NEW YORK — Porn legend Ron Jeremy believes the efforts to force condom use in productions is dirty politics.
Jeremy told the New York Daily News that he feels the recent Los Angeles City Council vote for mandatory condom use is part of a larger plan to completely stamp out adult movie making in the San Fernando Valley.
"Performers don't mind wearing rubbers, but viewers don't want to see it. It ruins the fantasy. This will force production to leave Los Angeles, and that's really what the supporters want," Jeremy said.
Echoing most of the industry’s stance on the issue, Jeremy said that forcing producers to require condom use would only hurt L.A.’s porn business.
He pointed out that increasing competition from foreign and amateur porn is making success even more difficult in an already struggling market.
Commenting on performer safety, Jeremy maintained that the industry standard monthly STD testing is more than adequate to keep performers safe.
And he should know.
Jeremy said he’s appeared in more than 1,000 films and is completely disease free.
"What will they require next, dental dams and latex gloves? They call it a dental dam because damn if I'd wear one. How do you create an adult film plot, or any kind of fantasy, with stuff like that?," Jeremy said.
The new ordinance still needs to be signed into law by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
If passed, the industry could see an exodus of porn companies fleeing to other states to shoot.
But, as the Los Angeles Times reported today, porn producers face another hurdle as shooting porn is legal only in California and New Hampshire.
Las Vegas seems like a likely port in the storm because of its close proximity to the L.A. porn hub and Nevada’s prostitution-friendly stance.
Industry attorney Marc J. Randazza told the Times that Sin City is a likely destination for porn relocation, finding it hard to believe that a district attorney in Nevada would target porn producers.
But mandatory condom driving force, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) spokesman Ged Kenslea told the Times, “When the industry says, ‘We’ll go to Nevada,’ we vowed we will follow them.”
