Everything to Know About Corey Feldman and Corey Haim: '80s Heartthrobs at Center of Hollywood Abuse Allegations

Former child star Corey Feldman has spent much of his adult life speaking out about the sexual abuse that he and friend Corey Haim faced in Hollywood

Child actors Corey Feldman and Corey Haim remain linked years after Haim's death in 2010.

Haim, who died from pneumonia at the age of 38, got his start in show business at a young age, appearing in his first commercial when he was 10.

"I wanted to play professional hockey, man," the Canadian actor told PEOPLE in 1988. "But when I acted, I thought, 'Well, okay, maybe I do have something here.' "

After becoming a regular on the Canadian kids' show The Edison Twins, he kept landing roles and got his big-screen start in the 1984 drama Firstborn in a minor role opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr.

corey-feldman-c
Vestron Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Haim spent much of the '80s alongside Johnny Depp, Kirk Cameron and other heartthrobs, and also went on to develop a lasting friendship with Feldman, a fellow child star.

The actors became known as "The Two Coreys" after they appeared together in 1987's The Lost Boys. The pair would go on to star in License to Drive (1988) and Dream a Little Dream (1989), as well as several direct-to-video films, including a 2008 Lost Boys sequel.

Years later, they signed on for the reality show The Two Coreys, which also detailed their battles with drug addiction and ran from 2007-2008.

Corey Feldman, Corey Haim
Frazer Harrison/Getty

Much like his friend, Feldman started acting as a young child. He made his first-ever television appearance at the age of 3 and acted in over 100 commercials.

"I was basically a slave child," Feldman told PEOPLE in 2016. "I started working at 3 years old, and it wasn't my choice."

Throughout the 1980s, Feldman appeared in several hits, including Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Gremlins, The Goonies, Stand By Me and the three films he starred in alongside Haim.

Corey Haim and Corey Feldman
Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage

In his 2013 memoir, Coreyography, Feldman alleged that he was molested by men in the entertainment industry for years. Although the Los Angeles Police Department looked into the claims after Feldman filed them in 2017, the case was dropped due to the expired statute of limitations.

In the book, Feldman also alleged that Haim had been sexually abused as a child.

"There are people that did this to me and Corey that are still working, they're still out there and they're some of the most rich and powerful people in this business. And they do not want what I'm saying right now. They want me dead," he told The View at the time while promoting the book.

Years later, Feldman said that he was not naming names so as not to cause more pain for Haim's mother.

"It has been very difficult for me to stay quiet," Feldman previously told PEOPLE. "I pray everyday before I go to bed and I ask God to give me the strength to deal with all of this. Those names will come out eventually."

corey-feldman
Janet Gough/AFF-USA.COM

In the wake of child allegations made against his friend Michael Jackson in Leaving Neverland (2019), Feldman said that he can no longer defend the late singer.

"I don't want to be perceived as I'm here to defend Michael Jackson, because I can no longer do that. I can not in good consciousness defend anyone who's being accused of such horrendous things," he said during an appearance on CNN's Headline News in March 2019. "But at the same time, I'm also not here to judge him, because again, he did not do those things to me and that was not my experience."

Feldman also insisted that "absolutely nothing inappropriate ever happened" between him and Jackson.

"I want to be very clear. I stand for any and all victims of sexual abuse or assault," he said in a statement provided to CNN. "As a survivor and someone who has been fighting for this to become a focal topic of our society for decades and is fighting diligently to abolish the statutes of limitations across the country, I applaud all victims for letting their voices be heard and I encourage the public debate to continue."

In fact, Feldman marked the 10th anniversary of Haim's death by premiering a documentary, My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys, detailing the alleged abuse that Feldman and Haim faced while growing up in Hollywood.

Perhaps the documentary's most shocking allegation is that Feldman alleges that his friend told him that Charlie Sheen raped Haim on the set of the 1986 film Lucas. At the time Sheen was 19 and Haim was 13.

According to Entertainment Weekly, several others featured in the documentary claimed that Haim had also told them of the alleged sexual abuse, including Feldman's ex-wife Susannah Sprague, with whom he shares son Zen.

"These sick, twisted and outlandish allegations never occurred. Period," Sheen's publicist told PEOPLE in a statement. "I would urge everyone to consider the source and read what his mother Judy Haim has to say."

Sheen previously denied the claim after a 2017 report was published in The National Enquirer, in which actor Dominick Brascia made a similar allegation. Brascia died at 61 in 2018.

During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Haim's mother alleged that it was Brascia and not Sheen who sexually abused her son. She also said Haim referred to the alleged abuse on his reality show The Two Coreys, which chronicled his life with Feldman.

Brascia — who Feldman also accused of abusing Haim in the documentary — previously denied the allegation.

Corey Feldman, Charlie Sheen, Corey Haim
Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty; Joey Foley/FilmMagic

Though Feldman spent much of his adult life advocating for victims of sexual assault, in June 2020 Feldman voluntarily stepped down from the SAG-AFTRA Sexual Harassment Committee after several claims of abuse from former members of his band, Corey's Angeles, accused Feldman of sexual harassment.

In a statement, Feldman said, "As a victim myself of sexual predators and an avid spokesperson on behalf of victims everywhere, I welcome an investigation. Beyond that, I don't care to dignify the alleged claims of women who have been stalking me and harassing me endlessly for some time, for which I have contacted police."

Related Articles