from www.nydailynews.com – Anthony Weiner’s sext kitten now admits the porn industry’s recent HIV scare filled her with fear – and turned her into an advocate for condom use in skin flicks.
Sydney Leathers said Tuesday that she was seriously shaken last week when she learned the male lead in her porn debut, “Weiner & Me,” had recent, unprotected sex with an actress who later tested positive for HIV.
“No one should have to go through what I’ve been going through,” Leathers said in a statement obtained by the Daily News.
She said even though the group that monitors the industry’s HIV testing did not contact her to say she was at risk, she went ahead and got a follow-up test anyway – and thankfully the results were negative.
“It’s still a very scary and surreal situation to be in,” she said.
“What’s so crazy about this is that the only time I’ve been sexually active in many months was during filming, so just think, one sexual experience could put you in a scary situation.”
She said if she could go back and shoot her X-rated scenes again, she’d use a condom.
She said she made her decision to have unprotected sex only after both she and actor Xander Corvus — whose real name is Mychael Burns — came up clean on their multiple STD tests.
Burns has since posted his medical records on Twitter to show that the highly sensitive test used by the industry to detect an infection within 14 days shows he did not contract the virus from a shoot several weeks ago with actress Cameron Bay.
Bay confirmed her positive test Wednesday and claimed her last professional gig — the one that included Burns — was in late July.
“Aside from testing, I do think the industry should get on board with condoms after this recent scare,” Leathers said. “Even if it turns out to be an isolated incident, why not go the extra step to protect performers?”
She said she understood that some people would call her a hypocrite, but if she can save “even one girl from going through what I’ve been dealing with, then I’d say my mission isn’t in vain.”
Leathers’ about-face isn’t sitting well with at least one porn superstar.
“No disrespect to her, but I think maybe she’s feeling bad now that she made a porn movie and she wants to be an advocate for something,” legendary lothario Ron Jeremy told the News. “She’s not doing this on behalf of all her sisters.”
He says the bottom line is that consumers don’t want to see condoms in their pornography — so adding them to U.S. productions will give overseas porn producers a leg up.
He said the recent and ongoing industry moratorium caused by Bay’s diagnosis proved that routine testing works.
According to the Free Speech Coalition, the group that self-polices the porn industry, all professional shoots have been on hold since last week, and actors and actresses who wish to work once the ban is lifted will have to show proof of tests taken after Aug. 19.
“That shows exactly that it’s working,” Jeremy said, referring to the weeklong ban and its focus on follow-up testing and investigation. “I know it’s not 100% foolproof, but if you think condoms are the answer, you’re willing to put people out of business.”
Leathers was an unknown 23-year-old from small-town Indiana when she stepped forward last month to reveal she had a steamy online and phone relationship with Weiner last summer — a year after the Democrat resigned from Congress for engaging in similar behavior.
Weiner acknowledged the lusty liason with Leathers but claimed such behavior was now well behind him. Still, the revelations sent his New York mayoral campaign into freefall.
Leathers, meanwhile, capitalized on the disclosures with a clothing endorsement deal, an appearance on the Howard Stern show, a paid hosting gig at a Manhattan strip club and her Vivid Entertainment porn contract.
“My whole thing is, even if I’m cashing in my body, it’s my body to cash in on. It was my choice,” Leathers told the News in an exclusive interview. “No one knows what’s best for me better than I do. And obviously I wouldn’t have done it if I thought it was going to ruin my life.”