Adult film actor Rod Daily has revealed that he’s tested positive for HIV two weeks after a moratorium was issued on all production in the porn industry. Daily, who performs in mostly gay scenes, is the second performer to test positive since the temporary shutdown — the first being his girlfriend, Cameron Bay.
Daily revealed his results via Twitter:
Drumroll please!! I’m 32 years old and I’m HIV positive. Acute HIV, which means I recently was infected. For that I am blessed
— Rod Daily (@Rod_Daily) September 3, 2013
With the tests I have done the doctors have figured out that I was infected within the last month.
— Rod Daily (@Rod_Daily) September 3, 2013
Both Bay and Daily work for Kink.com, whose chief executive Peter Acworth says industry standards for testing are rigorous. The industry’s trade association, the Free Speech Coalition — which issued the moratorium — requires testing every 28 days, though its considering shifting to every 14 days. Actors in gay scenes are required to wear condoms; actors in straight scenes are not, but testing is mandatory.
Despite the double standard for gay and straight performers, Acworth tells SF Gate that Daily most likely spread the virus to Bay. “We can say with some degree of confidence that there was no transmission on set” involving Daily, Acworth said. “Rod Daily wore condoms in all his scenes. The strong indication is that Rod contracted it and transmitted it to Cameron Bay.”
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Acworth says that Bay’s last shoot was on July 31 and that her onscreen partners have since tested negative. According to a reader — who first alerted us to the news — Rod did at least two gay scenes for Kink in August and at least one with a trans female. He also did a heterosexual scene around the same time.
The moratorium has since been lifted, but Bay’s and Daily’s diagnoses come as the debate over condom use in the porn industry heats up once again. Last year, Los Angeles County passed a measure requiring all adult film actors to wear condoms, though some companies flout the law by shooting outside county lines. Industry leaders are fighting the measure in court, but last week the AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a complaint with California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, calling for Kink.com to mandate condom use in all scenes.
Photo: Andrew Christian
tsukasaokinawa
LITERALLY, “OH FUCK!”
Scribe38
Sorry to hear this happen to anyone. No one should be bare-backing in adult films. The cash just isn’t worth the risk. Wish him and his girl the best.
oilburner
Wow I’m shocked lol I gotta hand it to this dude he seems hardly shocked or concerned with his diagnosis. Hopefully more people or “PORN STARS” are able to handle news like this as easily.
Fitz
Now he keep making great BB films!
Jayson
I think the part about him having a girlfriend shocked me more than his contracting HIV! It’s so funny how people seemed shocked that someone who has sex (including risky sex) with multiple partners for a living can contract HIV.
hyhybt
The part about its being a blessing sounds odd. OK, knowing so early is better than finding out years down the road, but still…
danonce
From what i know he didn’t do bareback on gay scene. And his girlfriend announced her HIV positive just a week ago. Don’t blame gay porn for every actor getting HIV. Maybe he’s an escort, or get it from his girlfriend or straight porn. What they said about testing in straight porn is untrusted.
Brian
Peter Acworth appears to be protecting a promiscuous bisexual woman at the expense of a promiscuous bisexual man. His attitude appears to reflect a general homophobic attitude towards men who have sex with both men and women.
Don’t forget that the straight porn industry will always seek to blame bisexual men for HIV transmission. Bisexual women are a staple of ‘straight’ porn, and must not be blamed for anything. Even if these women spread the virus, the bigots of straight porn will always link the virus back to a bisexual male as if the bisexual male invented the virus.
keep it real
Here we go again so sad….
Brian
Another example of the selective homophobia of the straight porn industry is how it protects females who receive anal sex at the expense of males who receive anal sex. If you’re a woman, you’re a goddess who can do no wrong. If you’re a man, you’re a disease-spreading fa’g.
Being a bisexual female who loves anal sex gives you a certain exalted status within the straight iindustry.
krystalkleer
and this is news b-e-c-a-u-s-e??? http://getoffmydress.blogspot.com/2013/09/neurotica.html
Wilbready
Color me confused, he has to wear condom and her partners do not wear them; but HE infected HER? Who wrote this and where is the logic? Are they saying that He got HIV from oral then? Are they saying that she cannot get HIV from oral?
This Acworth clown is a fool.
Mr. E. Jones
@Wilbready:
Agreed, Wilbready.
Acworth tells SF Gate that Daily most likely spread the disease to Bay.
Bullshit. Rod Daily was neg for 8 years. Hooks up with a woman who has unprotected sex with multiple men on camera, and now Daily is positive. This is more homophobic bullshit scapegoating gay men. Daily ALWAYS used condoms. His GF never did. Who is more likely to get infected?
Dev.C
Rod Daily irritates the hell out of me. He’s a sh*t sturer and a complete slut. I think he’s appealing to most guys in the industry because he’s Bisexual, which he of course rather not be labeled as. On top of being a pretentious tool, now he’s a positive pretentious tool, I guess that means he will be moving on over to Treasure Island Media.
the other Greg
@hyhybt: “The part about its being a blessing sounds odd.”
It does, but I can guess where it comes from. The social workers have probably already got him reading POZ Magazine where it seems like every first-person story is “AIDS is the best thing that ever happened to me!” … (because it got them into “recovery,” or made them more “spiritual,” or some such horse sh1t).
Apparently none of these people have ever pondered mortality before, or had a relative or friend die of any other cause before, or for that matter ever had any kind of self-reflective thought, before becoming infected with HIV. He probably fits this pattern!
GeriHew
I think Rod Daily will quit porn performing altogether now. His girlfriend has had to quit. He won’t be allowed to work with females or trans females any more. I don’t think he will try and continue with the gay studios that allow HIV+ performers to work.
After she got it, I feel that he was quite possibly strangely relieved when he tested positive too.
CaptainFabulous
@the other Greg: It comes from him knowing he was infected within the past month, which gives him an excellent chance of eradicating it if they bombard him with antivirals.
Bloody hell all you queens are so fucking pretentious and self-righteous.
the other Greg
@CaptainFabulous: Hi, Captain Gonorrhea, I was wondering when you would chime in!
Katbox
@danonce: He was/is an escort. One of his tweets:
“tuesday is coming and like I said nothing is in my control now. I was in control but I relied on a test and not a condom. That’s my fault.”
So maybe he barebacked with a client….
Stache1
@the other Greg: Your exaggerating to make your asshole point. If people get their shit together because of this that’s a good thing.
I believe he meant since he was infected in the last month there’s at least no unknowns. He didn’t mean it as good thing over all though. Just better to know.
CaptainFabulous
@the other Greg: I usually wait till some asshole says something ridiculously stupid and then swoop in to drop some bird shit on them. No different this time.
sportsguy1983
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
the other Greg
@CaptainFabulous: Hey, Captain Gonorrhea – somebody just said something BAD about barebacking! (#19). Time for you to zoom in and do that bird shit thing!
mlbumiller
a>@Mr. E. Jones: Thats right…havenet seen any genetic testing that shows that they even have the same strain of the virus. The need to be testing of partners of both of them from the last 6months to a year. It can take that long to sero convert but still infect people.
uppermarket
@the other Greg:
So what if POZ magazine has stories in it as you say, there are a billion other resources, maybe a medical journal perhaps, for people to better understand the science. And seriously, deducing that all stories have to do with “AIDS is the best thing that happened to me”.. that sounds like a fake quote someone would make up who has absolutely NO idea what the difference is between being HIV+ and having AIDS. Yes, many stories I’ve read in there show HIV/AIDS in a optimistic light (that’s the point), but they preface that view with the troubling journey it took them to get there.
Mr. E. Jones
@Katbox:
Maybe he barebacked with his GF. It appears from his tweets they never used condoms. He trusted HER test, rather than using a condom. He’s really going out of his way to protect his GF, but 5 will get you 10 she infected him.
Stache1
@sportsguy1983: Sweety that’s cute but it means people that use violence against others. Learn to make better analogies.
Dxley
Such a gorgeous man, I feel sorry for him. Who goes around fucking guys without protection? We all know it feels better but WTF. Sometimes gay guys are simply stupid. End o story!!!
Dxley
…of*…
Franco C.
Sad news. It seems like such a risky life, but if it makes them happy, and others too, then I guess they accept the risk.
viveutvivas
Of the two, who is the one who does the bareback porn? The girlfriend of course. Yet HE “probably” infected HER? WTF?
And “girlfriend”? WTF?
Brian
Like I said, the straight porn business will always paint bisexual men as ‘bad’ and bisexual women as ‘good’. Bisexual women, no matter how promiscuous and reckless, are a staple of straight porn and must not be blamed for anything.
Kink often encourages women to have sex with women for the benefit of men.
Pistolo
So there’s a pretty good chance transmission of the virus was through heterosexual sex? Worth noting. I know some straight people who think they’re immortal or something, have sex without a condom all the time. I get the sense that when I say something about it some think I’m being over-protective and paranoid and that I have more reason to be because I’m gay. But HIV is indiscriminate. And if people didn’t fear getting knocked up, AIDS would’ve wiped us out by now. Wear. A. Condom.
And donate to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS foundation. If one of us has HIV, we ALL have it as a human race.
GeriHew
@viveutvivas: RE: “girlfriend”? WTF? You don’t really expect porn performers not to be bisexual do you? Because most of them are to some degree.
Anyway. Whether she infected him or he infected her if they as a couple somehow got infected through their porn work then he, as mainly gay performer, is much more likely to have performed with another male performer who is HIV+ and hasn’t been detected yet than she is to have performed with an HIV+ performer of any gender who hasn’t been detected yet.
Kink boss Acworth knows this only to well.
The porn industry should be treating all performers – male, female, trans, straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, whatever – equally and testing them all regularly for STDs. But they’re not. A lot of gay male performers hardly get tested at all unless they also work with women.
Polaro
Anyone who sleeps with a sex worker without a condom is taking a huge risk. I have no problem with sleeping with sex workers…but be serious about the risks.
Polaro
OK…screw Queerty’s auto block software. It is seriously broken and irritating.
Cam
If he uses condoms in his scenes and she doesn’t it seems as if she could have been the one to give it to him rather than automatically assuming he gave it to her as Willbready and E Jones stated.
Carlton Raines
Let’s face it porn stars are vile, they are not good advocates for people who are gay,It’s a shame that so much of the gay culture is about sex, It does nothing for our fight for equality,And yet another one falling down with disease harms us further,Anyone who sleeps with someone without safe sex deserve’s all they get and no sympathy.
Dxley
The sad queens still at it -_- *sighs*
EManhattan
@Carlton Raines: How astonishing that you know all porn stars well enough to evaluate their personalities like that. How can you afford to spend so much time getting to know them? Most of us have to work to support ourselves.
And how interesting that you believe that Gay people should spend much less of our time on sex than non-Gay people do (they’re notorious sluts, as you know from meeting all those straight porn stars), since we can’t be equal with them unless we deny ourselves things they take as their rights.
How very insightful, yet self-hating and wrong, you are.
Carlton Raines
Yes I ag@EManhattan: Yes I agree in part, all porn stars, gay or straight, but discrimination feeds on the format we serve,and some people out there believe all gay people are camp and sleep around,this it is not the case, people should be able to do what they want, but be aware of the impact of their actions, and having sex in the street,and sex parties in the Usa etc that porn stars do, and bare backing on the rise, this does nothing to fight off the gay killings,and homophobia around the world,Look at Russia, straights can do anything, but not people who are Gay,and in Africa Aids is 99% spread by straights, yet Gay people are the one’s killed {not straights].To get equality,we need positive promotion of who we are,not a side that will drag us down further, and after all we all have our opinions,and the right to them good or bad.But thanks for you’r reply
Mr. E. Jones
@GeriHew:
he, as mainly gay performer, is much more likely to have performed with another male performer who is HIV+ and hasn’t been detected yet than she is to have performed with an HIV+ performer of any gender
Daily stated in a tweet that he “trusted a test rather than a condom”. Clearly he believe his GF was neg when they were having unprotected sex, and is now HIV+. Daily went for 8 years HIV- and didn’t get infected until he started doing scenes with women, and got himself a pron star GF. He’s clearly protecting her, but it’s obvious he became infected because of her.
BlogZilla
For that he is blessed??? What a koo-koo clock. The brains cells are lacking for those in this profession. That’s why most of them are doing this kind of work in the first place
Dev.C
Regardless of all this extra chatter from everyone, at the end of the day Rod Daily is a Creep and a Clown, and it looks like life got the last laugh, THE END.
Brian
AIDS is a syndrome, not a disease. That’s why it’s called acquired immune deficiency SYNDROME. A syndrome is a sign of many illnesses put together.
Having HIV does not mean you are going to get AIDS. Magic Johnson has had HIV for 22 years and has never progressed to AIDS.
the other Greg
@Brian: Yes, of course, but the HIV infection is a prerequisite.
GeriHew
@Mr. E. Jones: Daily has been doing scenes with women for at least three years. He did at least four scenes with women when he was a Next Door Entertainment contract star. There are at least 4 scenes with women on his Next Door Entertainment membership website for which he has shot no new content since last year. One of the scenes on his website is a MMF threesome with Crissy Moon, and she actually died in May 2011.
He stated in a video interview in 2010 that he doesn’t like to label his sexuality. And, also that he only dates women in his private life. I’ve heard that he has dated at least one other female performer before Cameron Bay, who he has apparently been with for the last six months. I suspect he’s likely dated several female porn performers in the last 8 years since he started out doing porn. It’s quite possible that he’s only dated female porn performers since he’s been doing porn.
mikeandrewsdantescove
Rod Daily appeared in one of my music videos. It was produced by Drake Rock.
He appeared on You Tube talking about being straight. Nick Capra asked him what the deal was with his sexuality. The response was gay for pay.
Mike Andrews
Sex (Rod Daily)
I t u n e s
Dev.C
@mikeandrewsdantescove:
Thank You Gay4Payer $$$$
Why is he even worth a heated discussion? If anything thing this should encourage gay men to STOP F**king straight
boys. Award Daily with a Tool of the Year award and call it a day.
Brian
theothergreg,
Actually, you are wrong. The human body does not need to contain HIV in order for it to be immune-deficient. There are lots of people throughout the world who don’t have HIV but are immune-deficient.
LeNair Xavier
@Jayson: The hypocrisy and shock over porn actors getting HIV is mind boggling. It’s stupidity stemming from people being gullible enough to believe the “disclaimers” the porn company’s PR machines put out to the “news” sites, then they to the public.
And as a former performer, I have seen A LOT of b.s. fly from porn studios.
mlbumiller
@the other Greg: My partner sero converted in 1990 was dianosed with AIDS in 1997 since the AZT was no longer helping keeping the his CD4 count about 200 and he had a nasty case of shingles for over two months. Saving grace was soon after Crixivan(r)(first protase inhib) was available. Seven times since he has gone into treatment failer and lucky there was a new med combo to tried that worked for him. The is alway the threat that the drug companies will not have something new to try. Today he might not have been dianosed with AIDS, that doesnt not mean it is as easy as belting down some pills 2-3 times a day. Most of the meds give you diarrhea, gastric upset, headaches and nausea. The inhibtors and hiv cause you to loose body fat; great until the fat pad in you feet are so thin that walking even with shoes causes pain… and the fat on your a$$ does the same. We still do not know what long term treatent and the virus will do. He his have more and more congnative problems, they do not know if it is the long term use of protease inhibators or maybe the virus. He has had to go off medications because they have caused liver or kidney problems. It might be a cronic desease.
Icebloo
As usual it’s time to blame the gays ! They are assuming Rod got infected from a gay sex encounter even though he is BISEXUAL !
It’s sad for anyone to become infected with this awful disease but if someone chooses to work in a high risk profession such as this then they have to expect it will catch up with them sometime – just look how many gay porn stars killed themselves in the last year alone. Suicide or disease – the choice is yours porn “stars” !
Stache1
Wow. I can’t believe this turned into a war. I guess anytime you combine subjects of porn star and/or HIV it sets some queens off good with self righteous BS. Entertaining at least.
Dev.C
Oh please being a Porn Star has nothing to do with having bad quality of life. Francois Sagat and Harry Louis both exited the industry gracefully to do bigger and better things. It’s complete nonsense to assume that because you are a porn star you will end up Like Rod Daily are the numerous amount of people who killed themselves before the country started changing for the better (depending on who you talk to).
Rod Daily like Cody Cummings and Johnny Rapid etc. all use gay men as much as they are used by creeper studio execs in order to make a bunch of money and get off however they please.
Being a Porn Star is nothing to be ashamed of, but I despise gay4payers who perpetuate a chosen sexuality, with no responsibility of how they make gay society look. This infatuation gay men have with wanting straight men and wanting to appear as if they are straight is dumbfounding to me.
Gay for Pay is bad and this case of HIV crossing over into the gay porn industry due to another careless delusional closet case should speak volumes.
I say enough of the self shamming and unrealistic fantasies about turning or making heterosexuals want us, It’s old and boring and it’s time for us all to grow the hell up as a society.
seaguy
@Carlton Raines: what’s vile is people like you filled with so much hate for others!
Brian
There is no such thing as a porn star. These porn performers are prostitutes, not stars.
Female bisexuality is a staple of straight porn. This is why bisexual women are a protected species. If they are guilty of spreading STD’s, the spin is that it was a man who gave it to them. This is why, whenever there’s a HIV outbreak, the porn representatives scapegoat bisexual male performers.
It’s a nasty, homophobic industry populated by the dregs of society.
hydeparkantiques
the whole gay industry has got to stop un protected anal sex. enough already. read the profiles on adam 4 adam, drugs, booze 21 year old hiv infected guys……this epidemic will never stop why idiots are bare backing.
Brian
hydeparkantiques,
Actually, anal sex is not the problem. It is anal sex within the context of promiscuity that is the problem.
Two healthy men can have as much bareback anal sex with each other as they please. There is no risk at all.
Franco C.
I don’t quite understand why so many people treat the subject of HIV with a casual wave of the hand. Though it is a chronic disease, it is a complex one, that requires medication with major negative, lingering side effects. The Toronto Star recently published a series of articles about men who have lived with HIV for over 20 years who now live in nursing homes, their quality of life limited, worse than an elderly resident. This is something that people should be paying attention to. Living responsibly is important to ensure quality of life, and though I support people’s right to sexual freedom, they have a responsibility to not only themselves but the people whom they have sex with. We need to continue to take HIV seriously, and understand that its complexities which are vast, and wide reaching. Josh Weston recently passed away from complication related to his HIV infection. He was 39. This is sobering news, and should not be taken lightly. I am sure that Rod will be fine, and I hope that he protects himself and his partners in the future. There is more to life than sex, and perhaps he will find an occupation that does not limit him to an object.
http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2011/02/27/when_hiv_moves_into_nursing_homes.html
Franco C.
@Franco C.: Whoops, I meant to write “and understand that its complexities are vast, and wide reaching.” I included an “which” that had no place in the sentence!
dpinvogue
@mlbumiller: You said: Today he might not have been dianosed with AIDS, that doesnt not mean it is as easy as belting down some pills 2-3 times a day.
I think your information is quite outdated. When tri-therapy became the standard of treatment in the late ’90s, HIV patients had to swallow several pills several times a day, some of which resulted in severe diarrhea, vomiting, weird and frightening dreams, and other side effects. The pioneers who took part in the trials, and the early should be lauded because they had to endure these extremely harsh side effects.
By 2007, I started taking three pills once a day. As of 2013, I am under the ‘old’ regimen. A friend who recently seroconverted takes one pill a day. The there is another friend who has never taken medication because his cd4s are good and his viral load is extremely low. Each patient has a different case history. Some, like your life partner, has a damaged liver from AZT, and remains susceptible to the side effects of any new medication. Your partner should talk to his doctor about starting a new regimen with meds that have fewer side effects.
mlbumiller also said that “The is alway the threat that the drug companies will not have something new to try”. A particular medication may fail but there are endless combinations of different meds these days, and there are studies using the HIV viral particles of people taking part in the studies and culturing CD4 and CD8 cells with the viral particles in order to create a super cell which will combat the virus, so the patient is no longer dependent on meds. All these trials are taking place in the Western world, and increasingly, in places such as China. What does that have to do with PWAS in Asia and Africa? Nothing at all… life with HIV\AIDS is still very difficult for most people in the world. But being HIV is no longer the death sentence it was in the Western world.
dpinvogue
I forgot to add this: there are no simple solution to being HIV+. You must take your meds every day, for the rest of your life, get recuperative sleep and eat well. Alcohol must be taken in moderation, and if you like “partying”, it means you have to take steps to get yourself into treatment, attend NA meetings, and get yourself off drugs, which is no mean feat. You have to invest your time in yourself, like yourself a little better and treat your health like it is the most important thing to you, because it is. Long life is guaranteed to no one, but I have met and talked to people who have been living with HIV since the 1980s, and they take nothing for granted, and believe me, most people who are HIV+ do not dismiss it with the casual wave of the hand, like one of the commentators suggested. I suppose we PLWAs should wear black rags, and wave a bell, shouting “unclean…..POZ person!!!” wherever we go, for it seems to be the only thing that will satisfy some people. Isn’t it enough that people are living, and sometimes living much longer with lesser side effects than before? For every patient suffering from the long term effects of AZT there are patients who are doing well, exercise regularly, and doing all the right things health-wise but that would not sell newspapers, would it, with their “if it bleeds, it leads” attitude.
jckfmsincty
Is he eligible for workmen’s compensation?
Stache1
@dpinvogue: Well, judging by his attitude and writing skills I’d say none of that would seem to be likely scenarios. Unless of coarse they give out diplomas these days for talking out of your ass.
CarolynHoward
my Aunty Isla recently got a fantastic silver Hyundai Elantra Sedan just by working online with a computer… you can look here… tr.im/4cj2g
Freddyeddy
Infant Circumcision Benefit Researchers designed studies to prove their theory that HIV enters through both the male and female prepuces,(foreskin, labia and clitoral hood. They accidently disproved their theory. showing that Langerin protiens produced in the Langerhan’s cells located in both sexes prepuces kill HIV. Their new theory is HIV can still infect intact or circumcised men or women through the mucosal cells in our urethra, as a UTI. Still, HIV+ blood, semen, and vaginal fluids infecting open wounds in/on the epidurmis/skin, from excision surgeries and rough sex, are the #1 cause of the spread of HIV. The glans of the circumcised penis become keratinized with age, with a rougher surface for causing more vaginal and anal erosion for easy access of HIV and other STD’s, while also increasing the time it takes the man to climax. Vigorous testing may be helping to spread the virus. There is also a possibility that if HIV is really capable of entering throught mucosal cells, that it is spread like the common cold and flu virus, from a sneeze.
hyhybt
@Freddyeddy: If it spread like colds and flu, everyone would have had it long ago and all but the few who are naturally immune would have died before any treatment was developed.
Stache1
@Freddyeddy: I remember hearing about transferring it from someone having a cold back in the 80’s. Even from mosquitoes bites back in the 90’s. Keep up the good “tin foil hat” work Freddy.
greekguy11
Everybody knows the bi-sexual pornstars make thier money on craigslist.com and backpage.com, in the t4m , m4m section. guys like joe falcon and christianxxx. Thats no secrets
Freddyeddy
@Stache1: Have you heard the one that people who survived the black plague across Europe and Asia had a genetic adaptation that allowed their immune systems to fight off the black plague bacteria and it also works with the HIV?
mz.sam
I guess that’s the end of Rod Daily’s Gay4Pay porn career. All is well that ends well and may Cameron-Rod continue to live happily ever after.
GeriHew
@mz.sam: Rod Daily wasn’t “Gay4Pay”. He is obviously a bisexual man who prefers relationships with women.
remyfacade
@danonce: i think u are the only one on here w who made a smart argument .
Randall
Why aren’t all porn performers taking PrEP which has a 100% success rate in preventing HIV?
whitakerk861
Steroid bitch tits. Unattractive.
alphacentauri
Nobody should be surprised that someone who does porn is HIV+.