Arabelle Raphael

California-based pornographic film actress and artist

Arabelle Raphael

Born| 1988 or 1989 (age 36–37)
Occupations|

* Pornographic actress
* sex worker
* activist

Arabelle Raphael (born 1988 or 1989[1]) is a pornographic film actress, sex worker, and activist based in California.[1][2][3]

## Early life

[edit]

Raphael was born to a French and Tunisian mother and an Iranian Jewish father. Her family immigrated to Oakland, California from France when Raphael was five years old.[2]

## Pornographic film career

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Raphael began working in the sex industry in 2010 and would go on to perform "almost every form" of sex work, including performing at The Lusty Lady, a worker-owned strip club in San Francisco,[2] as well as working as a prostitute.[4] Her first pornographic film role was for Kink.com, also in San Francisco.[2] She co-directed the film All My Mother's Lovers (2017) for Grooby Productions, which was awarded "Most Tantalizing Trans Film" at the Toronto International Porn Festival.[5]

Raphael has said she has had difficulty finding work because of her extensive tattoos, a relatively uncommon feature in mainstream pornography. As a result, she built her initial following on Tumblr, a popular site for hosting alternative porn before sexually explicit imagery was banned from the site.[6] She has said mainstream porn producers either fetishized her ethnic appearance or attempted to make her appear more white early in her career.[7]

Raphael would see her income from content produced for OnlyFans increase sixfold during the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] She eventually began using the website as a full-time occupation.[4] In 2022, she appeared in Manuel Ferrara's Raw 44, the final official installment of his Raw series that depicts him and a fellow porn star in an intimate space rather than the typical pornographic film set.[9]

## Activism

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Following the passage of FOSTA-SESTA in 2018, Raphael organized a meeting covering cybersecurity, closures of websites formerly offering sex work advertising, and plans for sharing resources among Bay Area sex workers.[3] Raphael and Maxine Holloway also founded the organization Bay Pros Support, with the goal of calling attention to the difficulty sex workers encountered maintaining their safety and business relationships in the wake of the law's passage.[10]

## Awards

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* 2025 Pornhub Award – Favorite Inked Model[11]

## References

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1. ^ a b McCombs, Emily (May 11, 2018). "'This Bill Is Killing Us': 9 Sex Workers On Their Lives In The Wake Of FOSTA". HuffPost. Retrieved May 28, 2025. "Arabelle Raphael, a 29-year-old sex worker in California"
2. ^ a b c d Hotchkiss, Sarah (March 22, 2018). "An Artist and Sex Worker Taking Charge of Her Business". KQED.
3. ^ a b Zimmerman, Amy (April 4, 2018). "Sex Workers Fear for Their Future: How SESTA Is Putting Many Prostitutes in Peril". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
4. ^ a b López, Quispe (June 17, 2020). "People are turning to OnlyFans to earn money after losing their jobs during the pandemic". Business Insider. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
5. ^ "Grooby's 'All My Mother's Lovers' Wins Toronto Porn Festival Award". XBIZ. April 26, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
6. ^ Iovine, Anna (February 17, 2022). "The death of Tumblr porn left a void no other site can fill". Mashable. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
7. ^ Nasaw, Daniel (May 8, 2014). "In Toronto with the world's feminist pornographers". BBC News Magazine. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
8. ^ Shane, Charlotte (May 18, 2021). "OnlyFans Isn't Just Porn ;)". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
9. ^ "Raw 44". AVN. April 26, 2022.
10. ^ Horn, Tina (August 16, 2018). "Sex Workers Begin New Push for Decriminalization". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
11. ^ "2025 Pornhub Awards Winners Announced". XBIZ. May 9, 2025.