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<i>AIDS Scare Shuts Down Porn Films
LOS ANGELES, April 16, 2004
"I'm going to change the way I do things now — probably just girl-on-girl shoots. Guys, but with condoms."
Actress Summer Tyme
(CBS/AP) Many major pornographic movie producers, including the industry's largest, have agreed to shut down sets for 60 days because two stars tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS.
At least 45 men and women were under voluntary quarantine because they had sex with the HIV-positive performers or their sex partners, said Sharon Mitchell of the nonprofit Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation.
The first performer to test positive was “conscientious” about having HIV tests every three weeks, she said. Last week, he tested positive for HIV and a follow-up test confirmed it, Mitchell said.
Mitchell also confirmed that one of about a dozen women the performer had sex with in films also tested HIV-positive.
The Los Angeles Times identified the performers as actor Darren James and actress Lara Roxx.
A list of quarantined performers was placed on the Web site of the foundation, which screens about 1,200 adult movie performers a month for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
As of Thursday about a dozen adult movie companies had agreed to follow a voluntary moratorium on production until June 8, said Tim Connelly, publisher of the industry news magazine AVN.
Separately, the Times reported that some production companies were continuing to shoot. The newspaper said these companies insisted that the industry was perfectly safe.
For example, Vivid Entertainment Group of Van Nuys said it requires condom use and negative HIV tests within 30 days of the start of production.
Although the quarantine is voluntary, the performers involved won't be working for at least two months, until new tests clear them, Connelly said. It would be “absolutely insane” for companies to hire them earlier, he said.
Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of public health and health officer for Los Angeles County, said the agency did not consider the HIV case a threat to public health “at this point.”
“I think in general, they've done an appropriate job in terms of the quarantine measures taken,” he said.
However, the discovery shows that screening programs are not perfect and the only way to prevent AIDS “is not to have unprotected sex.”
Mary Carey, an adult movie star who ran for governor of California last fall, said she had not worked with the HIV-infected actor or his co-stars. However, as a precaution she was canceling a lesbian porn shoot even though she did not consider it risky.
“It's very scary,” she said. “This is kind of a wake-up call for everybody.”
The Times interviewed actress Summer Tyme, 25, who said she had worked in the industry only two months and was shaken by the news.
"I'm going to change the way I do things now — probably just girl-on-girl shoots. Guys, but with condoms," Tyme told the newspaper. "No money is worth risking your life."
It was unclear how much impact the work stoppage would have on the $4 billion to $13 billion-a-year industry, which is centered in the San Fernando Valley. Some companies have as much as a year's worth of movies ready, said Jill Kelly, a former adult performer turned producer.
The last industry HIV scare was in 1999, when a male performer tested positive for the disease. He no longer performs and no other performers were infected. Before that, a male performer infected five women in 1998.
©MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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