Rest In Peace, Butch “ManNet.com” Harris
With sadness, I share the news that Butch Harris has passed away at the age of 51.
Established in 2003, GayPornBlog is indeed the original internet blog reviewing gay porn as we know them today. However in the late 1990’s, when the internet was still called the World Wide Web and connected to via dial-up modems and pay-per-minute AOL accounts, Butch Harris founded ManNet.com, likely the very first gay porn review site. Butch Harris and ManNet.com helped shape the gay porn customers’ buying decisions as the industry transitioned from VHS tapes to electronic delivery. ManNet.com still does that today.
At its peak, ManNet boasted “hundreds of thousands of subscribers” while their reviews were also featured in the prime arbiters of gay culture in the pre-internet age, the now gone magazines like BlueBoy, Honcho, Inches, and Unzipped. Long before free sites, much less free porn, gay movies were released on VHS tapes that averaged 90 minutes in length and were largely distributed in adult book stores and via mail order catalogs.
A ManNet.com Review
His long time collaborator, Brent Blue in this touching tribute, described Butch Harris as “an enigmatic private person. Irascible and intractable, but a sweetheart with a sentimental streak few ever saw. If he knew I was paying tribute to him, he would be furious.” Director Lucas Kazan shared with me, “Butch, Mannet.com and its reviewers have contributed to this industry in more ways I can say.”
Rest in peace, Butch “ManNet.com” Harris, and thank you.
Tags: Brent Bkue, Butch Harris, gay adult industry obituary, ManNet, RIP
Jack November 15th, 2015 at 8:15 AM
What did he die from? Dying at 51 is almost unbelievable these days!
Brent Blue November 15th, 2015 at 11:53 AM
Thank you for this lovely article about my great friend and longtime boss. He was way too modest to admit to being the original, but he was thrilled at the success of all sites that came after his. He was not competitive because he saw all sites as doing the same thing: funneling down all of the possibilities out there so viewers could make their own choices of what to watch or buy.
He was even prouder that the site stayed what it always was. He had offers to buy it, to have ads covering the whole site, affiliate programs and such, but his beliefs in objectivity and fairness were paramount to him and thus no offer was actually ever considered. His only responsibility was to porn fans and he did not make one dime from the site.
When I started at Mannet.com, I repeatedly asked who the model was on the entrance to the site. He never said. Some thought it was a stock image, some a favorite porn star of yesteryear, but overwhelmingly, people thought it was him. It wasn’t, but he was certainly flattered by that theory. That question will never be answered, but it was not Butch. Butch was far sexier! :)
Jack, as to your question, unfortunately, I do not have an answer. It was very sudden. He had not been ill. No infection or virus or even the common cold ever ever got near him. I never heard him cough, sneeze, rasp, or complain of being tired. He worked 24 hours a day and guzzled coffee during all of them, his only vice. I used to joke with him that I could smell the coffee through the phone, as he seemingly went through an entire pot in an hour.
Hman November 15th, 2015 at 1:48 PM
Brent, first let me offer my condolences on the loss of your dear friend. Your tribute to him was touching and inspiring. I am humbled you found this fitting for such a great man. Butch, you will be missed by many.
-Hman
Brent Blue November 15th, 2015 at 4:30 PM
I know he was a very big fan of yours because of your honest and gracious style.
But, he would have hated all of us being so serious, even under these circumstances. There was nothing he wouldn’t turn into a joke, especially his age:
His birthday was the day after mine and every year he said the same thing about it: “I’m a baby, 29 turning 30.” “Yeah? That’s one hell of a slow turn!” was one of my typical retorts (I’m younger actually). I would then grab my phone and count to six before he called, laughing so loudly he couldn’t catch his breath.
That is really the way he would have wanted us to honor him. I have so many very funny stories about him and anyone who ever met him probably does as well.
He once said to me, “Knock it off with the tears, you’ll never find a man in your nursing home with all that mascara running down your face.”
I’ll cry, but I will also make sure to laugh.
davidsask November 16th, 2015 at 4:11 PM
He sounds like a wonderful man and never sold his soul to the wicked industry may he R.I.P.