That Jewish Porn Star

What is one of your biggest arguments as you're debating porn?

XXX Church talks about the Internet and all the things that are on there involving kids. Here's what I say: “Whoever saw the film ‘Orgazmo’? ‘Class of Nuke 'Em High’?  ‘Toxic Avenger’?  They have huge audiences, and they're renegade, non-union cult films. 'Orgazmo' was a big cult film in colleges. And, as powerful as the Screen Actor's Guild is, they cannot control renegade productions that are non-union."

In that same way, when somebody commits a crime on the Internet involving kids, animals, rape, or whatever, some will say, "This is the porn business, and we got to defend it."  I'll say, "No, I’m not. I will prosecute it."  And we have. And I give examples in magazines where the FBI thanked certain members of the adult industry for helping to prosecute kiddie porn rings in the United States and France.

If someone wants to commit a crime or do something on the Internet, whether it be amateur porn or whatever, and if they want to do things against the law, you can't stop it. It's on the Internet, which is a wild frontier. Now, these people who make porn films on the Internet, if they want to go get major distribution--meaning DVDs, VHS, stores, satellite, cable channels like Playboy, Spice, Ecstasy, advertising in magazines like Hustler, Penthouse, and Playboy--they have to come to us. And then we'll check out their content, [mandate] blood tests, get model releases, ask for IDs, and we'll see if we want to take that stuff or not. They have to come to the Free Speech Coalition, the Adult Video Association, the Adult Video magazine, or any one of those major corporations that run the adult industry, and then if we like it and accept it, we can then distribute it for them.

We will reject anything that's against the law and probably prosecute them. In our debates with XXX Church, I explain to Craig and the rest of the audience that I cannot be held accountable for any kind of crap you see on the Internet. Because it's not part of our world, it's not under our auspices, and we can't control it or stop it.

I will defend that which we govern, that which we take over, that which we will distribute. And a lot of that content I don't like. There's a lot of stuff that's under our auspices that I find nauseating, but I will defend it because it's under the Free Speech Coalition and the Adult Video Association.

There was a study a few years ago by the Christian organization Focus on the Family that said close to 20 percent of people who consider themselves born-again Christian admit to looking at porn sites.  What do you think is the reason for this?

They're horny, and they're curious, and it's voyeurism. A lot of religious folks get upset that there's all this porn on cable and satellite. Well, I hate to break the news to them, but there's more religious programming on cable, satellite, and network. They complain about Hustler and Penthouse and Playboy in convenience stores. Well, there's a Gideon Bible in every hotel room. Freedom of speech works for everybody.

Hypocrisy is out there. Some of the people who make the most noise often commit the greatest crimes. As a courtesy to Craig, I try not to bring up the church because that's just too easy. But, I do bring up the Meese Commission, which tried to make the connection that watching porn leads to aberrant sexual behavior. It doesn't. There was a Williams Committee in England, a Fraser Committee in Canada, a Nixon-Johnson Committee in America, and a Danish Committee in Denmark that all found no correlation or cause and effect between watching adult material and committing heinous sexual crimes.

The Meese Commission tried to show that there was a connection, but look at who's on the Meese Commission: Father Bruce Ritter, who got kicked out of the ministry for feeling up little boys at Covenant House in New York. It was a biased panel from the start. It was Reagan-appointed, and it was religiously backed.

I love religion. I have no problem with it. But Christians should keep their faces out of some issues, like stem cell research, cloning research, gay rights, and abortion. There's nothing wrong with being religious. Just don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. If we can cure brain cancer and Parkinson's disease, so be it.

Did your mom pass away from Parkinsons?

That's correct. My dad told me 30 years ago that the real future of the cure for Parkinsons is going to be stem cell research. My mother was a guinea pig for cryogenic surgery, and it failed. I got a chance to tell Janet Reno that when I met with her. She said, "Well, I appreciate people like your mom for finding that out." 

The eventual cure for Parkinsons is stem cell research. Everyone knows it. And Christians don't seem to want to allow it. I think that's one of the things with religion I don't like.

Tell me about your relationship with evangelist Tammy Faye Messner (Bakker), whom you met and became friends with on "The Surreal Life"?

She's a doll. We get along really, really well, and I still talk to her. She's fighting some serious cancer. Now she's no longer doing chemo or radiation, and she's allowing Jesus to take over. She's lost a lot of weight, but she's been able to go shopping and have a good time. She's enjoying a basic quality of life, but she's in still serious trouble.

She really cares about people, and she really cares about making the church accept gays because her audience is largely gay. She really cares about people.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

My dad said, "Anything you do, be the best. I don't care if you're a shoe shiner; I don't care if you wash dishes for a living--be the best at it, and own your own shoe shine concession." So, I got into porn and got to be the best known in the business. So, I guess his teachings worked out, in a bizarre way.