Does Hollywood Have a Pedophilia and Sexual Abuse Problem?

In an interview on Sunday, actor Elijah Wood claimed that Hollywood has a pedophilia crisis. He said that the business has a history of scandals and abuse, and that such abuse is probably still happening among Hollywood’s elite. However, he later pointed out that he does not have any firsthand experience with it.

Fortunately for Wood, he was protected by his parents when he broke onto the scene as a child, but not everyone is as lucky. Wood stated:

If you’re innocent, you have very little knowledge of the world and you want to succeed. People with parasitic interests will see you as their prey. What upsets me about these situations is that the victims can’t speak as loudly as the people in power.

Elijah Wood: 'Hollywood in the grip of child abuse scandal similar to Jimmy Savile' https://t.co/sQD7SaIuVn pic.twitter.com/QZA4gNVeR2

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 23, 2016

In 2013, actor Corey Feldman released a book detailing how he and Corey Haim were repeatedly sexually abused during their careers as child actors in the 80s, and made to believe it was normal. He said that the number one problem in Hollywood is, and always will be, pedophilia.

Elijah Wood’s comments come only a few weeks after Woody Allen’s son Ronan Farrow wrote a piece published in the Hollywood Reporter about his father and the danger of not asking uncomfortable questions. His sister Dylan Farrow has accused their father of sexual abuse and has not received much public support. But big-time screen actors and media personalities keep working with Allen, seemingly looking the other way.

Sexual assault allegations against Woody Allen were not completely swept under the red carpet in Cannes this time. https://t.co/6bgsCtydQA

— AJ+ (@ajplus) May 18, 2016

Allen married his  former partner Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter in 1997; she is 35 years younger than him. Allen’s marriage to Soon-Yi Previn was quite the scandal and has led many to believe that the theme of a young woman being courted by a much older man, which frequently has recurred in many of his movies, could be an autobiographical one.

In the reviews of his latest film during the Cannes Film Festival, the storyline was actually criticized and accused of lacking in innovation because it, once again, featured a young woman seduced by an older man. Journalists did finally ask some difficult questions about Allen’s romantic history, and the French comedian who led the opening ceremony of the gala made a very uncomfortable joke when talking about Allen, saying it was “very nice” that he had shot “so many movies in Europe, even if you are not being convicted for rape in the US.” This was reportedly meant to be a reference to Roman Polanski who was accused of rape in California back in 1978, but was still viewed as a hit against Allen.

In recent years more people have spoken up about sexual abuse cases propagated by Hollywood elite. On Tuesday morning, Bill Cosby went to court for an indecent assault case filed against him in December last year, one of a number of accusations against him. But Ronan Farrow’s statement as well as Elijah Wood’s comments about the topic are further reminders that Hollywood should wake up and do more about a traumatizing problem that is rarely spoken about in the open.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.