With the media spotlight firmly on the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, and director James Toback, to name a few, it took courage for victims to come forward and open the flood gates of reports of abuse and rape against these industry moguls. The #metoo campaign has helped victims who may have long ago buried these memories, to gain the courage and sense of support to share their stories of abuse at the hands of these powerful agents, directors, producers and actors.
Men who felt entitled to wield their power over young vulnerable would-be stars for their own sick pleasure. It took strong women such as rose McGowan and Ashley Judd to summon the courage and name names which started this long overdue clean up of the industry. One facet of the industry that still has for the most part dodge this spotlight is paedophilia in the movie and television industry. This is the worst kept secret. There have actually been charges and convictions of a number of industry players. There has also been many accusations and innuendo leveled at some very powerful industry leaders, high powered directors and actors.
Recently, with the spotlight trained on Weinstein and spacey stories, Corey Feldman and his accusations have hit the headlines again. This is nothing new. Feldman has been accusing the industry of shielding a paedophile ring for some time. Even in his book Choreography he talks about abuse and uses pseudonyms in place of actual names. Recently he is back leveling these accusations. It is hard to take Feldman seriously which is part of the problem. His threats to name names are now attached to his Indigogo campaign to raise 10 million dollars to write, produce, and distribute a movie in which he will finally name those names. Unfortunately, his last gasp at fame taints the sincerity of his accusations. To be fair he has revealed two names recently, both of which are convicted paedophiles who worked in the industry. Feldman claims he is concerned for his safety, as some of the accused are still high powered industry players, and he requires money to protect himself and his family. But what we do know already are those that have been tried and convicted of child rape and assault, and there are plenty.
In this podcast we will take a look at some of those convicted to date and will touch on a few of those who have been accused in the past, although we’d like to make it clear that some people mentioned have been accused and sued and have had cases dropped or won in court. We do not want to imply any guilt whatsoever to those accused and not charged or those found not guilty. And then lastly, we will delve deeply into a ring of hollywood elite that preyed on up and coming young male actors, and were ultimately brought down by their accusers, although sadly none are currently in prison.
Music: https://www.bensound.com
Check out the excellent documentary: AN OPEN SECRET. Official PG-13 version. on Vimeo
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