Today, Noir Male, a new porn studio with an Instagram bio that claims it “showcases black men as they deserve to be seen—sensual, sexual, and unapologetically fine” officially launches. With 20 scenes available on the site and a backlog of 10 others to release in the coming weeks, the Chi Chi LaRue and Mile High Movies-helmed site is ready to hit the ground running. But, as late as Tuesday, the venture was already under criticism for some of its promotional tactics.

On Monday, in a now-deleted tweet, writer and New York City comedian Phillip Henry posted a screenshot of Chi Chi’s Instagram. Chi Chi, the drag persona of Larry David Paciotti, a director and 33-year veteran in the world of porn, had posted promotional shots featuring the Noir Male banner in a hope to drum up support for the impending launch. For his caption, Henry wrote, “Must be two different noirs,” pointing out that of the nine photos Chi Chi published, none were black men.

Before deletion, the tweet racked up about 1,000 favorites and multiple comments, many of which expressed surprise at the absence of black men in a project presumably about black men.

But among those responses was also push-back from a few fans, as well as Max Konnor and Beaux Banks, actors from the studio, who characterized the critique as lacking context and an over reaction.

“For four months, I’ve been promoting the guys and tweeting behind the scenes from sets,” Chi Chi tells NewNowNext. “So to promote the site, I just wanted to give equal opportunity for the co-stars of all races and all ethnicities to promote things... That’s why I was putting those up. I didn’t think it would be perceived as something negative or that it would whitewash the site.” Since the criticism, Chi Chi has taken down those posts and left up only promo images that feature black actors or group shots—the official Noir Male account had, in contrast, never posted Chi Chi's first series of images.

According to Chi Chi and Mile High Movies, who own the studio as well as other studios like Icon Male and Male Reality which they introduced in 2014 and 2010 respectively, Noir Male aims to bring something new to the gay category in adult films. Chi Chi described scenes as “rich and beautiful.”

John Blitz, the vice president of Mile High, told AVN:

If you look at the gay market today, you see so much black and interracial product, yet almost all of it is brands that are low budget and have either a gonzo and/or thug-genre focus. We felt that with the huge demand for black product that we see from market trends, if we put a really high-end, luxury look and feel on this genre of product, we will fill a gigantic void in the marketplace.

While those goals may be laudable, with Chi Chi hiring some 30 actors about 70% of whom are black, one must take a careful approach when attempting to address issues related to race and representation, particularly in porn. Though Henry acknowledges Chi Chi’s Instagram was probably an oversight, it does show just how easily publicity can go awry. Any promotional imagery for a project about black men should probably include black men, even if you're hoping to highlight the rest of the actors. And on closer inspection, it’s not the only thing that could do with reconsidering.

Names of filmed movies and scenes from the studio include “BBC Massage” and Black on White. BBC and the usage of the term towards black men is a controversial topic, with some saying that it demeans black men and contributes to stereotypes. For a studio already demonstrably about black men in its name, is there a need to continually underline its audience in every title? Does that not step over the line of appreciation of these actors, who happen to be black, into fetishization of these actors because they are black? And as one user pointed out, why the emphasis on interracial scenes in a studio about portrayals of black men? Can you not put this same production quality in scenes featuring exclusively black men?

With the speed at which Chi Chi changed course on her Instagram gaffe, reaching out, and having conversations with critics, it seems clear that she has no desire to continue to make these sorts of mistakes. She has good intentions. But good intentions are simply that: intentions. To put them into practice, it might be of interest to not only hire black actors, but also black creatives as consultants, writers, or cinematographers. It’s a tactic we’ve seen employed in Hollywood on films and television, as well as in the fashion industry, so maybe it’s time for porn to take the leap. Otherwise, the industry is at the risk of repeating this outrage-backlash-backtrack cycle, as it struggles to remain both diverse and profitable.