Because of the recent outbreak of HIV among performers in the San Fernando Valley adult entertainment industry [see AVN.com for details and updates –Ed.], AVN and others recommended a production moratorium until June 8, 2004. According to Adult Industry Medical (www.aim-med.org), if no new HIV-positive cases were to occur by that date, the industry would be able to safely return to its normal production schedule.
While this quarantine primarily affects video, film, and DVD producers and performers, the online adult community is by no means in the clear. Many Webmasters shoot exclusive sexual content for their Websites or contract content producers who do. One of the female stars who worked with Darren James, a male performer who tested positive for HIV April 13, had sex with James while shooting content for her Website during the time James is believed to have had the virus.
Thus AVN Online solicited opinions from a cross-section of adult Webmasters, company owners, and content providers regarding this industry-wide scare.
Is there crossover between video/film performers and performers shooting content for the Web?
“With the way the industry is evolving, the line between offline and online is growing very thin,” said Dameian Lott of ATKCash.com. “In any given week, a performer can work with several content production houses that produce for online consumption, print, video, or a combination thereof. You’ll see the same girls in Hustler magazine that you’ll see in a Seymore Butts video as well as on an ATK site. Since ATK buys a lot of exclusive content from producers located in Southern California, this will definitely affect us, as I am sure it will affect many others online.”
“For us, there is no difference between video and online performers,” said Matrix Content CEO Norman Bentley. “We shoot many of the video performers. Everyone is at risk.”
“Many online porn performers also do work in video and film. Performers are performers,” said AdultLounge.com CEO Raffi Vartanian. “It’s the same online and offline. After all, you must use professionals in the industry when producing, unless it’s amateur content or reality. Being an adult star is being an adult star regardless of where it’s being marketed.”
“There’s a lot of porn stars who have their own live cam sites and do sex shows throughout the month; but there’s also a lot of amateurs or real-life couples who are not directly affected by the porn industry,” observed Jason Sechrest, adult entertainment reporter/publicist and operator of JasonCurious.com.
“It should be more apparent to people that any sex performer – or any person, for that matter – having sex without a condom is always at risk,” he said. “This debacle, and so many people’s reactions to it, has really proven how uneducated and delusional a lot of people in this business have been.”
However, Sechrest does not support a moratorium on production. “I don’t think there is any reason to halt production of any medium,” he said. “I think if anyone is concerned about their health, they should use a condom. It is preposterous to think that halting production for 60 days is going to [clear] the industry of the virus so things can go back to the way they were before, as if it can’t happen again.”
Lott, on the other hand, fully supports the moratorium. “We’re glad to hear that they planned on stopping production,” said Lott. “In the long run, it’s best for everyone. Not doing so puts greed before human life, and could potentially jeopardize the entire industry.
“A lot of eyes are on us right now. We already had the Bush re-election machine and the Justice Department focusing their gaze on us, and now the mainstream media can be added to that list. A lot of very influential people are just waiting to spin this to further their own agendas. We can’t give them any reason to do so – especially in an election year.”
Webmaster Central president Andy Alvarez also supports the freeze. “Absolutely, whatever it takes to keep [performers] safe,” he said. “They should be tested often and use condoms. I believe it’s the responsibility of the entire crew to keep them safe.”
Yet not everyone feels there is much crossover between video and online performers.
“I’d venture to estimate [the talent pools are] 90 percent separate; they are two completely different spheres,” opined Greg Jones, who works in communications and media at 2much Internet Services. “Generally, chat sites feature non-professionals, whereas your porn industry-circle is a career-oriented content creator.... But then there’s street-blowjob-type sites where they don’t feature or work with professionals who would be affected by HIV in the industry.”
Should a production company be held legally responsible for a performer contracting HIV during a shoot?
“No,” said Jones. “Unless the production is truly irresponsible – say, hiring an off-the-street, half-stoned hooker to perform – there really is no room for corporate liability in a business that features consensual activity by performers who are supposed to be professionals and have their responsibility to themselves and their fellow humans to be safe. If they fail, act irresponsibly, they should be held liable – even by the company that hired them.
“The online porn world is largely immune to this kind of propagation,” he added. “[Online performers] are as likely to be infected or have sex with multiple partners as someone not in the online porn industry. Performers who have unprotected sex with multiple and/or unknown partners online are just as likely to do so in the real world, whereas multiple partners are just part of the job for otherwise monogamous performers.
“The best way for the porn industry to deal with this is exactly as AVN prescribed. It is imperative for the health of the performers and the industry.”
Mandy Haga, account manager of adult Webmaster referral network TabooRevenue.com, has a different take. “It affects us badly,” she said. “It is terrifying to know that the industry and beyond has been opened up to an incurable disease. What we need to consider is that it isn’t just the industry that is affected. It is also those outside the industry with whom these people come into sexual contact.
“I feel [companies] have a responsibility to keep their performers safe,” added Haga, whose site does not shoot content. “They should require testing of those who’ve been outside the country or those who’ve been in questionable circumstances, just to cover themselves.”
“I think the only person accountable is the person who allowed someone to penetrate them without a condom,” Sechrest said. “The finger-pointing has got to stop. If you don’t want to have sex without a condom, fine! Don’t use condoms. But be aware of the potential and accept the responsibility when it happens.”
Some Webmasters are clearly very directly affected.
“When I read the quarantine list, my heart dropped,” said Jimmy Mofo, president of MofoWear.net, an online adult clothing company. MofoWear spokesmodel Kayla Marie is on the “first generation” quarantine list, but as of this writing, had not been confirmed as having contracted HIV.
“Everyone I contacted was absolutely devastated,” said Mofo. “But, more importantly, when I called Kayla she was in a state of disbelief and shock. There was really nothing I could do but tell her that we all loved her and would be there for her no matter what.”
What, if anything, can the online porn industry do to prevent this type of outbreak?
“As producers, we should take every precaution to make sure our performers are safe,” Bentley said. “We will only be shooting solo girl ’til this issue is resolved. As an industry, we should not go outside our pool of performers. Going to foreign countries that don’t have the same standards [as the U.S.] is dangerous.” (Bentley was referring to the possibility that James contracted the virus during a video shoot in Brazil.)
“[Companies] should require testing of those re-entering the U.S., those in questionable circumstances, and new or returning performers, regardless of paperwork,” said Haga. “Otherwise, there should be required condom use and perhaps a four-week quarantine of those in the aforementioned circumstances preventing them from working until the time has expired and they’ve tested negative.”
“Control, control, control,” said Jones. “Self-regulation, industry-wide medical insurance. Moratoriums on unprotected on-screen sex.”
“Online production companies take all of the same precautions, steps, model releases, valid and current test results as offline video production companies,” said Vartanian. “The production companies who hire performers must take all necessary [safety measures] to not break laws, to protect rights, to have proper agreements or contracts. We check and double-check for proper test results, age verifications, and much more to operate under the laws.”
“Condoms,” stated Sechrest. “There’s no other way to prevent it really, is there? [We need] to realize that we all could be more educated than we’ve been. We all need to take more responsibility for our actions, and choose for ourselves whether to mandate condom use in our professional and personal lives, and accept the consequences.”
Scott Ross contributed to this article.