How The View SHAMED This Actor For Exposing Hollywood Abuse

[00:00:00]I can tell you that the number one problem in Hollywood was and is and always will be Pedophilia.

[00:00:05]>> When Corey Feldman put his career on the line to allege abuse against him in Hollywood, he didn't realize just how cold and dismissive the industry can be in your most vulnerable moment.

[00:00:15]>> Are you saying that they're piles?

[00:00:16]>> Yes.

[00:00:17]>> And that they're still in this business?

[00:00:18]>> Yes. And sunglasses and all that.

[00:00:21]>> industry.

[00:00:21]>> As I shared my story, I was told over and over that this was not abuse. That this was just a joke.

[00:00:28]>> But this led me down a much darker rabbit hole than I was ready for. And it started when The View made Corey Feldman feel unheard and humiliated when he came out with his own story. Subscribe to Elites Exposed for more and just take a look for yourself.

[00:00:42]>> The people that did this to both me and Corey, that are still working, they're still out there and they're some of the richest, most powerful people in this business.

[00:00:49]>> And they are trying to >> And they do not want me saying what I'm saying right now.

[00:00:52]>> Are you saying that they're pedophiles?

[00:00:54]>> Yes.

[00:00:55]>> And that they're still in this business?

[00:00:57]That's what Yeah, and that's what you were saying in your book. When you talked to When you talk to parents, there are there are a lot of parents out here who want to put their kids in this in this business. They their kids are cute, they're great actors, what would you say to a parent who just has the best of intentions, who's coming here with their child? If you're saying that there's a lot of predators in this industry.

[00:01:18]>> It's a many feathered bird, okay? Be careful what you wish for. That's what I'll tell you. Don't go into it with naivety. Don't go into it thinking that it's all roses and sunglasses and all that.

[00:01:29]I'm sorry. I'm not trying to I'm just trying to say that it's a very important, serious topic.

[00:01:35]>> Wait, what did she just say? Listen, I don't want to speak ill of someone like Barbara Walters who's not alive to defend herself, but the fact that The View tried to put Corey on the back foot for quote-unquote damaging the industry is exactly the kind of victim blaming that feels revolting to me. Because by the way, this appearance on The View back in 2013 was the same day that Corey Feldman released his tell-all memoir called Coreyography and his allegations were about to become a domino in a long list of former child stars coming out with allegations of abuse against Hollywood bigwigs.

[00:02:08]>> I can tell you that the number one problem in Hollywood was and is and always will be Billy.

[00:02:14]That's the biggest problem for children in this industry.

[00:02:17]>> Nobody talks about Billy.

[00:02:18]>> It's the big secret.

[00:02:21]And it's widespread?

[00:02:22]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:02:23]I was surrounded by them when I was 14 years old. Surrounded.

[00:02:27]Literally. Didn't even know it. It wasn't until I was old enough to realize what they were and what they wanted and what they were about and the types of people that were surrounding me till I went, "Oh my god, they were everywhere like vultures."

[00:02:39]>> Corey Feldman though never received an acknowledgement or an apology from Barbara Walters for dismissing his vulnerability live on air. He remarked, "It was like a knife in the heart. It was shocking to me that somebody who I admired so much and I looked up to so much could be so deaf and so just completely wrong and off base." In fact, former co-host on The View Jenny McCarthy actually spoke to Corey Feldman years later and revealed just how uncomfortable she got when Barbara Walters tried to corner him for making those allegations.

[00:03:08]>> And you were so vulnerable and honest and Barbara Walters had said a line to you that >> It was brutal. It was brutal.

[00:03:17]>> It was so brutal. You know, afterwards we pulled her to the side backstage and was like, "How dare you do that?" It was >> Good. I'm glad.

[00:03:25]>> "Basically, when Corey came out and said, 'This is what's going on. [music] Kids are being Barbara turned to him and said, 'You know, you know what you're doing? You're damaging an entire industry.'"

[00:03:37]>> Yeah. She said, "What are you doing?

[00:03:39]This is wrong." I said, "What are you talking about?" She goes, "You are damaging your entire industry, our industry." She said, "Our industry." And I said, "Our industry? You're a journalist.

[00:03:51]I'm an actor.

[00:03:53]What are you talking about?

[00:03:54]>> And remember, this was the start of a whole unfurling of allegations from men like Corey Feldman, Terry Crews, Brendan Fraser, and Drake Bell who came out with their own stories of abuse in the past.

[00:04:04]And to me, the fact that this was happening almost in parallel to the more female-centric Me Too movement in the industry just a couple years later made the contrast in Hollywood's response and sympathy painfully stark. Because being a man often means the first step to getting justice is to start by being taken seriously by the people you're opening up to. And that's especially true in Hollywood when the people you're pointing to are at the absolute top of the industry's power ladder. And you can be sure they've got all the levers of control to make you shut up and turn your life into a living hell if you threaten their entrenched system.

[00:04:38][music] >> And what would be wrong with going to the police now again? Didn't work out in San Santa Barbara.

[00:04:44]>> of limitations, Matt, in the state of California, which protects people. It's not that way in New York. It's that way only where the movie industry is, conveniently enough, in California.

[00:04:55]That's the seriousness of this. You cannot, because if I were to go to the police, I would be the one who's getting sued. Henceforth, I need a team of lawyers, and I need a team of security to be around me at all times to keep me safe so I can get this message done.

[00:05:09]>> What's crazier to me is more often than not the industry can even stand beside the accused rather than the victim.

[00:05:15]That's exactly what happened, for example, when actor Drake Bell brought accusations of abuse against former Nickelodeon coach Brian Peck. But it was 41 people from the entertainment industry that went out of their way to write letters to the judge defending Brian Peck rather than standing with the person making those accusations. Drake Bell even recounted how several people from Hollywood would show up at the trial in defense of the accused while his own side would often just have his own close family by him and basically no one else. Eventually, Brian Peck entered a no contest plea, served prison time, and had to register as an offender. That gives you an idea of just how far the industry elite can go to protect their own because even actors like Terry Crews with a strong and masculine on-screen persona had to relive their trauma and break themselves down in Congress just to have the world take their stories seriously.

[00:06:05]>> As I shared my story, I was told over and over that this was not abuse.

[00:06:12]That this was just a joke.

[00:06:15]That this was just horseplay.

[00:06:18]But I can say that one man's horseplay is another man's humiliation. I'm not a small or insecure man, but in that moment and in the time following I've never felt more emasculated.

[00:06:34]>> Now, that got me thinking. If that's the kind of attitude you have to fight off in Hollywood just to have your side of the story heard, how much of what we've heard in the past decades is true?

[00:06:44]That's where Corey Feldman's words about Michael Jackson start making sense.

[00:06:48]Corey's entire childhood was spent in the very close orbit of Michael Jackson and described Michael as his older brother growing up. And despite the slew of allegations against Michael, Corey has been vocal that none of his personal interactions with him in his youth were ever at all inappropriate.

[00:07:03]>> You said that there was one gentleman in industry who did not take advantage of you. He [music] was not a file. You said that was Michael Jackson.

[00:07:10]>> So, why are you sitting down talking to me? Why aren't you sitting down with the police right now?

[00:07:14]>> I've told the police. In fact, if anybody wants to go back to 1993 when I was interviewed by the Santa Barbara Police Department, I sat there and I gave them the names. They're on record.

[00:07:24]They have all of this information, but they were scanning Michael Jackson. All they cared about was trying to find something on Michael Jackson.

[00:07:31]>> by the way, did not abuse you.

[00:07:32]>> Who Michael was innocent and that was what the interview was about with the police in 1993. I told them he is not that guy and they said, "Well, maybe you just don't understand your friend."

[00:07:41]>> And I think that's why Corey Feldman's side of the story matters. Someone that sticks their neck out in a sea of vultures to allege something against powerful stakeholders is taking on a risk that not many people on the outside can understand. And that lends a weight to their words that cannot simply be dismissed or laughed away. But if you want to see how this fight against the elite can break down even the strongest people, watch here how the media and the music industry tried to crush Michael Jackson and subscribe to Elite's Exposed for more.