Porn project received thousands of pounds of Scottish taxpayers’ cash

Good heavens. Just when you think events north of the border can’t get any more ridiculous, they do. Now it has emerged that the director of an, er, hardcore porn project managed to secure £85,000 from government-backed Creative Scotland in January.

The production, directed by Leonie Rae Gasson and titled ‘Rein’, was set to involve ‘pornographic processes’ to film in the Highlands, while research for the project included a nine-minute sexually explicit film that aims to take viewers on a ‘magical, erotic journey through a distinctly Scottish landscape’. What’s more, recruitment ads for Rein, which offered a daily fee of £270 for ‘hardcore’ acts, were advertised on the websites of publicly-funded arts groups. Gasson describes herself as someone who approaches her work ‘from a queer and neurodivergent perspective’, and says her project is ‘pro-sex worker’, with ‘intimacy co-ordinators’ on hand to support cast members.

It’s fair to say that the whole palaver has been rather embarrassing for Scottish government-funded Creative Scotland, which is now desperately trying to claw back the funds.