Monday, Dec 3, 2007    Text size: 

Riley is the blogger who initially broke the story in October, which received widespread attention from various gay industry online publications. In his most recent article, Riley interviews the performer, who goes by the name “Craig.”

Craig has experienced suicidal depression since news of the infection, according to the story, and is “outraged” that “British Bareback Vacation,” which includes Craig’s sex scenes, was released last week by Load XXX Films.

“It makes me feel sick that the DVD is on sale,” Craig said.

Background information on the incident, in which two performers other than Craig were also infected, have come to light since the story was originally reported.

In the U.K., where PCR/DNA testing is not widely available, a lag time between the performers being tested and obtaining results may have exacerbated the incident.

Several weeks after the production of “British Bareback Vacation,” the production company Ikandi used several of the same models on a subsequent shoot, prior to Craig’s HIV test coming back positive.

It was not until after the second shoot that Craig and another performer from the original shoot were informed that they had contracted the virus. At that point, the production’s director rushed all of the performers to a National Health System (NHS) clinic on the outskirts of London to take “quick” tests, and it is unclear if there were further infections.

Craig and the other performers who tested positive were given post-exposure prophylaxis treatment, which involves the use of antiretroviral drugs to try to prevent infection, but must be used within 72 hours of exposure.

Craig said that after he realized he was infected, he then turned to the company’s director, Adam Bailey, for advice and support.

“I had no one to turn to other than Ikandi because I felt so ashamed telling my family I was doing porn. I was so frightened about what was going to happen,” Craig said. But soon after, Craig dropped contact with Bailey, feeling that the director may have been serving the interests of the company.

“I felt they were looking out for themselves. When I was in hospital feeling suicidal, he told me that I had to check myself out straight away,” Craig said.

Bailey admits advising Craig to keep the news from his family, in case disclosing the incident to them might make matters worse. But he disputes Craig’s claims that he operated only on behalf of company interests.

“I didn’t know he was suicidal, he was saying how much he hated it in hospital and I knew that his state was always better when he was with us,” Bailey said.

According to Craig, he said that the original shoot for “British Bareback Vacation” was meant only to be an audition involving his performance in a solo scene, but resulted in a hardcore threesome.

“I should’ve known from the start,” Craig said. “It was just meant to be a solo to see how I was in front of the camera, but Adam Bailey said to me, ‘Do you mind if I throw you in at the deep end and put you into a threeway?’ I had tested negative for HIV before but had left the certificate at the hospital. They just took my word for it and we shot the scene. I could’ve put the other models at risk.”

No litigation has started at this point; however, a British law firm is currently reviewing the possibility of a lawsuit, and a news team from the BBC also is investigating the story.