The cast of Seventh heaven are speaking out against their former television father, Esteban Collins.
Before we analyze the pilot of the hit WB/CW drama, Beverley Mitchell, David Gallagher and Mackenzie Rosman preface to new episode from his podcast, Catching up with the Camdenswith a note about Collins, who in 2014 admitted to sexually abusing three minors.
“Before we get into this episode, we want you to know that we’ve read all of your comments and we know how excited you are to see him again, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Mitchell, who played Lucy Camden, said at the beginning of the episode. “But before we get into that, we think it’s important to say something about Stephen Collins.”
“All forms of abuse, sexual abuse of any kind, are inexcusable. And victims of abuse need to be shown compassion and support,” added Gallagher, who played Simon Camden.
Rosman, best known for playing Ruthie Camden, said: “Watching these episodes again, it would be impossible not to talk about Stephen because he was such a big part of the show and our lives. But we want to be clear: we did not have any inappropriate experiences with Stephen.”
Mitchell assured fans that Collins, 76, “will not be joining us on this podcast.”
“We do not excuse or condone his behavior,” Mitchell added. “Our hope with this podcast is to reconnect with you, our fans, to relive some 90s nostalgia and share our fondest memories of Seventh heaven.”
Collins played the family patriarch, Reverend Eric Camden, in Seventh heavenwhich ran for 11 seasons from 1996 to 2007. The drama follows the lives of Collins' character, his wife Annie, and their children. The cast also included Jessica Biel, Barry Watson and Catherine Hicks.
Stephen Collins, Catherine Hicks, Beverley Mitchell, Barry Watson, David Gallagher, Jessica Biel and Mackenzie Rosman.
DB/Warner Bros. movie imagesIn December 2014, Collins admitted to sexually abusing three underage girls after TMZ published an audio recording of him revealing his transgressions in a marriage counseling session with his ex-wife, Faye Grant. He said the three incidents occurred between 1973 and 1994.
While Hollywood may seem all glitz and glamour on the surface, the industry has seen its fair share of scandals over the years. The New York Times and The New Yorker first published investigative articles in 2017 accusing disgruntled film producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual assault and harassment. Shortly after, Weinstein stood trial and was convicted of sexual crimes. […]
“I'm a flawed person,” Collins said in an interview with Katie Couric At that point. “In the church, it’s actually one of the things I love about the church… it’s really one of the core things about the Christian faith, you know, Christ said in many ways, ‘Bring to Me that… that’s broken in you, bring it to Me,’ and most people are broken in some way.”
She continued: “Most people have the opportunity, the obligation or the choice to hide it. This came out. I didn’t choose for this to come out. I didn’t want to have to deal with these things publicly… I had dealt with them very, very strongly and with commitment in my private life, but I think I’m a flawed human being and I’ve done my best to deal with it.”