Gay pornstar defends New York 'rona rave' house party after backlash, says even health officials were present
Gay porn star Ian Frost sparked a major backlash after videos of him attending a "rona rave" house party emerged online, forcing him to delete all his social media accounts.
Frost took the liberty of posting a lengthy Instagram story with photos and videos from a crowded house party in New York -- which is the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States with more cases than any country in the world -- thereby sparking a torrent of outrage, Pink News reports.
The videos -- which have since been deleted by Frost but circulated by others nonetheless -- show at least a dozen topless revelers dancing in close proximity and without face masks, thereby flouting governor Andrew Cuomo's stay-at-home orders.
“This is a slap in the face to every health care worker, every person who has lost a loved one, every person struggling with finances because of shut down,” drag artist and New York council hopeful Marti Gould Cummings wrote.
Meanwhile, writer Evan Ross Katz shared screenshots of an alleged conversation he had with Frost's Twitter account.
“You should be ashamed of yourself – as should all those in attendance at your party,” he wrote. “This blatant disregard for our health care workers and human lives is disgraceful.
In response, Frost reportedly wrote that a "couple of those healthcare workers were here also.”
Katz then went on two share screenshots of a conversation he had with Shane Jackson, another gay porn star who is also said to have attended the party.
In the conversation, Jackson reportedly claimed to Katz that those who were at the party have “all had the virus."
“Let people live,” the message added.
However, the claim was refuted by adult star Seth Knight, who said he had also been invited to the party but had declined.
“We haven’t had the virus,” he wrote.
Alec Brian, a famous party DJ in the New York circuit, also confirmed he had been requested to play at a "small house party" on Monday, May 4.
“I have been taking all precautions to socially distance, wear a mask, and handwashing very seriously to stop the spread,” he wrote on Instagram, but a video from the party reportedly shows Brian DJing with a face mask hanging around his neck.
“As many of us are now unemployed, I had an opportunity to avail myself of some needed money to pay my bills," Brian continued. "If I have insulted anyone or made anyone feel uncomfortable by this event, I sincerely apologize as that was certainly not my intent.”
Writer Phillip Henry, one of the first to share the videos, dubbed the party as the "rona rave." He was joined by a swarm of Twitter users criticizing the men for their behavior.
Last month, New Yorkers let NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio know how they felt about him urging them to tell on those violating social distancing rules.
According to a report by the New York Post, the mayor's new "snitch" line was inundated with crank complaints including people flipping the bird and sharing "dick pics" to show their defiance.
New York is hardest-hit in the United States, with more than 19,415 COVID-19 deaths as of Thursday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, the United States has reported over 1.26 million confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus with 74,595 fatalities.