There were four reported cases of HIV in porn actors at last count, and the industry has issued a temporarily order to halt production until everyone’s tested. However, Radar Online reports that a lot of companies and actors aren’t following that order, and continuing to film in secret.
Sources tell Radar, “For a fact, there are still porn movies being made and adult entertainers making porn flicks when they shouldn’t be. It’s stupid, selfish and dangerous. The industry is against using condoms because it would affect tape sales, but it’d be like allowing people to race cars without helmets on!”
States like Nevada and Florida, ironically where production of porn is technically illegal, continue to be the bases for underground porn production and distribution. The metaphor between making porn without condoms and allowing drivers to race cars without helmets is surprisingly astute, and makes a lot of sense. The one difference is enjoyment factor – when drivers don’t wear helmets, it wouldn’t necessarily prevent the viewers from enjoying the show. With porn, there are many people who claim that watching sex with condoms inhibits their enjoyment in viewing the act. Regardless, safety should be first and foremost, and everything else should come after – not the other way around.
The source also adds that big porn production and distribution companies like Vivid aren’t going to be happy if the ban on production lasts too long, explaining, “There’s too much to be lost by the big companies like Vivid Entertainment if this moratorium lasts or if wearing condoms becomes required. But there’s so much more to be lost by these actors, like their lives. It takes three months for HIV to show up positive in testing, so who knows how many more there are in the business that may have been infected.”
It’s really a matter between choosing between a few months’ salary and income versus the actors’ lives. It’s an easy choice to make, but for some reason, I have a feeling the porn industry’s not going to view it that way.
