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"We already knew." The problem with the way the world is reacting to Corey Feldman's claims.

 

Content warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault, and may be distressing for some readers. If you need support, please call the sexual assault helpline on 1800 010 120.

For decades, Corey Feldman has been fighting to lift the cloak on a pedophile ring he alleges has been operating in Hollywood.

On Monday, March 9, the 48-year-old released his long-anticipated documentary, My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys, in which he details the alleged sexual abuse perpetrated by six powerful men in Hollywood.

Feldman said Charlie Sheen raped the late actor Corey Haim on the set of Lucas. At the time of the alleged assault, Sheen was age 19 and Haim was 13-years-old. (Corey Haim passed away in March 2010 from pneumonia.)

Watch the trailer for ‘My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys’ here. Post continues below.

“This wasn’t like a one-time thing he said in passing. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, by the way, this happened.’ He went into great detail,” a crying Feldman said in the documentary, according to EW reporter Rosy Cordero, who attended the premiere.

“He told me, ‘Charlie bent me over in between two trailers and put Crisco oil on my butt and raped me in broad daylight. Anybody could have walked by, anybody could have seen it.'”

Following the documentary, Sheen denied all wrong-doing, saying in a statement: “These sick, twisted and outlandish allegations never occurred. Period.”

Feldman also claims he was molested himself by multiple older men, who he named in the documentary.

Once the documentary aired – released independently by Feldman – and Sheen’s name was released, there was one overwhelming consensus in response to the documentary’s claim about Charlie Sheen: “We already knew.”

Twitter was awash with comments such as these…

Indeed, this is not the first time Charlie Sheen has been accused of raping Corey Haim.

In 2017, Haim’s friend, actor Dominick Brascia, claimed in the National Enquirer that Charlie Sheen sexually abused Haim on the set of Lucas. Sheen “categorically denied” this. (In this new documentary, Dominick Brascia, who passed away in 2018, is also named as one of the alleged abusers.)

Brascia told the National Enquirer that Sheen “had sex with Haim”.

“He told me they smoked pot and had sex,” Brascia added. “He said they had anal sex. Haim said after it happened Sheen became very cold and rejected him. When Corey wanted to fool around again, Charlie was not interested.”

The publication claimed to have a number of sources who apparently corroborated Brascia’s allegations against Sheen. One reportedly added: “Corey was so confused by the sexual encounter he believed, like so many victims, he was ‘in love’ with his abuser.”

Again, Sheen has always denied all allegations made against him that he sexually abused Corey Haim.

But the widespread response to the film leaves a simple question.

Due to the fact we have previously been told that Charlie Sheen allegedly abused Corey Haim when he was 13-years-old, does that mean we should take this fresh allegation any less seriously?

Side note… Listen to Mamamia’s daily podcast The Spill explain exactly what happened with Feldman’s documentary. Post continues below.

It is a rather counter-intuitive response to condemn the man who was so determined to tell his late friend’s alleged story of sexual assault, that he independently produced this film at the cost of $300,000.

The predominant and prevailing response to the film has centred on Feldman, with viewers angry that the information was already somewhat public knowledge.

But where is the focus on the man who allegedly abused a 13-year-old boy?

Right now, the allegation that a man – who was once one of the highest-paid actors on television – sexually abused a 13-year-old boy has been treated as a mere side-note in the response to Feldman’s documentary.

And yet we wonder why more victims don’t come forward with their stories of sexual assault.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

Feature Image: Getty.


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Top Comments

Rush 4 years ago 1 upvotes

I'd say the fact that the alleged rape of a teenage boy has been sidelined by the response is pretty much down to Feldman himself. He's made this about him, about his 'quest for the truth', with all the supposed attempts on his life, the threats from the 'wolfpack', the "hacking" of the doco... and turning it into a *pay-per-view* event, seriously? He's the one who built the hype by claiming he was going to name big names, took people's money, then named people no one new (or at least no 'big names'). I don't doubt that these abusive people exist, but he's going about this in such a self-serving way, no wonder the message is getting lost.

David S 4 years ago 1 upvotes

I think that he'd have been better off trying to get the film that was made in 2016, An Open Secret, into distribution - I've just read about that one in another article here, and it sounds like it covers these things with the required journalistic rigour. Most of the reporting on this one seems to indicate that it's mostly Corey Haim's story than his own.

Laura Palmer 4 years ago

Making sure the message is heard is why we need to look past the way he's done it and listen to it, anyway. This man is damaged, what happened to him and Haim as a children was abhorrent and I think we need to cut him some slack when it comes to his behaviour.


Cat 4 years ago 1 upvotes

I don’t think people aren’t taking it seriously- I think everyone believes this happened. But he built it up that we would all be shocked- but we all already knew Charlie Sheen was an abuser. That’s why he’s no longer on TV. If someone can’t forward with a story about Bill Cosby or Kevin Spacey now it would be sad and worth telling but not shocking.