Sister Roma Interviews Josh Weston on Hot House Set

I found this on YouTube, from 2007.

Weston died from AIDS-related complications this past weekend, and if that annoyingly vague cause of death is annoying, sorry. That’s the best information anyone has so far. There were obviously other factors involved (I’ve read reports indicating that Weston had heart problems), but whether or not that information becomes unavailable—and whether or not anyone will be motivated to publish it—is unknown.

And after reading comments like this on a previous post, I wonder why I or anyone else even bothers providing a forum for people to “comment” on someone else’s death—someone whom they literally know absolutely nothing about.

Not shocked or saddened. Look at his bareback choices as of late…do you think he gave a shit?

I suppose this commenter, “Mike,” and his opinion of bareback sex extends to everyone who engages in bareback sex (male, female, straight, gay, HIV-positive, HIV-negative, HIV status unknown), and not just the gay porn stars who, for whatever reason, are doing it as a career. What exactly did Josh Weston not give a shit about? Himself? Other people? You? What responsibility does Josh Weston have to “Mike”? What responsibility do you have to yourself? I’m saddened by anyone who makes the choice to anonymously vilify a dead stranger.
 

53 thoughts on “Sister Roma Interviews Josh Weston on Hot House Set”

  1. I think Zach has done good reporting on this sad story.

    It is sad that both Weston and North are not with us. Weston was a sensational performer, and a snarky, fun guy in-person.

    I do not think the porn industry “killed” him any more than mainstream entertainment. It is hard to go from being a box-cover star to a supporting player.

    I met him in DC, and later went to lunch with him. He had a strong sense of humor, and was both snarky and smart, very charming. My sense was that he was a loner, and we lost touch several years ago.

    He loved sci-fi movies from the 70’s , Logans Run, and Soylent Green, in particular. Better looking in person than on screen, if you can imagine.

    He also was was proud of of his acting ability in some of the Falcon efforts. I agree.

    The BB stuff, was a shock. I wish he had gone in another direction, or other production firms.

    The industry lost a good guy.

    1. Thanks for the personal observations, Rik ….

      Just read on Queerty that, at the time of his death, Josh was working on his memoir titled ‘Sleeping My Way To The Bottom’. Shows he had a good sense of humor. I hope the book does get released. Would make for some interesting reading. Thinking of Josh and his family and friends during the holidays.

  2. And another porn star dies: Let the sanctimonious finger-wagging begin! Real World: A lot of people. most people maybe, make bad decisions with bad consequences…adult performers just do it while the cameras are rolling…then tweet about it…and tweet about it some more. Real World: Bad decisions often beget more bad decisions. A death, ANY death, deserves some compassion and this posthumous public-stoning seems a bit like over-kill, considering the unfortunate one has already paid the highest price.

  3. He was one of my favs when I was a teen. I don’t know what to say. I’m not used to hearing about people dying from HIV/AIDS related illness anymore with all the new meds out there. From reading some of the comments from people who knew him it seems like he was not taking care of himself. Anyway, this sucks.

  4. ..”Wonders how many in here with would admit they would or have watched a condom free scene with their favorite porn actor or any bareback scene on some of these free porn sites”…luckily i’m all to wise to the bullshit…the old phrase is true..”Do as i say NOT as i do”….:-)

  5. I’d like to remind everyone that for every adult entertainer death there are dozens of men who have/had successful careers in adult entertainment and then went on to lead successful private lives. I’d also like to remind everyone that it isn’t the HIV killing people, it is the complications that quite often can be directly linked to drug/alcohol abuse (in particular crystal meth), steroids, and lack of adherence to their HIV medicine regime. It isn’t isolated or a cause/effect ratio to the sex industry, barebacking or any of the “easy” label names people like to throw around. Know the facts.

    If everyone is genuinely concerned about adult entertainers, then the best thing you can do is support causes that provide both physical and mental health support services to performers…performers are contract workers and do not have health insurance and often rely on public services for care.

    1. I call BULLSHIT

      It’s not the disease, it’s your lifestyle…it’s the pharmaceutical industry…

      Really? Lifestyle? Do you honestly want a response to that? Pharmaceutical industry. Yes, they are killing you.

      Stop.

  6. After Erik Rhodes died, I made some posts regarding how sad it was and that addiction can be crippling, that none of us knows what these people are going through, and that rather than maligne the dead, let’s mourn the loss. The response was hatred boardering on death threats. You cannot take some people’s hatred to heart. I really loved Josh’s work, I’m sorry if he had been suffering or troubled. I hope he rests in peace

  7. The sad thing in the video is that there are two people there who were successful and talented and are no longer with us. Josh Weston you had many fans through your years at Falcon and the other studios and through the magic of the internet your work will live on.
    rip.

  8. True, his heart may have been weakened from either HIV or HIV medications. Maybe.

    But many of us who knew him believe it was crystal meth that did the most damage.

    We can blame hiv, barebacking, etc. all we want. But it’s meth that is killing so many gay men. A meth binge can lead to a deadly heart attack. HIV or no HIV. If you are using, please get help. You are not immune to the destructive toll regardless of your HIV status.

    1. I didn’t know him, but I have to admit this scenario — recreational drug use and steroids contributing to unsteady health — makes the most sense to me. No doctor is 100% sure that HIV medication causes heart attacks by themselves — and no one has done any scientific studies that take into account cofactors such as smoking or recreational drug use, which are far more common among some gay men and can cause inflammation around the heart. Regular medical appointments will detect a rise in cholesterol or blood pressure, too. … And I have no problem with his bareback porn. Positive dudes who want to fuck raw together pose no threat to the general population.

  9. This is the norm .....

    This is how our society is …….unfortunately.

    ‘Negatives’ are *better* than ‘Positives’
    ‘Thin’ people are *better* than ‘Fat’ People
    ‘White’ people are *better* than other races
    ‘Straight’ people are *better* than gay people
    ‘Non-Smokers’ and ‘Non-Drinkers’ and ‘Non Drug Users’ are *better* than those that don’t ‘indulge’

    None of this judgement really ‘surprises’ me, just saddens me.

    Hey — guess what ?? ALL of us here *must* fit into one of the ‘positive/fat/non white/gay/indulgent’ groups …. so someone somewhere is *better* than YOU too.

    1. This is the norm .....

      I forgot that ‘Young’ people are *better* than ‘Old’ people too.

      Also, above …don’t ‘indulge’ should be DO ‘indulge’.

  10. While I’m definitely anti-BB except in a monogamous negative relationship, there is absolutely no need to be anything but saddened by a premature death for ANY reason. Being bitchy and hateful about his death shows to me a real lack of compassion and exhibits a “holier than thou” attitude. Tearing down others to build yourself up is such a waste of time. It only belittles those who do.

    @teeMDV one pretty pill a day? What rock are you hidden under, that is definitely not the case. It amazes me how people who should be educated about HIV can be so ignorant. Especially when it’s extremely easy to get the correct info now.

    1. teeMDV was clearly being sarcastic, and making fun of the people who DO believe that HIV is no more trouble than taking “one pretty pill a day.” Sadly those people do exist.

    1. Yeeeaah I’m sure it’s more about interactions with steroids or drugs…
      I mean you don’t see “regular” HIV+ people falling like flies, the ones who use hardcore drugs and have reckless behaviour (such as barebacking)tend to go down faster than the others.

  11. TROLLS spewing venom on anonymous internet site comes with the territory. I’m wondering how long we have to tolerate this name-calling and hate posts before they’re moderated.

    1. The answer to speech with which you disagree is actually more speech not censorship. I appreciate that Zack allows individuals on this site to post comments with little to no censorship and I also appreciate that he encourages, by example, others to respond to one another. If you find what others write offensive then respond; people who read what you say will be able to judge for themselves whether what you or others have said has merit.

  12. What? A gay man outside if sub-Saharan Africa dies from HIV related complications? The Hell you say!! Doesn’t everyone just have to take one pretty little pill a day? #bbbh right?

  13. Mike probably has no sex bareback or safe which is why he is so clearly bitter and hateful. Not to mention judgmental. Mr. Weston may have done bareback porn but no one can say for sure that is how he became positive. But that is beside the point. He died too young and if someone like Mike cannot pay him the dignity of being respectful of the fact that others are mourning then they should not say anything at all.

    It’s Mike’s right in this country to say what he wants freedom of speech just as it is the right of anyone to have bareback sex and work for bareback porn studios.

    1. Sure, a man has died, and that’s a tragedy for those who knew and loved him. But let’s not paint him as an angel or whitewash over the fact that he wouldn’t have died so young if not for his own bad choices. So let’s learn from it what we can – namely, how not to make the same mistakes.

  14. I hate bareback movies. I feel very sad when a performer whom I like moves into barebacking because it is the best way to speed up their end. We all have the right to boycott barebacking. Vintage movies are enough if condomless are what people want to see.
    As a performerin his condom protected times, Josh was absolutely hot.
    From where Josh is now, may he listen what Jason Adonis told him in Taking Flight: “Just a kiss”. May you feel peacefull now.

  15. ” I’m saddned by anyone who makes the choice to anonymously vilify a dead stranger “. We are only commenting about someone that ‘ choose ‘ to vilify his life being involved with porn. He went to be videoed having sex for money like a whore. He (and only he) as all others like him put himself below the level of dicency that society and the good behavior asks all individuals to be. He was a drug user ( we can imagine how ‘nice gay’: in the words of others commenters, he and others like him are… ) . Don’t blame us to tell the truth. We that read your blog and watch porn aren’t gilty for the decisions that those ‘porn stars’ make. To whatch porn don’t put anyone at the same level of these whores because we don’t profit with this debauchery and don’t expose us public -again – as these whore do or are at a blog’s comment section teaching others ” How wonderfull is being a porn star “. As someone said these individuals don’t deserve respect as they are only good jark off material not something to be proud of.

    1. What are you even doing on a porn site ?? You watch porn and yet “vilify” the performers ? Be gone, Mary Hausfrau.

  16. I really, really don’t get the hostility towards performers that are positive. There are quite a few poz guys out there working in porn (some of whom are often featured on this site) who keep their status publicly hidden but who are open about it in their personal lives. Why the stigma? It’s just ridiculous at this point in time. I made a comment in the other thread that “Josh” didn’t seem well the last time I saw him… That was not a comment on his HIV status. I know lots of poz guys in their late 30s, 40s and 50s who are happy, healthy, and whose status isn’t immediately obviously (and if it is, so what??). I’m sure a lot of us know negative guys who have died of a heart attack at 30 b/c of a combo of steroid and recreational drug use; I certainly do. I didn’t know Josh, but my few interactions with him suggested that he was, at the time, quite troubled. I don’t want to reduce anyone to a stereotype, again, I didn’t know the guy. I just hope that he’s at peace…

    1. I am sure you are right I think HIV in the industry is much more prevalent then any of the viewers know. I don’t have any actual knowledge but just on sight I have some theories and we know HIV most times does not even have visible signs.

      I don’t think anyone should judge. I use condoms but if there was a safe way to go without, I would and I think everyone would. It’s instinct.

    2. I am opposed to poz models working in porn. It just seems skeevy to me.

      I can see why straight porn performers have such a hatred of gay porn performers. Gay porn studios lets poz performers still perform then they infect the g4p/ bi models who then go on to infect the female porn stars who infect the straight male ones.

      Until gay porn loses it’s poz performers the straight porn stars are right. As long as you have bug chasing sites like Treasure Island gay porn loses any street cred for safety.

      1. For the record, there have been no HIV transmissions on porn sets in at least the past 10 years. I encourage everyone to ignore “Gnormie,” who I hope is only trying to troll and is not truly this stupid.

        1. What about that 18-year-old Brit who infected three other 18-year-olds on a British bareback porn set? That was only 2007 or so.

          1. I think Zach is refering to the situation in the USA, not Europe. The production you are refering to was from a British low budget company. This is to my knowledge the only case where a model was infected during a gay porn scene. Maybe there are others but they have not come to the surface. Well known Czech companies that make bareback gay porn(like BelAmi and Staxus) have a strict testing policy.

    3. The hostility towards positive performers comes from some people’s ignorant conviction that these models are deliberately spreading “the disease” to other performers. Most American porn companies are condom only so the risk that some one gets infected during a scene is very low. My assumption is that performers who work for bareback studios like Treasure Island Media and SX Video are already HIV+ and to speak of “spreading the disease” in this context is wrong. It seems that Josh Weston became infected a long time before he did some bareback scenes for SX Video.

      Many commenters on this blog almost automatically seem to assume that companies who make bareback porn are directly responsible for all the new HIV infections among gay men anywhere in the world. Gay porn may have a significant presence in a gay person’s life but to blame new HIV infections among gay men solely or primarily on the bareback porn companies is not very convincing. For instance: In most West European countries the number of new HIV infections fell in the years 2010 and 2011 (a trend which seem to continue for this year). At the same time more bareback porn was available than ever before. And: do all gay men that become HIV+ only watch bareback porn and has that kind of porn such a big influence on their sexual activities that they practice unsafe sex? If I watch only condom porn will I not become infected? How many gay guys do you know that don’t know how you get HIV? Will new HIV infections among gay men become zero if no new bareback porn is being made?

      Human behaviour is complex and to deny this is not going to solve anything.

  17. I had a feeling Mr. Weston was HIV positive about 7 years ago when I met him at a pride event. He was steroided up (back-ne galore) and despite the roids, he had a bit of a sunken look about him.

    It didn’t surprise me at all, he was always clearly into extreme sex. He literally could fit a traffic cone in his ass. And guys who are into extreme sex tend to be less likely to be “safe” about their sex. Then he started with the bareback movies.

    Unlike many porn stars, Weston was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. It’s really sad that we’ve lost him to this awful disease that is still, very much, a deadly disease.

  18. I have to commend you Zach.
    Calling out someone for their obvious bullshit.
    Not sure why people have to spew out their anti-barebacking shit just because someone died of an AIDS related illness.
    Happy thoughts when someone dies not the crap you can say because of how they died.

    1. What better time is there? It’s not bullshit, it’s fact.

      Didn’t everyone immediately start screaming about gun control laws the moment all those kids got shot? How is this any different? This is the perfect time to hammer the cautionary tale home: “Gay men – have some fucking self respect and protect yourself, or else you too will end up dead of HIV-related complications at 39.”

      As for not speaking ill of the dead, I see no reason why, if I had no respect for him when he was alive, I should lie about it now just because he corked it.

      Unlike Eddie below, I don’t disrespect Josh simply because he was a porn star. There are plenty of porn performers who aren’t complete messes. Nor do I even disrespect him for being HIV-positive. I disrespect him for making unsafe sex films, contributing to the problem and ensuring others suffered the same as he did. I feel the same about every performer who makes the choice to promote unsafe sex. And I’m not going to lie about that just because his chickens came home to roost.

  19. “Heart failure related to HIV complications” seems much more specific than most of the causes of death we usually get for dead porn stars.
    A reminder, btw, that AIDS still kills. Wear condoms, bitches!

    I imagine from this post that this means there is a sadder seedier backstory to this “heart failure” that Zach heard about but won’t publish. But actually for once I was thinking we had been given the honest cause of death pretty fast. So shows how much I know.

    Josh Weston, before his bareback move which saddened me too, was actually the most high-profile quite-openly HIV+ porn star working for major studios. He was quite open about it (if not “out”) from the get-go and it didn’t prevent him from working a LOT and be beloved by fans. So in one sense most of his career was a very positive step for HIV+ gay men. I personally knew all along and I am a simple fan (although I much later ended up chatting with him on A4a).

    The comment you posted was unnecessarily judgemental but his move to bareback, in that sense, did feel it came out of desperation because his previous career had been such a positive celebration, and your hint, hint does confirm to me he was not, how to say it, doing well the last few years which makes it sadder. The commenter may have been too harsh a judge but it did not indeed fit with what Weston’s message until then had been so I am pretty sure his move to bareback was not a well-thought through decision (like, say, Owen Hawk’s was). Not that he indeed had any other responsibility than to himself.

    1. I was absolutely not hinting anything. I know nothing more than all of you. Was only acknowledging the fact that there is obviously a more specific cause of death that has not been disclosed yet.

      1. OK. Well I am not sure how much more specific than “heart failure related to AIDS complications” then. Seems pretty straight-forward.

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