Major Pedophile Scandals of Netflix
/In light of the backlash Netflix has been facing with the announcement and release of Cuties, let’s take a look at the controversy and other scandals surrounding this major streaming service.
Jerry Harris from Cheer
Jerry Harris is a celebrity cheerleader from Netflix’s show Cheer. He’s now under FBI investigation for allegedly soliciting sex from minors. USA Today reported that allegations were “brought by 14-year-old twin brothers,” Charlie and Sam. The family provided texts and Snapchats of Harris requesting naked pictures and videos, suggesting a meetup place where they could “do stuff,” and their mother found a video of Harris masturbating on her son’s phone.
“It was just eating me alive. It was just making me so gross and uncomfortable. Every time I saw his name or something like that, I was just cringing about it.”
The docuseries received six Emmy nominations. Harris has stood on stage with Oprah Winfrey, was interviewed by Ellen DeGeneres, and even did a video with Vice President Joe Biden, fighting for the black vote.
YOU gets a little too real
You, Netflix
You is a top show on Netflix, already greenlit for a third season. It stars Penn Badgley (of former Gossip Girl fame) as a stalker with a fickle heart, who falls dangerously in love. Comedian Chris D’Elia had several Netflix specials under his belt when he joined season 2. Ironically, D’Elia played a celebrity who preyed on underaged girls, which was not lost on his accuser.
Twitter user Simone Rossi accused D’Elia of grooming her when she was 16. Rossi also included screenshots in her feed, and highly doubted his casting was a coincidence. There were other allegations from unverified accounts, stating D’Elia invited them to meet up.
D’Elia denied the accusation and claimed all of his past relationships have been legal and consensual.
He told USA TODAY:
“I know I have said and done things that might have offended people during my career, but I have never knowingly pursued any underage women at any point. I have never met or exchanged any inappropriate photos with the people who have tweeted about me.
That being said, I really am truly sorry. I was a dumb guy who ABSOLUTELY let myself get caught up in my lifestyle. That’s MY fault. I own it. I’ve been reflecting on this for some time now and I promise I will continue to do better.”
He was also accused of exposing himself to actress Megan Drust in 2011.
D’Elia was dropped by his representation, and Netflix replaced him for an upcoming role.
Underwood becomes undone
House of Cards, Netflix
When Netflix began creating original content, House of Cards made Netflix a contender. Kevin Spacey starred as Frank Underwood, an ambitious Democrat politician who schemed his way into the presidency.
During the wave of #MeToo allegations after movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was exposed, Spacey was not spared. In 2017, Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp told Buzzfeed News that when he was 14, Spacey climbed on top of him in a bed and made advances toward him.
The following day, Spacey claimed he did not remember this incident but apologized on Twitter for drunken behavior. Most notably, he used this allegation as a way to come out as gay, sparking outrage from the LBGT community.
More than 20 men came out alleging Spacey engaged in inappropriate behavior, and one young man decided to prosecute him. Spacey’s inappropriate behavior appears to be a dirty well-known secret, or at least suspected. Director Ridley Scott even said he wasn’t surprised by the allegations. Even more bizarre, Spacey decided to post a video channeling the persona of his TV villain.
Netflix quickly decided to drop Spacey and filmed the final season without him, shifting the focus on Robin Wright, who played his wife and eventual president.
The case against Spacey was eventually dropped.
ABC News has a detailed timeline of Spacey’s rise and fall.
Cuties
Cuties, Netflix
When outrage sparked across the internet after Netflix released a trailer and artwork for Cuties, Netflix explained that it was a great film that won an award at the Sundance Film Festival. Since one of the co-founders was convicted for sexual child abuse, that wasn’t a good enough justification.
Many critics in the mainstream media stood up for the film, even going as far to frame those outraged by it as racists and right-wing conspiracy theorists (though disgust was bi-partisan). Actress Tessa Thompson said the film “comments on the hyper-sexualization of preadolescent girls” and she was “disappointed to see the current discourse,” on Twitter.
Those who saw the film agreed that was the intention. However, using preadolescent girls to comment on hyper-sexualization was the issue. The main star is a real-life 11-year-old girl. It wasn’t merely twerking or their grotesque dance moves like crotch-grabbing and humping the floor. It was the girls’ posture, their conversations, and actions taken in the film. They watch a video of a dance crew, and one girl lifts her shirt and a breast is exposed. In one scene, the main character pulls down her panties, takes a picture of her privates, and uploads it.
It’s not unusual to portray children in mature situations, but Hollywood usually ages a character up, casts an older actress, or at least has them exposed as little as possible. There’s no reason this story had to be told with gratuitous crotch shots from minors. Yes, it should have made the viewers uncomfortable, but the director also describes the film as “bold” and “feminist.”
Would you abuse animals in real life to make a point that animal abuse is bad? Of course not, because no one would allow you to do it and it’s immoral. Whatever your feelings are about Cuties, it’s clear that an evil was committed against these girls.
The backlash led to petitions to have the film removed and a tidal wave of cancellations. Several Republican politicians have requested the DOJ investigate Cuties for child pornography, and Democrat Tulsi Gabbard has called Netflix complicit.
Since election day, I have read and heard hot takes from Democrat operatives trying to explain Vice President Harris’s loss to former (and officially future) President Donald J. Trump. So far, I’m convinced Republicans are destined to rack up more wins because Democrats do not get it.