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Ron Jeremy Rape Accuser Comes Forward: ‘I Wondered

if He Planned to Kill Me’
SPEAKING OUT
In her memoir “Adult Agency,” Jennifer Steele Mondello recounts the night porn legend Ron
Jeremy allegedly raped her. She tells us about her decision to come forward.

Diana Falzone Published Sep. 21, 2022 4:45AM EDT

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Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Courtesy Jennifer Mondello/Getty

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“December 12, 1997. I will never forget that fucking date,” says Jennifer Steele Demonize Migrants
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Mondello. “When he was raping me I could tell that he had done this before.”
‘True Detective’ Closes the Book, but Opens
Up the Theories
Mondello, a former adult performer known as “Jennifer Steele,” is the author of COLEMAN SPILDE

the new book Adult Agency: A Memoir, which details her alleged assault by Ron
Jeremy (real name: Ronald Jeremy Hyatt). The fallen porn icon is currently
behind bars indicted on more than 30 counts of rape and sexual assault.

The Tampa-based mother recalled her 1997 alleged sexual assault to The Daily
Beast in an exclusive interview. She says she met Jeremy at Stars Cabaret, a
strip club in Beaverton, Oregon, in December 1997. Since she wanted to become
an adult entertainer, her manager at the time introduced her to Jeremy,
ensuring her that he was “safe.”

“Ron offered to help me meet some contacts to make girl-girl and solo scenes,
and that I could stay at his place in Los Angeles,” says Mondello. “I clarified and
he agreed that sex between us was not part of the deal, and I took great care to
make sure he knew I wasn’t open to it.”

While in Los Angeles during what she claims was a “no-contact shoot” at
Hustler Studios, Mondello alleges that Jeremy brought her into a bathroom
because he was having a hard time getting an erection, and asked her to “bend
over for a visual fluff” so he could get aroused, while promising that he wouldn’t
touch her.

She Gave Up Sitcom Stardom for Porn and

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Marlow Stern

“As an exotic dancer, this wasn’t a stretch for me,” she maintains. “While I bent
over, facing the other way, Ron broke my trust and entered me, and I pushed
myself away and we continued the shoot. I was new and didn’t know who I
could trust of all the people around me who were fawning over Ron. At the car,
he convinced me it was a misunderstanding and that it wouldn’t happen again,
and that I was safe staying at his place that night.”

Mondello didn’t have a place to stay, so she says she decided to take him at his
word and accept his offer. But later that night at his apartment, she alleges that
he assaulted her.

“He roused me out of my sleep to coerce me into letting him give me oral sex
with the promise to leave me alone afterwards. He said I should appreciate
everything he was doing for me,” she says. “When I refused sex, he raped me.
He raped me in my mouth, my vagina, and anally. The trauma created
memories of watching myself being raped from another side of the room.”

“There were some moments I wondered if he planned to kill me, because how
would a celebrity get away with doing this to people if I remained alive?” she
adds. “He stopped when he saw tears and blood, and at that point I was relieved
I would live. I took a shower, and I wanted to stay in that shower forever. I lost
trust in myself and my intuition after that.” (Jeremy’s attorney declined to
comment on his behalf for this story.)

Mondello shared with The Daily Beast that she received mental health
counseling for trauma via the Pineapple Support Society, a therapy support
service for those in the adult industry. Founder and CEO of Pineapple Support
Society, Leya Tanit, confirmed that Mondello had therapy sessions through
their network.

Jennifer Steele Mondello

While she confided in her immediate family, Mondello was hesitant to come
forward because the cultural atmosphere of 1997 was very different to today
regarding sexual-assault allegations.

“He was a celebrity. It was 1997. It would have ended up all over the news
stations, and I had seen what happened to Lorena Bobbitt. I had seen what
happened to Anita Hill. The last thing I wanted was to, you know, accuse a
celebrity of rape—especially a porn star. It would have been a joke how I saw it.
I asked one of the cops if it would be enough to press charges if I had bruising
and DNA and he said considering I was a stripper and he was who he was, they
wouldn’t press charges based on that.”

So, Mondello, worried that nobody would believe a sex worker, decided not to
file a police report at the time of her alleged rape.

“I figured if I told people something would get done within the [adult] industry,
and I didn’t want to be the person known for making the industry look bad,” she
says. “I thought the industry would take care of it internally.”

But nothing was done, and Jeremy kept being cast in adult industry productions
and booking appearances at strip clubs.

Gene Ross, former executive editor of adult industry company AVN

Publications, wrote the foreword to Mondello’s memoir. He says he was one of
the first people to publish sexual-misconduct allegations against Jeremy back in
2004.

“I felt so good to tell somebody official who

cared. I can’t even describe the sense of full-
circle.”
“We’re talking 18 years and he didn’t get prosecuted until 2020, so this story
was sitting for 16 years. Nobody wanted to believe it,” says Ross. “I wrote the
story in 2004, and everybody kept saying, ‘Oh, that couldn’t be, oh, that
couldn’t be. I kept stirring the pot on this thing and Jeremy would call me
totally insane denying everything, saying he was going to sue me. I must have
talked to at least six or seven different women… He’s like that guy in the bar
who wouldn’t take rejection. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. I wasn’t a
witness to what was going on between [Jeremy and Mondello], but her story fit
the mold of all the other women I talked to.”

While her alleged sexual assault occurred in 1997, it was not until 2020 when
she was interviewed by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

“I felt so good to tell somebody official who cared,” says Mondello. “I can’t even
describe the sense of full-circle. I was not one of the charging victims. I was one
of the victim witnesses. There was a certain M.O. I would be there to back up
that he [Jeremy] had been doing it since at least 1997. They called me a victim
witness, historical witness, prior bad acts witness.”

The Daily Beast obtained and reviewed an email between Mondello and the Los
Angeles District Attorney’s office confirming they’d spoken with one another.
When reached for comment, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office was
unable to provide comment due to the fact that the case against Jeremy is still
pending.

Ron Jeremy listens as his attorney Stuart Goldfarb speaks during his arraignment on rape and sexual assault
charges at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on June 26, 2020, in Los Angeles, California.
David McNew/AFP/Getty

Jeremy’s trial is presently suspended as his lawyers argue that the 69-year-old
is mentally incompetent to stand trial.

“I think that Ron is sick, and I think that he was sick when this happened,” says
Mondello. “I don’t wish ill-will on him, but I’m glad that he’s locked up. It’s a
big deal that it actually came to light that he was doing this because for a long
time I just had people turn their backs on me. That sucked. So now, it’s more
about me looking at the industry and seeing if they’re doing anything to help
talent have some kind of a voice when these things do come up. These types of
things are happening today, and there’s nothing the industry has done to
change things, not that I can see.”

Mondello is in the process of creating a free website to be available next year,

SturdyStairs.com, that allows adult performers to anonymously share their
experiences after each scene on set. She hopes to turn it into a nonprofit.

“That way they can start seeing patterns at different companies... which
companies are behaving and which companies are a problem in certain areas,”
explains Mondello. “And then the talent can decide for themselves who they
want to work for.”

Diana Falzone
@dianafalzone

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CONGRESS

How Trump Is Killing Off the ‘Reagan Republican’ in

Congress
MOURNING AGAIN
Ukraine aid is showing how isolationist the new GOP is under Donald Trump.

Riley Rogerson
Published Feb. 19, 2024 4:58AM EST
Politics Reporter

A photo illustration of peeling pictures of President Ronald Reagan.

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Less than a decade ago, all but a few Republicans in Congress would have taken ‘True Detective’ Closes the Book, but Opens
Up the Theories
the title of “Reagan Republican” as a badge of honor. COLEMAN SPILDE

The 40th president’s “peace through strength” mantra guided decades of GOP John Oliver Offers Clarence Thomas
Millions to Resign Now
philosophy on foreign affairs, with generations of Republicans emulating SEAN L. MCCARTHY

Ronald Reagan’s vision for modernizing the military and investing in alliances
abroad.

But these days, as the GOP remakes itself in the image of Donald Trump, the
moniker of “Reagan Republican” is no longer the proud distinction it once was.

It’s more like a MAGA epithet.

For over a year now, Congress has struggled to pass new aid for Ukraine, the
war-torn nation dismantling the military of one of the United States’ most
hostile enemies. Israel, long considered one of the U.S.’s most important allies,
hasn’t received congressionally approved aid in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7
attack either. And Taiwan, staring down surging Chinese aggression, is also
waiting on help from Congress.

Why Are Republicans Playing Politics With

Ukraine?
CHICKEN KYIV
Sam Brodey, Matt Fuller

Not lending a hand to these countries would have once been unthinkable to
Reagan’s party. But the growing sect of “America First” Republicans are actively
standing in the way. And as that faction stalls aid and U.S. allies suffer,
Democrats and the dwindling camp of more hawkish Republicans are watching
in disbelief.

“It’s not my father’s Republican Party,” said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)—the co-
chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. “My father’s Republican Party was
pro-trade, pro-military, and pro-business.”

“You knew where they stood on this,” he continued. “Not the least of which was
the foundation, the Reagan Doctrine—that we will forever stand with our allies
against Soviet aggression.”

Quigley had a blunt assessment encapsulating the thoughts of many in

Congress, from either side of the issue: “The Reagan Doctrine is dead.”

While Ukraine aid is not the only example of America First Republicans getting
in the way of a policy that would once have been a no-brainer for the GOP, it’s
perhaps the starkest.

Congress has not approved new funding to assist Ukraine in its defense against
Russia since last December, when it signed off on a $45 billion tranche. That
U.S. assistance is basically gone, and the Pentagon is reporting that Ukrainian
soldiers will soon run out of ammunition without Congress’ intervention.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has implored Congress to pass more
aid via personal trips to Capitol Hill, but his pleas have fallen on deaf ears in the
GOP.

With the help of media personalities like former Fox News anchor Tucker
Carlson, Ukraine aid has become a highly charged political lightning rod.
Conservatives argue that any funding for Ukraine would be better spent
domestically—never mind that the vast majority of Ukraine aid goes to U.S.
defense companies rebuilding Pentagon weapon stockpiles.

The Republican critics of Ukraine aid are so substantial that, in September, 93

GOP lawmakers supported an amendment, led by conservative Rep. Matt Gaetz
(R-FL), to prohibit security aid to Ukraine. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)
has even vowed to introduce a motion to remove the speaker if he puts Ukraine
aid on the floor for a vote.

With a House majority of just 219 Republicans—and the conservative penchant

for ousting leaders when they step out of line alive and well—the Ukraine
detractors demand to be taken seriously.

Reagan’s GOP Wouldn’t Think Twice About

Aid to Ukraine
SHINING CITY ON A HILL
Matt Lewis

Even the Biden administration appears to acknowledge the tricky political

reality. In October, they requested a $105 billion national security bill with
money for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. But, as a carrot to Republicans, the
White House and lead Democratic negotiators also included money to bolster
security at the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats were willing to give up what was
once their bargaining chip for a pathway to citizenship in immigration reform—
now in exchange for military assistance that Republicans would have, until
recently, fought strenuously to approve.

Amazingly, the offer still wasn’t good enough. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-
LA) swore he wouldn’t give the bill a vote, and Republican senators—despite
knowing it was the deal of the century—quickly came out against it.

The Republicans who had assured reporters for weeks that they would need to
read the bill before expressing an opinion on it almost immediately were able to
discern that the deal was no good.

Miraculously, the Senate GOP’s answer to the deal falling apart was simply to
pass the foreign aid without the border provisions—an agreement Democrats
were happy to accept the whole time.

Still, less than half of the Senate GOP conference voted yes on the aid. And so
desperate were the America Firsters to block the bill that Trump-devotees like
Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), and J.D. Vance (R-OH) filibustered
the deal through Super Bowl Sunday.

That bill is now stalled in the House, and Speaker Johnson once again appears
in no rush to bring it to a vote. He’s now calling for more extreme border
security measures, after shooting down the first deal because of the border
security provisions.

Before ascending to the speakership, Johnson was sympathetic to Ukraine’s

struggle against Russia. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee,
he seemed to understand that Ukraine aid was a pennies-on-the-dollar strategy
for constraining Vladimir Putin’s global ambitions. But now, as speaker,
Johnson appears acutely aware that even allowing the House to work its will on
Ukraine could cost him his job.

The role of the speaker used to be putting bills on the floor that could pass; it’s
now the speaker’s job, under this new GOP world order, to make sure that you
don’t put bills on the floor that could pass—at least not the ones where the right
Republicans (or, perhaps, the wrong ones) are opposed.

There are, of course, Republicans who aren’t ready give up the ghost of Reagan.
And they’re most often the ones who aren’t ready to take no for an answer on
Ukraine.

“I’m kind of a Reagan guy,” said Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael
McCaul (R-TX). “And I always ask, ‘What would Reagan do?’”

McCaul noted that Reagan felt very strongly that the U.S. was the leader of the
free world, that we couldn’t abandon our allies or be isolationists.

“If we abandon our allies in Ukraine—like we did in Afghanistan—and

surrender to Putin and allow him to take over Ukraine, he’ll go into Moldova,
Georgia. He'll threaten the Baltics. And where are we then?” McCaul said,
raising the prospect that isolationism now could very well result in U.S. boots
on the ground later.

“It’s kind of like 1939,” he said.

While McCaul searches for a path forward on Ukraine, he no longer has fierce
foreign aid hawks like Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY).
Both were practically expelled from their own party over their opposition to
Trump—and both see the current iteration of the GOP as problematic.

On Sunday, Cheney told CNN that Johnson should be willing to give up the
speaker’s gavel in the name of passing Ukraine aid.

“You got to understand that we are at a turning point in the history not just of
this nation, but of the world,” she said.

Cheney has long been explicit about the need to pass Ukraine aid, warning
about “this rising isolationist tendency” in the GOP.

“We’ve begun to hear Republicans talking about America’s role in the world and
they sound more like Jane Fonda than Ronald Reagan,” she said on a podcast
late last year.

Kinzinger has also been highly critical of his former colleagues and their pivot to
isolationism.

Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini)

@AdamKinzinger · Follow

Any Republican that ever claims the US is showing

weakness needs to have Ukraine aid shoved in their face.
This is the biggest betrayal of the century.

No reporter should let that statement go unanswered.

Biden needs to speak out on this WAY more.
9:02 AM · Jan 25, 2024

15.1K Reply Share

Read 1.8K replies

Kinzinger has practically transformed his personal Twitter account into a pro-
Ukraine aid campaign. And he’s taken particular aim at the Republicans trying
to ignore the besieged country.

“If the GOP abandons Ukraine, they will NEVER be able to criticize any
president for a weak foreign policy. EVER,” he tweeted just before Christmas.

Inside of Congress—and in good standing with the MAGA movement—there are

still Republicans who are fighting against the isolationist pivot.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)—famous for shouting “You lie!” during then-President
Barack Obama’s State of the Union address before taunts and shouts were
standard GOP fare for those addresses—told The Daily Beast that isolationism is
a “really sad development” for the party of Barry Goldwater.

(“I’m earlier than Reagan,” Wilson explained.)

“To me, the Republican tradition is strong national defense, but we have
isolationists, and you’d have to ask them what their thought process is,” he said.

“We need to learn from history and the way to avoid conflict is to be strong,”
Wilson added.

But Wilson, 76, who has served in Congress for over two decades, certainly isn’t
the norm—the MAGA firebrands overtaking the GOP are.

After voting against the Senate foreign aid package last week, Sen. Eric Schmitt
(R-MO) noted on X that nearly every Republican younger than 55 voted against
the bill, with 15 of the 17 senators elected since 2018 also voting no.

Freshman Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO)—a 47-year-old conservative member of

the House Freedom Caucus—said that the America First movement’s popularity
with younger lawmakers, in part, comes from their media habits. Younger
members, Burlison said, consume more Carlson, Ben Shapiro, and Tim Pool
than the old Republican guard.

“We listen and digest things that are different than what some members that
have been here for a long time,” Burlison said. “They just get their news from a
different place.”

Media personalities like Carlson have been spouting Ukraine skepticism—and,

at points, outright pro-Russian sympathies—for years.

Since getting the boot from Fox, Carlson has blasted additional U.S. aid to
Ukraine. Just last week, he released a lengthy interview with Putin loaded with
soft-ball questions. So frivolous was the interview that Putin asked if Carlson
was there for a “talk show or serious conversation?”

“Honestly, I think Ronald Reagan would turn over

in his grave if he saw we were not going to help