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Porn star Ron Jeremy responds to a comment by Pastor Steve Gross during Tuesday night's debate sponsored by University Union. The two have toured the country debating the porn industry.

(Left to right) Freshman Leah Drisdell, freshman Mitchell Esswein, freshman Phillip Brettschneider and junior Dustin Baker laugh at comments made during the question and answer portion of the debate.

Jeremy holds up an article he presented as evidence against an argument Pastor Gross of the XXX Church made. The two debated for about an hour.

Porn star and pastor go head-to-head

Tickets sold out for event

By: ELYSE BEASLEY

Posted: 8/29/07

Ron Jeremy, a porn star who has directed, produced and starred in more than 1,800 adult films, and Craig Gross, a pastor and founder of xxxchurch.com - a Web site promoting a religious view on pornography - squared off in a sold-out debate Tuesday night in the Georgia Hall at the Tate Center.

Gross and Jeremy, who met at a pornography convention, have been battling wits in The Porn Debate at colleges across the country.

The event was sponsored by the Ideas & Issues sector of University Union.

"We've never had anything about a topic like this on campus before," said Marc Lamotte, student affairs specialist.

"We thought this would be an interesting event," Lamotte said.

Several students offered money for the sold-out free tickets. One offered $20 to anyone who would give her a ticket to the show. Another traded tickets to a football game.

"This man is a living legend," said Jake Walter, a junior from Watkinsville.

"He's had sex with more women than I've met in my entire life."

Gross began by condemning the pornography industry for degrading women, being easily accessible for minors and creating unrealistic expectations.

"It's not real, and it's not what you get," Gross said.

Jeremy, wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, said Gross was "lying" about the extremity of most pornography. He said only a small margin of the industry is geared toward "kinky" material, and the best-selling adult film of last year did not depict any extreme behaviors.

Jeremy agreed that although some women may feel degraded in the pornography business, others are "normal" and very wealthy.

"Either way we're damned. We're not making movies for everyone," Jeremy said.