Multiple-award-winning MILF performer Cherie DeVille is so concerned about testing in the adult entertainment industry that she took to the Daily Beast to write about it, encouraging performers who have gone back to shooting for studios to be very, very careful. And to use PASS-compliant testing facilities.
PASS, the adult industry’s long-standing testing system, has recently been touted as an example for screening and tracking outbreaks of infectious disease by The New York Times. But now that it’s needed more than ever to screen not just STIs but the novel coronavirus too, according to DeVille, the venerable testing protocol is losing steam, and infection tracking in porn is losing coherence.
“When some porn production resumed in the summer, performers were happy to learn that PASS had added a COVID-19 test to the test panel,” wrote DeVille for the Daily Beast. “People needed to work,” from performers to directors, crew members, and other BTS folks who hadn’t earned paychecks in months. But, when shooting resumed, everyone learned that Talent Testing Service (TTS), had left the PASS system for undisclosed reasons.
“This decision turned the adult industry into the Wild West” when it came to testing, declared DeVille. The vacuum that TTS left behind opened cracks in the industry’s testing system for both STIs and COVID-19—and people started slipping through them.
On July 31, FSC announced, “Three performers have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 in the past few weeks, resulting in on-set exposures and in one case, the quarantine of a crew.” But, the announcement continued, “Because the testing was done outside of PASS, through production companies that are not members of FSC, there has not been adequate accounting of the incidents.”
Nevertheless, in the ensuing month and a half, wrote Deville, “Many performers have continued to get tested at Talent Testing Service.” That’s at least in part because “it offers cheaper COVID-19 tests” than its PASS-compliant competitors, and because many performers have been using them for years. But testing at TTS now means that performers’ results aren’t entered into the system and can’t be checked by everyone who needs to access them.
“A few performers have brought printed test results to set,” Deville reported. “Some directors have forced performers to log in to their online medical performer [sic] and show their results, but not every director works with a conscience.” And, she added, “According to accounts I’ve heard, a few directors aren’t checking tests at all, leaving it to the talent to navigate.”
The FSC has encouraged people to report COVID-related incidents outside of PASS to the FSC so it can spread the word. “The specifics will be kept confidential,” they promised, “but it’s critical that the community is aware of the volume of incidents and the affected regions.” But the FSC and agents haven’t reported any new outbreaks since July, which seems unlikely to reflect reality and points to the possibility that people are not, in fact, reporting.
An honor system sounds nice, but in difficult times like these, it’s a lot to ask. “Perhaps, this approach would have worked in the ’90s,” suggested DeVille. “Back then, the porn industry consisted of a hundred people in the San Fernando Valley…But today, porn is global. Girls are shooting everywhere from Paris, Texas, to Perris, California. Porn insiders can’t monitor tens of thousands of people the way they once monitored a hundred blondes in the valley.”
Meanwhile, FSC reported that it “met with major agents to institute a more formal process for reporting positive tests and possible exposures outside of PASS.” But DeVille ponders, “I wonder if they have ever met a porn agent? Most porn agents’ interest in their clients begins and ends with how much they’re bringing their agency every week.”
So, for now, what’s a working performer to do? Try to work with people who have used a PASS-enrolled provider, or stay home, suggested DeVile. “People can take risks. People are allowed to gamble. I am not advocating for shutting down porn, but I want to educate workers on the dangers of relying on a test outside of PASS,” said DeVille. In the end, it comes down to this: “If an STI outbreak brings down the porn industry, none of us will make money.”
