Female Porn Model Does Not Want To Do Scenes With Men Who Have Had Sex With Other Men

[+ robear]

A clarification re the Gilead Copay Program, for which PrEP prescriptions are eligible EXCEPT the following as quoted from the program's website:

 

the card is valid only for patients with commercial insurance and is not valid for prescriptions that are eligible to be reimbursed:

• in whole or part, by medicare, medicaid or a medicare part d plan, tricare, va, dod, puerto rico government health insurance plan ("healthcare reform"), or any other federal or state-funded healthcare benefit program (collectively, "government programs")
  
• or by commercial plans or other health or pharmacy benefit programs that reimburse for the entire cost of prescription drugs.
  

[+ sniper]

Everyone is eligible for the program through Gilead. Gilead does not have a co-pay program for MS drugs because they do not manufacture MS drugs so obviously their programs would not assist your sister.

I was told by a friend that Gilead covered $3600 a year towards it. He has a $6000 deductible on his plan. So it's not covering every penny(though that's a not insignificant amount of assistance). And I knew it wasn't Gilead for MS drugs, I was just saying that the fact there's an assistance program doesn't mean everyone is eligible.

[MikeyGMin]

I was told by a friend that Gilead covered $3600 a year towards it. He has a $6000 deductible on his plan. So it's not covering every penny(though that's a not insignificant amount of assistance). And I knew it wasn't Gilead for MS drugs, I was just saying that the fact there's an assistance program doesn't mean everyone is eligible.

Mine ends up being "free" because I have a low deductible and Gilead picks up the co-pay, but I do pay a pretty penny for that insurance policy.

 

Austin has a PrEP Access Project that I haven't had to use, but my doctor is right next door and volunteers. He said they can get the meds to anybody at any income level based on a sliding scale determined by ability to pay. I can't believe this program is unique to Austin.

 

It's not going to be right for everyone, but I would think that for a sex worker the benefit far outweighs the risk.

[jawjateck]

This whole episode is disturbing and shocking on so many levels. I don't know much about the porn industry (gay or straight), but I know alot about our industry, and if you want to talk about ignorance and misinformation, it is right on our doorstep. Many providers I've met over the past few years are clueless about crucial health matters, precautions, testing, medical advances, immunizations, risk factors, transmission pathways of HIV or other STDs, long-term health risks of untreated conditions, etc. For almost 20 years, we've witnessed ignorance of these important matters, whether willful, unintentional, or misinformed, spill out openly on this forum. But I can't remember a charge of "bigotry" being leveled against an ill-informed community member.

 

Until now, I never considered that a female bisexual porn star would be so "homophobic" against gay men. Wow, was I wrong, but now I'm woke! :mad: (NOTE: in case you cannot tell, my snark is off the charts right now!)

[+ sniper]

Strange exchange on this thread.

 

If the story is true, and that's a big if these days, it's truly sad that a 23-year-old could not step away from all electronic devices and ignore cyber bullying. Suicide over something so entirely meaningless is a waste I can't fathom. But then again, I have no idea what it's like to be a 23-year-old who works in the porn industry.

 

If I was an aspiring porn star, I have a feeling I'd be picky about my scene partners, and I'd want to do everything I could to make sure my partner met a certain standard of proven good health. I hear some studios bust their ass for safety. Others, not so much. Porn is a risky business, probably because a lot of people prefer to remain uninformed about health and safety.

 

The woman had a history of bipolar disorder and depression. While I don't think the people who berated her are responsible for her actions, I do think telling someone to kill themself is reprehensible, and Jaxton Wheeler, whose supposed best friend suffered from depression and blew his brains out not too long ago, should have known better.

[+ sniper]

This whole episode is disturbing and shocking on so many levels. I don't know much about the porn industry (gay or straight), but I know alot about our industry, and if you want to talk about ignorance and misinformation, it is right on our doorstep. Many providers I've met over the past few years are clueless about crucial health matters, precautions, testing, medical advances, immunizations, risk factors, transmission pathways of HIV or other STDs, long-term health risks of untreated conditions, etc. For almost 20 years, we've witnessed ignorance of these important matters, whether willful, unintentional, or misinformed, spill out openly on this forum. But I can't remember a charge of "bigotry" being leveled against an ill-informed community member.

 

Until now, I never considered that a female bisexual porn star would be so "homophobic" against gay men. Wow, was I wrong, but now I'm woke! :mad: (NOTE: in case you cannot tell, my snark is off the charts right now!)

A lot of people in the sex industry seem to have grown up in states with deliberately-misleading abstinence-only sex ed. It's not that suprising to me they are on average less informed. Yes, the brighter ones figure stuff out, but for lots of people research isn't really their thing and they assume what they are told is the truth.

[Killian]

I saw nothing wrong with the tweet and understand her POV. Her body her say for WHATEVER reason. I could tell you the costars I said no to but that might be dangerous lol. She could of turned this into an amazing opportunity for a PR event for herself and be alive to enjoy it. No one kills themselves over backlash from a tweet like that, unless there was some industry black listing going on? However I don't see that happening over this. Clearly she had other issues going on that were extremely deep and probably fueled by drugs, but that isn't a shocker. This is a business where people are using the superficial to earn a living. A living defines most of us. She didn't love herself. LOVE yourself, and remember, its only fucking twitter.

[samhexum]

Spoiler Alert: This story is a preview of “The Last Days of August,” a new “Serial”-style podcast from journalist Jon Ronson which will be released on Audible on January 3.

 

On December 5, 2017, the body of 23-year-old porn superstar August Ames was found in a park near Los Angeles. The cause of death was asphyxiation from hanging.

 

A brutally simple narrative quickly formed around her suicide. Cyberbullies, the story went, drove Ames to kill herself after she tweeted about not wanting to work with “crossover” male porn stars who also made gay porn.

 

“The Last Days of August” rewrites the story of Ames’ death. Ronson’s broader version of events shifts the blame away from cyberbullies and instead places the tweetstorm and Ames’ death within a longer timeline of disturbing events. At the same time, it contextualizes porn stars Jessica Drake and Jaxton Wheeler, two of the major villains from the original narrative, while discovering new actors and events which helped push Ames over the edge.

 

In one particularly harrowing portion of the seven-episode podcast series, Ronson and his producer Lena Misitzis dissect Ames’ final porn scene which was shot weeks before the flurry of tweets and has never been released to the public. They make the argument that her last scene was the real trigger for her suicide.

 

“When you think about it what we were watching in that moment was the moment that she decided to die. That’s what we were watching and it’s awful,” Ronson told The Post. “That was the truth of it, that was the moment when she reached the point of no return. The Twitter bullying may have been the icing on the cake as some people described it.”

 

Ronson and Misitzis felt comfortable coming to this conclusion because they were able to get access to text messages Ames sent to a friend about the scene.

 

The podcasters also took a deep dive into Ames’ (real name Mercedes Grabowski) troubled childhood, cross-examined her husband, porn producer Kevin Moore, and broke down the decline in Ames’ mental health during the final days of her life.

 

Before any of that, however, Ronson and Misitzis establish their bonafides by taking an ax to two of the main pillars of the cyberbullying storyline.

 

That story, which was pushed by Ames’ husband Moore, began on December 3 when Ames tweeted: “Whichever (lady) performer is replacing me tomorrow for @EroticaXNews, you’re shooting with a guy who has shot gay porn, just to let cha know. BS is all I can say… Do agents really not care about who they’re representing?… I do my homework for my body.”

 

Trying to clarify her position she later added: “NOT homophobic. Most girls don’t shoot with guys who have shot gay porn, for safety. That’s just how it is with me. I’m not putting my body at risk, i don’t know what they do in their private

lives.”

 

The following day Jessica Drake, a longtime and respected porn star who has accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, took to Twitter to offer a rebuke of Ames’ position.

 

“Performers, by all means, f–k who you want to f–k…but if you’re eliminating folks based on the fact they they (sic) may have done gay or crossover work, your logic is seriously flawed. reality is, WE DON’T KNOW who does what with whom when there are no cameras.”

 

In a manifesto published on Ames’ website six days after her death, Moore explicitly blamed his wife’s death on Drake and gay porn star Jaxton Wheeler who, on December 5, tweeted: “@AugustAmesxxx the world is awaiting your apology or for you to swallow a cyanide pill. Either or we’ll take it.”

 

At the Adult Video News Awards — porn’s version of the Oscars — which were held on January 27, 2018, Moore stood before the entire industry and declared, “Who you work with is up to you. It’s your body, it’s your choice. No agent, no producer, no company, and certainly not social media, decides what you do with your body.”

 

The audience thunderously applauded Moore for his speech and some of the assembled porn stars wore t-shirts in memory of Ames.

 

Awkwardly, Drake attended the AVNs and was in the audience when Moore made his speech.

Ronson, who wrote a book called “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed,” on the early days of cyberbullying, dissects Moore’s version of events with the precision of a surgeon.

 

For example, Ronson points out that a close reading of Drake’s tweet reveals it to be relatively benign. Drake doesn’t condemn Ames or even call her out by name. Drake simply gives an alternative point of view on Ames’ health concerns.

 

Ronson also highlights the fact that Drake was not acting with ill-intent and could not have known the effect her words may or may not have had on Ames. Drake issued a heartfelt apology nonetheless, three days after Ames’ death, and in a rare interview tearfully revealed to Ronson that she, ironically, was now the subject of intense internet bullying.

 

Ronson’s reframing of Wheeler’s indefensible tweet is even simpler. Wheeler sent his appalling message telling Ames’ to “swallow a cyanide pill” in the early hours of December 5. Ames’ final tweet, a simple “f–k y’all,” was sent on August 4 and her body wasn’t found till December 5. Wheeler’s tweet, Ronson figured out, was sent after Ames’ had already taken her own life.

 

“The Last Days of August” is full of details like these that Ronson and Misitzis dug up, which create a portrait of Ames that is harrowing, heartbreaking and inspiring all at the same time.

 

Despite surviving childhood sexual traumas, Ames moved to Los Angeles by herself and for all intents and purposes conquered porn. In her five-year career, she shot nearly 300 scenes and was nominated for Female Performer of the Year three times at the AVNs. She was also a fan favorite not only because of her pure natural beauty but also because of her bubbly onscreen personality and exuberant sexuality. She was quite simply a joy to watch.

 

At the end of the podcast series, Ronson and Misitzis laser-in on the Ames’ final scene because it was so clearly outside her upbeat comfort zone. Performing with 30-year-old Russian porn star Markus Dupree, who is known for his domineering style, Ames was pushed to her sexual limits and possibly beyond.

 

In text messages to a friend, Ronson and Misitzis found Ames described Dupree going “full on War Machine.” This is a reference to Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver a professional fighter turned porn star who is serving a life sentence for beating his ex-girlfriend, porn star Christy Mack, within an inch of her life.

 

Both Ronson and Misitzis told The Post that watching the scene was one of the hardest parts of the entire project and in listening to Misitzis’ description of its contents, it is easy to understand why.

 

“On more than one occasion in the footage, Marcus forcefully repositions August which visibly startles her,” Misitzis says in the final episode of the podcast. “She says ‘whoa s–t!’ and at one point Marcus picks up her pink thong, stretches it around her head, jerks her around by it, and then shoves it in her mouth.”

 

“At the end of her scene, August is interviewed by a crewmember to establish consent for legal purposes. She’s staring straight into the camera, holding up her check for the day’s work, her makeup’s gone and her hair is pulled back, she looks resigned and emotional and hollow all at once. ‘Were you treated OK?’ she’s asked. And flatly, and quietly she says, ‘yes.’ For the first time in this footage, all the camera is focused on is August’s face and she seems like she’s verging on tears.”

 

Six weeks later, Ames killed herself.

 

Around the same time, four other female porn stars lost their lives to drug overdoses or under mysterious circumstances.

 

Moore tried to provide a wake-up call for the industry at the 2018 AVNs. At the same award show, Dupree won Male Performer of the Year. In the past 12 months, he has shot well over 200 scenes and picked up nine nominations for this year’s AVNs. Once again, he is nominated for Male Performer of the Year.

 

The porn machine stops for no one. Consumers, Ronson told the Post, don’t care about the industry’s problems “because of their own shame about watching porn and not wanting to think about the life of the people in the porn business.”

 

“You don’t want to think of those people as a human but it’s for your own reason not there’s.”

 

The more people learn about the porn industry the less sexy it becomes.