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Lot of vipers: Elijah Wood talks about child abuse in Hollywood, later clarifies comments

Wood said he avoided that underbelly, thanks to his mother.

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Actor Elijah Wood, who began his career in Hollywood at the age of eight, has claimed that a Jimmy Savile-style paedophile ring is strong in Hollywood. Wood has opened up in an interview to the Sunday Times that Hollywood has been gripped by child sexual abuse cases similar to the Jimmy Savile scandal in the UK.

"You all grew up with Savile - Jesus, it must have been devastating," said the 35-year-old actor. "Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organized. 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," the "The Lord of the Rings" star said.

Wood said 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. 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," Wood said that "these things probably still are happening." "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. 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."  

A day later, however, Wood sought to clarify his comments.

"The Sunday Times interviewed me about my latest film, but the story became about something else entirely. It prompted a number of false and misleading headlines. I had just seen a powerful documentary and I briefly spoke with the reporter about the subject, which had consequences I did not intend or expect. Lesson learned," Wood said.

The actor went to say that he had clarified the writer of not having any first hand experience of abuse in his career in the industry. "Let me be clear: This subject of child abuse is an important one that should be discussed and properly investigated." 

"But as I made absolutely clear to the writer, I have no firsthand experience or observation of the topic, so I cannot speak with any authority beyond articles I have read and films I have seen," he added.

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