Silke Jasso
The insanely fancy, brand-new, $19 million Montreal mansion owned by PornHub founder Feras Antoon was destroyed in a fire on Sunday night, only three days after he’d put it up for sale.
Videos by Rare
The Night of the Suspected Arson
According to Montreal police, they were called to Antoon’s eight-bedroom property in the city’s upper-class Ahuntsic-Cartierville neighborhood around 11:30 p.m. The caller alerted the police that they’d spotted two individuals trespassing on the mansion grounds. But by the time the police officers reached the property, the multi-million dollar mansion was already engulfed in flames.
The fire was so huge, it took more than 80 firefighters several hours to get the flames under control. No one was reported harmed in the incident, though residents of adjacent homes were made to evacuate. Julien Lévesque, a media relations officer for Montreal Police, told reporters from VICE: “Police officers who arrived on site were able to see that the fire began inside the residence.”
He added that the extent of the damage to the home was “major.” In a statement to the publication, Antoon — who is the founder and CEO of MindGeek, PornHub’s parent company — said, “Over the weekend, a fire occurred at my residence. The residence was under construction. I am grateful that my family and I and our neighbors are safe. Out of respect for the ongoing police investigation, I will not be commenting further.”
Why do Canadian Authorities Suspect Foul Play?
🚨#BREAKING: Pornhub’s co-founder and CEO Feras Antoon’s home was set on fire in Montreal last night.
On Sunday night, around 11:30 PM, the police were called as two individuals were seen When officers arrived on the scene, a fire was raging in the home. pic.twitter.com/zKARjV5RBL
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 26, 2021
The property had only recently hit the market when the fire occurred. Local Canadian news outlets say it is not clear why the exec recently listed the impressive piece of real estate — which features a nine-car garage, seven bathrooms, eight bedrooms, multi-sport complex, and movie theater — for sale.
The mansion is located on Montreal’s ‘Mafia Row’ where many crime bosses live. “It’s an area well-known as home to people who, let’s say, didn’t necessarily make their fortunes legally,” a local told Daily Mail. ‘You ask anyone in the city about this area and they would say ‘Oh, Mafiaville.’
MindGeek has been under investigation by Canada’s parliament since last year, following pressure from anti-sex trafficking, anti-pornography groups like the National Center for Sexual Exploitation and Exodus Cry. These groups alleged that all Pornhub and other MindGeek sites are flooded with abusive videos and other illegal content.
Over recent months, posts on alt-right social media site Gab included threats against Pornhub executives like Antoon specifically, promising to bring them “to justice,” reports VICE.
In response to scrutiny, Pornhub suspended all unverified uploads and downloads and updated security guidelines. However, its overhauled rules were not enough to prevent credit card companies Mastercard, Visa, and Discover from severing connections with the pornography site — a decision many sex workers who depended on the site for income say jeopardized their livelihoods.
“Rampant anti-porn rhetoric has drastically increased instances of death threats and doxing against our employees,” a Pornhub spokesperson told Vice. “Unfortunately, it has also been detrimental to the hundreds of thousands of models who seek to use our platform to earn a living.”
