Primetime covered HIV scare in porn industry

In 2004 Primetime did a piece entitled Young Women, Porn, and Profits: America's Secret Affair.

Youtube user "Bigboseman" posted the Primetime piece that focused on porn actor Belladonna. Later he posted the rest of the Primetime piece that focuses on the dangers of HIV in the industry.



Primetime - Young Women, Porn and Profits: America's Secret Affair (9min 35 sec)



"Lara Roxx" interview on Primetime - HIV Porn Scandal


In 2004 a then 18 year old porn actress "Laura Roxx" contracted HIV through unprotected anal sex with two men during a film shoot. She had only been in the industry three months.

This past June the porn industry had another scare as an actress contracted the disease. It sent the industry and health officials into a frenzy. According to Wikipedia (yes not always a reliant source) the outbreak led to led to a voluntary moratorium on porn production for 30 days, however 60 days was originally announced. In April 2004, the industry confirmed all possible contacts among porn performers however no adult video production companies were required to comply.

Lara Roxx supposedly made this statement regarding her circumstances. "It totally made me realize how I trusted this system that wasn't to be trusted at all, because it obviously doesn't work," and "I thought porn people were the cleanest people in the world."

Lara Roxx now speaks publically through various sources of the media in attempts to educate on the topic of HIV/AIDS. She has her own foundation, the Lara Roxx Foundation which can be viewed at Lararoxxfoundation.org. If you visit the site there is information regarding how one can make donations. She also shares her story.

From the Lara Roxx Foundation Website

In March of 2004 Lara Roxx took a plane to Los Angeles leaving her native Montreal in search of a quick fortune in the Adult Entertainment’s land of opportunity known on the map as San Fernando Valley. Her plan was simple. She would first meet her agent and then embark on a busy work schedule. The more scenes, the more money, and in L.A a young woman could perform several scenes a day and easily earn as much as $10,000 to $15,000 a week depending on how open minded she was in terms of her physical boundaries. Eager to get to work Lara Roxx performed her first scene within 24 hours of landing on American soil. What was meant to be the first of many lucrative scenes was destined to end her career before it ever got off the ground.

The morning after she performed that scene she already saw her plan begin to unravel. She woke up with sores and an infection that gave her no other choice then to cancel the shoots she had scheduled to perform that day. Once again, the following morning she woke up with the same symptoms and had to cancel more shoots that her agent had booked for her and this cycle continued well into the next few weeks. Rather then working and making money she found herself growing deeper in debt as she rested and waited for her health to get better so that she could get back to the plan, which was to make a minimum of $30,000 to bring back to Montreal.

After about three weeks of canceling shoots because of the visible sores on her body and the fatigue she experienced which she initially attributed to a case of mononucleosis she received an alarming call from one of her agents who informed her that one of the two male performers she worked with had just tested positive for HIV. At that moment she already knew the verdict. She was also HIV positive. A series of blood tests would soon confirm this initially gut feeling.

Within 24 hours of testing positive for HIV Lara Roxx found herself cast into the media spotlight as journalist scrutinized the industry’s work ethics as well as Roxx’s short-lived porn career. The media was eager to make a poster-child out of this young naïve Canadian who wondered into a world that destroys souls. On the other end of the spectrum, the porn industry itself got involved in the media debate as big names such as Jenna Jameson set up a fund to aid those performers who were now out of work because of the HIV outbreak and the industry also discussed adopting tighter HIV screening methods to prevent further outbreaks. But these efforts were short lived. Lara Roxx received one check for $1500 from the Adult Industry Fund set up by Jameson and three years later fewer porn companies require mandatory condom use for their performer.

The last three years have been an ordeal for Lara Roxx. Her biggest challenge has been in achieving a sense of empowerment in the face of a lot of scrutiny. Not only has she faced adversity in her personal relationships because of people’s fears and ignorance about the HIV virus but she has also met with false assumptions because of how she contracted the virus. Nobody deserves to live with HIV no matter how they contracted it: whether one catches it on a porn-set or from a blood transfusion the implications of the illness are the same.

The alienation and fear that’s once crippled Lara Roxx now fuels her desire to help others overcome the obstacles that she faced alone. She believes there is strength in numbers and does not want anybody living with HIV to feel like they are alone as she felt when she first tested positive. The Lara Roxx Foundation wishes to raise money to spread awareness about the reality of living with HIV for both those that are infected and for those living with someone who is infected. The Lara Roxx Foundation’s mandate is to demystify the HIV/AIDS stigma. Provide education and awareness about treatments: both tradition and alternative health care. And to provide education in order to prevent the propagation of the AIDs virus(HIV).

Lara Roxx currently resides in Montreal, Quebec where she headquarters her foundation and is working on a documentary about living with HIV.