Darren James saw the news flash on his TV screen last week: A porn actress had tested positive for HIV. James, 45, felt a moment of shock, then sadness.

"I feel really bad for this girl," he said. "One thing I can say, I just wish her well. It's the worst thing to get that call."

It's the call James got in 2004 when the well-liked porn star known for his courteous nature on set found himself at the center of an HIV outbreak in the San Fernando Valley's multibillion-dollar porn industry. His diagnosis, and the spread of the virus to three actresses he had worked with, shut down porn production for a month.

He had tested HIV negative just days before performing on screen.

"I predicted it would happen again," he said late last week in an interview at his attorney's Woodland Hills office, his second since his name became public five years ago.


James, dressed in trim black slacks and a fitted black T-shirt that showed off his muscular frame, said he decided to speak out now because he hoped his story would spur the porn industry to require condoms, rarely used in straight porn films.

The latest HIV case in the porn industry became public last week when officials from the San Fernando Valley-based Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation said a female porn performer had tested positive. The acknowledgment came as rumors about a new HIV infection spread on porn websites.

Officials from the clinic, which serves the porn community, have said the woman most recently worked June 5, the day after undergoing tests for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The medical director, Colin Hamblin, and co-founder, Sharon Mitchell, have given conflicting statements on whether the woman's test results first came back positive June 4 or June 6.

Regardless, clinic officials said the woman should not have worked on June 5 since she had last tested negative April 29, outside the industry's voluntary requirement that performers show negative test results within the last 30 days.

Los Angeles County public health officials said last week that the woman's case, which has not officially been reported to them, would mark the 22nd report of an HIV infection in an adult film performer since 2004.

When he worked as a porn star, James said, he followed the clinic's guidelines closely, paying $100 a month out of his own funds to be tested. The rules, he thought, kept him protected, even as he routinely worked without condoms. If everyone had to test, he reasoned, everyone was safe.

By April 2004, he was at the pinnacle of his career, traveling to foreign countries to shoot films, sometimes working six days a week and two or three scenes a day.

"You're like Superman. Especially with the amount of work that I had? It was nonstop," James said. "I'm thinking, I'm invincible. . . . That's just the way our mentality was. It was, you get the test, you're clean, not realizing that in between the tests, and after the tests, you know, other people, you don't know what they're doing."

The call that changed his life came as James was getting ready to book tickets to Japan for another international shoot. AIM clinic officials told him he was HIV positive. And, he said, they told him they planned to release his name publicly.

He asked them not to -- in part out of concern for his parents who did not know how he made his living -- but they did anyway.

"It was like a hit in the gut," James said. "My whole world stops. . . .Life was pretty much over."

A Detroit native, James said he joined the Navy after high school, working in the construction battalion. When he left the Navy in 1989, he settled in Southern California, attracted by the sunny weather. He planned to pursue a career in law enforcement but struggled to find work.

At times, he was homeless. At one point, he lived at a friend's gym. Then, in 1997, another friend referred him to a modeling gig in the San Fernando Valley, which turned out to be a porn shoot.

Desperate for cash, he performed, the shoot went well, and he was hired for more scenes. In the beginning, he worked as a standby performer without getting credit, making little money. But by 2004 he had loyal fans and was earning a good living. Then he got the HIV diagnosis.

Distraught, James said, he bought a bus ticket to Tijuana, planning to disappear. But the news spread quickly. In Mexico, he saw TV footage with a photo of him smirking as if, he said, he was smirking at the situation.

In Tijuana, James said, he tried to kill himself. After the attempt, he woke up days later in a hospital near San Diego. It took him months to recover, he said. He later found out that his mother learned about his diagnosis, and his porn career, on TV at her church.

In 2005, James sued the AIM clinic and several of its officials, alleging medical negligence and invasion of privacy. His suicide attempt and the turmoil caused by disclosure of his name are among the lawsuit's contentions. James and his attorney said the case settled out of court under terms that they not disclose the amount.

James said he recently started talking to public health officials and young adults about his experiences and is studying to become an HIV counselor. Other than a bad knee and bad back, James said, his health has remained good and his viral count is low.

James, who looks as if he is in his mid-30s rather than his mid-40s, has worked steadily as a security guard since recovering from his suicide attempt. He said his porn past and HIV-positive status have cost him some jobs when he is recognized, but he still wants to speak out. His story, he said, might get the attention of people who could require condom use on porn sets.

"That's why I want to come out and do a little more, if I can. And if it's just to help . . . just to get them to listen. Not to boast up porn, not at all, just to make people be aware that I got caught up, man. I thought I was invincible, and I got shot down so fast. . . . There's some really good people, and they want to change."

Asked whether he felt he was to blame for infecting the three women with whom he had performed, James said: "I don't know what to say on that one. I wish I could just go back and rewind that time. If it was just me and myself in place of them not having it, I would do that. But I can't."

Funny how the porn stars find themselves "invincible"...your banging more than one person a day. How the hell do you think you're invincible?

It's a tough lesson to learn but I hope that porn starts requiring the use of condoms.

Regardless, clinic officials said the woman should not have worked on June 5 since she had last tested negative April 29, outside the industry's voluntary requirement that performers show negative test results within the last 30 days.

Will people ever get how useless that is as a measure of "safety"??
A Piece of paper stating someone is Neg, is just that...a piece of paper.

Still, porn workers are les scary in terms of stds than your average joe, imo.

CarrieLee said:

You're exactly right. Especially when you're doing shoots in foreign
countries. Some of those girls are exotic and beautiful but you don't
know what kind of diseases some may be carrying or if they have been
prostituting prior to doing porn movies. In fact, i think i read somewhere
on line a couple of months ago that Darren James contracted Aids while
doing a shoot overseas.
[Edited 6/16/09 9:53am]

goodlookingmofo said:

Ha! Well I sure as hell DON'T want it!

JustErin said:

Well, pornstars still go out and fuck the average joe...

johnart said:

it is useless, and my thoughts were that it was less about safety and more that it was a measure to be able to tell who gave what to whom...
but I guess really the infection doesn't use a timetable to show up in your system. did they ever figure out where this guy picked it up?

i don't mind condoms in porn. i'm even kind of relieved for the actors when i see them in use.
except white condoms on black men lol... and I don't even know where you would find those black ones!

CarrieLee said:

Difference is that average joe usually doesn't get tested on a regular basis.

emm said:

It seems they they narrowed it doen 2 his Brazil encounter with a female who did some scenes with a shemale.

It just seems ridiculous to me and well, if you're having unprotected sex with ANYONE then you are at risk for ANYTHING.

Good luck with your herpes, hep C, genital warts and whatever else is out there. Yuck.

CarrieLee said:

whatever

we have been at it raw dog for thousands of years

don;t believe the hype

goodlookingmofo said:

Want me to ring up some stats on syphilis throughout the centuries?

STD's have always been killing people, it's just now that they've gotten worse.

goodlookingmofo said:

You would be happy to be injected with the virus then, for research purposes, if it is "harmless"?

we hula-hoop the same shyt eeryweek people!

you aint got no jobs! what the fuck else should you do??? aids is an occupational hazard. deal wit it.

goodlookingmofo said:

Unbelievable.

i feel kind of bad for him but still this man has to learn to live with it.

goodlookingmofo said:

I love the user name



But , um... what's the purpose of your post though?
It's better to err on the side of caution.


Though I disagree with Carrie that having sex with more than one person a day is bad. It actually decreases crime. I'm convinced I would have killed somebody if not for it.

Imago said:

You can still do it, just protect yourself! You're such an A-hole! hahahaa!

Imago said:

Imago,

It decrease crime huh? More like regulate the human population, according to Charles Darwin or "Darwinism" survival of the fittest, natural selection.

Whether on or off camera the risk of an STD is still there. Peeps should know the three physical risks of unprotected sex are catching an STD, passing it on to a partner and an unplanned pregnancy. Promiscuous peeps are at a higher risk but in saying that, no one is safe. I feel so sorry for peeps that end up with HIV/AIDS through no fault of their own i.e blood transfusion, stepping on infected needles that junkies leave behind etc.

Imago said:

[Snip - luv4u].

goodlookingmofo said:

No it isn't. Anyone that has done their research on the subject will already know that peeps develop AIDS because HIV has damaged their natural defences against disease. What makes HIV dangerous and not a SCAM is that it attacks the immune system (CD4 lymphocyte) which is the very thing that would normally get rid of a virus. HIV is known to be tricky cause it helps evade the body's defences, which includes very rapid and extreme mutation. Once HIV has taken hold, the immune system cannot get rid of it.

PanthaGirl said:

ya you tell em.

PanthaGirl said:

[Snip - luv4u]

goodlookingmofo said:

Where in Buddha's name did you here that??? HIV is what leads to AIDS I think YOU need to do your reseacrh sweetie.