Emily Willis

Willis was born in Argentina in 1999. After her parents separated, her mother married an American citizen and relocated the family to the small town of St. George, Utah, when Willis was seven years old. After graduating from high school a year early, she moved to San Diego, California, where she worked as a door-to-door salesperson.^[1]

Willis began her adult film career in 2017 after meeting an actor through a dating app who was affiliated with the company GirlsDoPorn.^[1] The company was later shut down after several of the owners and employees were found liable for fraud amid an FBI investigation of sex trafficking.^[4] The investigation found that the company had published fake ads soliciting young women for modeling work; the women were then pressured to perform in a pornographic scene ostensibly to be sold to private buyers, and promised between US$2,000 and US$6,000, which was never paid.^[1] Willis later told XBIZ, "I knew from the start that I was being lied to about the scenes" and "It just didn't matter to me, I wanted to do porn regardless."^[4] She would go on to star in over 700 films.^[2]

Willis moved to Las Vegas in early 2018, later moving to Los Angeles.^[5] She was named Penthouse Pet of the Month in May 2019.^[2][6] In May 2020, she starred in her first double penetration scene for The Insatiable Emily Willis, produced by Jules Jordan.^[7] Willis won AVN Awards for Female Performer of the Year and Best All-Girl Movie or Anthology in 2021, before leaving the adult film industry.^[3]

In April 2022, Willis joined the cast of director Eddie Alcazar's thriller film Divinity.^[8][9] Jacob Oller wrote in Paste that "an extended sex scene with porn star Emily Willis is exhaustingly dull";^[10] Nadir Samara wrote in Screen Rant that performances by Willis, along with those of other actors, gave the film "the tone that sets it apart from anything else you will see this year".^[11]

In 2023, Willis appeared in the music video for the Grammy-nominated single "Hive Mind" by American heavy metal band Slipknot.^[3]

In 2021, Willis filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against fellow pornographic actresses Gianna Dior, Adria Rae, and ten other unnamed defendants over Twitter posts that they had made.^[12] The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice in 2025, due to no one appearing on the incapacitated Willis' behalf.^[13]

In 2025, her family filed a lawsuit for fraud and negligence against Summit Malibu, a drug rehabilitation center in Los Angeles where Willis had been seeking treatment for ketamine addiction.^[14][15] Willis was reportedly found unconscious following a cardiac arrest in February 2024, approximately a week after being admitted to the facility. According to the lawsuit, the resulting lack of oxygen led to irreversible and debilitating brain damage.^[1][14][15] Her family later announced that Willis was awake after a two-month coma.^[3][16]