LOS ANGELES - Jenna Jameson wants her fans to know that she isn't turning her back on porn. The AVN Hall of Fame superstar is more involved than ever with her Club Jenna empire, and she debuts tomorrow as a co-host of Playboy Radio's Morning Show on Sirius Channel 198.
"It’s so funny how things can be sensationalized," Jameson told AVN.com. "I think that everybody just really wants to hear one way or another: is she retiring, is she not retiring? I’ve always said through my whole career: I don’t believe in retirement. That’s not who I am. I work every single day, and I am 100% behind Club Jenna. I am the creative mind behind it. I work with my contract girls every day, and I work with all my directors and producers every day. No, I am not retired. Am I performing in movies every day? No. But I am not turning my back on the industry."
Reports of the adult superstar's retirement followed in the wake of an August 22 interview with US Weekly that quoted Jameson as saying she was "a hundred percent" done with porn. But Jameson now claims those words were taken out of context.
"'I’m not doing boy/girl scenes right now' turned into 'Jenna’s retiring, she’s moving on,'" Jameson said. "The bottom line is that I’m a very multi-faceted girl. I like to be mainstream, I like to dive in head first. I’m walking on the runways in New York Fashion Week and LA Fashion Week. And that’s a beautiful thing, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be the porn star anymore."
Jameson was relaxed and in good spirits as she spoke to AVN about her many current and future endeavors, from her Virgin Comics series to a line of clothing and her Playboy Radio gig.
"Doing my own radio show has been something I’ve kicked around for a long time," Jameson said. "It’s really about having the right timing and knowing that you’re with the right people. I knew when I came on board with Playboy that this was going to be in my future."
In her Playboy Radio segment, entitled 'The Pa-Jenna Party,' Jenna will take phone calls from listeners and tell stories about her life and experiences along with co-hosts Andrea ('Surreal Life') Lowell and Kevin Kline.
"It’s every other week to start off with," Jameson said. "And we’re working towards me having my own show. It’s a matter of me getting my feet wet, getting comfortable; they don’t want me to be too controversial, so they want to make sure that I don’t hurt people!"
Jameson added that her company's relationship with Playboy fulfills a longtime goal. "Playboy has given me the outlet to spread my wings," she said. "They bring such an amazing mainstream quality to our company, and they also give us the ability to produce more and to be what I always dreamt Club Jenna could be, which is a major force in the adult entertainment industry. We produce the best movies and the best content, and Playboy’s made it possible."
Jameson is especially proud of the recently-released I Dream of Jenna 2. "The first I Dream Of Jenna was a different experience for us at Club Jenna," she said. "We’re used to producing the kind of crazy visual movies like Bella Loves Jenna and Janine Loves Jenna ... we didn’t really know what we were getting into, but it all fell into place. When we ended up shooting I Dream of Jenna 2, it was very easy for us. I kind of found my place in the comedy world. It was actually a really funny movie, aside from having some of the best sex I’ve had on film."
Jameson expects her I Dream of Jenna 2 scene with Belladonna to take home some trophies at this year's AVN Awards.
"My favorite scene in that movie is the orgy scene where I got to work with Bella again," she said. "We have such a major chemistry – everyone on the set can feel it. They just set us free. I think 90 percent of the time, the camera wasn’t even on us – we shot for three hours, and we were just having a fabulous time – it was so personal and so real. It was one of the best times I’ve ever had on film for sure. Everybody needs to see it!"
Jameson also praised director Justin Sterling's work on the hot-selling Janine Loves Jenna.
"I think that Justin did an amazing job – he always comes through in the clutch," she said. "When we sat down and we mapped this movie out, I remember saying, 'wow, it’s really ambitious – can we pull this off?' It was not easy, and I think halfway through the movie, we all turned to each other like, ‘Man, we’re doing it. This is going to be the best movie ever produced.’ I really think that we kicked ass on that movie, and my fans are a testament to that – we’ve gotten the most feedback from that movie.
"I always expect to win AVN Awards...when I don’t win, I am one of those sore losers," she laughed. "I work too hard not to win!"
While Jameson said she could not speak on the record about the status of her Hollywood bio-pic, she did discuss the sequel to her XXX directorial debut Jenna's Provocateur.
"I'm hoping to start principal photography in December on Provocateur 2," she said. "I think a lot of people are going to think I’m a wacko, but I’m really into water bondage now and I am going to incorporate that into the movie. Everybody who’s seen the first one knows it’s very beautiful and visionary and they can expect no less on the next installment. We’re going to try to challenge people’s thoughts of what beauty really is. All of the contract girls will be in it."
Jameson confirmed to AVN that she's gearing up to announce a new contract girl and several big crossover endeavors that will be announced first on AVN.com. While Club Jenna's lineup of contract girls has undergone changes this year, Jameson said she remains on good terms with all of her discoveries.
"It's all like one big family," Jameson said. "Once a Club Jenna contract girl, always a Club Jenna contract girl.
"I think that we’re really branching out at Club Jenna," Jameson continued. "We’re encompassing as many different kinds of movies as we can, and our roots are in big feature films. I think that it’s important to sign on girls that are able to handle that kind of thing, because it’s not easy. A lot of women are used to going to set and knocking off a few scenes and going home. They don’t know what a 120-page script is, they don’t know dialogue. A lot of them freak out when they see that sort of thing, so it takes a rare breed of talent that can handle it, and we make sure that we take on the right kinds of talent and hire the right kinds of producers to do those films."
Asked whether she was upset by negative attention in the tabloids, Jameson said she's unfazed.
"I think that it's more funny than anything else," she said. "I don’t like to address the [rumors] because that just gives them validity. I know in my heart how happy I am, and that’s really all that matters. I think it’s hilarious that when I leave my house, there’s paparazzi – it’s just really silly! What do you expect me to do? The more you buy into it, the more people believe. So I don’t buy into it."
On the subject of her boyfriend Tito Ortiz, Jameson remarked, "He’s amazing. He works as hard as me, so I think that we’re pretty much the perfect couple. We have a great time, I give him great advice, and he gives me great advice.It’s very easy for us now that we’re really settled into our relationship and we’re just happy to be with each other."
"I think that right now I’m the happiest I have ever been in my entire life," Jameson reflected. "I feel settled, and I feel like I am on the right path. I have a lot of really beautiful things coming up. I just signed a lingerie deal, I am launching my fragrance in January. I’m launching my clothing line, Hello Jenna. I’m just really focused on living life to the fullest, and not just trying to make everybody else happy."
