{{short description|American nude model and erotic dancer (born 1968)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox adult biography | name = Danni Ashe | image = Danni Ashe 2.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1968|1|16}} | birth_place = [[Beaufort, South Carolina]], U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = Bert Manzari<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |title=I wonder if this will work |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/i-wonder-if-this-will-work |access-date=18 October 2024 |work=Roger Ebert |date=14 December 2012}}</ref> | occupation = web developer, entrepreneur, former nude model and erotic dancer | known_for = Founder and former CEO of Danni's Hard Drive, a popular adult site from the 90's | height = {{height|ft=5|in=2}} | other_names = Danielle Ashe | website = }}
'''Danni Ashe''' (and early in her career sometimes as '''Danielle Ashe'''; born January 16, 1968) is a retired American nude model, former [[erotic dancer]] and web developer who is the founder and former [[CEO]] of [[Danni's Hard Drive]], a popular adult [[web site]] from the 1990s. She started her adult Internet site in 1995. She has been an industry advocate and testified before a government panel.
==Career== ===Early years=== Ashe was born in [[Beaufort, South Carolina]], United States.<ref>{{IMDb name|0038809|Danni Ashe}}</ref><ref>Danni Ashe quoted on p. 232 of E. Ross & A. Holland, ''100 Great Businesses and the Minds Behind Them'', Sourcebooks 2005.</ref> Her naturally large breasts ([[cup size]] 32FF)<ref>Tom Ehrenfeld, [http://www.startupgarden.com/articles/dannis_hard_drive.html "Just Managing: The Naked Truth About Danni's Hard Drive"], ''[[The Industry Standard]]'', retrieved July 12, 2008.</ref> contributed to her popularity as an adult performer.
Ashe began working as a [[stripper]] in [[Seattle]], Washington. Never finishing high school, she started stripping at the age of seventeen using a [[fake ID]].<ref>[https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1999/01/17598 "The Brains Behind the Boobs"], ''[[Wired News]]'', January 28, 1999; Gabriel Spitzer, [http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2001/mar01/mar12/5_fri/news3friday.html "Danni Ashe on making it in the web porn biz"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025053112/http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2001/mar01/mar12/5_fri/news3friday.html |date=October 25, 2006 }}, ''Media Life Magazine'', 2001-03-16; both retrieved 2008-07-12.</ref> In an interview, Ashe once explained her career choice: "I guess I'm an exhibitionist. But that's not quite true. Part of the reason is that I developed huge breasts at an early age and breasts are a very sexualized thing. At an early age, I was getting a lot of sexualized attention. Eventually, I just felt that stripping kind of put all that stuff out on the table."<ref>Bruce Kirland, {{usurped|1=[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050417163812/http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Artists/A/Ashe_Danni/2001/05/19/756437.html "Sex does sell at Cannes"]}}, [[Jam!]], 2001-05-19, retrieved July 12, 2008.</ref>
After about five years of working in Seattle clubs, Ashe moved to Los Angeles, California and began modeling for [[men's magazine]]s and [[Softcore pornography|soft-core pornographic]] videos.<ref>Spitzer, "Danni Ashe on making it in the web porn biz".</ref> She eventually worked as an [[exotic dancer]] in various [[strip clubs]] throughout the United States as a featured performer. This resulted in an incident in a technically non-nude club in [[Jacksonville, Florida]]. In interviews,<ref>{{cite web|website=AINews |url=http://www.ainews.com/InnerView/Danni_Ashe1.phtml |title=An InnerView of Danni Ashe |date=2000-01-24 | access-date=July 12, 2008|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704192729/http://www.ainews.com/InnerView/Danni_Ashe1.phtml|archive-date=2008-07-04}}</ref> Ashe has alleged that the club's owner and its manager persuaded her to perform a [[Toplessness|topless]] dance, and encouraged her to sell softcore videos of herself at the club. Ashe was subsequently arrested. Ashe pleaded guilty to "prohibited conduct" and was fined $50. Neither the club nor her [[Casting Agent|agent]] helped her through this incident. This unpleasant experience marked a turning point in her career; Ashe never again performed as a stripper, seeking instead to work in an area where she would have more control.
===Internet=== Her first online activity was confined to [[Usenet newsgroup]]s during late 1994 and early 1995.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/interviews/ashe.html 2002 interview] with ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'', retrieved July 12, 2008; AINews, "An InnerView of Danni Ashe".</ref> In the spring of 1995, she decided to create her own website when her husband<ref>Kirland, "Sex does sell at Cannes".</ref> – then a senior vice president of the [[Landmark Theatres|Landmark]] theater franchise<ref>Ehrenfeld, "Just Managing: The Naked Truth About Danni's Hard Drive"; [[Roger Ebert]], [http://www.danni.com/press/yil_roger_ebert_050197.html "Hard Driving a Hard Bargain"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004064830/http://www.danni.com/press/yil_roger_ebert_050197.html |date=October 4, 2008 }}, May 1997, retrieved July 12, 2008.</ref> – showed her his company's new website.<ref>AINews, "An InnerView of Danni Ashe"; Ebert, "Hard Driving a Hard Bargain".</ref> When she could not find anyone competent to help her design her own site as she had envisioned it, Ashe read ''The [[HTML]] Manual of Style'' and [[Nicholas Negroponte]]'s ''[[Being Digital]]'' during a vacation. On her return, she created the ''Danni.com'' (a.k.a. Danni's Hard Drive) website in two weeks.
The site was launched in July 1995 and contained content exclusive to her. Ashe announced the website to her friends prior to traveling to New York City with her husband. News of the site spread rapidly and hours later when she reached the hotel in [[Manhattan]], Ashe had a message from her [[Internet service provider]] stating that the volume of traffic her site received had overloaded their servers and caused their system to shut down. ''Danni.com'' was moved to its own server, which became famous for having a "site working" light that never went out. Ashe jokingly described her server as a "hot box", and when she started charging a fee for access to the site, she named the members' area "The HotBox".
By 2001, the website had made a profit of $6.5 million the previous year, was projected to make $8 million that year, and was estimated to be worth US$30 million.<ref name=Frontline/> She is the only woman in the world who appeared on the cover of both ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' and ''[[Juggs]]'' magazine.<ref name="independent">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/danni-ashe-dannis-drive-to-net-profits-664739.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221160834/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/danni-ashe-dannis-drive-to-net-profits-664739.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 21, 2008|title=Danni Ashe: Danni's drive to Net profits|last=Elen Lewis|date=August 6, 2001|work=The Independent|publisher=independent.co.uk|accessdate=July 7, 2009}}</ref> Ashe's business grew, allowing her to hire staff and models. By 2003, she had 50 full-time employees, a studio in Los Angeles ({{convert|16,000|sqft|disp=sqbr}}), and an archive containing hundreds of thousands of photos and thousands of hours of video. That year, ''[[Arena (magazine)|Arena]]'' magazine ranked her fourth among the "50 Most Powerful People in Porn" list.<ref>[http://www.jasoncurious.com/press/arena1.gif "The Porn Power 50," ''Arena Magazine'', October 2003.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104020601/http://jasoncurious.com/press/arena1.gif |date=January 4, 2010 }}</ref> Ashe was making a million dollars a year.
Danni's Hard Drive was sold in 2004 to John Morisano. In 2006, Penthouse Media Group Inc. bought Danni.com and Video Bliss Inc. (owners of the website) for $3{{nbsp}}million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xbiz.com/news/17913/penthouse-pays-$3m-for-dannicom|title=Penthouse Pays $3M for Danni.com|accessdate=March 28, 2007|author=John Stuart|date=November 1, 2006|publisher=XBiz}}</ref>
==Recognition== In 1998 in an [[E!]] channel special titled ''Women of the Net'' it was said, "You may not know who Danni Ashe is, but when the History of the Internet is written she'll have a chapter all to herself...a true Internet innovator."<ref name=NetWomen>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Women of the Net (1998) TV Movie - Documentary - 21 June 1998 (USA)|date=June 21, 1998|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0882823/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_19|publisher=Amazon via IMDb|accessdate=February 18, 2014}}</ref> Other women profiled in the documentary are [[Halle Berry]], [[Sandra Bullock]], [[Asia Carrera]], [[Ellen DeGeneres]], [[Gloria Estefan]], [[Cindy Margolis]], [[Jada Pinkett Smith]], and [[Markie Post]].
Ashe's website and exploits as an internet entrepreneur and a female executive were the subject of a 2000 book titled ''My Year in Smut: The Internet Escapades Inside Danni's Hard Drive'' by [[Taylor Marsh]].<ref name=WebsiteBook>{{cite book|last=Marsh|first=Taylor|title=My year in smut : the internet escapades inside Danni's hard drive|year=2000|publisher=1st Books Library]|location=[S.l.|isbn=978-1588208651}}</ref>
In August 2000, Ashe earned the status of "the most downloaded woman on the Internet" by the [[Guinness Book of World Records]] overtaking [[Cindy Margolis]] who had been given the title the previous year.<ref>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Guinness Book Of World Records Names ''Most Downloaded Woman'' In The World |date=August 26, 2000 |url=http://digitaljournal.com/article/31824|publisher=Digital Journal|accessdate=February 18, 2014}}</ref> Later that year the status was further supported with her image being downloaded for the [[1,000,000,000|billion]]th time on her website Danni.com.<ref name="independent"/><ref name=Billion>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Danni Ashe - 1 Billion Downloads|url=http://www.billiondownloadwoman.com/|publisher=billiondownloadwoman.com|accessdate=February 18, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207105655/http://www.billiondownloadwoman.com/|archivedate=February 7, 2014}}</ref>
==Appearances== Ashe has appeared on several television shows and series as herself as well as a variety of minor roles in movies. The list of shows and series includes E!'s ''[[Wild On!]]'', ''[[Talk Soup]]'', ''[[The Howard Stern Show]]'', ''[[The Man Show]]'', and ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' on [[PBS]]. Ashe's movie credits include ''I Can't Believe This Is Happening to Me!'', ''Bondage on Stage'', and ''Superheroine Double Feature''.<ref name=IMDb>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Danni Ashe: Actress, Producer|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0038809/|publisher=Amazon via IMDb|accessdate=January 21, 2014}}</ref>
In 1998, Ashe was featured and interviewed on an episode of ''The Internet Cafe''.
In her February 2002 appearance on ''Frontline'',<ref name=FrontlineIMDb>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=American Porn|date=February 21, 2002|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0882308/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_9|publisher=Amazon via IMDb|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref> Ashe was the subject of a May 2001 interview<ref name=Frontline>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=American Porn|date=February 7, 2002|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/interviews/ashe.html|publisher=Public Broadcast System|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref> about the adult industry and her website. In the interview synopsis, Ashe is described as the "founder and CEO of Danni's Hard Drive, regarded as one of the most popular porn sites on the Internet..." even though "her site offers only softcore pornography and does not feature any female-male sex." In the interview, Ashe discusses her audience, what she offers them, and how she is planning for growth in her business.
In 2004, Ashe was featured as herself on the HBO documentary series ''[[Pornucopia|Pornucopia: Going Down in the Valley]]'' in the episode titled "Women on Top" about the most powerful women in the industry.<ref>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Pornucopia: Going Down in the Valley: Season 1, Episode 2 Women on Top (19 Nov. 2004) TV Episode - 180 min - Documentary|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1077853/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_2|publisher=Amazon via IMDb|accessdate=February 18, 2014}}</ref>
==Industry advocacy== In March 2000, Ashe testified as a panel member for the [[Child Online Protection Act|COPA Commission]] regarding "Marketing Adult Materials Online".<ref name=COPATestimony>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Testimony of Danni Ashe President and Founder, Danni's Hard Drive COPA Commission Hearing on "Marketing Adult Materials Online" San Jose State University - San Jose, California August 3, 2000|url=http://www.copacommission.org/meetings/hearing3/ashe.test.pdf|publisher=Copacommision.org|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref> Ashe's panel members included: Andrew Edmond, CEO, [[Flying Crocodile Inc.]]; Dr. [[Victor Cline]], [[University of Utah]]; Detective LeeAnn Shirey, [[Seattle Police Department]]; [[FBI Special Agent#Rank structure|FBI Supervisory Special Agent]] Randy Aden; FBI Special Agent Bruce Applin; and Detective Daryk Rowland, [[Huntington Beach, California]] Police Department.<ref>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=COPA Commission, Hearing III|url=http://www.copacommission.org/meetings/hearing3/agenda.shtml|publisher=Copacommission.org|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}</ref>
==Defamation lawsuit== In September 2013, Ashe filed suit against the newspaper and media outlet ''[[DMGT#DMG Media|Daily Mail Online]]'' for an August 22, 2013 article posted under the headline "Porn Industry shuts down with immediate effect after 'female performer' tests positive for HIV" that was accompanied by an image of Ashe. In her filing, she claimed that the Daily Mail never sought permission to use her image and did not include a disclaimer or otherwise make clear that she was not the HIV-positive performer in question.<ref name="REYNOLDS">{{cite web|last=REYNOLDS |first=MATT |title=Nude Model Says Daily Mail Defamed Her |url=http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/09/19/61271.htm |publisher=Courthouse News Service |accessdate=September 26, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927204016/http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/09/19/61271.htm |archivedate=September 27, 2013 }}</ref>
Citing millions of views and worldwide syndication of the article, Ashe was seeking US$3 million in damages. The Mail's London-based publisher [[Associated Newspapers]], its parent [[A&N International Media]], and its subsidiary [[DMGT]] were named as defendants. The online image was later removed and replaced with a blurry image of a different model, according to the 14-page lawsuit, but a requested retraction has not been published.
In July 2016, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals]] (Los Angeles) ruled the ''Daily Mail'' had a case to answer to.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gardner|first=Eriq|title=Daily Mail Must Face Defamation Suit After Using Photo of Porn Star in HIV Story |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/daily-mail-face-defamation-suit-914224|work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=July 25, 2016 |accessdate=June 14, 2017}}</ref> In January 2017, it was reported the parties had [[settled out of court]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Pardon|first=Rhett|title=Danni Ashe Settles Libel Suit Against Daily Mail|url=http://www.xbiz.com/news/216306|publisher=xbix.com|date=January 16, 2017|accessdate=June 14, 2017}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Notes== *[[Roger Ebert]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20081004064830/http://www.danni.com/press/yil_roger_ebert_050197.html "Hard Driving a Hard Bargain"], May 1997, retrieved 2008-07-09. *[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/interviews/ashe.html ''Frontline'': "American Porn"] *[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/interviews/ashe.html : Interviews: Danni Ashe], ''[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]'', 2002. *{{cite web|website=AINews |url=http://www.ainews.com/InnerView/Danni_Ashe1.phtml |title=An InnerView of Danni Ashe |date=2000-01-24 | access-date=July 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704192729/http://www.ainews.com/InnerView/Danni_Ashe1.phtml|archive-date=2008-07-04|url-status=usurped |ref=none}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Danni Ashe}} * {{IMDb name|0038809|Danni Ashe}} * {{iafd name|id=DAshe|gender=female|name=Danni Ashe}} * {{afdb name|id=5092|gender=female|name=Danni Ashe}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, Danni}} [[Category:1968 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American businesspeople in the entertainment industry]] [[Category:American female erotic dancers]] [[Category:American erotic dancers]] [[Category:American female adult models]] [[Category:American pornographic film actresses]] [[Category:American pornographers]] [[Category:American pornographic film producers]] [[Category:American women film producers]] [[Category:Women pornographic film producers|Ashe, Dannii pictures Ashe ]] [[Category:American businesswomen|Ashe, Dannii Ashe nude ]] [[Category:People from Beaufort, South Carolina|Ashe, Dannii Ashe nude pictures ]] [[Category:Pornographic film actors from South Carolina|Ashe, Danni Ashe nude pictures ]]