I found this sad news on GayDemon forum. The vice president of TitanMen broke the news that Cole Tucker passed away Sunday, June 7 in Palm Springs from AIDs related illness.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 13 at 11:00 a.m. at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 1020 East Ramon Road in Palm Springs. The family invites Rick’s friends and colleagues to join us.
The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to Desert AIDs Project in Palm Springs.
Rick was one of the most iconic and beloved gay porn-stars of my generation. He won Gay Performer of the Year in 1998 from both GayVN and Grabby’s. He was a legendary pornstar, emphasis on star, that was one-of-a-kind….they don’t make them like him anymore.
Cole Tucker was a character that he created to entertain the world. Rick Karp was the sweet, funny, smart, generous and hardworking man I knew. Rick was not only an amazing performer, he was also a personal friend and our realtor in Palm Springs for the past 7 years.
You were a great friend and will be truly missed….
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Scott says
So people with HIV are still dying with AIDS related illnesses despite the advent of newer and more effective drugs. And more and more porn studios are filming bareback films…
Billy B. says
Very Well say’d Scott.
kevin says
@lucasentertainment
Willie says
So what is your point? Cigarettes kills, alcohol causes great harm, junk food can lead to diseases, working in a mine is risky and some sports result in injuries. These things are common knowledge, just like bareback sex can lead to SDIs.
Unhappy the market is trending a certain way, then its just too bad for you. Are you actually telling gay men what they should or shouldn’t be doing? Do you want some legislation to mandate condom use? What is it you are actually suggesting?
edwin gaal says
You are absolutely right!
Scott says
My point is that people are minimizing the risk for catching HIV and not understanding what the consequences of a lifetime diagnosis of what HIV entails. Not only does it affect your health, it’s a drain financially and emotionally. Although Truvada is effective, it’s expensive and it doesn’t protect you against other STI’s. A lot of gay porn stars have HIV and to see them die or deteriorate over the years is tragic especially when it’s preventable. I remember when a lot of them used to film a lot of public service announcements encouraging condom use and ironically a lot of them have since died from AIDS. When a “pornstar” goes bareback for the first time, often a lot of publicity announcing it is used to promote the use of unsafe sex.
Edward Michaels says
He was depressed and stopped taking his medication
Val_EL says
I have always considered selfish and stupid when I see post of performers having protected sex and then there’s one that says that they must be doing it raw. That’s stupid no matter the options protected sex must be the only option and risking performers for raw sex for the satisfaction of Selfish people that don’t care of other’s health shouldn’t be an option.
Sad for this guy passing hope he rest, but lessons must be applied.
Roberto says
OMG! I was just jerking off to one of his scenes yesterday. Always a fav of mine and a real mans man.
RIP Cole. You gave me a LOT of pleasure.
Sidemoon says
It’s so sad… RIP. 🙁
Darkhog says
Cole Tucker epitomes macho hot sex overheat male sex in the late 90’s. I enjoyed all of his films, performances and just lusting after the man himself. Cole/Rick lived the life that he song about, and whether his death was AIDS related or not, doesn’t deserve to be a soapbox for discussion of downing a man’s life. We all make choices in this life, they are all not going to be good choices, and they all not going to be others choices but they are our own choices to live up to. His life should be celebrated, as for how he lived not what he died of. We’re all going to do that one day, but how we lived is the more important thing.
Rick Karp started porn late in his life, when men then and still lusted after young nubile youth. He broke down walls as a Macho Hot Daddy who not only owned bottom but was an excellent hot fisting/fisted bottom in his own right.
He lived a life that was great, had lovers that back in the days, lead to tabloid fodder in the UK with a married official, lost a lover to a violent murder in South Africa, to rebuild and return to the States to work as a Realtor. Yes, he had successes and failures as we all do. We are human, as long as we live, we’re going make choices, but let them be our own choices and not a public forum for how we lived. We are so much more than HIV/AIDS as this man was.
I celebrate the life that he lead, the joy that he gave me watching him on film, the great imagination of fantasies I had about him, and share the lost of a life lived and lost with his family, friends and co-workers. Rick Karp/ Cole Tucker will always have a special place in my heart. RIP and safe and well deserved journey, my friend.
Dark
Jim says
This site also fetishes bareback, and they could help push against it knowing gay men are still dying of this disease. Sad.
kyle says
I was literally just watching him in Big Guns 2 last week. I always picture Cole Tucker with a cigar in his mouth ready to have hard man sex, he was definitely a legend.
sxg says
It’s clear that a lot of you don’t even know who this man is and need to re-consider bundling him up with the current state of the gay porn industry. So let me give you a summary of who he is:
Cole Tucker started porn in 1997 when he was 43. At that time it was unheard of for a man his age to start doing porn in more mainstream studios, but I like to think that his presence alone helped other hot daddies get stable work in the porn industry. He left porn somewhere in the early to mid-2000s, not sure the exact year. AFAIK he never did any bareback porn.
Besides doing porn he also did like 4 documentaries on the sex industry. In one of them, I forget which one I think it was Sex/Life In L.A. 1, he actually talks about what it’s like being HIV+ and working in the porn industry. So he already entered the industry being HIV+, and it wasn’t porn that gave it to him.
This is a man who lived during the AIDS crisis at its peak, and there’s a good chance he was infected during this time. If he never got the help he needed, then technically he should have died WAY sooner, maybe even during his porn career, but he didn’t. So clearly something in his personal life happened between the time he left porn to the time of his death that caused him to no longer medicate himself. And AFAIK, he has had no communication with the industry, and if what DarkHog says is true he was miles away from it for years. So the current industry is not to blame here.
Darkhog says
Thanks sxy, well said…. People do have other lives before during and after porn. They do not always get infected on the set, but elsewhere, and not always because of unprotected sex. Cole was a business man before porn, wanted to try something new in his life, had a great time doing porn, and gave it up at the height of his career, he contacted HIV before doing porn, and played safe while doing it. We keep letting fear and ignorance rule our lives without thinking. Porn is porn, it is to be enjoyed, and the performers who do porn make that decision. We should not criticize them by demonizing it, but just not watch if we feel so strongly. To each his own. Thanks again for the shout out!
pornobb says
People with HIV shouldn’t die from AIDS if they stick to their anti viral drugs.
JP says
Is it ever fair to judge someone by the choices they make in life? If so, then we all stand in judgement. Cole Tucker to me, was the epitome of rugged, strong man sex, and he was as hot topping as bottoming! He brought me a lot of pleasure and to many others I’m sure. That alone is worthwhile, let’s leave it at that.
robert says
@Darkhog and @sxg…..thanks for your perspectives