Boston- Fidelity was keen to make one thing clear: Ned Johnson is not personally endorsing the porn business. Despite what you may have read in Barron’s, the financial weekly. Fidelity and its trans-Atlantic sister company emerged as backers of “adult” entertainment broadcaster Private Media Group, holding 12 percent of the stock. Private has been raising temperatures in Europe with a reality porn program. Each week, five men compete for a job as a porn star. The winner is the one who performs best, on camera, with one of Private’s female stars. The show has been so red hot that its first series re-ran 76 times over there. Private Media is now in talks to launch a version here. The news is causing red faces at Fidelity’s head offices downtown. The firm even broke its long-standing policy of not commenting on holdings to point out that most of the stock was held by its “separate” overseas offshoot Fidelity International Ltd. The blue-blooded Hub funds firm also pointed out that owners Ned and Abby Johnson were not responsible for the investment. “Any decision to invest in a security is made by the individual portfolio manager,” a spokesman said. Among the big holders is Fidelity International’s Small Cap fund, whose European manager is Ben Paton. Either way, being in bed with Private Media recently has been a good place to be. In the past two years, the stock, which is listed on Nasdaq, has performed like a champion. It leapt another 23 percent on Nasdaq yesterday, rising to $4.62 from barely $1.50 a year ago.

Back story, New York Post, December 6: The producers of a reality pornography show that has taken Europe by storm are in talks with U.S. broadcasters to air the program on the other side of the Atlantic, financial news weekly Barron’s reported yesterday.

The show, which is produced by Spain’s Private Media Group Inc., is the “Private Stars” show.

The show gives five “real world” men a shot at a contract with the company.

The winner of “Private Stars” would be the one who performs best on television with one of Private’s top female stars, the weekly reported.

The first 10 episodes were so successful that the cable network re-ran the show 76 times in Europe and the program jumped to No. 2 for the men’s 24-35 age group in the United Kingdom on the Bravo channel, Barron’s said.

Private Media, which trades on the Nasdaq and is backed by U.S. mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments.

Fidelity is Private Media’s largest institutional investor.

Private Media is now in the midst of a thrust into the U.S. market, Barron’s said.

The company also recently inked a contract with Comcast to launch a Private Latino channel in February for the Spanish-speaking audience, the weekly said, citing the company’s chief executive.