Jeffrey Jones Makes Rare Public Appearance After Child Porn Scandal, Reveals Why He Left L.A.
Jeffrey Jones Makes Rare Public Appearance After Child Porn Scandal, Reveals Why He Left L.A.

Published: June 8, 2025

Jeffrey Jones, the 78-year-old actor, made a rare public appearance at a Ferris Bueller's Day Off panel at The Hollywood Show on June 6, sharing a life update more than 20 years after a child porn scandal halted his personal and professional paths.

Jones, who famously starred in the movie as antagonist Edward "Ed" Rooney, told the audience that he left Los Angeles. "I moved to live in the desert. I didn't want to be in L.A. anymore, but I got my family here, and so little kids get old fast. I'm driving back and forth," he said.

He added, "I'm getting a place now in L.A. I've given up because I can't keep going back and forth from Burbank to the desert."

Jones was joined on the panel by Cindy Pickett, who played Katie Bueller, and Jonathan Schmock, who played Chez Quis Maitre D, as they discussed the impact of Ferris Bueller. They also opened up about what it was like working with the late director, producer, and writer John Hughes.

When asked if Hughes was collaborative, Jones said, "He certainly was. Yes, he was. He entertained." Giving an example of the filmmaker being receptive to a change in a scene in the iconic movie that involved his character, the actor said, "Ed is trying to look into the house, and there was a window with a hose bed. So the shot was simply me standing on the hose bed trying to look into the window to see if I could find Ferris."

Jones recalled that Hughes could often be a bit set in his ways. "Actually, John wanted what he wanted, and he got it," he said. "But usually, it was a fight. I mean, it oftentimes was a fight because there was time and budget to consider, and John didn't really pay much attention to that."

Schmock, 69, meanwhile, remembered that Hughes "was amazing to work with." "He was very improvisational, and he wanted to get the script that he wrote," he said.

Pickett, for her part, shared that Hughes improvised the last lines of the beloved teen comedy. "The last line of the movie, 'Life moves pretty fast,' he just threw that in. It's not in the original script. He just threw that in. So yeah, he had the best time," she said.

Despite Jones sharing his recollections about the movie and his relocation, he did not delve further into why he moved out of L.A.

In the years since his scandal, the actor has not appeared in many acting roles. He was notably absent from the 2024 Beetlejuice sequel, as his character, Charles Deetz, was killed off after being eaten by a shark.

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Jones was arrested and charged with soliciting a minor for nude photos and possession of child pornography in November 2002. He later pleaded no contest to soliciting a minor, and prosecutors agreed to drop the possession of child pornography charge in July 2003.