A new documentary about ‘predatory’ porn king Ron Jeremy shows how the star has been experiencing what friends say are ‘signs of dementia’, with his serial rape case currently on hold due to mental health issues. Watch the footage here:
Jeremy is facing 34 counts of rape and sexual assault levied by 23 different women, with the alleged crimes spanning two decades.
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He has been in jail since 2020, but earlier this year, a judge suspended his trial over concerns about his mental competence – and, in turn, his ability to assist in his own defence.
His suspected mental decline is explored in a new two-part Channel 4 documentary Porn King: The Rise and Fall of Ron Jeremy, which also sees his accusers speak out about what they went through.
Many people note how Jeremy’s alleged offences got increasingly ‘worse’ over time, with one clip showing Jeremy struggling to spell his own name, asking someone as he signs autographs for fans.
“Jeremy right, J-E-R-E-M-Y?” he asks.
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Adult performer Alana Evans – who previously worked with him – says: “Ron was totally senile. As Ron’s health, his cleanliness, his mental state deteriorated – his behaviour got worse.
“Ron definitely got worse with his offending over time.”
Elsewhere in the documentary, we also see him falling asleep midway through interviews or at public appearances.
Kianna Bradley, who is also an adult star but is not among Jeremy’s accusers and still sees him as a good friend, says: “I see the signs of dementia.”
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She explains how she could ‘call him today’ and ask him to come over, and he’d just ask who she was.
“He won’t remember who I am until I explain it to him,” she adds, saying the same thing could happen again the next time she phoned.
Another moment also reveals how Jeremy's condo became 'unliveable' that he moved across the road into a motel, something that others have linked to his mental state.
Moss Krivin, Jeremy's personal assistant, says: "I think Ron's tendency to hoard things was very indicative of someone in a state of mental decline.
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"Ron's condo was a disaster. It was a disaster. It was literally unliveable, and it just got worse and worse over the years.
"And then for the last several months, when he was free, he wasn't even living in his condo. He moved across the street to the motel where Janis Joplin died.
"He was also paying other women to live there, just to have people around him."
Indeed, LA Times journalist James Queally notes how court documents back this idea of Jeremy’s behaviour changing over the years.
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“The allegations against Jeremy do get more violent over time,” he says.
“The way it’s described in the court documents would paint Jeremy as getting older, getting more physically diminished and growing more aggressive.
“The allegations that pre-date at least 2010, they’re more in public, whereas when you get to the 2010s, he’s accused of forcing himself on isolated women in bathrooms, and it’s definitely more predatory.”
Former porn star Lianne Young is one of many women who have come forward, saying he raped her 20 years ago and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after the incident.
"For me, the most devastating part of it is that many people hid the fact that they knew who he was, and what he was,” she says.
In the first episode, which aired last night, Young also reveals she doesn’t think Jeremy ‘remembers’ a lot of what he’s done.
“Ron has very, very jokey persona,” she says.
“When I see Ron playing his persona, like in [porn parody] The Flintstones, it makes me absolutely sick.
“You’ve only been one side of Ron – Ron's not going to show you his true colours, unless you’re a victim of Ron’s.
“People hide behind characters, and the fact is predators are so good at hiding, and Ron is one of them. The man’s a rapist.
“I often do think, ‘Will Ron remember it?’ And I don’t think he will. I don’t think Ron remembers half [of] what he’s done, and I know that I’m not the only one.”
A statement at the end of the documentary states that Jeremy's lawyers say he is ‘not mentally competent to stand trial’, and that he remains in jail while medical experts evaluate him.
He denies all allegations of sexual assault.
Watch part two of Porn King: The Rise and Fall of Ron Jeremy at 9:00pm tonight (Tuesday 16 August) on Channel 4. You can also watch both parts of the documentary on All 4.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivor’s Trust for free on 08088 010 818, or through their website thesurvivorstrust.org
Topics: TV and Film, Documentaries, Celebrity
Jess Hardiman