Earlier in the week, Elijah Wood made headlines when he opened up about the worst kept secret in Hollywood, which he says is the pedophilia that goes on in the industry with child actors. As a child actor, Wood has a very specific view of the entertainment business, and although he hasn’t accused anyone of sexually abusing him, he did admit that there are kids who were abused.
Child actor Corey Feldman, who saw major fame in the 80s, with movies like, The Goonies , Stand By Me, and The Lost Boys , claims that he’s one of those kids, and has since backed up claims made by Elijah Wood. Feldman agreed that the abuse is widespread and precisely orchestrated to protect certain individuals.
Feldman even went on to say that he would love to name names of the abusers in Hollywood.
Feldman’s frequent co-star and good friend Corey Haim, who died of the lasting effects of drug abuse, couldn’t escape the abuse, and was allegedly raped on a Hollywood set when he was 11-years-old.
Of Haim’s abuse he said the following.
“He 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.”
Young Cory Feldman. pic.twitter.com/Y8CdJLG190
— *** (@90swomen) September 22, 2015
When asked to name names Feldman said he couldn’t because of the law.
“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.”
Elijah Wood had said that he was able to escape predators because his mother didn’t let him attend any Hollywood parties, but for Feldman, he wasn’t protected in that way.
“Part of the time I was living with my mom and she was letting me go to the parties. And then the other part of the time was with my dad and those people were actually coming over to my apartment.”
WHAT I MEANT WAS: @elijahwood clarifies comments about child abuse in Hollywood https://t.co/tuo880jELl pic.twitter.com/QSwsWInGEw
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 25, 2016
In Wood’s original interview, it was intended to be a conversation about his new film The Trust , but turned to the “evil secret” of Hollywood, as the title says. Wood had compared the most infamous scandal of Jimmy Savile, who had abused 400 girls and boys, to what’s going on in Hollywood.
“Jesus, it must have been devastating. Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organized. There are a lot of vipers in this industry, people who only have their own interests in mind. There is darkness in the underbelly. If you can imagine it, it’s probably happened.”
After the interview ran from outlet to outlet, Wood took to Twitter to defend his comments.
The Sunday Times interviewed me about my latest film but the story became about something else entirely. It prompted a number of false and
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) May 24, 2016
misleading headlines. I had just seen a powerful documentary and I briefly spoke with the reporter about the subject which had consequences
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) May 24, 2016
I did not intend or expect. Lesson learned. Let me be clear: This subject of child abuse is an important one that should be discussed and
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) May 24, 2016
properly investigated. But as I made absolutely clear to the writer, I have no first hand experience or observation of the topic,
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) May 24, 2016
so I cannot speak with any authority beyond articles I have read and films I have seen.
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) May 24, 2016
[Photo by Araya Diaz/Getty Images for Ovation]