When I first talked about being molested by someone on set, people acted like nobody in the industry was capable of being a sex offender. Which is just silly. Just because celebrity sex offenders get away with it in crazy numbers, doesn’t mean they’re not capable of doing it. It’s not like it’s unprecedented either. Plenty of celebrities were accused before me, and with the flood of people being outed lately, hopefully, more and more of them will have to face their crimes.
So lets have a little recap of who all these creepers are. Not everyone here has been charged with a crime. The Americans, besides having a statute of limitations which prevents charges being laid, are in particular very good at having cases thrown out, or settling out of court.
Since Josh Duggar is all over the news today, lets start with
The “Reality Star” creepers.
Josh Duggar of 19 Kids and Counting. The conservative Christian, who went off to DC to campaign against the LGBT community, claiming they were a danger to kids, was in fact the real danger. Turns out he molested five girls, several of whom are believed to be his sisters.
Vincent Margera of MTV’s hit reality show, Viva La Bam. In 2007, Margera was convicted of two counts of sexual assault on a child after he allegedly groped two girls age 12 and 14.
Shane Sparks from So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Best Dance Crew. Shane was arrested on felony charges of child molestation. He was charged with six counts of a lewd act on a child and two counts of oral copulation of a person under 16. He pleaded no contest to a single felony count of having unlawful sex with a minor under 16. Under a plea deal approved by LA County Superior Court Judge Martin Herscovitz, the other counts were dismissed.
Will Hayden from Sons of Guns. Hayden was arrested and charged with molestation of a juvenile and aggravated crimes against nature. His daughter also came out to say he raped her when she was 12. He awaits trial
Former “Cake Boss” cast member Remy Gonzales is currently serving 9 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
Though not a star himself, Mar McDaniel was dating Honey Boo Boo mum, June. June’s daughter Anna alleges he molested her when she was eight.
“So You Think You Can Dance” choreographer and salsa dance instructor, Alex Da Silva, was convicted for raping a 22-year-old woman and assaulting another with the intent to commit rape.
The Directors
Roman Polanski was arrested for raping and sodomizing a 13 year old girl. He fled the country before sentencing.
Woody Allens daughter Dylan has publicly accused him of molesting her as a child
Bryan Singer has been accused of raping a young male actor.
Victor Salva pled guilty to one count of lewd and lascivious conduct, one count of oral sex with a person under 14, and three counts of procuring child pornography.
Terry Richardson is a photographer, but also directed Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball film clip. Some models he has worked with, including Rie Rasmussen, Jamie Peck and Charlotte Waters, have accused Richardson of inappropriate sexual behavior, sexual assaults and exploiting young female models
The Actors
Bill Cosby has so had almost 50 women come forward to claim he drugged and raped them.
Stephen Collins admitted to molesting three underage girls.
Jeffrey Jones was arrested for possession of child pornography and accused of soliciting a 14-year-old boy to pose for pornographic photographs
Rob Lowe taped himself having a threesome. One of the girls was only 16. Lucky for him he was in Georgia, where the age of consent is 16. He was also taped with a young model in France, but she wasn’t identified.
Cameron Thor was arrested and charged with kidnap and rape of 13-year-old girl he met for acting classes
Paula Poundstone was arrested and charged with three counts of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a girl under the age of 14 and one count of child endangerment.
To avoid jail time, Poundstone pleaded no contest to one count of felony child abuse and a misdemeanor count of “inflicting injury upon a child.”
The Singers
Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13 year old cousin.
Mackenzie Phillips claimed that she and her father, John Phillips had a 10-year incestuous relationship, which began after he drugged and raped her.
Peter Yarrow, one third of the popular American folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, pleaded guilty to “taking indecent liberties” with a 14-year-old girl
Michael Jackson has been accused by multiple boys of sexual molestation.
Sean Kingston has settled up with the girl who accused the singer and his former bodyguards of gang rape back in 2010.
CeeLo Green gave a woman MDMA and had sex with her while she was passed out, but claimed it wasn’t rape, because she wasn’t conscious….
R. Kelly. A video surfaced allegedly showing Kelly engaging in sex with, and urinating on, an underage girl. He was found not guilty after claiming it wasn’t him on the tape. He was also illegally married to singer Aaliyah, who was 15 at the time.
Mystikal (real name Michael Tyler) was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and extortion.
Tupac Shakur was charged with sexual battery and sodomy in 1993. Shakur admitted to having consensual sexual relations with the woman who accused him of the assault and was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse.
Apparently the King had a thing for 14 year old girls. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1261082/The-Kings-troubling-obsession-Elvis-woman-So-able-form-relationships-virginal-girls.html
Tripp Eisen arrested on February 10, 2005 on a felony charge in Orange County, California for having sexual intercourse with an underage girl. He was released on bail after only a few hours in custody. Just two weeks later, on February 24, 2005, Eisen was arrested again in California by New Jersey detectives for the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl from Sayreville, New Jersey
The UK Sex Offenders
Jimmy Savile may be the most prolific sex offender in the UK. Operation Yewtree was formed because of him.
Gary Glitter has been charged with numerous sexual offences.
Ian Watkins pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including the attempted rape and sexual assault of a one year old baby.
Max Clifford was convicted of eight indecent assault charges.
Ched Evans was jailed for rape.
Stuart Hall pleaded guilty to having indecently assaulted 13 girls, aged between 9 and 17 years old.
Jonathan King was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2001 for sexually abusing five boys, aged 14 and 15, during the 1980s
The Australians
Robert Hughes was convicted of 10 counts of sexual and indecent assault involving four girls.
Jeremy Kewley has been charged with more than 100 child sexual offences
Rolf Harris was found guilty on 12 counts of sexual abuse against four girls
Malcom Fox was convicted of four counts of unlawful sexual assault
Milton Orkopoulos is a former New South Wales state politician was convicted on charges relating to child sex offences.
Patrick Power is a former Senior Counsel in New South Wales, Australia. He was Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor at the NSW Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP). In May 2007 he was convicted of possessing child pornography.
I’m not even going to try to do sports people, there’s just too many of them. Jerry Sandusky and Mike Tyson probably being the two most famous to actually serve prison time, both for rape.
One of the Duggar kids, of 19 Kids and Counting, has been investigated for molesting his sisters.
Someone has uploaded copies of the police report online, with all the names of both the perpetrator and the victims blacked out, but InTouch is claiming that they found out from “a source” that it was Josh who did it, when he was 14. The family was told what he was doing in a letter. Jim Bob, the father, thankfully took it seriously, and questioned the rest of the kids. They felt safe enough to talk about what had happened. Jim Bob also spoke to Josh, who admitted what he had done. So far, even though it’s bad that Josh molested the girls, it’s being handled pretty well.
After that, it gets kinda dodgy. I’m guessing since they were on a very popular TLC show that they had to try to keep it quiet. Nobody wants to know there’s a kiddly fiddler on TV….
So Jim Bob sends Josh to “treatment” which wasn’t really treatment. It was a buddy in another state. But hey, at least he was trying to get the kid away from the girls. He did way more than what a lot of other people do in the same circumstances.
Then they had Josh talk to a State Trooper. This didn’t go so well, since that same Trooper was later arrested himself for child pornography…. He didn’t do anything about Josh at the time. Now, the statute of limitations has run out for the girls to do anything. Having been raised as being nothing more than future baby makers, they’ve “prayed about it and forgiven him”. At least, that’s what they’re saying. I’m betting there’s some not so Christian thoughts in their heads.
I’m not sure whether to be happy that the family at least attempted to do something about it, and that the girls felt like they could tell their dad, or if I’m disappointed that nothing really worthy was done. I guess a bit of both. It’ll be interesting to watch the fallout from this over the next few weeks. Let’s hope Josh really got some help, since he’s now married and has his own kids.
Josh Duggar has resigned as Executive Director of the Family Research Council, acknowledging he sexually molested underage girls including some of his sisters, calling his conduct inexcusable.
Josh just told People, “Twelve years ago, as a young teenager. I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret.” He continues, “We spoke with authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling.”
Well, at least he openly admits to it, and is sorry for what he did. Not saying that makes it any better, but it’s got to be way better on the girls than having him deny it.
Interestingly, this is the second TLC show that has had problems with sexual predators. Honey Boo Boo was cancelled when Momma June hooked up with a convicted sex offender that had molested her own daughter.
Australia doesn’t have a lot of Celebreality shows. There was the three seasons of Celebrity Apprentice, one so far of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, and now they’ve announced Celebrity Big Brother, which only had one version way back in 2002. The US and the UK have a massive amount of Celebrity reality shows. I’m not sure if it’s because they have more celebrities to make these shows with, or if audiences are just more receptive in other markets.
Celebrity Apprentice Australia
Anyone who follows me knows how much I love celebreality. Sure, sometimes none of us know who the “celebrity” is, and whether they really qualify to be on a celebrity version of a show, but sometimes, those wild cards end up being the most interesting contender. People complain about these shows not having bigger celebrities, but lets be real, you’re never going to get an A lister, or probably even a B lister to go on one of these shows. Honestly, I think they’re far more interesting with lesser known, or past their prime celebrities. Famous people have a brand to protect. The up and comers, or those who have fallen from grace, don’t give a shit. They’re willing to get down and dirty. They’re going to let their real personality shine. They’re not going to attempt to maintain a persona for weeks on end, trying to make sure they don’t damage their reputation.
I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.
That said, there seems to be a huge difference in how the US and the UK cast these shows, and how their talent acts on them. The Americans always cast big, loud, brash characters, with the intent of putting a group of people together who they know will not get along. The entertainment is supposed to come from everyone yelling and scratching each others eyes out. Most of the US talent know what the network wants, and will immediately throw a diva fit, or start crying, or spend weeks antagonizing each other. Sure, it’s drama, but frankly, it bores the shit out of me. I’m sure it also bores other people, which is why the US versions of shows only last a couple of seasons, or are sporadically programmed.
The UK versions prefer to throw a bunch of people together who will be all nice and polite to begin with, until the close confines start to wear thin. Along with the challenges being set to them, they will start to become unhinged. The slow unravel is much more interesting to watch, and creates more water cooler conversations as you work out who is going to form alliances, and who will lose it next. I also find it refreshing that the UK celebs freely admit they’re going on the show to earn money, and raise their profiles. In other countries people all yabber on about how they’re on there to raise money for charity, or make up some other selfless reason to go on there. Sure, it’s great to raise money for charity, but don’t deny you’re also getting paid a wad of cash, and it’s great personal publicity.
Just like the Aussie version of these shows always have a token foreigner or two, the UK version also has a token US celebrity. Lately though, the UK version of Celebrity Big Brother has been having more and more US cast members, to the point they’re doing an actual UK vs US version. Earlier this year, they had a version with five Americans on there, including Perez Hilton.
Celebrity Big Brother UK. Do you know who all these people are?Seriously, who draws dicks on pictures?
Now, while we all know who Perez Hilton is, I’m not sure a guy who got famous for a blog where he posts pictures of actual celebrities with dicks drawn on their faces really qualifies. Yes, he’s become as famous as the people he writes about, but the guy is an absolute fucktard, and doesn’t need more oxygen. I guess the people in the UK either didn’t get who he was, or they knew exactly who he was, and that’s why they cast him. He was the epitome of the US reality star. He was worse than when Heidi and Spencer Pratt went on IACGMOOH. The whole time he just set out to create drama. He didn’t possess an inside voice, and spent half the time in there screaming about how it was “The Perez Show”, while dancing around in his undies. I didn’t like Perez before he went on there, and I absolutely hate him with a passion now. He was someone who went on TV to raise his profile, and ended up just destroying his brand. I wonder if he watched the show back afterwards and realized what a douchebag he was. Probably not. He’s probably still blaming it all on editing. He seems to thrive on people hating him though, so he probably thinks it was a win for him.
On the other hand, when it was announced Katie Hopkins was on the show, she was met with boos as she walked in. I only knew Katie as the woman who had some very nasty views on people, and thought she would be the queen bitch of the show, and that I would hate her. After the first couple of episodes, I actually started to really like her. Yes, she’s opinionated. Yes, she can be a bitch. Yes, she doesn’t like ginger babies, and yes, she’s a snob. Yet, I found her to be a very genuine person during her time on there, and I loved that she was the one person who took no shit from Perez. Now, when you’re one of the most hated women in Britain, and you look good compared to Perez, that should be a life lesson. I’m not the only one who thought Katie was much better than Perez. I found this online poll. She would have fared better if she had backed off a bit instead of always fighting with him, but c’est la vie. I’m sure everyone else was screaming on the inside.
The fact these two were kept on there after Jeremy Jackson, the former child star best known as Hobie from Baywatch, and then Reg Holdsworth were evicted in the first week for bad behaviour, made many people watching at home ask if the whole show was manipulated. Perez claimed he was getting paid more than anyone else, and at one point also claimed it was in his contract he would make it to at least the final 3 episodes. Perez should have been evicted plenty of times, but because of the massive ratings, it appeared as if Big Brother was giving him immunity to keep him on the show for longer. Yes, at first it made for good ratings, but it pissed off a lot of the audience. Deceptive contacts are not good for shows. (It’s like when David Hasselhoff appeared on the Aussie version of Celebrity Apprentice, and claimed he had to leave for family reasons after the third episode. Then it came out he was only ever going to be in three episodes. Viewers were saying “Not happy Jan”.)
Katie Hopkins ended up making it to the end with Katie Price, who ultimately won the show. Pricey was a late intruder, and missed the initial fights. She was also hopped up on pain meds, and was totally laid back during her time. Some people found her very boring, but I thought it was nice to see someone not screaming. She was very much like late comer Freddie Flintoff who won IACGMOOH in Australia.
While it made for good entertainment initially, it started to get boring very quickly as a viewer, and I certainly can’t imagine how torturous it was for the rest of the poor celebrities living in that house. We as viewers could simply hit mute, or turn the telly off altogether when it got too loud. The rest of the people on the show had to live with it, 24/7. It’s no wonder that people walked out. I’m not sure I could have dealt with it. It’s a good thing they had cameras rolling non stop, or Celebrity Big Brother could have turned in Celebrity Cluedo real quick. Perez certainly loved to tell the producers people were threatening him. Of course, anytime he threatened someone, he was “just talking smack.”
Ideally, the best way to be on these shows is as the host. You get to see all the drama, meet all the celebs, but you get to go home to peace and quiet every night. Best of both worlds. Chris Brown and Julia Morris were fabulous on IACGMOOH, and who doesn’t love Ant & Dec? I’m currently girl crushing on Emma Willis. She has the most perfect pixie cut I’ve ever seen.
It’s got to be tough casting these shows. You’ve got to find the right balance of eye candy, real celebrities, and of course, drama. You’ve got to be careful not to alienate your audience by having total drama queens like Perez, who have turned many people off CBB altogether. I’m guessing after this season’s bullshit, they’ll have a hard time getting people to agree to go on the next season. (or it will be very expensive to get them) They should probably go back to only having a couple of foreigners, not half the cast. Or throw a token Aussie in the middle of the two. I bet there’s a bunch of expat Aussie celebs living in the UK who’d jump at being on there. How many Neighbours and Home & Away people live there now? Surely one of them would do it.
I think that Australia does a pretty good job of casting these shows. While there’s a bunch of couch surfers who whine about there being no “big names” on there, the last few versions of Aussie celebreality shows have been pretty good. Having been out of country for so long, I don’t always know who some of the people are, but I get to know them, and love or hate them because of their time on there. There always seems to be a good mix of old and new talent, and they do a nice job of picking people who will be laid back at the beginning, and let the drama unfold naturally. Sometimes they’re a little too laid back, but it’s certainly better than the constant screaming that the US versions have.
It’s still a few months off, but I can’t wait to see who the Aussie’s pick for both Celebrity Big Brother and I’m a Celebrity. It’s a nice way for this expat to stay in touch with people back home, without trying to watch an actual long term drama. I can binge watch a whole series in a few days. I like hearing the accents, and seeing the interactions. It’s especially cool to watch people you know personally go on these shows. I think it would be awesome if they did an Aussie version of The Surreal Life as well. Of course, I’m still pushing for for any of these show to do an all Former Child Star version. (Of course, you’d be looking at an almost entire US cast there.)
Just remember celebs, if you decide to do one of these shows, don’t do a Perez. It might be ratings gold, but nobody likes an asshole.
So discuss. Who do you want to see on the next versions of these shows? Who would you hate to see on there? Is there another reality show you’d like to see a celebrity version of, or do you hate reality TV altogether?
So it started in 2014. People thought that there was sexism on the red carpet at awards events, because people asked women about what they were wearing, but didn’t ask men the same questions.
I get that women want to be treated as equals. It must annoy married couples who walk the carpet, or attend junkets, and when they compare questions at the end of the day, she was asked questions about whether or not she wore spanx, and he was asked about what role he wants to take on next. I get it, the women don’t want to be reduced to nothing more than a mannequin.
But I’m also conflicted. These are people who are on a red carpet, attending an awards ceremony. They are people who play make believe for a living. It’s not like they’re at an event celebrating scientists, or nobel laureates, or even a charity event. These are not people who have found a cure for cancer. They’re not celebrating that they’re ending world hunger, or putting in a bunch of water wells in remote areas. It’s a bunch of people who work in the entertainment industry, patting each other on the back over who made the best entertainment. Sure, some of the movies are about good causes. Some help to bring light to important issues. Some winners even used their acceptance speech time to bring light to their causes and campaigns.
The red carpet however, has evolved over the years to become it’s own little event. There are probably millions of people who watch the red carpet festivities, and then switch off the rest of the event. Honestly, I don’t give a shit who wins best actor, or best movie. I do like to see some of the behind the scenes people recognized. There are thousands of people involved in making a motion picture. The actors are just a few of them, and yet, they get all the recognition.
People enjoy the red carpet. Everyone loved watching Joan Rivers on the red carpet, (I can’t believe they left her out of the Memoriam section) and then people spend days discussing who wore what. Fashion Police is always most popular at awards season. When an actor is in a movie, they are told what to wear, what to say. Seeing people on the red carpet you get to see old Hollywood glamour. We see people dress up, and hopefully, a little sense of a persons style. Truthfully though, these days, most people just have their stylists do everything for them. The fashion industry spends months preparing for Red Carpet season. They devote weeks making dresses that these women will wear on the Red Carpet, hoping that will translate to sales down the line. Designers provide gowns, sometimes worth thousands of dollars to these people. It’s not just the women either, plenty of male actors are not only getting free suits, but they’re also being asked on the red carpet “who are you wearing?” George Clooney is always being asked what he’s wearing. Jewellers drip these people in necklaces and bracelets. There are millions of dollars in diamonds at one event alone.
The whole reason that designers are providing these outfits to these actors is because they know they will be asked, “Who are you wearing?” It’s priceless advertising. If we stop asking these people who they are wearing, will designers slowly decide to stop providing stars with outfits and fittings for free? Will we go back to the days when you had to actually shop and pay for your own dress?
People’s Choice Awards dress.Another one of Mum’s creations.
When I went to The Logies, and the People’s Choice Awards while on Hey Dad, nobody was gifting dresses. You had to get your own. One year, I went in a tuxedo, with a brightly colored cumberbun and bow tie. Usually though, my mother made my outfits. Bless her, for all we don’t talk, I do admire her seamstress skills. She made almost all of my clothes growing up, even my school uniforms. She made my high school formal dress. Sure, I look like Princess Diana, but I didn’t look like anyone else there. Plus, Princess Diana was a trendsetter, so it’s OK. However, I doubt that if I were to attend a red carpet these days, that my mum would be willing to make me a dress. Which means I’d either have to go shop on my own, spend days trying to find the right dress, hope nobody else bought the same dress, have it tailored, and then, if I was asked on the Red Carpet who I was wearing, I’d have to decide whether to give free advertising to a company that I had paid to wear, or simply give the “it’s vintage” answer. <- Yes, when someone says It’s vintage it means they bought their own dress. Or, I could hope that I don’t get asked Who I’m Wearing. Hmm, maybe the campaign is for people who got snubbed and weren’t provided a dress. I hadn’t thought of that…
Anyway, I know it’s shallow. I know it makes women feel objectified. I know it’s the new thing to not want to be asked what you’re wearing, or at least ask more than just just. It has been tried before though. Here’s an excerpt from The Hollywood reporter. Ryan Seacrest tried eliminating the “Who are you wearing” question in 2010, and was criticized heavily for it. “Hey Ryan, Talk to the Dress” read a New York Times style column headline that detailed the backlash from fashion bloggers. “It was almost like he wasn’t that interested in the designers,” designer Nicole Miller said. “He seemed more interested in the celebrities and their careers.”
Maybe people are ready now to have more questions on the red carpet than just ones about fashion. Or maybe people should just accept the fact that the Red Carpet IS all about the outfits, and save the deep and meaningful conversation for their actual interviews with talk show hosts and magazines… Or they could get a blog and bitch, I mean, discuss all they want like I do here. The Red Carpet is always optional. If you’re really offended by the current line of questioning, you could boycott it altogether. You could always just avoid people like Giuliana Rancic who you know is going to ask you that question, and stick to the more serious reporters. Or, you could learn to move a conversation in the direction you want. Let them break the ice with a question about your outfit, and then steer the conversation towards your chosen charity, or cause, or attempt at world domination. You’ve only got about 90 seconds though, so try not to get too deep.
She even put the tartan as beading on the sleeves.
Otherwise, I hope your mum is skilled enough to do this type of scalloped neckline.
Bill Cosby – Another TV legend being accused of sexual misconduct
When I had to explain to my friends in the US that I was in the midst of a massive media scandal in Australia, the best way I could think to explain it was to say that it was like if one of the kids on The Cosby Show accused Bill of molesting them.
Well, it seems that wasn’t such a bad analogy after all.
We’re now up to something like 14 women who have accused Bill Cosby of rape. I thought it was terribly sad that these allegations have been going on for years, and Bill’s people hushed them up. When Janice Dickinson spoke up, I thought Finally! Someone who is also famous has now spoken up, and perhaps, finally, people will listen. It’s a awful truth, and one that was shared with me by Alison Arngrim, that people will always believe the more famous person. When it comes to sexual assault, the more famous person is innocent, and the less famous, or not famous at all, is simply a lying, money grubber seeking fame and fortune. Doesn’t matter what the truth is, that’s how the public will see it.
I had hoped that Janice, the original supermodel, would be famous enough that people would listen. Then I saw the 5K and counting comments on the ET website with her interview. So many people calling her a lying, drunken whore, who must be broke, and looking for an extra 15 minutes of fame.
What the fuck is wrong with people?
How many women have to come forward before people believe? Can a woman every be raped, and talk about it, without people calling her names, or saying she must be lying? Western society point fingers at religions that stone women after being raped, but seriously, when you read some of the things being said about women who have accused famous men of raping them, we’re no better. We beat them into submission. We tell them they’re worthless. We tell them they’re lying. We say their rapists are good men, and it must have been a misunderstanding. Women have committed suicide for the hate they have received for speaking up. Some have been forced to move, or go into hiding.
Why is it so hard to accept that men rape women? Why can’t we accept that famous men rape women? Why are we so quick to defend the man, and cast the woman aside?
I get that people are “innocent until proven guilty”. But I have a right to have an opinion. Everyone has that right, and I’m not on a jury, so I can voice my opinion. I spent four years with people calling me a lying whore. I spent four years having people say I was making shit up. Four years of people sending me death threats. Four years of people saying what a good man Robert was. Four years listening to people go on and on about what a poor man he was, having to endure all these allegations. That was after 20 years of living with all that he had done to me.
Then, we went to court, and he was found guilty. Did I get an apology from all those people who spent four years calling me a liar? No. It was fucking crickets. But he’s in jail, and that’s all that matters.
Since then, we’ve had several high profile men found guilty of sexual misconduct, and sent to prison. Each time though, the same BS. All these people who were screaming the men were innocent, and the women liars, after fame and fortune. Rolf Harris, Max Clifford, etc. How many times are we going to repeat this scenario before we stop castigating the women, and think, Hey, there’s a slew of women all saying this man did bad things. Maybe, just maybe, like the last half dozen guys who had women come forward, he’s going to be found guilty too….
Let’s stop assuming all women are liars, and all famous men are perfect with nothing less than honorable intentions. Where there’s smoke, there fire, and in this case, the whole house is burning down.
Also, for the record, Janice DID talk about Bill years ago. She’s not jumping on some bandwagon as people claim. She tried to put it in her book, and her publisher removed it. Bill has deeper pockets than her. In a 2006 interview with Howard Stern, she talks about it. Also, spare me your “if it had happened to me” scenarios, because no matter how much you like to think you’d know how you’d react to a situation, till you’ve been in it, you have no idea.
So now we’ve proven Robert was a scumbag pedo, maybe people can accept that people like Stephen Collins and Bill Cosby aren’t perfect, and when you’ve got multiple women making allegations, there’s probably some truth to it. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll see women being believed in my lifetime when they openly speak about sexual assault, without being beaten down again.
So last month I spoke to news.com.au and to Studio 10 about how there was still more child sex offenders in the industry. I said people would have to be naive to think there wasn’t more. Whether it’s in Australia, the US, the UK, or anywhere. Predators exist everywhere.
I don’t know why we’re so shocked when an actor is found to be a pervert. Actors are just like everyone else. Acting is just a job. Just like working flipping burgers, delivering mail, sitting behind a desk, typing all day. It’s all just work. It’s just an actor is way more visible. We all see their work. Doesn’t make them any more special, or any more gifted than anyone else. We shouldn’t put people on a pedestal for playing make believe for a living.
This morning I woke up to a bunch of messages concerning Stephen Collins. His wife had taped him during a therapy session, and it’s now been leaked on TMZ. I probably should have had my morning coffee before listening to the tape… Seriously, if you’re feeling frail, or have been the victim of abuse, I’ll give you a trigger warning. You might not want to hear it. It made me nauseous.
Comments on TMZ are saying the wife should have spoken up sooner, but I’m actually pretty impressed she had the balls to tape it at all. Hopefully this will make the police investigation that much easier. She’s divorcing him. Whether she’s leaking the tape because of the divorce, or she’s divorcing him because of the abuse, I applaud her. From the sound of her on the tape, it sounds like she’s divorcing him because of the abuse. She sounds horrified. I’m glad there’s one Hollywood wife who has chosen to leave a man who offends against children, instead of being like those other lackeys who stood beside their predator husbands in court, defending them. (Yes, I’m looking at you Robyn, Alwen and Dottie)
He admitted to several girls on the tape. Hopefully there aren’t any more. Collins is on the national board for the Screen Actors Guild. He was on 7th Heaven and The Fosters, both of which had young girls in it. Let’s hope if anyone else in the industry has been affected, they go to the police. Hopefully we won’t get a bunch of Hollywood people scrambling to his defense like they do for Roman and Woody….
Sad day in Hollywood. But at least people are finally talking about it.
I had a little rant yesterday about faux friends, but it’s not all bad. I have been lucky enough over the last few years to make some really good friends.
It’s kinda weird being an expat. You have a completely different background to other people. There may be some common ground as an adult, and you may learn about the locals culture, but you never lived it, so it will always be different.
It’s kinda the same thing with being a child actor. You had a completely different experience growing up to everyone else. Lots of former kid stars leave the industry and end up with regular jobs, but they don’t share that bond with other people of regular childhood experiences.
I get a double whammy of not growing up in the US, and even in Oz, I didn’t have the normal childhood experience. I have been lucky however to find other Expats to share time with, and even more exciting, other former child stars.
There’s not a lot of child actors in Australia. Maybe the kids from Secret Valley, Henderson Kids, Home & Away, but most are older, not young kids. Kate Ritchie, Rebecca Smart and Jamie Croft were about the only kids my age actively working when I was a kid. The kids in the US are lucky that with so many TV stations, they had a bunch of kids to share experiences with.
The kids in the US are even luckier, because they have set up groups to help try and protect them, to support them, and to just let them know there’s people there for them. I first found A Minor Consideration a few years ago. It’s founded by Paul Peterson, who was a teen idol, and probably best known for his work on The Donna Reed Show. I had written him an email letting him know I thought what he was doing was awesome, and I wished we had that kind of group in Australia. Fast forward a couple of years, and I now have a bunch of the most incredible people I can call friends. Others who share the odd experience of growing up on TV. Some also share the experience of being abused while working on TV.
In the middle of the trial, when I thought my world was going to fall apart, I got this:
These guys are amazing. When I first met them, they had no idea who I was. Nobody in the US has seen Hey Dad..! I never imagined they wold take me in as one of their own. Yet, they did. They sent me messages of support throughout the months leading up to the trial. I went to LA and met a bunch of them in person at a get together, where I was made to feel like part of a community. It didn’t matter I was a foreigner. We all shared some strange bond of growing up in the limelight, and I had many of them thanking me for going public, and trying to take a stand for all the kids who had been abused in the industry. Unfortunately the US has a statute of limitations, and by the time some found their courage to talk, the time had passed. Others thankfully had wonderful experiences growing up in the industry, and it was good to hear those stories too.
I’m pretty damn excited that later this month I’m headed to LA for the weekend and I get to hang out with these guys again. I feel very lucky to have met such a wonderful group of people.
Paul Peterson is retiring soon, and some of us are going to try to fill his big shoes. I’ve suggested that after my incredible experience, we have an international division, which was greeted with a big yes. So if you’re another former kid star, or a current child actor or entertainer who needs someone to talk to, even if it’s via email, let us know. A Minor Consideration and it’s members have been the most amazing group, and some days, I honestly don’t know if I could have made it through this without them. These guys are not just other former child stars, they’re my heroes.
A Minor Consideration can be contacted via their website or on FaceBook
A Minor Consideration isn’t just a social group. Paul and the others work tirelessly to help change laws to protect child entertainers. People think child stars have it all, but as my case has proved, sometimes they really need people to step up and help out.
Bryan Singer dressed as a priest. That’s not creepy at all…
I want to do more research on the Bryan Singer scandal, but I can’t read any of the sites that have comments. Same BS I got 4 years ago, with everyone saying the victim is only in it for fame or money. When will people learn that there’s absolutely nothing to gain financially or career wise by coming out as a victim of abuse? On what planet do people think that admitting you were molested could be “good for your brand”? It also doesn’t help anybody else who is thinking of disclosing, because they see all the hatred towards the victim, and they don’t want to have them directed at them.
I was finally moving on with life, and having fun with a hobby of filming my scuba diving. So when I was asked to talk about what happened on Hey Dad..! everyone jumped up and down saying I was making shit up to try to sell my scuba series. Nobody has been able to explain to me yet how coming out as a victim of abuse in Australia could possibly help me sell a scuba series to a network in America. Not one person.
Time and again, we see a person who publicly discloses get called a media whore or money grubber. Like Simone, Ben and I, they are all blacklisted. Look at the people in the US who have disclosed. They are all publicly discarded. Corey Feldman was hugely popular when I was a kid. He’s still trying his best to work, but now that he’s threatened to out some of the major pedo’s in Hollywood, he’s not exactly landing a bunch of roles is he? There’s are dozens of kids in Hollywood who have mentioned the problem, and they are all quietly pushed aside. If we’ve learned anything from my case, it’s that the studio doesn’t give a shit about kids, as long as they’re making money.
I wish people would realize that when someone has the courage to try to make a change, they find the balls to stand up and say No More, that they were taken seriously. Instead of having thousands of internet hero’s claim that said person is just trying to make a name for themselves, they would maybe step back, and see that where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
There are LOTS of pedophiles in Hollywood. I hope that the kids there start to stand up and shout. I hope that the Hollywood entertainment reporters, as well as the serious reporters cover the issues. I am so grateful I was given the chance to tell my story. I hope that the kids in Hollywood are also given a chance to tell theirs. I hope that some of those high ranking scumbags are taken down. I hope they make studio sets a safer place for kids worldwide.
Apparently I was not the only one upset by Barbara Walters telling Corey Feldman that he was destroying an entire industry by coming forward with his history of abuse. The woman looks uncomfortable throughout his entire interview, and the only time she addressed him was to say, “But, didn’t you used to be a drug addict?”
Here’s Paul Peterson, of A Minor Consideration’s open letter to Barbara. Hopefully Corey knows we are all standing with him.
Refute this, Barbara Walters
Shame on you, Ms. Walters for going after Corey Feldman, a truthful messenger speaking Truth to Power. Time for you to wake up to reality and pick on someone your own size.
Pedophilia exists across all cultures and social groupings. Incest is more prevalent than pedophilia, again, across all cultures and social groupings. Hollywood and what passes for the news business is not immune.
The Department of Labor estimates that One out of Ten workers in this country go to work impaired each and every day, through mental impairments, alcohol or drug use. The Entertainment Industry and the Fourth Estate are not immune from this grinding reality. The human condition is what it is, Ms. Walters, and the news business employees, just like government workers, are entirely human and thus heir to human failings…including incest and pedophilia…whether you report it or not.
Tell me, how many coaches, teachers, managers, agents, priests and kiddy talk show hosts have to be convicted of child molestation before you acknowledge what any student of human frailties already knows?
There are predators out there who target children…in every walk of life…and they gravitate toward those fields where our children can most often be found…namely playing fields, schools, theater companies and summer camps.
The question, Ms. Walters, is not whether Corey Feldman and Sarah Morris are telling the truth, but why your corporate puppet-masters don’t allow you to pull back the curtain on undeniable child abuse within the entertainment industry.
There are only two excuses for your ill-treatment of Corey Feldman; Politics and Paychecks. I know it’s hard to wrap your mind around the fact that two-to-five children PER DAY are murdered by their parents or primary care-givers (in excess of 1,800 children per year according to the FBI crime statistics, 2009)…but that’s the fact and the Fourth Estate doesn’t report it.
Young people aren’t stupid, Ms. Walters. A million teenagers go missing every year, children in their thousands are dropping out of our failing schools. Social Services are overwhelmed by the numbers of abuse victims that foster care cannot accommodate…yet you sit there excusing the entertainment industry as if it plays no role in this downward spiral and is exempt from humanity’s flaws?
Young people are a market, Ms. Walters. They consume entertainment product. The people who produce entertainment for children go where the children are, and their motives in doing so are not above critical comment.
I’m grateful for Paul and A Minor Consideration and all they do for kids in the industry. They work hard to change laws and make sure kids are protected. They are also there for all us formers when we need a shoulder to cry on.
When I first went public, as in to the media, and not just people around me, I talked about the abuse, and I even said who it was, but the media chose not to name the perpetrator. This caused much controversy, and a lot of heated debate.
Many people believed I should name and shame or shut the fuck up. I was told that by not coming out with a name, I was damaging an entire show, that everyone who ever worked at seven was under suspicion. That I was irresponsible and damaging people’s lives and careers.
Corey Feldman is talking about his abuse. He wrote a book detailing his abuse, and what it was like growing up in Hollywood. He too is copping flack about not naming names. He originally put the names in his book, but the publisher decided to remove them, and his lawyers have advised he NOT publicly name them.
There are two reasons you don’t just run around naming alleged pedophiles.
Number one is the litigious aspect. If you can’t prove it, if you can’t afford better lawyers than them, if you don’t have people backing you up, you’re going to be sued and possibly charged with defamation. Not naming initially gives you a chance to have other people come forward, to corroborate your statement. When I went public, look at how many people came forward, not only as witnesses for me, but other victims. I knew there were others, but I didn’t know who they were. (I still don’t know who they are.) I wouldn’t have known where to direct police. I couldn’t have remembered every potential victim or witness. But by going public, I allowed others to say, Me Too! There’s also the very real threat of retaliation. If you go super public, and then you wind up dead in a ditch somewhere, people are going to know you probably didn’t have an accident…
There’s lots of former child stars who suddenly end up dead outside a nightclub from an overdose when they start mumbling about abuse. I named my perpetrator when it was legally safe to do so. Unfortunately for Corey, and other actors in the US, there’s a statute of limitations. He actually did talk to police back before it ran out. Their police chose to ignore it. – Sounds familiar…
The second reason, and this was actually the one that mattered to me:
When you talk about what happened to you in the industry, in general, without naming names, people do raise their heads and look around. People do start to look at everyone with suspicion. Parents start to wonder who is working with their children. This is NOT a bad thing. People who push their kids into the industry should be looking at everyone who works with their kids, and keeping their guard up. Parents should assume that the industry is NOT a safe place for kids.
Before I went public, everyone was worried about potential offenders. Once he was named, everyone just went back to their business, thinking OK, we know who that one person is. We’ll keep our kids away from him, and they’ll be safe.
No, they won’t. There’s way more than one pedophile in the business. By naming ONE person, all these parents have let their guard down, and are exposing their kids to potential harm. By not naming the offenders, Corey is letting people know that there are some seriously high ranking people in Hollywood who are dangerous predators, who are after your kids. Parents need to keep being vigilant, and not focus on just one person.
