Porn's Mr. Marcus, Man Behind Syphilis Scare, Paid By Industry Anti-Condom Campaign

 @MrWhiteacre  @djromero

 Ari reminds me of a "Blues Traveler" lyric...

'Confuse the issue till you forget'. What about FSC giving mr. marcus money and LYING about him having received an offer from AHF? WOW! They gave him HUSH money!

And Ari?

The ex-porn star who left the rainbow room that he mentioned?  That could have been Shelley or Monica or myself that he was referring to! What he meant was, you usually bully those people as though to leave porn is to leave the most magical world ever and that those who leave deserve your condemnation as though they were 'washed out', lol! Ari, trust me, there are better jobs out there even in this economy where you don't have to catch std's in order to work!

I wonder,,, if nascar drivers asked to stop wearing safety belts because they were professional drivers and the seatbelts made them slower, would people think those drivers were smart or would people think those drivers were the dumbest people on the face of the planet? Well, I for one would consider those drivers the dumbest people on the planet, and I feel  that performers railing against this measure are just like those nascar drivers, and I DO NOT WANT TO BE LUMPED IN WITH THEM. yes on B!

Peace, Nick East, AVN Hall Of Fame Performer who retired from acting but is being bullied by Ari Bass, aka Michael Whiteacre.

Thank you for reading, sorry it was sooo long.

 @MrWhiteacre  @djromero

 As far as who was hurt by mr. marcus's syphilis? What about the girl who now has to live with pictures all over the internet with her and his cankerous penis in her hands, etc? And don't tell me the sores were only on his scrotum, sicko! Why work with sores ANYWHERE? How gross?

 @djromero  @MrWhiteacre

 Mr. Whiteacre, Aka Ari Bass is an internet BULLY, sir! Good luck, because if you make him mad at you he'll make videos about you to slander your good name! But at 5'1" in heels, can anybody say 'napolean complex'?

 @djromero 

Actually, your snarky and somewhat condescending view of the adult industry and its members is something I have mentioned before, only a bit more politely. Others have done the same. You're entitled to your point of view, Mr. Romero, and I don't begrudge you because generally your write-ups have been balanced and colorful (I've always said that, too). I've always thought your wry approach worked very well for the subject matter. In this one instance, though, I felt you had -- knowingly or unknowingly -- made a material mischaracterization. It's readily apparent now that this notion, and the word "distortion" in particular, rubs you the wrong way in a BIG way, and I apologize for that once again.

However, I did have to laugh after you just commented, "I'm not an ex-porn star outside the Rainbow Room."  It's another dig at adult performers which implies you're far smarter / more savvy then they...

Then there's, "you spend your time shouting at people outside porn star appearances." LOL No, Dennis, I was there for 2 + hours, and the argument lasted about ten minutes. YOU CHOSE to only report on the shouting which was instigated by Mr. Lubben (who approached me, not the other way around), and made no mention of the tense but civil conversation which preceded it (which is available on video online). After round one, he and I even posed for photos together. But I guess the fact of that conversation, and its content (which was quite unfavorable to Mr. Lubben), didn't fit your narrative. Again, I don't begrudge you. The lesson of the argument that day is that when someone defames me and drags my friends' names through the mud publicly I get perturbed. Considering the fact that you yourself have gone ballistic this evening, I'd have thought you'd be more sympathetic... Alas, not.

Yes I've seen those articles (and gossip posts) with sensationalistic titles before. I just re-read them -- and none feature a quote where Marcus admits either that he knowingly worked while he was infectious, or that he is aware that he gave syphilis to anyone. None of the articles name or quote anonymously a single performer who makes that charge. The dates of those articles (and gossip posts) are all BEFORE LA County completed its investigation, and, I believe, all are also before all 9 cases were known. It would take some uncanny ability to know the result of an investigation not yet completed regarding a number of people not yet known.

In my view, those lurid titles are entirely the fault of the adult trade press and FSC, who should have done a better job with focus, accuracy and messaging. Then again, if FSC had really been trying to spin or finesse the message, maybe they would have prepped him to avoid ambiguous statements that could come back to bite him and them months later, as they have here.

As for Marcus and Measure B, my point is he still supports the adult industry, and opposes Measure B, but he is in no way a spokesman or active campaigner of any kind -- as the article to which I linked makes clear -- nor does he make press appearances. However, Sean is in touch with him regularly, and I could have easily tried to direct him to you in order to clear up whatever questions you might have. And, despite this shit-show comment thread, I would still endeavor to get you answers if you wanted them because this story isn't about me or my feelings; it's about that fact that I honestly believe this man (who, everyone admits, did a very wrong thing in altering a test) has nonetheless been blamed for being THE cause of an outbreak -- a person who infected others --  despite a lack of evidence to support that conclusion.

I'm not going to re-hash this argument ever again.  If your feelings of butt-hurt, or anger issues, or whatever this is, compel you to keep carrying on, ranting and raving, have at it. If it makes you feel better, or if you think it makes you look good -- by all means continue. But I'm not going to respond to this bitter nonsense anymore.

I'll just repeat that it's regrettable this thread has gone this way, and had I known you were this sensitive to criticism, or this tightly wound, I would have let it be. I honestly did not come here to inspire this kind of drama and ill will.

 @djromero 

Dennis, I don't want to do this anymore. It's not going anywhere, and I don't like the tone. There's no point is trying to score points off each other when we're both so intractable.

I appreciate that you're defending your work, and I readily admit you've done some fine work covering the travails of the adult industry, but we strongly disagree with each other on this issue, and that's it. We're never going to see eye to eye on it, no matter how many insults or charges we throw around.

 @djromero 

Marcus is a part of my indie campaign

http://therealpornwikileaks.com/mr-marcus-screams-vote-no-on-measure-b

Article written by Sean Tompkins, not by me, BTW

 @djromero 

The title reads "...Starting syphilis scare", not "...starting syphilis outbreak." Are you really this obtuse?

And no, I did not say there were no other syphilis cases. Where do you come uop with this idiocy? Can't you read? Are you high?

LACPH says there were 9 cases. I'd hardly call that "swimming with syphilis." But, once again, you've just showed your hand. You love portraying the industry as a nasty, ugly, scary place.

 @djromero 

So these facts and arguments of mine have never been raised before, and I'm "the only person" disputing these facts?

I'll let your readers decide for themselves.

http://newswire.xbiz.com/view.php?id=153050

http://www.xbiz.com/news/153477

http://www.adultfyi.com/read.php?ID=55611

And, if you weren't being such a dick I'd have tried to get Marcus on the phone with you.

 @djromero 

You just love patting yourself on the back, don't you son.

Those are ridiculous quotes.

You find one interview in which Marcus doesn't specifically say he waited 10 days, but definitely doesn't  say he DIDN'T wait 10 days, and you think that's evidence. LMAO  Not saying something happened = denial that something happened? Really?  Only a denial is a denial.  If I don't specifically mention I had a hamburger today, does that mean I'm denying I had a hamburger? LMAO

Here are articles in which he DOES specifically say he waited ten days:

http://www.xbiz.com/news/153477

http://newswire.xbiz.com/view.php?id=153050

So much for your 10 days argument.

Then you find a quote in which he agrees that he doesn't know of a single person he infected, and you claim that is evidence that he did infect someone?  So denial = admission too?  Pure idiocy.

Then, you quote him saying that he was with 10 or less people, in "some scenes" before he knew he had stage two syphilis.  Yes -- and we've seen pics and video from some of those scenes. At least one of those performers has denied that she ever contracted syphilis from him. Where's your proof that any of those 10 actually did contract syphilis from him. You;re making assumptions.

Moreover, how do we KNOW he didn't pick it up from someone else on a set. Medicine and epidemiology aren't guessing games, Dennis.

This is my favorite quote of yours -- because Marcus said that he was working in porn before he was symptomatic and/or tested positive, it means "that would indicate that he's patient zero on the industry side."  No, dunce, EVERYONE who tested positive was working until they became symptomatic and/or tested positive. We do NOT know that he was first. In fact, the initial report about this outbreak was that an employee at TTS blabbed to clients that three people had tested positive BEFORE THE SCANDAL HIT. How do you know one of those other two wasn't patient zero? Or that syphilis, which has been on the rise in LA County, didn't affect more than one performer BEFORE TTS initiated Syphilis testing in June or July? How can you be sure? Even if marcus thought so, how could HE even know?

Additionally, in this interview you cite, he indicates he might have gotten the disease from "a girl I was hanging out with."  It remains a possibility -- but only a possibility. WE DON'T KNOW if it's true OR, if it is true, WHEN that happened -- and Marcus has not stated any of this conclusively. He doesn't know and YOU don't know. That is my whole point.

 @djromero 

The fact that YOU are bringing up Mr. Marcus' case months after the event to give the adult industry a black eye by tying him to a political campaign for which he's not even a spokesman or active  participant reeks of your own spin campaign.

 @djromero 

Luck is for those who need it, Dennis. Good luck to you.

 @djromero 

It's not what he said, Dennis. You wrote that he started the outbreak and infected people. That has NEVER been included in any published report.

 @djromero 

So what if he was paid? Marcus, unlike paid actors Derrick Burts and Darren James, is not a spokesman for any Measure B campaign. The people who are running the campaign are being paid as well.

You stated he started the outbreak. You cannot back up that claim.

Yes he masked his July test, that is undisputed. But it was after he sought treatment; that is also undisputed.

Yes, LACPH says there have been nine cases of syphilis related to its investigation of the adult industry's small outbreak.

You said that testing failed IN MARCUS' CASE -- whom did it fail? Who was harmed by HIM? Who was infected BY HIM? How many performers were infected BY HIM? Where is the evidence of who infected him?

What you don't understand is that, because AHF destroyed AIM, there was a long gap in syphilis testing. AIM used to test for it every six months, but AIM closed its doors in late April 2011. Syphilis testing did not resume until July 2012. There is NO WAY TO KNOW WITH CERTAINTY who brought syphilis into the industry because, if we were to employ CDC standards, you'd need to check EVERY SEXUAL ENCOUNTER that a person who tests positive has had SINCE THEIR LAST NEGATIVE TEST.  Do you have any idea how many on-set and private sexual experiences the adult performer pool has has since early 2011?!?

You don't know who "started" the outbreak, and we likely will never know with certainty.

 @djromero 

You just don't get it. Dude, you're the one with the byline. I'm calling you out on ASSERTIONS OF FACT you've made but refuse to back up. You're asking me to prove a negative. LOL

You are asserting that AS FACT that Mr. Marcus STARTED the syphilis outbreak and infected people. You just wrote:

"How can there be 'no evidence' that he ever infected anyone and evidence that 9 people were affected by by the outbreak he started."

The outbreak HE STARTED? Source that statement, please. You're a journalist. Where is the proof Mr. Marcus "started" the syphilis outbreak? Where? Not someone'e opinion -- where is a factual source that says/shows Mr. Marcus introduced Syphilis into the performer pool?

What is your source to demonstrates that he infected anyone -- never mind their names, just provide a source for that assertion OF FACT which you just made. Any source. Anything.

Are you kidding accusing me of libel? You just libeled Mr. Marcus! 

Your inability to differentiate between hard news and adult industry scuttlebutt shows how little you actually understand (or care to understand) the adult industry.  Your condescending Sardo's quip does the same, since I think I've been to Sardo's three times in my life, but moreover it underscores your CONTEMPT for the adult industry's members and fans. You're saying that they're all idiots and rubes who will fall for any bullshit, but thank goodness your'e so much smarter. That is disgusting, Dennis. Shame on you.

As for the interview transcripts, why should I provide you with any more help? As you know, upon request I have provided press conference transcripts to you before via email.  For two years, I've done what I can to provide you with useful facts for your reporting. After all the insults you've just hurled my way, you want more of my help? If I'm full of shit, what good would those transcripts be? I could have fabricated them, right?

Furthermore, I'm referring this column and comment thread to Marcus to decide whether or not he has been libeled by you under the auspices of LA Weekly and Village Voice Media.

 @djromero 

Thank you for demonstrating that you have no evidentiary foundation for your fundamental claim. You can't answer a single one of my questions.

Marcus started the SCANDAL, not the outbreak. His actions re: his STI test led two adult industry agents to throw him under the bus in the adult press. He was pulled off the agents website, people quickly figured out his identity, and he became the center of the scandal. He merely became emblematic of the syphilis outbreak -- the public face of syphilis in porn. All of this is documented.

Not only has Marcus has never said that he infected anyone, he DENIES that he has infected anyone. I'm sorry but that's a fact. Produce a quote where Marcus says he brought syphilis into the adult industry. I have THIS from his press conference in which he claimed the precise opposite of your contention that he "started" the outbreak, what do you have?

From Xbiz, August 22, 2012: "Marcus said he doesn’t deserve blame that “'I brought syphilis into this industry,' and believes that he became infected on a set, not in his personal life.

"'I didn’t give it to myself...'"

Dennis, I'm sorry but you simply don't know what you're talking about in this instance.

Show us where LA County Health stated that Marcus was patient zero -- or that he infected anyone. I'm not saying my information is better than that of the Health Department, I'm saying that you are misstating what LACPH has reported. They've reported 9 cases linked to their investigation of the small syphilis outbreak in the adult industry.

So what if 9 or 90 or 900 people were infected? -- you have asserted that Mr. Marcus "started" the outbreak and when called on it you could not produce any basis for that claim. And the person whose testimony you cite actually said the precise opposite. Insult me all you want, but you have no basis for your charge.

And where have I ever claimed to represent the adult industry? What I do is entirely grass roots-oriented, and I have always maintained that. Always.

When I met with you in May, I re-iterated that I had no formal ties to any industry group. However, when it suited your purpose to tie me to FSC (as in your Shelley Lubben article) you went ahead and did so anyway, mentioning not once but TWICE in the same article that I once donated my time to shoot two anti-piracy PSAs for FSC.

But here it's more convenient for you to paint me as an outsider. Thanks for finally admitting in print what I've been shouting for two years -- I do not work for or in conjunction with any adult industry group, and never have.

A maze of logic? -- I'm sorry that logic is so puzzling and torturous for you. Perhaps if you had your facts straight logic would be less daunting.

As for me not putting the facts down on paper -- you're the reporter here. It's your job, not mine. I'm merely pointing out that you've failed conclusively at your job in this particular article: you've made false assertions of fact.

I enjoy your reporting, Dennis. I think you're sharp and you're mostly fair. But you got this one wrong.

 @djromero 

LOL I'm not backing off, Dennis, I was trying to be polite and conciliatory because I respect you. But since you asked...

1) You know as well as I do that I cannot publish private medical information here and neither can you. You can NOT say that I don't know he's non-infectious because I can't present evidence and then merely assume the OPPOSITE is true based on the SAME lack of available evidence. If you claim my construction is unreliable because I don't reproduce any data here, or get the actual patients to out themselves in your comment thread, then, ipso facto, your construction is faulty too since you have not proven the opposite with any data or testimony. When YOU can provide a single performer who can demonstrate (or even allege) that Marcus infected him/her, ONLY THEN will your premise be more credible than mine.

Furthermore, Mr. Marcus' testimony about his having received treatment prior to the July 21 test that he altered stands UNCONTRADICTED by those involved first-hand. Name ONE person with first-hand knowledge who states he did not seek treatment.

Feel free to check these out -- Google is your friend: In July, TTS utilized the RPR anti-body test. FACT. That test can and does show a 'reactive' result for patients who have had syphilis in the past but are no longer infectious because they still have the anti-bodies in their blood. FACT. That is the test Marcus took when he went to TTS on July 21. 

ON WHAT EVIDENTIARY BASIS -- NOT THEORETICAL BASIS; EVIDENTIARY BASIS --  DO YOU CLAIM THAT MARCUS WAS INFECTIOUS AT THE TIME HE ALTERED HIS TEST?

2) You ask, "How can there be 'no evidence' that he ever infected anyone and evidence that 9 people were affected by by the outbreak he started."

BECAUSE THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT HE STARTED THE OUTBREAK. The fault is in your foundationless premise. Are you kidding me? Get a pencil, Mr, Romero, it's time to get schooled

Can you, Mr. Romero, name the other 8 performers who tested positive for syphilis?

Can you, Mr. Romero, state the date of the first infection of the 9 (including Marcus)?

Can you, Mr. Romero, state for a fact precisely when (or even the precise order in which) the other 8 performers contracted syphilis?

Can you, Mr. Romero, provide evidence of precisely when Mr. Marcus worked with ANY of the other 8 performers and/or that prior to working with him they were clear of syphilis?

If you cannot answer all four, then LOGIC precludes you from making the assertion that Marcus "started" the outbreak. Until the time you CAN answer all four, your claim that he started the outbreak is, simply, baseless assumption. FULL STOP. Without evidence to back up your claim, your claim does not demonstrate skepticism of my construction, it can only demonstrate your bias.

That which is asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. I dismiss your assertion as bullshit.

Where is your evidence?

 @djromero 

I'm sorry you're still so raw about the word "distortion."

I will grant you, if "testing protocol failed" it failed because 3 individual producers failed to confirm Marcus' test status online as they were supposed to, and instead relied on a paper test. That's not a medical failure, that's an enforcement failure.

I'm also not saying that obscuring part of his test was right -- it certainly was not -- I'm asserting that no harm befell anyone because of it. He had already been treated; this is an established fact. 

I will also grant you that the industry's testing protocols were then weaker than they are today, in that advanced syphilis testing was not universally a part of  the basic performer panel. However, it is now.

Nonetheless, you're fudging when you write, "He continued working and ... 9 people were infected." Correlation is not causation. Marcus also brushed his teeth and 9 people were infected.

And no, Dennis, that is not "what Mr. Marcus himself said" -- it is a SYNOPSIS of what Mr. Marcus said. I have the transcripts and/or all his published interviews. He said what he actually said, and I quoted him. What I excerpted above represents his version of events; your paraphrase of AVN's synopsis does not faithfully do so. 

You say "don't accuse me of distortion when it is the truth" -- but that is a non-sequitor, since distortions are not the same thing as untruths. Distortions begin with a fact, and then misrepresent them (either intentionally or not) or spin or fudge them. I'm not accusing you of willfully trying to deceive anyone. 

Furthermore, what you reported is not "the truth," it's simply "not UNTRUE." Just because what you wrote is not actionable, that doesn't make it "the truth" or even a faithful representation. I criticized AVN's reporting on this matter, and I'm renewing my criticism here on similar grounds.

Neither of us is a degreed medical expert, but 1) Marcus has been confirmed to be non-infectious following his treatment, and 2) NO evidence has ever been presented that he ever infected anyone -- certainly not in the three scenes he shot after his treatment with an altered test. This is not a matter of "medical implications," it's a matter of fact.

 @djromero  

Thank you for correcting my false impression of this story's provenance. I was wrong to have discounted actual investigative reporting, and I apologize. However, I never alleged a conspiracy, Dennis, only a tip.

However, on the subject of straw men, you did try to dovetail Marcus' syphilis case into AHF's critique of the adult industry's testing protocols (for which they prescribe condoms) with a factually unsupported statement: "The adult biz says ... that its regular testing of performers works. (In the case of Mr. Marcus, it did not)." That was the key element of my claim of "distortion." I numbered it 2) simply because you raised it second in your piece.

One cannot assert as true that the system did not work in Marcus' case because a) not a single other syphilis case in teh industry has been linked to Marcus as the source; and b) it has not been demonstrated precisely where, when or from whom he contracted that STI.

Yes, it is indeed a quote from AVN that you cite, but did you know that Steve Javors caught hell online for his reporting on that press conference? And yes, as a matter of fact I HAVE criticized much of the reporting on this matter, especially some of the adult industry reporting. I even wrote about it. The statement from the AVN article that you quote is *not untrue*, but it's also imprecise. So, yes, it too distorts the facts and the timeline by compressing them.

However, the same AVN report goes on to clear up the confusion:

"[Marcus] saw his personal physician July 11 after not feeling well. The next day, July 12, the physician told Mr. Marcus that he tested positive for syphilis. On the subsequent day, July 13, he went and got a penicillin shot and was told to abstain from sexual activity for 7-10 days, which he reports he did and even cancelled shoots within that timeframe. On the eleventh day after he received the dose of penicillin, July 24, he worked..."

The three shoot dates were indeed after his diagnosis, but so was his successful treatment -- and all three shoot dates came AFTER the treatment, which was 100% successful.