LOS ANGELES - Channel 1 Releasing's "Safe Sex is Hot Sex" public service announcement recently was featured as part of an investigative report on the British Broadcasting Corporation's "Newsnight" program. Starring award-winning director and Channel 1 partner Chi Chi LaRue, the two-minute clip presented LaRue's very public position about model safety on porn sets as part of the broadcast's look at the health risks associated with gay bareback productions in the United Kingdom.
"I have a question: After all the gay community has been through, why are we putting people at risk?" LaRue asks the camera near the beginning of the segment.
The 15-minute report focused on three models who allegedly contracted HIV in October during a gay porn shoot in the U.K. In addition, it explored the case of Rufus Ffoulkes, a prolific British director of bareback and twink videos who was jailed last week on charges of "enticing a child into pornography" after it was discovered a 16-year-old boy appeared in Ffoulkes' bareback video Royal Raw Auditions 1. The boy provided Ffoulkes with forged identification documents, according to published reports, and the episode sparked concern in the industry about the possibility other underage performers may have fooled Ffoulkes in a similar manner.
Interviews with gay community leaders, health professionals, and former and current models working in the bareback segment of Britain's gay adult entertainment industry were included in the broadcast. Several of the models claimed to have contracted HIV while performing in bareback productions.
"I couldn't be happier that our new PSA was featured in this very important report by the BBC," LaRue said. "Hopefully American news shows like ‘Nightline,' ‘Dateline' or even ‘60 Minutes' will follow in their footsteps.
"This PSA was important for me, personally, to make because of the issue of model safety on porn sets, as well as to inform consumers that the gorgeous models they see in these videos are real people and the danger they are exposing themselves to in making barebacking films is real," LaRue continued. "I hope that message is heard loud and clear in the U.K. as well as around the world."
