LOS ANGELES - Industry veteran Ron Jeremy is featured in a new commercial intended to keep children away from pornography. Jeremy plays himself in the minute-long public service announcement for Christian group XXXChurch, telling his sidekick "Pete the Porno Puppet" to stay away from porn.
"Pornography is for consenting adults... not for kids," Jeremy says. "We don't want kids to see our videos."
"We do a public service announcement with me and a puppet saying, 'Don't watch porn 'til you're over 18 years of age. It's for adults only, and it's rated XXX'," Jeremy told AVN. "I say, 'We don't b.s., we don't use record labeling, we don't sneak sex through advertising, we tell you exactly what it is from the very beginning. We're the most honest industry-- you should appreciate us, rather than giving us a hard time.'"
"Pete" was conceptualized in 2003 by XXXChurch.com founder Craig Gross and adult director James "Jimmy D" DiGiorgio, who created the educational spots for cable television.
Gross and Jeremy have toured college campuses, debating the issues that surround pornography.
"We're going on a bus tour starting in August," said Jeremy. "We'll be hitting a bunch of cities by bus; they're shooting it for probably HBO, and we did a wrestling thing where me and Craig Gross, we go into a ring and we flip each other on the ground, we stamp on each other, the religious boy vs. the porn star. It's very funny, we're getting a lot of mileage out of it. It's on YouTube like crazy."
"Through our debates, Ron and I have struck up a sort of friendship," said Gross. "It freaks people out, but even though we have many differences, we have found one thing we agree on, and we're working together on it."
On the subject of Gross, Jeremy told AVN, "He's actually a great guy; he doesn't agree with my profession, and I don't happen to agree with some of his. He's never beaten me in a debate. We've faced 5,000 kids at some of the colleges in America -- he cannot beat me. I hope he reads this. Craig Gross, you cannot beat me in a debate. At best, we'll tie, but you can't beat me. He admits it! On his own website, XXXChurch, he admits that he never beat me in a debate."
"He feels that the business is bad for people, 'cause our girls are not treated fairly, it's a bad thing, it's bad for those who watch it," Jeremy continued. "But he's also against all forms of masturbation. I slam him so bad on that point, that we don't even bring it up, 'cause I don't want an easy victory. 'Cause we're debating in front of college kids -- you tell a college kid that masturbating's not good, he's gonna lose the debate before it starts. I want it to be more fair and square. He tries to avoid asking me that famous question, 'So what if your daughter wanted to do it?' That's the Achilles heel for me. Thank god the people I debate -- I've always said this, it's so funny -- thank god Craig Gross; Susan Cole, a feminist, a graduate of Harvard; and Michael Leahy [of] an organization called Bravehearts for recovering sex addicts; thank god these guys have never seen or heard of Donkey Punch or Pink Eye, or I'd be so screwed. I can defend anal, I would even defend a bukkake. I'll defend double anal. Defending blowing myself, that's a tough one, but I'll be damned if I could defend Donkey Punch or Pink Eye. Who the fuck in porn is alright to shoot that stuff, either, you know?"
"I don't mind what Craig does," Jeremy concluded. "That's why it's an interesting debate. If can get girls in porn who don't want to be in the business, and they want to get out, they want to find a spiritual path, then let him go for it! I have no problem with what he does for a living. There's some girls who do not belong in porn. If Craig Gross weeds them out, and gets them to do other things, then more power to him. If a girl feels bad about what she's doing, McDonald's is better. When he tries to go for those who are perfectly happy and content, and making a ton of money, I think he's wrong. So he has his place, I think, in the industry. He still can't beat me in a debate. Not even close."
XXX Church plans an additional series of PSAs in which Jeremy and "Pete" discuss porn films, set to debut online in August.
AVN's Peter Warren also contributed to this report.
Entertainment
- By
