News spread with the fury of social media Tuesday that Collins, best known for his work on the wholesome “7th Heaven,” previously admitted to molesting three girls.
His “Ted 2” gig evaporated. Up TV yanked “7th Heaven” episodes from the network.
Sexual predators leave a devastating wake of broken childhoods, and the entertainment industry’s initial reaction appears more than justified.
That isn’t always the case.
Consider Paula Deen, the Food Network doyenne whose career crumbled after we learned she had used the “n-word” decades earlier. We don’t know if she said the offensive word to someone directly, and Deen indicated it’s not a word she uses anymore.
Her empire collapsed all the same.
No one can rightfully defend using that word today, particularly when aimed at someone of color. But in the realm of personal offenses Deen’s actions hardly warranted the wholesale destruction of her livelihood.
Meanwhile, Hollywood stars can’t get enough of director Roman Polanski, the auteur who admitted to drugging and raping a pre-teen girl in 1977 but fled the country rather than face an appropriate punishment.
Let’s applaud those who swiftly punished Collins for his horrific confession, but let’s also keep in mind how the industry’s outrage meter doesn’t always work smoothly, or fairly.
Will Whoopi Goldberg come out and say “It’s not molest, molesting?”