‘BEYOND THE PALE’

‘Bridgerton’ Sex Scenes Are Surging on Porn Sites

This has happened to shows before, including ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Normal People’.

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce that the porn sites are at it again. According to The Sun, adult entertainment sites are once again pilfering sex scenes from a steamy prestige drama—this time, Netflix’s Bridgerton. And the show’s cast is reportedly far from pleased. A source told the tabloid that Phoebe Dynevor, who plays the show’s romantic lead Daphne Bridgerton, is devastated.

“Raunchy set-pieces have contributed to the buzz but it is a prestige drama based on best-selling novels,” the source told The Sun. “To peddle scenes as pure smut is beyond the pale.

Dynevor and her co-star Regé-Jean Page “signed on for the role of a lifetime and did not consent to being exploited in this way,” the source added.

Bridgerton, a Regency-era romantic drama produced by Shonda Rhimes, takes its inspiration from Julia Quinn’s massively popular series of novels. The show revels in the drama of courting rituals, society gossip, and, yes, includes some exceedingly sexy sex scenes. But given the care that went into every aspect of the production, it’s understandable that its cast would feel distraught to learn that the nudity has, for some, become the star of the show.

But this is not a new problem. Plenty of movies and prestige dramas, including Game of Thrones and most recently Normal People, have faced the same dilemma. (At one point, Pornhub even went so far as to release statistics about Game of Thrones’ performance on its site.) Celebrity sex scenes remain popular on adult sites, and a quick search on Pornhub can return results from productions including Euphoria, Insecure, Escape at Dannemora, and more.

Last spring, as Normal People sex scenes spread across the internet, producer Ed Guiney lamented, “We’re hugely disappointed that excerpts from the series of Normal People have been used in this way. It’s both a violation of copyright and more importantly, it’s deeply disrespectful to the actors involved and to the wider creative team.”

It appears the Bridgerton team is reportedly following suit. “Netflix have been working tirelessly to hunt down pirates and eliminate misuse of their intellectual property,” The Sun’s source said. “Anyone thinking about trying this will have the full force of the globe’s biggest streaming service against them.”