Exciting! Discovering Amazing Richie West

I just “discovered” Richie West on YouTube and Twitter and I am really excited about what I have found about him so far

Who is Richie West? Not the number of his followers on Twitter got my attention. It happened by accident when I was browsing through some posts on YouTube. I must admit that I have never heard about him before. However, he seems quite a big queer star and influencer. We learn something new every day! Don’t we?

Many of you already know that Richie West is a gay porn actor. Or that he was a gay porn actor. This part – this transition got my attention, and I went into that search mode to find out. Here are some things I have found: Following is an article written by Los Angeles Blade


How does a former adult actor use YouTube to find himself?

“Throughout all of this, I’ve learned that you truly get what you put into things. Success is inevitable”

Richie West

PHOENIX – In 2020, Richie West sat in his sister’s childhood bedroom, feeling immense pain. He was visiting his hometown of Boonsboro, Maryland – a small, conservative town of about 3,500 in a valley amongst the Blue Ridge Mountains – for the holidays. But West, who is bisexual, couldn’t help but feel out of place. 

Unbeknownst to him, his sister, who lives in the house with her boyfriend and his child, had removed everything from his former bedroom – trophies, Hot Wheels, even his Britney Spears poster – relegating his childhood memories to a box. She took “everything, and she didn’t tell me,” West told the Blade, holding back tears. 

“It killed me,” he added. 

West, who asked the Blade to use his social media name for privacy reasons, assumed there could only be one reason: His family found out he was doing gay adult films. It isn’t the life he imagined growing up – with dreams of being a pilot when he set out for Arizona at 18 – but it was where he found himself anyway. 

Feeling lost, disconnected and “disowned”

Feeling lost, disconnected and “disowned” in the place he called home for most of his life, West turned to a familiar, comforting source: YouTube. But unlike most people, who would spend countless hours consuming video after video, West turns the camera inward and shares his life with the world. 

For West, chronicling his experiences for strangers has become a habit – not for views or attention but as a form of therapy. “It brings me comfort, as selfish as that sounds,” he said. 

He covers everything on his YouTube, from his experiences as an adult film actor and creator on OnlyFans – a content subscription service that many use for X-rated entertainment – to seemingly random stories from his life, past and present. 

Recently, West quit porn, citing the “toxic” nature of the business. He faces a turning point in his life, thus his YouTube content. “I’m still trying to find my direction,” he said. 

“I realised I need to stop talking about the porn-related stuff. It was holding me back. I was getting views, but it kept me boxed in.” 

Richie West Quitting Porn

And “boxed in” is the last place West wants to be right now. Quitting porn has opened up a whole new world for West. One where he can focus on his art, burgeoning online novelty store and online content. Now, he has complete control over his life. He answered no one but himself, which was a long time coming.

Growing up in rural Appalachia, West knew that he desperately needed to escape his hometown. “I was ready to get out of that town. I knew I wasn’t going to stay there,” he said.

Boonsboro is a run-of-the-mill small town: Three traffic lights, a high school and no shortage of Donald Trump signage. In this town, everybody knows everybody. Including their secrets. So, West’s development as a queer person took time. He knew he felt different but couldn’t begin to place a finger on it until he was almost gone. 

West turned to the popular gay dating app Grindr to explore his sexuality. And, like many, the experience turned out to be one more traumatizing than liberating. 

“It turned out to be a total catfish,” he said. “I was just heartbroken by it and felt like I had nobody to talk to. Then, I had my first panic attack.”


I am sure you will agree that Richie West’s biography is very different from most others. Reading other articles and watching his YouTube posts made me feel warm about this young man. Yes, he is a former gay porn star, but I will not publish any of his nude photos. Use your imagination, folks!

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