Hollywood’s Other ‘Open Secret’ Besides Harvey Weinstein: Preying on Young Boys
TINSELTOWNHollywood’s Other ‘Open Secret’ Besides Harvey Weinstein: Preying on Young Boys‘This is a place where adults have more direct and inappropriate connection with children than probably anywhere else in the world,’ claimed former child actor Corey Feldman.
Ira Madison III10.16.17 11:15 PM ETLast week, former child actor Corey Feldman (Stand by Me, The Goonies) tweeted that he’d been asked for a statement about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual-harassment and rape allegations. It makes sense, since he has spent years speaking out about sexual abuse in Hollywood—not of women, but of young men. He has long alleged that pedophilia is the worst problem in Hollywood and that it’s in part responsible for his best friend Corey Haim’s eventual death by drug overdose.
Ira Madison III10.16.17 11:15 PM ETLast week, former child actor Corey Feldman (Stand by Me, The Goonies) tweeted that he’d been asked for a statement about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual-harassment and rape allegations. It makes sense, since he has spent years speaking out about sexual abuse in Hollywood—not of women, but of young men. He has long alleged that pedophilia is the worst problem in Hollywood and that it’s in part responsible for his best friend Corey Haim’s eventual death by drug overdose.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2016, Feldman said: “[Haim] had more direct abuse than I did. With me, there were some molestations, and it did come from several hands, so to speak, but with Corey, his was direct rape, whereas mine was not actual rape. And his also occurred when he was 11. My son is 11 now, and I can’t even begin to fathom the idea of something like that happening to him. It would destroy his whole being. As I look at my son, a sweet, innocent, 11-year-old boy and then try to put him in Corey Haim’s shoes, I go, ‘Oh my God—well of course he was erratic and not well-behaved on sets and things like that.’ What more could we expect of him really?”
He continued, “Everybody deals with things differently. I’m not able to name names. People are frustrated, people are angry, they want to know how is this happening, and they want answers—and they turn to me and they say, ‘Why don’t you be a man and stand up and name names and stop hiding and being a coward?’ I have to deal with that, which is not pleasant, especially given the fact that I would love to name names. I’d love to be the first to do it. But unfortunately California conveniently enough has a statute of limitations that prevents that from happening. Because if I were to go and mention anybody’s name, I would be the one that would be in legal problems and I’m the one that would be sued. We should be talking to the district attorneys and the lawmakers in California, especially because this is where the entertainment industry is and this is a place where adults have more direct and inappropriate connection with children than probably anywhere else in the world.”
Legal problems stemming from sexual-harassment or -assault allegations are a major issue in Hollywood, and contribute to a culture of silence.Weinstein is alleged to have paid off at least eight of his accusers—on the condition that they agree to strict nondisclosure agreements to prevent their stories from going public. Furthermore, the movie mogul’s employment contract at The Weinstein Company reportedly protected him from being fired because of sexual-harassment allegations.
Beyond the legal hurdles, Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan alleges that the actor Ben Affleck knew about his sometime employer’s predatory behavior and failed to speak up, while other A-listers Matt Damon and Russell Crowe were named by journalist Sharon Waxman as unwittingly helping to kill a New York Times exposé on Weinstein back in 2004.
Similar barriers exist in the cases of abuse allegations from younger men in Hollywood. Feldman once discussed child abuse on The View, where Barbara Walters charged that he was “damaging an entire industry.”
And when people make allegations that are later withdrawn or dismissed, it becomes that much more difficult for victims to speak up. Famed director Bryan Singer (X-Men) has had accusations leveled against him for years, from a lawsuit alleging that he made minors shower in the nude on film for Apt Pupil in 1997 to sexual-abuse allegations in 2014. The Apt Pupil lawsuit was later dismissed due to lack of evidence, and the other sexual-abuse lawsuits were withdrawn by the accusers. However, that hasn’t stopped actors from singling out Singer. On Sunday, as the Weinstein scandal continued to unfold, actress Evan Rachel Wood tweeted, “Yeah lets not forget Brian [sic] Singer either.”
And then there was former The Real O’Neals star Noah Galvin, who in a since-deleted quote from an interview with Vulture, said: “Yeah. Bryan Singer likes to invite little boys over to his pool and diddle them in the f—ing dark of night. (Laughs.) I want nothing to do with that. I think there are enough boys in L.A. that are questionably homosexual who are willing to do things with the right person who can get them in the door. In New York there is a healthy gay community, and that doesn’t exist in L.A.”
The quote was later removed from the interview and Galvin issued an apology on Twitter: “I sincerely apologize to Bryan Singer for the horrible statement I made. My comments were false and unwarranted. It was irresponsible and stupid of me to make those allegations against Bryan, and I deeply regret doing so.”
The Singer allegations were also to be included in An Open Secret, filmmaker Amy Berg’s eye-opening documentary on the child sexual-abuse epidemic in Hollywood, but were later excised from the final cut. (Singer, for his part, stated that, “The allegations against me are outrageous, vicious, and completely false.”)
In the case of Weinstein, the abuse lasted decades, but it took an actress of Ashley Judd’s stature to finally speak out about him and let the floodgates open. Unfortunately, such a groundswell is not likely to come from an actor like Feldman, an ’80s star who doesn’t have the industry cachet of an Ashley Judd.
But perhaps the tide is turning and the shame associated with being a male victim of abuse is beginning to vanish. Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Terry Crews spoke out last week about being sexually assaulted by a high-level Hollywood executive in the wake of the Weinstein news. So did James Van Der Beek, who blasted Weinstein for his crimes before sharing his own story: “What Weinstein is being accused of is criminal. What he’s admitted to is unacceptable—in any industry. I applaud everybody speaking out. I’ve had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, I’ve had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger... I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle. There’s a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome.”
If that weren’t enough, the media finally began taking the industry to task over its embrace of filmmaker Victor Salva.
In 1988, while filming his debut feature Clownhouse, Salva sexually abused his 12-year-old star. He eventually pleaded guilty to five felony counts: lewd and lascivious conduct, oral copulation with a person under 14, and three counts of procuring a child for pornography. Still, Salva has been allowed to direct film after film in the wake of his conviction, from Powder to the Jeepers Creepers trilogy.
Documentaries like An Open Secret and the testimony of former child actors like Feldman have long contested that pedophilia and the abuse of young men is Hollywood’s other dark secret. If that is truly the case, what more will it take for it to come to light?
Harvey Weinstein and the Mythology of Pussy and Dick
by Marvin XThe matter of sexual improprieties transcends patriarchal culture, race and gender into pure power relationships between human beings. Yes, sexual improprieties are pervasive in the arts, academia, the corporate workplace, in all religions and every other social institution and/or environment. As per Hollywood and the casting couch, let us be honest, Hollywood is not the only villain, but all the arts: even in the Black Arts Movement, and alas, in the Black Liberation Movement, such sexual improprieties were pervasive, and I repeat, in academia as well, including Black studies, along with all other academic studies.When I taught English at a certain university and a student complained to my dean, and after I denied all charges, the dean made me agree to have sexual encounters with grad students only, leave the freshman girls alone. She noted that I had been under surveillance and was observed in a restaurant having dinner with the freshman student who complained about my sexual behavior as an instructor. As a writer, director, producer, actor and lecturer and visiting professor in academia, I took full advantage of my position saturated in male privilege. If Harvey Weinstein is guilty, let me be hyperbolic: so is every man. As I examine global patriarchal culture, I conclude men are predators, women are prey. In war, we know men are expendable and disposable but women are booty or spoils of war.
But as I said at the outset, sexual domination transcends gender. We have known gay men in theatre who demanded sexual liberties with young gay actors or said in classical language, demanded the young brothers join them on the casting couch. And don't think for a moment lesbian women in the arts do not take full advantage of their power positions as per young females, demanding sexual improprieties for career advancement. Of course this madness goes on in the corporate workplace.
The American South has a sordid history of black women performing sexual acts to keep their jobs, alas, with full knowledge of their husbands! As they say in Houston, Texas, "You better AX somebody!" And not to put this madness on the "Dirty South," years ago Jet Magazine (the Negro Bible), revealed a great percentage of Black women confessed to having sex with the boss on the job!
This entire matter is about power and privilege, not gender, although in the majority global patriarchal culture, men are the villains, though other genders are on the rise. Again, this is a global pandemic that encompasses all religions, no matter Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Yoruba, Hindu, et al. Certainly, we must note the pedophilia in the Catholic church, Muslim madrassas, Yoruba manhood training rites, etc. It is well known America allows Afghanistan soldiers to have sexual relations with young boys as a cultural rite.
And it well known 30% of USA soldiers are victims of rape, alas, male and female! I asked a former female member of the US Army, why and how was she violated since she was armed when she was raped, she replied, "We are not trained to retaliate!"
So the Mythology of Pussy and Dick continues and no solution is in sight as long as the patriarchal culture dominates, and again, it is quite doubtful the matriarchal culture will deconstruct this abomination. Alas, did not Hillary Clinton, socalled champion of women's rights, defend her husband's sexual improprieties and try to destroy the women he debased? So much for the feminine mystique!
Without the total destruction of mythological religiosity in all spiritual institutions, along with the deconstruction of white supremacy capitalism and its newborn babe globalism that transcends racism, pathological sexual relations shall persist! There is a light at the end of the tunnel: women will soon be able to drive in Saudi Arabia!
--Marvin X/El Muhajir
10/10/17
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