Ron Jeremy, one of the most iconic figures in the adult entertainment industry, has been charged with sexually assaulting four women in West Hollywood since 2014, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Jeremy, whose legal name is Ronald Jeremy Hyatt, was charged with three counts of forcible rape and one count of forcible oral copulation and sexual battery, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors allege Jeremy attacked one woman at a West Hollywood home in 2014. The other three attacks allegedly happened at a West Hollywood bar in 2017 and 2019.
Hyatt is scheduled to make his first appearance in the case in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday afternoon. If convicted, he could face up to 90 years in prison.
From my archives August 17, 2001:
A few weeks ago, I left my Uncle Ron a message asking him to call. Wednesday at 11:13PM, he finally called me back.
Ron: “I didn’t wake you up, did I? I’m sorry for calling you so late. Things have been so hectic, I finally wanted to take care of some phone calls I hadn’t returned yet. I didn’t want to be a stuck-up little bastard. How’s it going? How’s the website doing?”
Luke: “I sold it. I’m out.”
Ron: “What? Get out of here. To who?”
“Are they going to report about the business? Are they going to be on sets and stuff?”
Luke: “Yes.”
Ron: “I’m very unsavvy about computers. I don’t even have one. I’m living in the dark ages. No computer, no cell phone. Didn’t you have a lot of hits?”
Luke: “Yes.”
Ron: “Isn’t your site largely based on your personality?”
Luke: “Yes.”
Ron: “So what are you going to do now? Ignore the industry?”
Luke: “Yeah.”
Ron: “Were people giving you a hard time?”
Luke: “Yeah, my synagogue.”
Ron: “You’re a converted Jewish boy.”
Luke: “Yeah.”
Ron: “Why, there are Jews in the business.”
Luke: “They tossed me from my synagogue.”
Ron: “Did they say you could come back in if you sold the site?”
Luke: “Yeah, but it looks like it will be a long time before they do let me back in.”
Ron: “Are you Conservative or Orthodox or Chasidic?”
Luke: “Orthodox.”
Ron: “I don’t understand. I can belong to a synagogue and I’m in a lot worse shape than you’re in. Why can’t you just go to a different synagogue?”
Luke: “I will. But I’ve been banned from two of my favorite synagogues now.”
Ron: “Why wouldn’t they look at it as ‘Our son needs help. He got involved in a very strange business. Now he wants to come over. He dropped his entire living…’ Why wouldn’t they look at it as a good sign? Jews are known to be more liberal. If it was a Catholic church, you’d have a much bigger problem. They’ve got God and the Devil and Heaven and Hell and all that stuff.
“You were controversial. You even gave me a couple of good slams. But I liked that. You can’t always have the positive press.”
I last ran into Ron Jeremy in August, 2000, while winding down a date at Jerry’s Deli on Beverly Blvd. While walking out, I heard a familiar voice, ‘Hey Luke.’ It was my Uncle Ron surrounded by some slutty looking girls. I left my date behind and walked over to chat with Ron. My date later wondered why I didn’t introduce her to my friend.
Luke: “A few weeks ago, this Israeli pop culture magazine Blazer wanted me to interview you. And when you didn’t return my call right away, I just wrote up something from previous talks with you.”
Ron: “That’s fine. How am I going to look? Pretty good or am I getting slammed?”
Luke: “It’s pretty down the middle.”
Ron: “You’re always honest. There’s a great documentary coming out on me, you can see the trailer at RonJeremy-themovie.com. Eddie Murphy’s in it.
“I’ve been opening for many acts, huge of course. Run DMC, B52s, Kid Rock, Metallica, Corn, Motley Crew. And I’ve been on stage with a lot of big names too such as Gene Simmons of Kiss.
“You still enjoy looking at things, right?”
Luke: “I don’t have as much enjoyment looking at things anymore.”
Ron: “I was never a big connoisseur of it. I’ve often been told that when someone converts, they’re often more religious than those around them. My brother’s wife converted too. Were you Catholic?”
Luke: “No, I was raised a Seventh Day Adventist.”
Ron: “Oh, is that Lutheran? No, is that Mormon?”
Luke: “It’s like Mormon in some ways.”
Ron: “The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Some scholars say that if Jesus did come down to earth, the first place he’d want to go was a synagogue. Because they’re doing the religion the way he planned it. A rabbi, a cantor, a guy who sings, a guy who speaks. The first place he’d hate would be a Catholic church because it is all statutes, exactly the stuff he was against. Am I correct?”
Luke: “Probably.”
Ron: “Isn’t that an interesting thought? All these Catholics going ‘Jesus, Jesus.’ He’d look at them and say, ‘Idiots, the Jews are doing it the way I planned.’ He wasn’t into praying to different saints. It’s funny how Jews are doing Jesus more than the Catholics are.
“Remember what Sam Kinison used to say – the last thing Jesus would want to look at is the cross. He’d say, ‘Who the f— made that the corporate envelope?’ If you love John Kennedy, are you going to wear a .36 bullet around your neck. ‘Hey look John, we love you.’ The cross was a means of extermination. That’s like, if you love the French, put a guillotine around your neck.”
From my memoir, XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without A Shul, referring to an event in February 1996:
I look over the hundreds of fans pouring into the mammoth Mayan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. They violate my middle-class values with their tattoos, piercings, and obscene t-shirts.
I pick through the crowd, looking for porn stars. When I introduce myself, I try to present the image of a journalist with only a professional interest in his subject. Most of the porners won’t talk to me because they instinctively distrust outsiders. I wish I could temporarily become one of them, so I wouldn’t have to travel such a great psychic distance to get my story.
Struggling to talk over the music, I manage a five-minute tape-recorded conversation with a pornette from Las Vegas, who then tells me I can’t use anything she’s said because she hasn’t signed a release. I allow her to intimidate me.
A black couple asks to get paid before giving an interview. I refuse.
I hand out my business card, which features my modeling photo and reads, “Luke Ford – Actor, Model, Writer.”
I spot Ron Jeremy, who’s appeared in about 1,600 porn films. I give him my card. He’s polite but clearly has no intention of calling me.
I feel rejected. Nobody wants to talk to me. I doubt I can get the scoop. And even if I did, I doubt I can craft it into a coherent story. Except for the complete absence of book-length journalism on porn, meaning that I see this as the easiest professional opportunity for me to establish myself as an author, I wouldn’t be here.* June 16, 1996:
On Father’s Day, June 16, I dine at the Rainbow Club in Hollywood with 43-year old stud Ron Jeremy, porn’s most recognized face, and gangbang queen Jasmin St. Claire, who claims an Ivy-league education.
“I have this guilty conscience about the gangbang,” sighs Jasmin.
“And you’re not even Jewish,” says Ron.
“Hanging around you, I’ve become Jewish.”
Ron looks at me. “You’re Jewish?”
“Ron,” says an exasperated Jasmin, “he has a yarmulke on. It’s the first thing I saw.”
“No wonder you’re a nice guy.”
“Ron, why don’t you wear a yarmulke?”
“It’s not appropriate.”
“I’m a nice Jewish boy,” I claim. “I don’t do the talent. I’d like to, but I don’t want to come on to the women I interview.”
“I know that,” says Ron. “If you did, we’d know about it.”
Jeremy walks us over to the Comedy Store and gets us in for free.
A stream of comics use his presence for jokes. Mark Turner sings, “If I were a rich man, I’d be Ron Jeremy. All day long I’d be in and out and in. In and out and in. And I’d come. Oy!”
Ron laughs, “It’s a Jewish night.”
Jasmine chirps, “I like it.”
I get up and walk to the bathroom. The comic notices my yarmulke. “What’s a Jew doing here, hanging out with Ron Jeremy? You can’t be a Jewish porn star. I haven’t seen any with yarmulkes on.”* August 2000:
Driving back from a party Saturday night in my old van, I stop by Jerry’s Deli with Peppy. At the end of the meal, she opens up. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but after I met you at synagogue, I told two other women that I’d recruited another guy to come on the trip. They were happy until I said your name. They didn’t want you to go. They thought you were a loose cannon.”
“Yeah, it’s true,” I sigh. “I’m in therapy. I’m working on it.”
“After the trip, they were glad you came along. They like you. But this is something that concerns me. I’d like to bring you to my uncle’s barbeque this afternoon, but I’m concerned about your sense of propriety. You have a tendency at times to say really inappropriate things.”
I nod and pay the bill. As we walk out, I hear a familiar voice calling my name.
I turn around and see Ron Jeremy at a booth with four sluts. I pause and then step forward to Ron, leaving Peppy behind. She waits for me to introduce her.
When I don’t, she skips off to the bathroom.
Jeremy regales me with his latest accomplishments, including a public introduction at a Chris Rock concert.
After a few minutes, I say goodbye to Ron and find my girl outside.
“Who was your friend?” she asks.
“A B actor.”
“Why didn’t you introduce me?”
“He’s kinda sleazy.”
I try to keep my life neatly separated. There’s a compartment for work, for love, for lust, for religion. When I hit a bump in the road and the contents spill together, I feel uneasy.
