In a deeply unsettling revelation, former child star Corey Feldman has alleged he was sexually molested by his late best friend and fellow actor, Corey Haim. The claims are made in a new Apple TV documentary titled Corey Feldman vs. The World.
Shocking Allegations from a Hollywood Friendship
The 54-year-old actor details a disturbing series of events he says took place while the two Coreys filmed the iconic 1987 vampire thriller, The Lost Boys. Feldman, who was 16 at the time, states that Haim sexually propositioned him on set.
"When we did Lost Boys, Corey said to me 'Hey man, let's mess around,'" Feldman recounts in the documentary. "And I said, 'What do you mean?'" According to Feldman, Haim then told him, "This is what, you know, what guys in the business do, right? You know, you s*** each other's d****, or you f*** around - you do this stuff."
Feldman, a Los Angeles native, explained that he felt pressured to comply in an attempt to stop the behaviour. "When you have got somebody that's trying to come onto you sexually, and you don't want that, and you are a kid, and you are scared, you do whatever you can to stop it from happening," he said. "And that's what was happening. I was being molested by Corey Haim. Truth be told."
A Pattern of Abuse in a Hypersexualised Environment
The documentary, directed by Marcie Hume, features an interview conducted in late 2017, amid the height of the #MeToo movement. Hume described the moment as "incredibly emotional," noting that Feldman "was almost reliving what that was like to live in this hypersexualized environment as child actors in Hollywood."
Feldman and Haim, who died from pneumonia in 2010 at age 38, were inseparable friends and co-stars during the late 1980s. Following The Lost Boys, where they played Edgar Frog and Sam respectively, they headlined films like License to Drive (1988) and Dream a Little Dream (1989).
This is not the first time Feldman has made serious allegations about abuse in Hollywood. In the documentary, he also references actor Charlie Sheen. Feldman has previously claimed that Haim told him Sheen sexually assaulted Haim when he was 13 on the set of the 1985 film Lucas. A representative for Sheen has vehemently denied these allegations to Variety, calling them "sick, twisted and outlandish" and stating they "never occurred. Period."
The Lasting Impact of a Hollywood Childhood
The new documentary, Corey Feldman vs. The World, is described by iMDb as following Feldman on a "surreal rock tour with lingerie-clad angels, facing disastrous events that compel him to confront Hollywood abuse allegations and personal secrets."
Director Marcie Hume promoted the project on Instagram, calling it "the longest, hardest road on a film that kept going places I never expected." The film promises an unflinching look at the dark side of child stardom.
Feldman's career began in the early 1980s, with a notable role in Rob Reiner's classic Stand by Me in 1986. His latest allegations add to a long history of him speaking out about the predatory behaviour he says is endemic in the entertainment industry, forcing a continued reckoning with the past.
