My condolences to friends and loved ones of toxic early-2000s sex tape culture, which was pronounced dead earlier this week after Instagram model Sydney Raines spoke out about her appearance in a recently leaked sex tape she made with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.
News of the leaked video, which Page Six tells us shows Portnoy “somewhat vigorously yanking Raines’ neck around” by a leash as he sits astride her back, broke earlier this week after the Barstool boss addressed speculation that the tape was responsible for a decline in Barstool’s parent company’s stock. “A stock is down because somebody has consensual sex? Are you f—ing kidding me?” Portnoy said in a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday.
Now Raines has spoken out about the tape as well, and seems similarly uninterested in making much ado about the would-be “scandal.” In an Instagram post, Raines unapologetically copped to appearing in the video, confirmed any sexual activity shown was consensual, refused to call it a “mistake” and suggested any blame should instead be cast upon whoever was responsible for the leak.
“I became aware yesterday that a video has surfaced on the internet and yes, that was me,” Raines wrote in a post shared with her nearly 11K Instagram followers. “Some might not approve of the video content but it was entirely consensual and it’s unfortunate that it is no longer private, but [Portnoy and I] are still friends with no animosity between us.”
Raines went on to state that she “won’t label this a mistake,” adding, “the fact that it was leaked and posted without our awareness or consent would be considered the true mistake.” Raines concluded her message with the announcement that she now plans to “continue my daily life without vexation,” signing off, “With no apologies, Syd.”
Raines’ swift, unapologetic response represents a refreshing departure from sex tape narratives of yore, which saw young women like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian cast as the villains in their own violation and shamed into making public apologies for the unauthorized leak of their own private, consensual sex content. Raines’ refusal to apologize for making the tape and public acknowledgement of where any blame should really be directed represents a promising shift in society’s response to “sex scandals.” It took a few decades, but we seem to have finally grasped that any shame related to a leaked sex tape should belong to whoever exposed someone else’s private sexual material, not to women for exercising their sexual agency.
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