Corey Feldman in his prime
Corey Feldman could be the poster boy for troubled ex-child stars. The quirky, funny kid who had major roles in “Stand By Me,” “The Goonies,” and “The Lost Boys” was exploited by his parents, damaged by the industry, and left with an addiction to attention and fame. Feldman, like many other child stars, was never able to transition into adult parts, and now he is 40, still with the hunger for attention and validation that characterizes the breed. He has tried reality shows and low-budget films, and now he is trying to get himself back in the news by making sensational accusations.
In an interview on ABC’s Nightline, Feldman dropped a genuine bombshell, saying…
“I can tell you that the No. 1 problem in Hollywood was and is and always will be pedophilia. That’s the biggest problem for children in this industry. … It’s the big secret.”
Feldman went on to assert that the infamous “casting couch” was routinely used for children as well as voluptuous starlets. “It’s all done under the radar,” he said. “I was surrounded by pedophiles when I was 14 years old. … Didn’t even know it. It wasn’t until I was old enough to realize what they were and what they wanted … till I went, Oh, my God. They were everywhere.”
Echoing the campaigns of show business industry child protection advocates like Paul Petersen and our own Steven Mark Pilling, Feldman called for reform, saying:
“There’s a lot of good people in this industry, but there’s also a lot of really, really sick, corrupt people. And there are people … who have gotten away with it for so long that they feel they’re above the law, and that’s got to change.”
Finally, Corey Feldman made the sensational claim that his friend and fellow former child star, Corey Haim, had died of a drug overdose in part because of the actions of a powerful Hollywood pedophile, like the ones, he says, who had sexually abused him:
“There’s one person to blame in the death of Corey Haim. And that person happens to be a Hollywood mogul. And that person needs to be exposed, but, unfortunately, I can’t be the one to do it.”
Hold on.
Feldman can’t go on television, make accusations like these, suggest that pedophilia is rampant and that children are being routinely molested by Hollywood power players, claim that a young man, his friend, was driven to drug addiction and death by “a Hollywood mogul” and then say, “but I can’t be the one to blow the whistle.”
Why can’t Feldman be the one to blow the whistle? Because it will hurt his career? Corey Feldman hasn’t had a career in 20 years! Because he’ll be sued? If his accusation is accurate, Feldman won’t be sued; the Oscar Wilde lesson applies. Because he’ll be killed, as some have suggested in web postings? Please. A D-list celebrity makes an accusation on Nightline and turns up dead…it wouldn’t take Columbo to figure that one out.
Say what you want about slimy ex-baseball slugger Jose Canseco (and I’ve said plenty), but when he decided to get his revenge on the baseball establishment that had (justifiably) rejected him, by blowing the lid off of MLB’s steroid scandal in his rat-everybody-out book, he named names. Though he was only interested in getting himself back in the lime light and making some money by betraying former friends and team mates, his book did serve as a catalyst that forced the sport to crack down on performance-enhancing drug use.
According to Feldman, children are being molested in Hollywood, and he knows who is responsible. He has an absolute obligation to say who. Now. Children are being harmed. Is Feldman afraid? Too bad: children are being harmed. Is Feldman protecting someone? He can’t: children are being harmed.
Or not. If they are true, Corey Feldman’s horrifying claims are shocking and important, requiring immediate investigation and action. But if it is true, why did Feldman wait more than two decades to say something? Why is he unwilling to point his finger at the molesters? Why is he making a high-profile accusation without any corroboration?
As Feldman has left it, there are many varying ways of interpreting his ABC interview:
1. Out of options and out of money, Corey Feldman cooked up a way to get himself on “Nightline” and stir up controversy. He is lying through his teeth.
2. Feldman himself was molested, and he is projecting that experience on the entire industry.
3. Feldman is representing rumor as fact, in order to attain the celebrity he is desperate for.
4. Feldman is telling the truth, has silently allowed children to be molested in Hollywood for all this time, and is still too cowardly to tell everything he knows.
5. Feldman is deluded.
I have no idea which of these are true, and will not, until Corey Feldman does his duty, and names specific individuals in Hollywood who are putting kids on “the casting couch.” If he is lying, he is another sad attention addict created by the unhealthy experience of child stardom, a victim, but still accountable for his actions.
If he is telling the truth, however, Corey Feldman is contemptible, and an enabler and ally of the very monsters he is accusing.
Ethics Alarms 
Hi, Jack. Naturally, I have to chime in on this one, as I’ve tried to stay on top of it since the story broke.
I give Feldman’s story tentative credence, making (I think) due allowance for that “fame withdrawal factor” (as Paul Petersen calls it) so common among former child stars. These are my reasons.
1. Logic. Since the mid-70’s, child actors have been increasingly and (through lack of legal imperative) legitimately used in adultized roles- to include sexuality, violence, profanity and morbidity. With such concepts prevalent on a set and with the abundant lack of concern or oversight by the producers and studios as to who’s allowed access to those kids, it only stands to reason that they are imperiled by predators. Deviants tend to congregate where the children are. It’s only too well known that such people ARE abundant in the Industry. The case of director Victor Salva (Disney) and former child actor Nathan Winters is a rare one of exposure and actual conviction.
2. Personal. The aforesaid Salva/Winters case was rare because of a number of factors. First: For any FCS still seeking the spotlight, to reveal such things- to the embarrassment of the entire Industry- can pretty well eliminate any hopes of a revived career. Second: While, as you say, nobody’s going to “bump him off”- Mafia style- there are many ways a business as powerful and influential as Hollywood can destroy someone by media attack, litigation, innuendo, etc. Third: Among ALL molestation victims lies the factors of fear and shame… a factor that can extend into adulthood. This is why so many molestation cases go unreported and why so many children are multiple victims. It should also be pointed out that many former child actors have trouble in fully maturing due to the conditions of their upbringing.
Feldman is likely aware of his vulnerability to personal attack in even saying as much as he has. My question to my associates has been; if we take his statement as truthful- knowing ahead of time that such outrages HAVE been inflicted and most certainly are right now- are we prepared to give him legal and moral backing? The possibility that this is a mindless ploy for publicity by an immature FCS exists. But if it’s not, Feldman’s testimony may be key to the goal of breaking open the cycle of institutionalized child exploitation in the Industry that occurs on so many levels. People have a right to know if those children who come into our homes every day via multiple sources are being subjected to hideous abuse in the process. If Feldman is genuine, he DOES need to speak out; for his own sake and for those of all those thousands of children in the Industry today. How many others would likewise come forth if they knew that forces exist that can and will protect them if they do? That’s why this question is so vital. And the answer must be quickly forthcoming.
Hi Steven and Jack
What I’ve found difficult this week is that I have more people approaching me and saying do we believe Corey, how could this be true, he’s just doing this to gain attention and why didn’t he name names instead of people coming to me and saying, especially one of the powerful men in Hollywood Roman Polanski pretty much walked away with a slap on the hand and after seeing parents actually put their children in harm’s way with reality TV, opening up their homes to the cameras, filming their kids in the bath, on potties, getting dressed and in their bedrooms…what can we do to bring more attention to this issue and at least back up Corey’s statement, which is right on target, that too many entitled people in this industry think that they are above the law and it has to stop.
Corey is a product of this industry..of parents who didn’t do the right thing and secure his money he earned and another “waste” product where he’s known as well..you know that kid that went astray..wrong turn, messed up, instead of realizing his accomplishments as a talented young actor, thrown to the wolves in this industry with not even SAG truly caring about the kids and more about keeping the adult actors working and when they are done with you, you are on your own. For Corey to make a statement like this when he has a family, a child and trying to earn a living to provide for his family, it was a huge risk just to go this far. I watched him look straight in the camera, not blinking an eye and he said the truth..there is no doubt in that, from those who represent the kids, to photographers, to the hundreds of crew members with no background checks on production sets and those who can “pretend” to be your friend and get close to the kids. I personally dealt with a pedophile when Assemblyman Neil Cohen in New Jersey sponsored a child performer bill which was supposed to fix a broken law in New Jersey that the entire industry and the NJ DOL and even the theatrical unions throught didn’t exist. His bill screamed of the industry knocking on his door, taking away the education privilages the kids didn’t even enjoy cos the law was abused and he invited a third party to be the children’s employer..Craigs list so-called casting agent perhaps who no one ever heard of booking background for a movie or project! And all the while I was calling his office, never answering my questions, he was in his office on his computer downloading child pornography, printing it out and leaving the pictures in the office. He was contributing to sex trafficking and the underground porn world. He was arrested and is serving a 5 year term. No one ever mentioned the young girls he was viewing, that they were in a horrible state of abuse, trafficked perhaps..never mentioned if they were rescued and he is escaping the registered sex offender list as well. Now, why didn’t the Screen Actor’s Guild, who was working with his office on this bill make a statement to teh young performer’s parents about the real reason the bill was tabled? The MPAA, the commercial producers..everyone knew about it. It was finally Protect.org who put the entire story together on their website. And why didn’t they know there was a law in NJ..and instead boasted about the New York Law being groundbreaking legislation in the east? Why is there a little girl on Toddler’s and Tiaras shaving an “Adoptive grandfather” with all of his clothes off but a pair of shorts with an electric razor all over his body. He’s a man in the neighborhood I hear, who the kids like to be around (not a fact..have to look that one up to verify) but that’s right on TLC’s website, clear as day. So I say to Corey, hat’s off to you. He’s one of “our” kids. I will always stand by “our kids” and I hope that someone comes to his rescue, backs him up and we start the process of bringing the smoke screen down. The evidence truly is out there..he really doesn’t even have to name names. The Federal Gov’t states that these children are not worthy of child labor protections…they invited this situation to happen. Shame on them for the Federal ‘Child Labor exemption for minors in entertainment. You are both amazing..I can’t thank you enough for the support you have given the kids..we will make changes, promise!
I don’t know whether Feldman is accurate or not. But I will draw an analogy.
Why did it take so long for this FCS (former child star) to blow the whistle on the entertainment industry??
Well, why did it take so long for FAB (former altar boys) to blow the whistle on the RC Church industry?
You’ve explained why it took so long, but not why it continues. Once they came forward, they named names. Feldman hasn’t blown a whistle…he just said there was one to be blown.
That’s a good way of putting it, Jack. Indeed, names need to be named and a case made if anything good is to come out of this. Otherwise, the issue gets lost in a smokescreen of counterclaims and publicist’s slogans in behalf of the Industry. I’ve seen how that works.
I think we will be able to judge this accusation better in a few years. If it is this rampant, once one person brings it out into the open, others are likely to follow.
As for why these things go on unreported for so long, it is because everyone is scared, too many people want it to continue, or no one cares enough to stop it. In a nearby town, the county court had appointed one attorney to represent juveniles who couldn’t afford an attorney. Parents had reported that he had molested these children over and over, but nothing was done. Finally, a parent put a recording device on her child, and provided the recording to the news media. Only then was something done about it. From attorneys I have spoken to, everyone knew what was going on for the previous decade, but no one else would represent those kids for free.
A similar situation exists with college sports. Yahoo! Sports (of all people) has actually done an investigative report on corruption with sports boosters. It details the kind of blatant payoffs for recruiting, gifts to players, and links between donors and sports agents that are familiar to anyone who pays attention to college sports. They did over 100 interviews an found over 20 people willing to corroborate the allegations, even though they had to implicate themselves in the process (Maybe journalism isn’t completely dead after all). Similar incidents are most likely occurring at every major sports school. How can this go on? No one wants it to stop.
http://sports.yahoo.com/investigations/news?slug=cr-renegade_miami_booster_details_illicit_benefits_081611
Hi Michael…
Not much more to say. I was going to add a reply but I feel the same as you do, in fact, what you stated “How can this go on? No one wants it to stop” I stand behind and also the fact exists in the entertainment world that absolutely no one is going to come forward, as Corey did and stand behind him and help make it stop and all the sickos in this industry know that and were willing to take the chance and use methods of intimidation and threats that we perhaps cannot even imagine with those that that do abuse in any which way. Perhaps they threatened them or their family and it’s difficult for anyone who is molested to come forward, let alone someone that will understand once they do the entire world will know about it and the story will be twisted and turned and what a HUGE emotional conflict that must be going on their minds, honestly knowing that no one in the industry is their friend and if their parents are diving into their money as well..they will want that to continue and probably try and hush the kid up. Corey is right about the age where they do start coming forward…in any situation. Th ose abused by clergy did not come forward until they were well into their 30’s or 40’s and we still see celebritiies spilling their guts out on TV at age 50..and with their tell-all books about their abusive childhood. Corey opened up the conversation and I give him props for doing that and there is absolutely no denial that abuse takes place in this industry and I’m hoping that boomerang is going to come back and hit some of these sickos over the head real hard because too much has been placed on these children at a very young age in a business where the producers/networks/studios look every which way to avoid any child labor laws on the books and abuse the laws on the books as well – so how is any industry child going to ask for respect when there has never been any since the beginning of time.
I am wholly in sympathy with child stars who have been abused, just as I weep for those who confessed to witchcraft in Salem in exchange for their lives, while accusing other innocents. But we can’t keep making excuses for those who can stop harm, and don’t. If Cory’s un-named producer is molesting a child right now instead of furiously meeting with publicists and lawyers, can you really absolve Corey of responsibility and accountability? Who has more to fear now, Feldman or the defenseless victims of this guy? How is Corey Feldman different than all the other allies, sycophants, conspirators and enablers who allow the abuse to continue?
All continuing harms get stopped when a victim or a participant says “Enough is enough…I’m not going to be part of this any more.” Saying enough is enough and allowing the harm to continue is unconscionable, and I don’t care what the excuses are, Adults are supposed to protect children. It’s as simple as that.
Adults are supposed to protect children so who was there to protect Corey when he was molested? Who came to his rescue? And perhaps Corey has already put something into motion and can’t publicly say anything. Who knows for sure? How quickly the press dropped this subject and walked away from it. Just another ex-child star trying to get attention they believe and probably why hundreds of others remain silent. I spoke with a producer from the Dr. Drew show one day when the Botox mom issue was front and center with these sick kid beauty pageants on tv which are a pedophile’s dream. I was referred to them by someone. I asked that a child advocate be considered on Dr Drew,s show as I knew the show was focused on this issue. The final outcome instead was a panel made up of an editor from RadarOnline and a pageant mom who runs her own pageants! They all want the headlines to continue and their shows to continue and not one adult on TV will come to the rescue of these kids…
All the more reason that it troubles me that Feldman would only hint. Why would the story stick, if there were only vague allegations? I guarantee that if Corey had named the producer, there would be intense press interest.
As you properly note, everyone has an obligation to protect the kids. But that’s not the priority in Hollywood, and that’s why Corey’s accusations were greeted with skepticism. Was he just trying to grab headlines, or was he trying to sound an alarm? The way he left it, yu can hardly blame the media for assuming that he’s like everyone else in Hollywood. Being molested as a child has been used by the likes of Rosanne Barr and Oprah as a status symbol….Casey Anthony an unverified claim to get sympathy from a jury. The way for Feldman to do his duty as an adult was to make the story real and remove the skepticism.He couldn’t do that. You can sympathize with him and understand why, but it doesn’t change the fact: he had a chance to save a child from his fate, and chose—chose–not to do so.
Good Morning Jack
Maybe this story is far from over and naming names publicaly was only going to create a far more worse situation that could affect a lot of those who possibly were molested. Perhaps the network, itself, put limits as to what could be discussed..we don’t know that. This was ABC/Disney who is far from being an advocate of child actors.
Corey still gets my support..he’s one of “our kids” and a product of an industry that is absolutely not child friendly.
🙂 Have a wonderful day Jack! Let’s hope there is a rainbow somewhere at the end of all this and one that will come sooner rather than later.
I’m not sure what to say anymore Jack. I just know that Corey is one of “our kids” and child molestation is such a dark place experienced it and he is a product of this industry who used him and tossed him aside as so many of the others
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The reason he won’t name names is simple. LITIGATION. You can’t make accusations against powerful people, even when you know for a fact they are guilty, unless you can PROVE those allegations. Otherwise you get sued for defamation. Hell, even if you have proof, it often does no good against someone wealthier who can afford better lawyers in our pay to play legal system. And then, even if you do prove it in a court of law, these child molesters often get off with a mere slap on the wrist after conviction. Look at Victor Salva and Brian Peck, just to name a few. This is what protects powerful rapists and child molesters in many different industries. WAKE UP.
I think it’s sick to blame abuse victims for not doing what *you* think they should do. You have no idea how being sexually abused messes up someone’s head.
No one wants to believe it, names or not.
The show must go on.
Incoherent. Wrong is wrong, and we are accountable for our own actions.