Comments on: Could porn stars be forced into being employees of porn studios?

By: Porn Stars are now "employees" in California as AB5 just passed - Mike South

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 15:40:34 +0000

[…] bill AB5 has passed. Everyone is busy focusing on how this affects Uber drivers but as we spoke about last June, it’s a big deal for porn stars too. The California Labor Federation just tweeted a […]

By: mharris127

mharris127 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 10:27:13 +0000

Spawn, unfortunately I couldn’t even begin to estimate that amount. That data would be very interesting to me, too.

As for GoFuckMes, I suspect nowadays most of them intended for healthcare expenses are being set up to cover the outrageous Obamacare deductibles. Some of those policies have a $6500 yearly deductible before they begin to pay. Living expenses are also a consideration, if someone needs to use their health insurance in that manner they probably can’t perform, either. I have a for the grace of God go I attitude about them as long as they are reasonable and not based on a pack of lies like Ms. St. Clair’s. We also have the Dana DeArmonds of the world that post a GoFuckMe for ass implants. I suspect Dana didn’t have any intention of actually getting them, who wants to deal with sitting on hard silicone lumps for the rest of their lives? Likely not even Dana. Now she has $10K to go blow on Peruvian Nose Powder (R) and black tar heroin.

By: Karmafan

Karmafan — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 20:26:30 +0000

Every time a porn star gets ill or passes away people set up GoFundMe pages for them because they have no life or health insurance.

By: spawn777

spawn777 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 17:08:35 +0000

Does anyone have estimates for what it would cost (roughly) to cover the insurances of those working today, versus the profit estimates for whatever studios and big site conglomerates that exist today? Whether they are willing to pay or not, It would be interesting to see the numbers. (Mike South special feature?)

By: mharris127

mharris127 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 09:05:48 +0000

I don’t think it will go that far, Karma. Employers aren’t required to provide non-workplace health or life insurance to employees. I actually think the majority of what is left of porn in Los Angeles will leave and Las Vegas or Miami will become the new home of porn production. Wicked may remain but they are already condom only, have a State Fund workman’s comp policy already and probably pay talent as employees anyway.

By: Karmafan

Karmafan — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 18:38:33 +0000

Maybe now the talent will have health and life insurance opportunities?

By: mharris127

mharris127 — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 08:02:08 +0000

At least in mainstream, for SAG-AFTRA members their global contract requires their movie producers to pay and insure (other than non-workplace health insurance as the union handles that end) as if they were employees. The only exception is if the performer is a loan-out performer but the hoops to jump are asinine for both mainstream and adult film including that the loan-out contractor provide his or her own workman’s comp insurance. In adult (at least from what I have read) there are about two performers that work as loan-outs, I am told that Cherie DeVille is one but she is also a physical therapist that is required to keep workman’s comp insurance on herself anyway so all she has to do is claim the hours and wages on her existing policy, declare them as adult performer hours and pay the appropriate premium. No performer that doesn’t have to keep a State Fund policy anyway would bother (although technically all producers including Clips4Sale type producers are required to carry State Fund on all California shoots for performers and staff that don’t qualify as a loan-out). The percentage of mainstream actors/actresses that work as loan-outs are probably of a similar percentage, likely less than 1% of actors/actresses working in any single year and I expect with the new California law that porn performers performing in the state will become employees and some system will be worked out to incrementally bill producers for VD testing. This hurdle for maintaining the status-quo will be too steep for producers to leap and production will either completely move out of California (about 90% of production already has thanks to LA’s condom requirement and Cal-OSHA’s war on porn) or performers in CA will be considered employees with some sort of producer payment mechanism for VD testing — possibly requiring two VD tests every 13-14 days, one for in-California producers and one for other states since the state of California will require that performers never have to pay for them while working a California job and producers will refuse to allow the results to be released to other companies or the performer to prevent them from having a competitive advantage filming outside of California, not contributing to the cost of the VD test and having the benefits of using it.

By: spawn777

spawn777 — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 07:26:22 +0000

How do regular actors and actresses get around this? Unions? Porn stars aren’t gig economy jobs. They are classic contract jobs.