The porn industry is calling for a shut down amid coronavirus

It’s no secret that coronavirus is having a massive financial impact on most industries, hitting freelancers, artists, and people who are part of the gig economy particularly hard, not to mention people on benefits or out of full-time employment. Until last week, the porn industry was reportedly operating pretty much business as usual, but now lobbyists are calling for a shutdown, meaning that porn production will be impacted by COVID-19 too.

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC), an adult industry lobbying group in America, is urgently requesting an industry-wide “voluntary shutdown” to prevent the spread of the virus:

“The governor and public health authorities have called for shuttering all non-essential businesses, so we’re doing what we can to flatten the curve,” spokesperson Mike Stabile told Rolling Stone, referring to California governor Gavin Newsom. “We haven’t had a COVID-19 case we know of anywhere in the adult community,” he said, but added that the statement was pre-emptive. 

It might not come as a surprise that when social distancing is being widely enforced, the porn industry would quickly be impacted. Victoria Summers, a UK adult performer, says “it’s definitely necessary for production companies to stop shooting now” and has noticed a lot of UK companies posting this week about how they have already done just that – one example being UK company Hussey Productions, who she has shot for before, and who make porn for sites like Brazzers.

Summers shot porn with a team last week, but is now going to follow the protocol of a production ban until things change. Similarly, some studio porn actors in the US have already expressed concern about safety on set given the current outbreak, and have halted interactions with other performers over the last few weeks, opting for doing more live streaming.

Because Summers uses mostly OnlyFans, her income stream is not too jeopardised by production companies pausing shooting. However, she says that she has not noticed an uptake in subscriptions or purchases on OnlyFans due to the quarantine just yet. “It will be interesting to see which way it goes,” she says. “If people are self-isolating, they will be bored, so maybe more people will join. At the same time, a lot of people are out of work, so not earning money or as much money to spend on porn.”

“Unless you’re an OnlyFans content creator and are quarantined with a regular partner, it’s dangerous to make porn right now” – Sam Morris 

Sam Morris on the other hand, a UK-based queer erotic artist and performer, has seen his own website crash from too many visits since quarantine started. “Unless you’re an OnlyFans content creator and are quarantined with a regular partner, it’s dangerous to make porn right now. It’s pretty much banned in many countries to even leave your house, therefore it’s almost impossible to make duo or group content.”

Morris believes that OnlyFans and independent adult artists will thrive during this period of isolation and that we will start to see people venturing into that world who hadn’t considered it before. “My business is unique in that it’s fairly solo, and I’ve always shot my Other Boys, & Lovers series months in advance to have the security of having enough content to work through for a while. Many people are locked in at home at the moment, bored, and so having an online business right now is probably the best thing to have.”

As for studios, most have a backlog of content: “Luckily, yes, we do maintain a backlog of content but this all happened so quickly that we don't have as much backlog as we would like,” explains Keith Miller, head of Helix Studios in Las Vegas. “Our customers rely on us for new content so a halt in production would eventually impact our bottom line.”

Helix is yet to follow the FSC’s recommendations, and according to Miller, “production remains scheduled for this weekend but we’re taking it on a day-to-day basis, closely monitoring the progress of the pandemic”. He continues: “Our productions have a small footprint with most having less than five people on set, including performers, and the space is large enough so that all crew can keep a safe distance from one another. Still, our top concern is the safety of our talent and crew so we are preparing for all possible situations.”

Ethical and feminist porn director Erika Lust, meanwhile, has temporarily closed her offices in Spain. “At the moment we are putting everything on hold until we have a clearer picture of how to proceed and until things hopefully start to calm down. Guest directors that I work with for XConfessions and LustCinema are also deciding to delay their shoots, unless they are working in areas that are not currently infected. Thankfully we work quite far ahead so our next six months of productions have already been shot, and for now we will be able to keep up with our release schedule.”

In 2018, there was a one-week moratorium in the US porn business when a performer tested positive for HIV, contracted offset. This time is different, says Stabile. “This isn’t a typical production hold, where we’ve identified a specific threat to the performer pool and are working to isolate it,” he says. “This is the adult industry responding to public health authorities and working with society at large to… protect vulnerable populations and our healthcare system.”

But some performers are not happy with the suggestion. One reply to the FSC statement reads: “Wow talk about over reach (sic). This should be a performer choice,” reads one reply, according to Rolling Stone.

Until a total ban on porn shooting in the UK and US comes into place, the FSC has suggested that shooting porn with members of your household might still be OK, and that adult performers should still continue to get STI tested every 14 days if they can.

“Sex work is a real job, and performers deserve to be paid fairly” – Erika Lust

Earlier this month, Pornhub revealed that they were making porn content free for viewers in Italy under lockdown. Whether they will do the same for other countries – and other bored people in self-isolation – remains to be seen.

However, Lust urges us to consider our other choices. “I know it can be very tempting to sign up for the promotions Pornhub are running to offer their premium service for free, but it’s more important than ever to keep paying for your porn (if you can) to support independent directors, producers, and performers. Let’s not forget that Pornhub exists from piracy.”

She concludes: “Sex work is a real job, and performers deserve to be paid fairly. By paying for your porn, you are contributing to their livelihoods and their ability to do their job properly. You are helping to ensure that smaller studios that are committed to fair labour practices, are able to continue making the porn that they want to make and that sex work is done in a safe environment.”