The 'Lord of the Rings' actor, who began his career in Hollywood at the age of 8, says a Jimmy Savile-style paedophile ring is operating in Hollywood.
- May 23, 2016
AceShowbiz - Elijah Wood opens up in an interview with The Sunday Times that Hollywood has been gripped by child sexual abuse cases similar to the Jimmy Savile scandal in the U.K. "You all grew up with Savile - Jesus, it must have been devastating," says the 35-year-old actor.
"Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organized," the star of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" continues, "There are a lot of vipers in this industry, people who only have their own interests in mind. There is darkness in the underbelly - if you can imagine it, it's probably happened."
Elijah, who began his career in Hollywood at the age of 8, tells the Times he avoided that underbelly, thanks to his mother who was "far more concerned with raising me to be a good human than facilitating my career."
"I never went to parties where that kind of thing was going on. This bizarre industry presents so many paths to temptation," he explains, "If you don't have some kind of foundation, typically from family, then it will be difficult to deal with."
Asked if he thinks sex crimes are "still a problem for Hollywood," Elijah admits that "these things probably still are happening." He shares, "From my reading and research, I've been led down dark paths to realize that these things probably are still happening. 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," he adds. "There's the tragedy of attempting to reveal what is happening to innocent people. They can be squashed, but their lives have been irreparably damaged."
