3 Rapid’s success in 2018 appears to have been buoyed by his highly publicized bareback debut a few years earlier (in 2015, in a series known as Johnny Rapid Goes Bareback), which forms the focus of this article and raises questions that are still relevant at time of revision and publication (in June/July 2021). 1 He was also named as the second most searched for gay porn star in Pornhub’s 2017 “Year in Review” annual analytics report (beaten to the top spot by relative new-comer William Seed, also a Men exclusive) 2 and was the 2017 recipient of Str8UpGayPorn’s Best Gay-4-Pay Performer award. At time of writing, toward the close of the last decade (November 2018), Rapid was just five scenes short of his 200th scene with the studio, and while his age was beginning to count against him, remained a major player-ranked Men’s “most liked” performer with more than 6,800 audience ‘thumbs up’. Johnny Rapid began his porn career at the start of the 2010s as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, shooting scenes with Boys First Time and Bukkake Boys before signing with Men as an exclusive and releasing his first scene in November 2011. Through this reflection, I arrive at the conclusion that the time was right for an aging twink performer to be freshened-up by a transition to bareback-similar transitions of which have become widespread across the gay porn landscape in the intervening years between the 2015 Johnny Rapid Goes Bareback event and the present day, thanks in no small part to advancements in HIV prevention technologies. I read the case study in line with the concept of time, which has particular resonance with bareback. Yet I also take the opportunity-writing several years after this critical moment in Rapid’s career-to reflect on the success of the campaign. The analysis reveals a decidedly negative reception of Rapid, the promotion of bareback as event, and the quality of the bareback performance itself, all of which I read in accordance with what these narratives have to tell us about bareback at the time. Judge John Aylmer adjourned the case to hear evidence from the boy.This article explores a critical moment of going bareback in the career of arguably the biggest gay porn performer of the 2010s, Johnny Rapid. The man told the psychologist: “I’m not that kind of person and I’m disgusted with myself.
However, the psychologist added that he found no evidence of any interest in paedophilia.
He said a report from a forensic clinical psychologist found the man to be immature and introverted and that he has difficulty recognising his bisexuality. She added he is deeply ashamed of what had happened and is willing to accept any punishment that came his way.Ĭolm Smyth, defending, said his client is from a very respectable family who is shocked by what had happened. The accused man’s sister gave evidence that, up until this incident, her family never knew he was homosexual. In a later interview with gardaí, the man admitted that when the boy answered the door to him, he thought he was aged “16 or 17”. The boy’s mother came home unexpectedly and witnessed the sexual encounter. The garda said that when the boy was interviewed by specialist interviewers, he claimed that the man forced him to give him oral sex.
Garda Malcolm Hooks told the court that while the boy’s Gaydar profile said he was aged 19, another part of his profile read: “I’m not a porn star, I’m a 13-year-old.” The offence occurred on April 13th, 2015. The man has appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to the defilement of a child under the age of 15 years.
The man, who was aged 30 at the time, arranged to travel to the boy’s home. The boy downloaded the Gaydar app and put up a profile of himself claiming to be 19.Ī man contacted the child a short time later and was told the boy’s mother would be out for two hours.