to hold women back from having opportunities behind the camera or being respected in front of the camera,” he said. “We’re not just gonna be like, ‘Oh, yeah, let’s just get this money and get out.’ Nah. We’re like, ‘we want a better industry for everybody.”
“We’re here and we want to show that you can be anti-racist within the porn industry and prosperous,” King said. “You can respect yourself, you can love yourself, you can be Black and beautiful as you want to be and still make beautiful art that’s sexy as f**k.”
The life partners also teach sex education, with King and licensed therapist Jasmine leading workshops on healing through sexual trauma and intimacy post-illness or injury. The parents also teach workshops together on sex positive parenting.
“Parenthood is our God-given responsibility,” Jasmine said, her fingers interlocking with his. “Our children don’t have to do what we do, “but they do have to respect themselves and their workplace and the people they encounter.”
Though there are some, King said, who would consider their work in porn to be controversial as parents, he simply disagreed: “We’re trying to make sure our kids live a beautiful life, just like everyone else.”
A major part of King and Jasmine’s beautiful life is polyamory. While they are each other’s primary partner, in business and in life, King is polyamorous and Jasmine is a self-described “poly ally.”
“It’s the state of the way somebody expresses their love,” Jasmine said of what polyamory means to her. “The way I think about you as a poly person is as you describe it: it’s who you are.”
“I’ve had people tell me all throughout my life, ‘That’s not how you’re supposed to be,” King said of his lifelong polyamorous attraction. “Most people jump on the poly bandwagon because they want to be swingers or they want to fuck,” King said. “But I could be poly with people I don’t have sex with.” Their polyamorous relationship allows them the sexual and emotional freedom to connect with others without putting undue pressure on their own relationship. “We’re allowed to go at our own pace because of that,” Jasmine said.
While dating outside of the sex work industry can be a challenge, King and Jasmine found love and support in their mutual career. “You didn’t try to change me,” King said of his earliest dating moments with Jasmine. “That made me, from jump, comfortable being myself with you.”
It’s because they built safety and trust in their relationship that their love has only deepened with time, with both of them recognizing the unique power and majesty of Black love.
“The fact that I even have to define loving a Black man means that it is something significant,” Jasmine said. For King, loving a Black woman means “loving the essence of all things.” Of loving Jasmine in particular, he says: “I consider it a privilege, an honor, a pleasure and a purpose.”
Watch their romantic love story unfold below:
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