Fifteen minutes into Monday night’s premiere of Corey Feldman’s long-awaited documentary, (My) Truth: The Rape of 2 Coreys, the 48-year-old former child actor suddenly came sprinting down the aisle of the theater where the screening was being held. Flanked by four security guards, Feldman asked for the house lights to be turned on, and grabbed a microphone to address the crowd. There was a problem.
The documentary was supposed to have been made available for worldwide streaming at the same time as its Hollywood premiere, but Feldman had received word that the film’s website, MyTruthDoc.com, was down. He was concerned about “leaks” and didn’t want to continue with the screening if people at home were not watching along in real-time.
“You’re seeing it for yourself how people don’t want this to happen,” he declared, insinuating that something sinister was afoot.
In the ensuing confusion, there were shouts from the crowd of an “attack” on the website, and someone near the front of the stage suggested people were “hacking it in real time,” though it was unclear whether the site was actually hacked or just experiencing technical difficulties. After some tense discussion with his team — and an assist from a famous friend in the audience — Feldman decided the screening would continue.
“Some vicious people have tried to turn the tables on me,” he said, apologizing for the interruption. “But Rosanna Arquette said we should continue the film, so let’s do it. Let’s finish what we started.”
A film that Feldman has been teasing for the better part of three years, (My) Truth finally arrives this week, chronicling the actor’s long journey to bring awareness to the plight of child actors who, he claims, suffer abuse at the hands of the entertainment industry. It is also, Feldman explained at the premiere, a chance to honor a promise he made to his former co-star and late best friend, Corey Haim, to “tell his story.”
What that means, at least according to Feldman, is to reveal the names of the men who, he alleges, abused the two best friends-turned-surrogate brothers as they grew up in the glare of the Hollywood spotlight in the late Eighties and early Nineties.
The documentary begins where Haim’s story came to an unfortunate end, with an audio recording of the 911 call Haim’s mother made after finding her son unresponsive in their Los Angeles home in 2010 (the release of My Truth comes on the 10th anniversary of Haim’s death). The actor, 38, was pronounced dead a few hours later, with the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office ruling his death due to pneumonia, debunking initial reports that Haim may have overdosed.
From there, the film explores the friendship between the “two Coreys” as they were commonly known, alternating between their successful career as child actors, and a contentious relationship that developed when Haim alluded to Feldman knowing about prior abuse the former had suffered as a child, without doing anything about it. That conversation was recorded as part of an episode of The Two Coreys, a reality show that aired for two seasons on A&E before Haim’s passing.
Feldman has long spoken about the abuse he claims that he and Haim suffered during their time as child actors. In an interview with Rolling Stone last year, the actor spoke out against two “industry men” who allegedly molested him at the age of 14, and revealed that a famous actor allegedly raped Haim, though Feldman stopped short of naming names.
In the new documentary, however, Feldman breaks his silence. In a scene that drew gasps from the audience at the premiere, Feldman names Charlie Sheen as Haim’s alleged rapist, with a detailed account that includes references to Crisco as lube, and two trailers that Feldman says hid the sex act from public view. The alleged assault happened, Feldman claims, on the set of Lucas, a coming-of-age film that cast Sheen’s “Cappie” as a protector of sorts for Haim’s titular character. The film — which also starred Winona Ryder and Courtney Thorne-Smith, among others — was released in 1986. Haim was 13 at the time of the alleged incident.
It’s unclear if the potential legal ramifications, which had dissuaded Feldman from speaking out previously, have been addressed, or if the actor is simply ready to speak — despite the consequences. Feldman doesn’t mention Sheen’s name again beyond the reveal, and Sheen is not interviewed nor given a statement in the film, though when The National Enquirer published the allegations in 2017, Sheen categorically denied the claims. Hours after the premiere, Sheen spoke out publicly: “These sick, twisted and outlandish allegations never occurred. Period,” Sheen’s spokesperson told The Wrap. “I would urge everyone to consider the source and read what his mother Judy Haim has to say.” (A representative for Sheen did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for additional comment.)
The allegations against Sheen, however, are supported in the documentary by Feldman’s ex-wife, Susie Sprague (who appeared in The Two Coreys), and Jamison Newlander, an actor who grew close to Feldman and Haim after co-starring with them in the 1987’s The Lost Boys. Both say Haim had revealed the alleged rape to them, and suggest that it was common knowledge in Hollywood circles but ultimately ignored.
Feldman had previously identified three other alleged abusers from his youth, calling out his former manager, Marty Weiss, for inappropriate behavior, along with Alphy Hoffman, the proprietor of the eponymous Alphy’s Soda Pop Club, a sort-of Soho House for kids that was popular in the late 1980s. In an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Feldman also accused his former assistant John Grissom of sexually molesting him. Grissom also worked as an actor for a short time, appearing in the 1988 film, License to Drive and 1989’s Dream a Little Dream with Feldman and Haim. All three men are mentioned again in the film, along with Dominick Brascia, a bit-actor that befriended Haim and Feldman in the Eighties.
Neither Grissom nor Hoffman have commented on the allegations, nor were they interviewed for (My) Truth. Weiss, meantime, has been actively defending himself on Twitter, accusing Feldman of changing his tune, while also disclosing that he was a victim of CSA (Child Sexual Abuse) himself.
Brascia isn’t interviewed in the film either, though a clip is shown of a Dr. Oz interview where Judy Haim identifies the actor as her son’s rapist, and not Sheen. In the film, Feldman claims that she has been part of a calculated movement to bury both the truth about Sheen’s involvement, and Feldman’s efforts to expose other abusers. In one particularly dramatic scene from the documentary, Feldman accuses Judy Haim of not defending and protecting her own son. “It’s your responsibility, Judy Haim, and not anyone else’s,” Feldman shouts, body visibly tensing, “so stop putting the blame on me!”
Judy Haim does not appear in (My) Truth, and it’s not clear if she was asked for comment. The two have publicly battled for years; Judy Haim has repeatedly called for Feldman to stop telling these “lies” and has accused him of creating the story to further his own career.
Feldman’s long-held belief that Judy Haim is out to tarnish his reputation — and potentially threaten his life — is one of the more puzzling aspects of the film. Together with the film’s director, Brian Herzlinger (who also appears in the doc), Feldman details the antagonism between his fans, who he affectionately refers to as his “FeldFam,” and a group of detractors dubbed the “Wolfpack.” Feldman refers to Judy Haim as the “queen” of the Wolfpack, and accuses her of actively fueling efforts to silence him though intimidation tactics and an online propaganda campaign. It’s a theory he’s shared before, though the film suggests that the Wolfpack’s attempts to steamroll Feldman are actually hurting victims of child sex abuse, and preventing other victims from speaking up.
(My) Truth positions Feldman as a whistleblower of sorts, drawing comparisons between Feldman’s activism to the voices that brought down Jerry Sandusky, Larry Nasser, and even Jeffrey Epstein. Though Harvey Weinstein’s name is not mentioned explicitly, the director, Herzlinger, casts the film under the guise of the #MeToo movement, suggesting that recent events have made it easier to finally bring Feldman’s allegations to light. The hashtag they’re using: #Kids2.
In an interview toward the end of the documentary, Feldman calls out the studio system for not providing a safe environment for minors. “They’re liable for what happened [to Haim],” he says. Still, he insists, “I’m not outing a bunch of executives. It’s not the executives [that are the problem],” placing the blame instead on “the little guys… like publicists, managers, parents” and other people who are with child actors on a daily basis. “It’s time for them to stop looking the other way.”
It’s unclear as to what impact (My) Truth will have on Hollywood, and its handling of child actors. In one scene, Feldman tells the camera that he has just met with SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris, and asked her to revoke Sheen’s actor card. Her response, Feldman paraphrases, is that more people need to come forward with allegations so it can be proven in court. The interaction convinces Feldman to work with lawmakers on legislation to extend the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual assault. A montage in the film later credits Feldman’s lobbying for helping to move many of these bills forward (his home state of California signed a new law last fall that would give victims of childhood sexual abuse until age 40, or five years from discovery of the abuse, to file civil lawsuits).
Introducing the film Monday, Feldman said his goal was not to make the moment about himself, but rather to use his platform to speak for the voiceless — Haim included.
“The most important topics are the ones you hear about the least,” he said. “When you don’t hear about it, is when you should worry.”
Some will question whether the story of Haim’s alleged rape is appropriate for Feldman to tell, given a grieving mother’s vehement opposition to the film and the fact that we’ve never actually heard Haim comment on the allegations himself. While Feldman insists that his friend wanted this to come to light, it’s ultimately hard to know who said what when one of the parties involved is deceased. But after years of vowing to speak the truth, it seems the actor is finally relishing in its release.
“I didn’t want to do this [film],” Feldman told the crowd at the glitzy premiere. “But this is the shindig of a lifetime. This has literally been a lifetime in the making.”
Update: This story has been updated to include additional comment from Sheen.
