Seymore Butts Announces Condom-Only Policy

Butts said the change was something he had considered in the past, but the HIV scare that is rocking the industry has caused him to rethink his position. Performers Darren James and Laura Roxx tested positive for HIV last week.

"I've never met either one of the people that have been directly affected by this so far, Darren or Laura. However, I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for them," Butts told AVN.com. "And when thinking about the pros and cons of condom usage, the only con that kept coming up was monetary. That was the only con I could put on my list.

"The positives were numerous — including setting a positive example, peace of mind and I even tried to look for the silver lining and say to myself, 'Now I'll be able to choose from a wider selection of girls. It also possibly makes my non-condom product more valuable. The only con I could keep coming back to was money…"

Butts continued, "I care so much about the people that work for me to have to get a phone call like someone had to have gotten last week (with the two HIV-positive performers.) That would be devastating."

Butts, who is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Free Speech Coalition, said he has the full support of his distributor Pure Play Media on his decision. His production company has been closely followed in recent months by the Showtime network for the hit series Family Business that is on hiatus after the recently completed second season. Butts makes between 9-12 movies per year.

"The time has come, for me at least, to minimize the risk as much as possible so that I can feel good about what it is that I do and what it is that I ask other people to do," he said. "And I have to have faith in myself that I'm going to be able to overcome any monetary loss that this causes me. It motivates me to build my brand in ancillary markets that maybe I've procrastinated about.

"…I have to have faith, or else I don't deserve to live in a nice house and drive a nice car."

Butts said he has no plans to shoot as he waits for more information to surface and honors the recommended moratorium.

"Everybody's nervous out there," Butts said. "I think it's sad that it took this to wake me up. And I also hope some of the people that already came out and said it's going to be business as usual reconsider and make that pro and con list that I've made.

"They're not going to be able to find more cons than I did."

Butts added that he is "excited" about shooting condom-only productions.

"I know that I have to be more creative now in order to make up for whatever it is that condoms take away from people. I look at it as a challenge to be more creative in my movies," he said.

"It's something I feel like I have to do."

Butts said that performers in his videos have worn condoms in the past, but "on rare occasions."

"The talent pool is so used to working without them," he said.

He added that this could be an opportunity for talent to organize and police itself. Butts said he would be willing to offer his guidance, support or leadership if needed at this time of crisis.

"If talent or a group of talent were to come to me and say to me that, 'we really want to change the way things are done, but we don't necessarily know how to go about doing it.' If I'm asked, right now I'm only going to dictate for my company. But if people wanted me to help them try to change things, certainly I'd be more than willing to give it my best shot."

A small number of production companies have also recently declared that they would begin shooting condom only productions.

Seymore Butts will be appearing live on Court TV from 2-3 p.m. PST today to discuss the adult industry's HIV scare.

Butts, aka Adam Glasser, will be appearing on Catherine Crier Live.

Butts can be contacted at [email protected] or through Pure Play Media at 818.717.5355.