Dissecting Corey Feldman’s “My Truth: The Rape of 2 Coreys.” Part I: The Documentary making it easier to understand!

Personal Note: Like most kids in the late 80s and early 90s, I grew up watching Corey Feldman and Corey Haim on the big screen. From License to Drive to The Lost boys, the “Two Corey’s” were LIFE! In fact, Corey Haim was my first pre-pubescent idol and I was absolutely crushed when he died in 2010. Due to the way I grew up (foster care, long story), I could also relate to Feldman as he struggled to navigate his friendship with Haim—who was engaged in a perpetual downward spiral—while also trying to overcome his own abuse issues. That said, I don’t think that I am alone in feeling a little personally invested in this particular controversy. The story of the Two Coreys is complicated with far too many layers to unwrap in one post and it’s still unfolding. So I’ve decided to break it up into one blog entry in hopes that I can somewhat do it justice. So please bear with me on this. #RIPCoreyHaim #JusticeForCorey #Kids2 March 9, 2020. Corey Feldman released his much-anticipated documentary My Truth: The Rape of 2 Coreys. The screening was set to take place on the eve of the death of his longtime friend and fellow 80s teen heartthrob, Corey Haim. Feldman began crowdsourcing for the documentary in 2017, promising to drop bombshells about major industry players and expose the truth about a pedophile ring that plagues Hollywood and preyed on Feldman and Haim as child actors. Feldman previously revealed he was sexually abused as a child star in his autobiography, Coreyography. Feldman stopped short of identifying his abusers in the book and says the decision to not do so was made by his management team and lawyers. According to Feldman–since the statute of limitations had passed—it would be him, not his abusers, that would end up with legal issues if he had “named names.” In the documentary, he promised to name at six. The Screening Fiasco The worldwide pay-per-view live stream was to take place simultaneously with a private screening at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in LA. A subsequent Q&A session was to follow. Curious at-home viewers paid $20 for e-tickets to the documentary hosted on Corey’s website, mytruth.com. The screening was scheduled to begin at 11:00 pm EST, but by 11:15 it still hadn’t started. The site crashed. At-home viewers were left receiving a myriad of error messages and loading issues. Both the DGA & home screenings were delayed an additional 15 minutes as the team tried to fix the issues. Unable to get the site back up, Feldman and co. elected to continue with the DGA screening. After 15 minutes, Feldman called for the lights and stopped the screening. Addressing the frustrated crowd, Feldman announced that hackers were attacking the website, again trying to silence him. For the record, it’s more likely the server was overwhelmed and crashed. Something Feldman now claims that his team is investigating. An hour passed. Many at-home viewers were feeling that they’d been scammed and took to social media to vent their frustrations. They questioned why, if it had indeed been hackers, was the DGA screening also delayed and why someone at the DGA screening couldn’t just stream the documentary from their phone or why Feldman and co. didn’t just livestream the doc on Facebook Live or Twitter. Feldman’s initial response was to cancel the DGA screening and subsequent Q&A. He didn’t want to go forward with the private screening since paying viewers wouldn’t be able to see it. Eventually, on the suggestion of Roseanna Arquette, Feldman decided to continue the DGA screening of the film and “finish what they started.” Critics accused Feldman of staging the whole incident as a publicity stunt. Feldman responded via Twitter to these allegations: There was a lot of confusion as to whether the film would ever actually be streamed to the public. Adding insult to injury, a disclaimer on Feldman’s website essentially stated that there were no guarantees that the film would be streamed and released Feldman and the production company of all liability. There would also be no refunds. Home viewers accused Feldman of ripping them off, with many arguing that the whole documentary was nothing but a cash-grab and an elaborate hoax. Feldman took to Twitter to again promise that he would find a way to get the documentary to those who had paid to see it. The documentary was finally made available for live streaming the following day with a limited number of viewing times. The first “final screening” took place on March 11th. Feldman apologized for the premier fiasco, stating that he would try to find a way to get the film to those who bought tickets, but were not able to view it in time. Feldman insisted that he was “in talks” with streaming services to find a way to get the documentary out there and that he was waiting to hear from his legal team to see if they would be allowed to stream the documentary again. The Documentary The film opened with an audio recording of the heartbreaking frantic 911 call made by Corey Haim’s mother, Judy Haim, after Corey collapsed in their North Hollywood apartment. Corey Haim later died of pneumonia. The film went on to outline the close and at times contentious lifelong friendship between Haim and Feldman before moving on to accusations against the men who allegedly abused them. Interviews of Feldman’s ex-wife Susie Feldman, Jamison Newlander (Frog from The Lost Boys and close friend of the two Coreys), and others were included to support Feldman’s claims. The film’s bombshell revelation was the graphic story an alleged encounter between Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen that took place on the set of the 1986 film, Lucas. Feldman claims that Haim confided in him (and others) that Sheen raped Haim behind two trailers on set. The incident allegedly took place in broad daylight, with the trailers blocking the two actors from view of others on set. Corey Haim’s mother—with whom he lived in the years leading up to his death—was not interviewed for the documentary. She is instead presented as a secondary antagonist of the lives of both Coreys. For Haim, Feldman alleges Judy ignored Haim’s sexual abuse and failed to defend or protect him. For himself, Feldman alleges Judy is the “queen” of the “Wolfpack,” an alleged group of stalkers dedicated to silencing Feldman through propaganda and intimidation. Feldman had previously accused the Wolfpack of being the orchestrators of his alleged stabbing by a stranger in 2018. The documentary is framed as a call to action a-la the #metoo movement. Feldman is positioned as the silence breaker, the first to speak out about the open secret of rampant pedophilia in Hollywood, #Kids2. To show that the issue continues to this day, Ricky Garcia – star of Netflix’s Alexa & Katie and Nickelodean’s Best Friends Whenever—discusses his experiences of being sexually abused by his long-time manager, Jobby Harte. At the end of the documentary, Feldman places the blame for what happened to him, Haim, and other child performers who were sexually abused on the publicists, managers, and other people who are with child actors on a daily basis “stating it’s time to stop looking the other way.” Spoilers, Named Names, & False Info On the completion of the DGA screening, reporters took to social media to give their impression of the film… and in the case of LA times reporter, Amy Kaufman, immediately spilling the details in a series of tweets. Kaufman’s spoiler was subsequently followed by the spread of false information by others on social media regarding the identities of the remaining 5 people Feldman promised to name. There were even reports that Feldman accused legendary director Stephen Spielberg and everybody’s favorite TV dad and raunchy stand-up comic, Bob Saget of pedophilia, neither of whom were mentioned in the documentary. The people who were named by Feldman include: Marty Weiss – Feldman’s Former Manager Jon Grissom – Feldman’s Former Personal Assistant and convicted sex offender Alphy Hoffman – Owner of the Soda Pop Club, a popular hangout place for kids in the 80s Dominick Brascia – A former child actor and friend of Feldman and Haim Bobby Hoffman – A former casting director and father of Alphy Hoffman Feldman previously named Weiss, Grissom, and Hoffman as the perpetrators behind his childhood abuse in multiple interviews prior to and after the release of Coreyography in 2013. The allegations against Charlie Sheen first surfaced in 2017 when Dominick Brascia released details of the alleged rape in an interview with the National Inquirer. The revelation created a huge controversy that pitted Feldman and Brascia against Sheen and Judy Haim, both of whom denied the accusations. The combo of technical issues at the premiere along with Feldman charging people to reveal information that was already known to the public generated a mixed reception to the documentary. While most people were congratulating Feldman for his bravery and thanking him for shedding light on the issue of pedophilia in Hollywood, others criticized him for not providing any new information and failing to deliver the “big Hollywood names” that were so powerful they made Feldman “fear for his safety.”

Bryan G - more to come