Opinions on AIM by Darrah, Shelley Lubben, Don Houston, Mike South & more

Is AIM threatening the performers involved in the HIV scare?

by Darrah Ford of PornStarBabylon.wordpress.com & her commenters

Opinion/Editorial

Mike South has this to say:

“AIM is saying the producer director lied about calling them and getting a green light and that they made no mistakes, but they wont release his name and they have reportedly threatened him with legal action if he talks. They have also reportedly threatened the performers if they come forward.”

Do I believe Sharon Mitchell & AIM or do I believe Mike South? In this case, I believe Mike South. Since he knows more about what the hell is going on than what I know by the few people in the industry who tell me things, I have to go by what he’s saying.

Why on Earth would AIM threaten to sue the performers involved if they came forward? Many believed AIM wasn’t releasing names so they wouldn’t be sued again like they were by Darren James after he was diagnosed with HIV back in 2004. Many are saying all the performers involved should come forward and say I’m the woman who is HIV positive and I am the men so far testing negative. But if there was a way that only the industry knows and not the mainstream press, blogs, and forums, then go ahead and release the names. But you’re opening a whole new can of worms if you allow the identities of the performers involved to be made public for the world to know. What other industry outs their employees who are HIV positive for the outside world to know?

For AIM to threaten the performers, directors, and producers involved makes me believe that the blame for most of this lies at AIM’s doorstep. What could they say about AIM that would make AIM threaten to sue? So many are easy to blame the woman infected. But she was allowed to work with an old test. It’s now appearing that she is a new performer in this industry and this was her very first test. So she may not have known all the rules and protocol when it comes to being in this business.

The one with the least power in all of this are the performers involved. She was allowed to continue working. This woman’s life is crumbling around her now and to add insult to injury, the people to blame for causing most of this are threatening her if she comes forward and tells her story.

7 Comments on “Is AIM threatening the performers involved in the HIV scare?”
Shelley Lubben Says:

Thanks Darrah for being bold and going after the truth. I’ll be watching AIM VERY CLOSELY.

***

frog Says:
Shelley? You getting a bit big in the head?

Darrah Ford Says:
You don’t think she knows more than she says?

Harvey Dent Says:
Shelley is in regular contact with about 100 performers, Shelley is sometimes a bit to enthusiastic and I got to know who some of them might be by being the Mentalist and paying attention. Some people might fall backyards if they know who they are. So Shelley`s knows. At least the talent version of events.

frog Says:
You don’t think she knows more than she says? I was just poking fun at her. The whole, “I’ll take down AIM!!”, if she comes back, I bet she admits she was getting a little big in the britches.

Don Houston Says:
Shelly may well have some dirt on AIM but if it were one tenth as incriminating as she seems to think it is, she’d have used it already. There are plenty of reasons to fuss at AIM, Mitchell, and those so supportive of the near monopoly the organization enjoys (like “Billy/harold”) and I’d be lying if I said I thought the government would do a better job, but it’d be better to reform the organization than start anew given how disorganized the industry seems to be.

Don Houston Says:
“Do I believe Sharon Mitchell & AIM or do I believe Mike South?”
Each has a personal agenda and is therefore suspect so settle for choosing the lesser evil?

“Why on Earth would AIM threaten to sue the performers involved if they came forward?”

Whenever you have a monopoly that can harm your career, you tread lightly. Several of the biggest companies in porn have publicly stated they believe in AIM/Mitchell so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out there could be consequences for insider critics of AIM. Mike is known to “embellish” at least as much as anyone at AIM (yes, even “her”) so maybe it was less of a treat about legal action than more subtle forms of action.

“What other industry outs their employees who are HIV positive for the outside world to know?”

The entire entertainment industry for one.

Regardless, there are various laws regarding disclosure of communicable diseases but AIM might want to update their waiver to allow for immediate disclosure if they want to upgrade their image. Given the way so few performers keep up with events impacting their careers, they might want to make announcements on Twitter, MySpace, email, phone, or other means too; at least a “needs retesting” status for those initial tests.