Former Child Actors Who Spoke Out About Child Abuse In Hollywood

Former Child Actors Who Spoke Out About Child Abuse In Hollywood

Ryan Davis
Updated May 21, 2024 4.0M views 14 items

The Amanda Byneses and Lindsay Lohans of the world prove that growing up as a child star in the entertainment industry is no easy feat. But some child actors (and potentially a lot more we don't know about) experience a much more sinister side when dealing with Hollywood's powerful higher-ups. After Elijah Wood and Corey Feldman blew the lid off Hollywood's pedophilia epidemic, the backlash and scrutiny on industry insiders has been unrelenting. Whether the media's focus will remain unwavering has yet to be decided, but the topic of child star sexual abuse has gone ignored and unnoticed for much too long. 

Although Wood and Feldman found the spotlight for their quotes on Hollywood's sexual abuse scandal, the issue has been highlighted from various other former child stars throughout the years. In 2014, documentarian Amy Berg released a controversial film called An Open Secret, which detailed former child stars' experiences of surviving sexual abuse. Berg's documentary is revolutionary for child stars who were abused but had their voices silenced. And it's no surprise that SAG and entertainment executives have made efforts to subdue Berg's whistleblowing.

Outside Berg's documentary, various other child stars have come forward on their own accord to talk about their trauma. Some of these stars you may remember, others you may have forgotten about altogether. But these former child actors have made valiant and courageous efforts to battle against Hollywood's history of sexual abuse. Here are the brave former child stars talking about child abuse. 
  • Elijah Wood

    Elijah Wood

    Elijah Wood's career took off a very young age, way before he ever put on his prosthetic elf ears in The Lord of the Rings series. In 2016, the former child actor called out Hollywood higher-ups for engaging in an organized child sex ring. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Wood accused Hollywood of enabling a very pervasive problem:

    "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. What burns me about these situations is that the victims can't speak as loudly as the people in power. That's the tragedy of attempting to reveal what is happening to innocent people: they can't be squashed, but their lives have been irreparably damaged."

  • Corey Feldman

    Corey Feldman

    Corey Feldman has been outspoken regarding his very personal experience as a former child star who became victim of Hollywood pedophiles. Known for starring in '80s hits like Stand By Me, The Goonies, and The Lost Boys, Feldman has since become a whistleblower for child star sexual assault, having frequently discussed his trauma in his A&E series The Two Coreys, his memoir Coreyography, and the documentary An Open Secret.

    In 2016, Feldman backed up Elijah Wood's accusations. He said:

    "I'm not able to name names. People are frustrated, people are angry, they want to know how is this happening... 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."

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  • Corey Haim

    Corey Haim

    Corey Feldman's A&E series The Two Coreys featured sad information about another Corey who went through some traumatic experiences with Hollywood abuse. Unfortunately, Corey Haim was never able to overcome his dark times; he died of an overdose in 2010 after struggling with substance abuse most of his life.

    Feldman, a close friend of Haim's, discussed his experience in a interview:

    "With me, there were some molestations and it did come from several hands, so to speak, but with Corey [Haim], his was direct rape, whereas mine was not actual rape. And his also occurred when he was 11."

    According to Feldman, the two were being passed around by elite men.

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  • Anthony Edwards

    Anthony Edwards

    In November 2017, Anthony Edwards penned an essay for Medium describing his abuse at the hands of producer Gary Goddard. Edwards met Goddard when he was 12; he says Goddard molested him during a youth theater production of Peter Pan.

    Multiple men have since come forward with their own stories of abuse or assault perpetrated by Goddard.

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  • Eliza Dushku

    Eliza Dushku

    Actress Eliza Dushku penned a Facebook post in January 2018 accusing stunt coordinator Joel Kramer of molesting her on the set of True Lies. She was 12 at the time.

    A few days after sharing her story, Dushku responded to her supporters:

    "My heart goes out to the women who came forward today and to everyone here who has shared their powerful stories in recent days. Thank you for your bravery. We will walk through this in strength... And, from the deepest parts of my heart, thank you all for your unbelievable support."

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  • Joey Coleman

    Joey Coleman

    Joey Coleman, a former child actor, appeared in the Hollywood documentary An Open Secret to share his experience dealing with SAG's Michael Harrah, a child actor manager. Harrah sat down for an interview as well, and denied any involvement with Coleman.

    However, Coleman recorded a phone conversation he had with Harrah, who once represented him: "I didn't like when you tried to have me sleep in your bed and touch me and everything. I hated that."

    Unaware he was being recorded, Harrah responded, "Yeah, and that was something unwanted I shouldn't have done. And there's no way you can undo that. But it certainly is something I shouldn't have done."

  • Todd Bridges

    Todd Bridges

    Todd Bridges has been vocal about being a victim of abuse during the filming of his '80s hit Diff'rent Strokes. Aside from appearing in the doc An Open Secret, Bridges has advocated for legislative bills to protect child actors. Discussing one of the bills, Bridges said:

    "I cannot imagine why even one politician would object to it passing. Without these types of precautions, Hollywood will continue to attract pedophiles with an unmonitored playing field to commit their inhumane acts."

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  • Mara Wilson

    Mara Wilson

    You probably remember Mara Wilson as the cute little girl from Matilda or Mrs. Doubtfire. Although the former child actor was never physically a victim of sex abuse, she did recount experiences of surreal exploitation she did not quite comprehend at such a young age.

    "When I was 12 years old, I made the mistake of looking myself up on the Internet. One of the things I found was a foot fetish website dedicated to child actresses. Now, at the time, I thought this was hilarious. Then, two or three years ago, I was talking to a friend and casually mentioned the foot fetish thing. Her eyes went wide. 'So basically, you were on a child porn site,'" she shared in an article she wrote for Cracked. Wilson also mentioned being asked crude and sexually explicit questions by Hollywood figures.

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  • Alex Winter

    Alex Winter

    Bill & Ted star Alex Winter revealed he had been the victim of abuse as a child actor in a February 2018 interview. He spoke about his trauma to BBC host Adrian Chiles, and offered his thoughts on how the industry can make changes:

    "The problems aren’t going to get sorted out overnight, because frankly, these issues are part of the fabric of human nature, and they’ve existed since there have been human beings walking around on the planet.

    So it’s going to take time, it’s going to take mental health work, it’s going to take the capacity of society to listen to some very unpleasant truths about itself. And there’s no doubt that that’s going to take time."

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  • Dylan Farrow And Mia Farrow

    Dylan Farrow And Mia Farrow

    Although not quite a child star, Mia Farrow was quite young when she starred on the soap opera Peyton Place. But it wasn't until Farrow's daughter, Dylan Farrow, accused her father, critically acclaimed director Woody Allen, of sexual abuse that she became the face of a heavily publicized legal battle against Hollywood misconduct.

    Only seven years old at the time of the alleged abuse, Dylan Farrow's accusations have repeatedly been dismissed over the years. Allen claims Mia Farrow (his ex) encourage his daughter's stories because she was hoping to gain full custody. But Farrow, Dylan, and Farrow's son Ronan have refused to back down.

     Dylan Farrow penned an open letter in 2014 where she discussed her assault:

    "When I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me."

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  • Samantha Geimer

    Samantha Geimer

    In one of the most high profile Hollywood child sex abuse cases ever, Samantha Geimer (formerly Gailey) was raped by famous director Roman Polanksi. Although Geimer's story is ambiguous, law enforcement tried Polanski for five counts of abuse. In her memoir, Geimer described what happened that day with Polanski:

    "He holds my arms at my sides and kisses me. And I say, 'No, come on,' but between the pill and champagne it's like my own voice is very far away."

    Geimer, who was 13 years old at the time, was drugged by Polanski. Polanski fled to Poland, and has never been extradited to the US to face charges.

  • Michael Egan

    Michael Egan

    Michael Egan made major international headlines after he accused Bryan Singer, famed director of the latest X-Men series, of abuse. Egan asserted that Singer, along with other Hollywood figures, sexually abused him in the late '90s when he was a young boy. Egan's lawsuit claimed that Singer and others "groomed [him] to submit to a life of abuse in what was essentially pedophilic sex den."

    In an interview with Vulture, Egan said: "These people put so much fear in you when you're a kid. But I still have fear. I had a dream last night that I was walking into a deposition and got shot. That's sick to think that stuff."

    Egan ultimately dropped his case and is facing prison time for fraud.

  • Alison Arngrim

    Alison Arngrim

    Alison Arngrim played the fiery Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie. Since leaving the show, Arngrim has opened up about her horrific experiences within the industry. It wasn't until she was in her 20s that she realized the deeply traumatic impact her abuse had on her mental health.

    Revisiting her experience, Arngrim shared, "So here I was playing this girl that everyone was afraid of and it's great. I'm paid to play this person who screams, yells, throw things, vents her anger... it was absolutely therapeutic. I wasn't quite completely clear on exactly what it was that was being done to go report this."

  • Evan Henzi

    Evan Henzi

    Evan Henzi, former child actor, became a client of youth-talent manager Marty Weiss, and later a victim at his hands. Weiss was convicted of two charges alleged by Henzi, who claimed his manager sexually assaulted him 30 to 40 times over the course of five years.

    In An Open Secret, Henzi opened up about the legal system and his experience pressing charges. He said, "I'm angry at the legal system. I'm starting to understand exactly what happened to me because If I keep it in my head, I'm so confused all the time. I blamed myself and felt guilty... Now that I'm older, I know it was just sick. You don't have sex with an 11-year-old kid."

    Weiss only served six months after taking a plea deal.