An ex-client of Florida-based talent broker Riley Reynolds (who starred in the controversial Netflix documentary Hot Girls Wanted) is suing the agent for exploiting her. The person bringing about the suit is Lenna Lux, and she is alleging that Reynolds is lying about his credentials by stating he's licensed as an agent in the state of Florida despite his claims to the contrary. Because of that, she says that he was illegally charging her fees and taking from her earnings, which resulted in her falling into debt, and that he then used her bleak financial predicament "as a means to control her while exploiting her." If Lux can prove her claim that Reynolds was operating as an unlicensed agent, then he could serve up to five years in prison.
This news was first reported after the Daily Beast published it on Monday. As part of the write-up, Reynolds told the outlet that his talent agency (Hussie Models LLC) is licensed and bonded in California, and also that they don't take commission in Florida.
As for Lux, she had come to Florida shortly after her 18th birthday after seeing a Craigslist ad that led her to Reynolds, which was similar to his M.O. in the doc. She was living in Colorado at the time and says that Reynolds agreed to comp her flight and gave her lodging in his "model homes," which were ranch-style dwellings in the Florida suburbs. However, shortly after she signed a two-year contract with Hussie, she learned that her flight was actually deducted from money she made from shoots. She also found out she was paying $40 a day for lodging and had to reimburse Hussie for her regular STD screenings. She states that these may have been mere inconveniences if she was getting more work, but says she only had nine shoots over the course of several months, while also stating that Reynolds took her entire cut from four of those.
A few months later she learned that she "owed her employer money instead of the other way around." Upon learning this she says she tried to terminate her contract with Hussie and was subsequently hit with an invoice for $3,525.11, which was a total that nearly reached her entire earnings with the company.
Lux is not the only model who has made claims like this against Reynolds as The Daily Beast reports similar allegations of exploitation came from others, though none of them pressed charges against him.
The Daily Beast also says that Reynolds may have been mounting a defense (of sorts) by writing the following on Facebook a week after Lux's claims were made against him:
“I have met the biggest pussies and pieces of shit from being in this industry and if I could ever be locked in a room with them, the horrible & disgusting things I would do to them. I would go straight to hell.......and I would without hesitation. I dream of it all the time. Screenshot this bitches.”
For those unaware, Hot Girls Wanted is a 2015 documentary (produced by actress Rashida Jones) that followed several women who were recruited by Reynolds to join the porn industry, with The Daily Beast noting reviewers found him "likable and camera-friendly." A six-part follow-up documentary series called Hot Girls: Turned On was released in 2017, and that run also featured an appearance by Reynolds.
