In an average month, Alex Jett stars in and directs 15 to 20 sex scenes for pornographic films. But with a March 15 moratorium on the adult entertainment industry because of COVID-19, the 30-year-old Californian has been working remotely, shooting home videos with his three roommates, also adult performers, as freelance projects.
Just as in Hollywood, the coronavirus pandemic has stopped production of the multibillion-dollar porn industry, pushing performers into dual roles as star-director in DIY home content, ironically while the demand for XXX-films increases with home isolation, according to statistics from the website PornHub. Taking into account mask and social-distance requirements, performers, whose incomes hinge on physical contact and exposure to bodily fluids, wonder when, if at all, it will be safe to work again.
“[Right now], I don’t even know how you shoot porn without it being insanely high risk,” Jett tells Yahoo Entertainment, later adding, “There’s a lot of panic in the industry, more so for production than performers, who have other avenues of generating revenue … basically, all you need is a cell phone and you can make money if you’re attractive and well-known.”
