The Corey Feldman story is certainly an interesting one. I also believe it's important to watch this all play out and to let the man talk. For those who don't know, the former child star who was in such iconic 1980s movies as The Goonies, Stand By Me and The Lost Boys has been hinting at revealing the names of the people responsible for molesting himself and his friend Corey Haim. There are people who want him to go away and shut his mouth, but I believe it's important that he finally put it all out there for people to hear the facts as he sees them.
There has been a hint of something bad happening with Feldman and Haim for many years, but it's likely that people will remember two important moments where it came to the public's attention. The first was a big scene in The Two Corey's reality TV show where Haim confronted Feldman about something that happened when they were younger. We all know they were speaking of being molested. A year after Haim died, Feldman got on National TV and told people what the biggest secret in Hollywood was.
I thought things might be about ready to come to a head back then. I'll never forget Feldman saying, "The biggest problem in Hollywood is, was and will always be pedophilia." He had my attention, because like many others, I suspect that some very dark things have happened to children in Hollywood. We have a tendency to laugh at and mock child stars through the years when they fall from grace and the paparazzi and tabloid media mocks them all. Nobody ever asks what is at the root of these moments, and that's intentional. You need to do a little homework when it comes to these former child stars.
In the 2011 interview, Feldman went on to say that his friend Haim was haunted by something that happened at the hands of a Hollywood mogul. He knew the name, but it wasn't for him to tell the story. I thought for sure he might say something soon, but he didn't. This led to a popular passtime on the internet by people who know something dark is going on in the world. I call it "Guess the Pedo". It's a dangerous game, because you really need to know what you're talking about before just throwing any name out there.
It wasn't much longer before Feldman put out his autobiography, Coreyography. If you haven't read this book, you should get a copy. You gain some insight into Feldman and his troubled childhood behind the scenes as we've watched him go from being the little boy in the McDonald's commercial, to the kid making several appearances on different TV shows and eventually one of the top child stars of the 1980s in movies like the ones I mentioned above and so many more.
I guarantee you'll be moved in one way or the other when you read Feldman's account of things. When he gets around to talking about what he knows about Corey Haim, it gets even more disturbing. I had to remind myself when Feldman admitted that he introduced Haim to two men who ultimately molested him that Feldman was a victim himself. He doesn't paint the most flattering picture of Haim while claiming he introduced him to Marty Weiss and the man Feldman refers to as Tony Burnham.
People are going to speculate that Feldman wasn't the best friend of Haim, and I don't blame them for that. Personally, I believe they were best friends in the 1980s. I believe they stayed in touch in the years that followed, although I'm not exactly sure that best friends really covers it. They loved each other, they hated each other and they were always going to be bonded through the experiences they had growing up in Hollywood. I have some speculations and observations that I am so tempted to put here, but I wonder what good it will do.
I will say here and now that I don't like that Feldman controls so much of the Corey Haim narrative these days, but this isn't necessarily his fault. Feldman says he made a promise to his friend, and we weren't there. We don't know if that's the truth or a lie. Too many people are claiming it's a lie, based on the negative reactions that Haim's family has to Feldman doing what he's doing. The Haim family should tell the story of Corey Haim, because they are the ones who are the keepers of his legacy. It baffles me that they are doing nothing.
I don't say that to judge Corey Haim, and this is a completely different topic. What I mean is that he was a good actor in his own right, but nothing is being done by the estate to keep some of those big movies out there for a new generation to see. They're not telling the story of who he really was. They're not doing much to keep his legacy alive. Therefore, most people only know Corey Haim as somebody who had a lifelong battle with drug addiction who was molested multiple times. This will never change until his family takes a hold of the narrative and tells us more about who he was. Between that and trying to get him stars on the Hollywood and Canadian Walk of Fame, there are still things to be done in his memory.
Feldman has been ridiculed and attacked. Some people have a personal axe to grind with him, and others just pick sides and throw daggers. This is easy to do on social media. Has Feldman given them easy things to target in the last decade? Absolutely. There's Feldman trying to pattern himself after Hugh Hefner and creating Corey's Angels and his parties at the "Feldmansion". There are his interesting musical attempts, such as performing Go For It on The Today Show and a video I personally enjoyed for the song Ascension Millennium. There is the Corey's Angels Tour that ended abruptly as Corey said he had an attempt made on his life.
At the heart of all of this is still the story of both Coreys being molested, and who it was that did this. In his book, the only actual names we read are Marty Weiss and Bob Villard. Both had been convicted in other cases, and Feldman made no claim that Villard did anything to either one of them. He just happened to be somebody they were around. After reading the book, people tried to figure out the clues and name the names, and you can find that easily enough on the internet. However, we all want to hear it from Corey's own lips. Who did what to who?
Coreyography was his attempt to get the names out there, but the publisher forced him to use pseudonyms on most of the names he mentioned. Feldman admitted on The Wendy Williams Show in 2013 that he pulled stuff from the book and had plenty more to say in another book, if he ever chooses to write it. I know, or at least I can say I believe, there's more that happened with Feldman himself than he'll admit, and I don't say that to judge. It's his story to tell. If it's as ugly as I think it could be, I can't blame him if he wrapped it up with this documentary and is content to keep working with Child USA to work on changing the laws in order to protect children.
Within the last few years, Feldman went on The Dr Oz Show and told his story. It was revealed that Cloyd Jon Grissom and Alphy Hoffman had molested Feldman. In his book, he used the pseudonyms Ron Crimson and Ralph Kaufman. In fact, he also refers to Bob Kaufman, the father or actually male lover of Ralph Kaufman. Bob's real name would be Bob Hoffman, and he was somebody responsible for getting child stars, including Feldman, roles on various sitcoms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There's an interesting tie in between Hoffman and the male producer of the movie Lucas, which Haim was in. More on that in a moment.
Feldman had been saying when he started to get serious about his crusade and revealing names that he was also revealing a pedophile ring. People were automatically shrugging and saying, "Nothing to see here." What is really interesting is that he's pointing out photographers of kids in child star magazines, kid's agents and a man, Alphy Hoffman, who organized the Soda Pop Club parties for the young teens from 1986 to 1989. There is much to be told here, and it does potentially link up with people higher on the ladder than Corey knows or is willing to speak of.
Let's use a generic story, although there is truth in it as has been revealed by others. The agent of a child star gains the family's trust. Suddenly, the child star is being given permission to stay with the agent because there's an early audition or whatever. Now, an agent who has a thing for kids might eventually use this to groom the kid. Once they get their trust, the molestation begins to varying degrees. In other cases, they begin passing these kids around to others. When the Feldman story started leaking out, Alison Arngrim, a star on Little House on the Prairie, was quoted saying that it was common knowledge that The Two Coreys were passed around. Is this true? I don't know, but there are other stories involving other child stars that point out that there is truth to this theory.
With Alphy Hoffman, he used The Two Coreys to launch his parties. Eventually, Alphy took advantage of Feldman. Haim has actually been quoted on this subject from somebody who did an interview with him. You can find what Haim said in an article on vice.com. I believe the interviewer was trying to find out if Alphy introduced Haim to the drugs he eventually became addicted to. This didn't happen. Feldman says Grissom was the one who got him started, which could have ultimately affected both Coreys.
Haim said that Hoffman was a bad man and a user, but he denied anything about drugs. He said he got into that after he stopped attending those parties and was going to other clubs. He was adamant about that. The interviewer couldn't get him to elaborate any more on Hoffman. One would only be speculating if they assumed that Haim was referring to Hoffman doing anything of a sexual nature with underage children when he referred to him as a bad man. However, the last time he and the reporter talked, Haim tried to keep things low-key. I don't know if an article was ever written, but the interview was shared on vice.com.
For Feldman, Grissom was the one he went to live with after emancipating himself from his parents. Grissom was the one advising him to do so, and it appears as if this is when bad things started happening to him and Haim. What we don't know yet are the actual names of some of Haim's abusers. All we know is what Judy Haim, Corey's mother, admitted on the Dr Oz Show after Feldman had made his first appearance. By then, Judy had gotten hostile towards Feldman, claiming that this is just about money to him. Personally, I don't believe that to be the case, but I do believe Feldman knew that he needed financial help to ever tell any kind of a story. He simply isn't rich enough himself. This is probably the biggest reason he would have avoided this entirely if he could have. Hollywood was never going to back him on this.
Yes, Feldman would like to make money. We all would like to have enough to get by. Feldman was brought up in Hollywood at a young age and knew no other way. Some will say he should have moved on and started another career, but it's not fair to say that when Feldman has in fact been able to find steady work in direct-to-video movies and reality shows. Work is work to somebody in Hollywood. What he and Haim were unable to find after very early in the 1990s were any starring roles In major motion pictures. Their fall from grace due to drug use and perhaps whatever secrets they knew could have assisted that, but I won't speculate any further.
Feldman is on a crusade. If you believe he's lying in his book, ask yourself a serious question. When you read how things went down with Haim and the two older men, according to Feldman, why would he admit anything? It doesn't make Feldman look very good. I personally don't believe Judy Haim when she says it only happened to her son once, but I'm not calling her a liar either.
I believe that Corey loved his mother so much that he wouldn't want her to know out of concern for how she would take it. She might blame herself. Haim dropped everything to care for his mother when she got sick. She may not know. Some speculate she did, but that leads us in directions that we can't ultimately prove and goes nowhere.
I believe Judy witnessed some incident where the truth came out regarding the man she named, Dominick Brascia. Internet sleuths had already put the clues together to come up with this as the identity of the person Feldman names in his book as Tony Burnham. As of yet, Feldman hasn't revealed that name, but it will happen in his documentary. Was it Brascia? If so, why didn't Feldman corroborate what Judy said back then, and why didn't he say anything after Brascia died?
Another thing people point to is a picture from 2004 of Feldman and his wife at the time smiling with Marty Weiss. This was at a young Hollywood actor's awards ceremony. Feldman is heard at the podium clearly giving a shout-out to Weiss in a video clip that you can find on the web as well. Why so friendly? This has been the cause of much speculation.
There's also the fact that Feldman was friends with Brascia for years. Brascia even had a part in the Corey Feldman E True Hollywood Story documentary, which can be found on YouTube. After watching some of the heartbreaking stories depicted in the documentary An Open Secret, one can add the fact that had Feldman said something about Weiss, the kid who ended up having his experiences that ultimately got Weiss arrested and convicted might have been safe? Again, it's only speculation. Hindsight is 20/20.
If I were to guess the mind of a victim, I believe that for many of these kids, it's not something you easily can come to grips with. Who would believe you? Was it your fault? When Michael Jackson was being investigated in 1993, Feldman was on record naming the men who abused him, but the police officers almost made a joke of it. Think about that. They could have personally escorted him to the jurisdiction that would help him while he legally could have done something, but he got victim shamed. They didn't believe him, so why would anybody else? Feldman never did anything with it, but there is actual documentation that he did in fact reveal names in 1993. In fact, Feldman said he also had an off-the-record conversation with the officers where he mentioned the ones who abused Haim.
The last name to drop is the biggest name of them all. This would be the adult on the set of Lucas who took advantage of Haim. That's more or less how Feldman referred to him in the book. In the interview in 2011, he referred to this person has a Hollywood Mogul, which tends to make people think this would be a producer type. I won't name the name here, but you can easily search the name of the male producer of the movie Lucas and find it along with his rather interesting career producing TV, movies and music entertainment. Not to mention, this person has a tie in with Bob Hoffman as well as the TV series Feldman starred in during the late 1970s, The Bad News Bears.
In looking around, you can find another clue. One person who did this to Haim was 42 years old. This was claimed in an interview that People Magazine did with Haim after the controversy that erupted on The Two Coreys reality TV show in 2008. However, there are two ways to read that. Haim didn't specifically say the person was 42 years old when it happened, just that they were 42 years old. Was he talking about in 2008 or back in 1985? If we are talking 2008, this man was definitely a big Hollywood star. I would say an A Lister with a family involved in movies for decades.
The story gets more interesting when you find out that Dominick Brascia sold a story to the National Enquirer at about the same time that Feldman began his current campaign to bring out the names. It was at a time when his Angels Tour came to an abrupt end, and Feldman gave The Inquirer a strict "no comment" in reaction to them seeking his thoughts. We have to remember that Brascia and Feldman, at least for several years, were friends. Whether that was the case at the time of the National Enquirer story, I won't speculate. The interesting thing is Brascia named Charlie Sheen as the one who molested Corey Haim. This resulted in a lawsuit from Sheen to the National Enquirer.
This is the problem with the game of "Guess the Pedo". You'll find people naming some of the biggest producer and director names in Hollywood and saying they did something to The Two Coreys back in the day. Proof? It makes me think of Isaac Kappy, an actor who had bit parts in several movies who claimed to be friends with Seth Green. Isaac flat-out named some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and never backed down from that. Proof? That's the problem. Where is the proof? The biggest proof cited by Kappy's believers is that moments before an apparent suicide from jumping off of an overpass, he was on video saying he wasn't suicidal, though he certainly appeared distressed.
Something happened to The Two Coreys. Both were victims. We see stories get told sometimes, and they are swept under the rug quickly. When Feldman started this crusade in the shadows of the Me Too movement, Alex Winter of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and The Lost Boys fame said it happened to him with an older actor in a stage production. Anthony Edwards of Revenge of the Nerds, ER and other things went on to say it happened to him at a young age as well. They got brief attention, but within a week or two, the stories were swept under the rug.
It's really no wonder that none of these child stars want to talk, and it's also no wonder people are willing to believe that things are happening that could go all the way to the top. Haven't we learned anything from the Catholic Church Scandal, Jimmy Savile, Jerry Sandusky, The Franklin Cover Up, Jeffrey Epstein and so much more? This is the story they don't want to talk about, because it's about the biggest sin we commit if we do harm to a child. Talk about Harvey Weinstein and what he did to women who we're willing to do anything for a part in a movie all day long, but don't mention the sick things happening to children.
I will not victim shame the women, but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the obvious. Most of the time, they had a choice before it got out of hand. There were women who said no and we're blackballed for it. The women who played ball might get victimized, but often times they ended up with a big payday. In the case of these kids, the story is a little bit different. They are being used and abused before the age of consent. Corey gained a little bit of heat by talking about how the women had some sort of upside, but kids like he him at the time did not. I don't know how you can touch on the subject without appearing to be unsympathetic or just a bad person, and yet it's fair to say something as part of the public discussion. Harvey Weinstein deserves to be punished for what he did, make no mistake.
I also believe that these adults who are revealed to be pedophiles with the young stars deserve to be punished as well. There's never really been much of a hint at justice, but people can see it's all bubbling up. We know the stories at certain studios such as Nickelodeon and Disney, and they continue to sweep them under the rug before truly shining the light of day on the matter to get to the bottom of it. This is why I believe the Feldman story is important, and he needs to tell it.
Feldman is hoping that when he explains the who, what, where and why in his documentary, others from back in those days or even during other eras will come out and tell their stories. They will be more encouraged to do so in much the same way the first woman in the Me Too movement encouraged others to speak up. Corey knows the stories of others who were around him back then. However, those are things he can't really get into. He's already taking so much heat for fulfilling what he says was a promise to Haim by telling his story.
I hate to be pessimistic at a time like this, but I don't really believe that this is going to start the wave of change. It will, however, be more ammunition. Eventually, the truth will get out. It won't be stopped. In that way, it's important that Feldman tell his story for people to hear and understand. Many will believe him, and others will choose not to believe. What is the truth? Without these people being brought to trial, all we are left with is speculation. Speculation can also be a dangerous thing, but what else is there?
I don't believe Feldman is doing this documentary to further his career, because all this will truly do is damage him more in Hollywood. Despite not being given any plum rules or the second chance that others have been given, Corey has nonetheless found steady work in direct-to-dvd movies and low-budget productions. Did he make mistakes that caused him to be punished? Sure, but did he deserve to be punished by the Hollywood establishment a as much as he has been? They gave Robert Downey Jr and Drew Barrymore second chances, and both shined very brightly. We might make mistakes, but we can also have redemption.
Feldman says he spent close to $2,000,000 to put this whole thing together so that he could air it twice online. Consider the possibility that if Feldman really wanted to get some sort of comeback in Hollywood, he'd take all the money that he could afford, find people to back him and do his own movie. I'm not talking about what he's going to reveal in the documentary, but an entertainment movie. A subject that will inspire passion in Feldman.
He'd be writing a script with others. That could ultimately fail, but it could also turn out to be something that made him a few dollars and was well received by the fans. He won't make money off of this documentary, and he could ultimately burn the bridges if there was even consideration of him getting another good role in Hollywood. This is the risk he takes to put the story out.
On February 22nd, tickets went on sale at Feldman's website, www.mytruthdoc.com. They are $20 a piece. He had to secure insurance to legally protect himself in this documentary, and a good chunk of money also went into bandwidth costs. Feldman just revealed that the company will work with him enough to enable him to show the documentary a second time in Europe at a better time. On the West Coast at 8 p.m. at March 9th, the movie will be showing for the first time. 14 hours later, for the people around the world, the movie will have a second showing.
Feldman has said this will be it for the documentary. People are asking why? Legally, he could get into big trouble for naming any names, even if he's telling the truth. You can be sued for slander, and at least one person, the name who allegedly molested Haim on the set of Lucas, has the money to pursue this all the way. Therefore, you're not as likely to see Feldman put his movie out there for people to view for free the way the people did with the documentary, An Open Secret. In the case of An Open Secret, it's pretty much a slam dunk. The criminals mentioned in the documentary have had their day in court. It's a matter of public record. In Feldman's case, it's a bit different.
I think Feldman deserves to be heard, but whether people will spend $20 for a viewing depends on the person, their lack of funds and how much they really care about the topic. Feldman has done all he can at this point. However, you know people will be "sailing the high seas", so to speak, so others will eventually get to watch it. Within a matter of hours, the names will be put out there in various internet stories as Feldman is quoted word-for-word. Others will do their reviews on their YouTube channels. In that way, Feldman's story is finally getting out there as a matter of public record.
They say this is the first step towards healing, and that might be true. Sadly, I don't believe that Corey Feldman will truly be healed from what happened to him. He may have greater understanding, and he has certainly been more of a functioning adult than Corey Haim was able to be, but the hurt will always be there. In the case of Corey Haim, his struggles ultimately led him to an early demise. It wasn't an overdose or a suicide, but one can certainly make a case that he suffered his health complications from his drug addiction.
We never got to see these two become the adult stars they could have been. It's not difficult for me to imagine how good they could have been on the big screen in major motion pictures, and it wouldn't have required them acting together. Feldman knocked on the door in the mid-1990s, but it was abruptly slammed shut on him. Haim nearly got the role in Batman Forever as Robin. Can you imagine? What if that would have been the catalyst for him to make a major comeback? Might he still be here today?
I often speculate when I think about these two, especially Haim. I wonder if Corey Haim truly had the best friend he needed, and I have my doubts. Feldman was certainly a friend, but not the best friend he needed. It wasn't all bad, but it wasn't all good either. At times Feldman was not the friend he really needed, but they maintained a connection to the end. I don't think that person was truly there for Haim. Would it have made a difference? I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that I could have been a friend and maybe made a difference. Others have probably felt that they could have been a good friend to him. But who knows? We're still left with some enjoyable movies like Lucas, The Lost Boys, License to Drive and so many others.
My thoughts on Corey Feldman and this documentary are summed up this way. You may like him, you may hate him, you may think he's crazy, you may think he was a druggie or you may think anything you want. However, if you care at all about him and what he's about ready to reveal, you'll check out the documentary to hear what he has to say. If you have kept coming back to the story through the years as many of us have, you owe it to yourself to see it through to this point.
The documentary will air at the website link below. All the information you need can be found there.
