seventh Heaven Forged Handle Stephen Collins’ Sexual Abuse Forward of Collection Rewatch Podcast

Beverley Mitchell, David Gallagher, and Mackenzie Rosman — who performed, Lucy, Simon and Ruthie Camden, respectively, on the beloved WB collection — teamed up in July to launch Catching up With the Camdens, a rewatch podcast for the ’90s TV drama.

Forward of the present’s premiere this week to assessment the pilot, the three addressed the elephant within the room: the presence of Stephen Collins, — who performed the household patriarch, Reverend Eric Camden — and confessed in 2014 to the prior sexual abuse of three underage women.

“Earlier than we get into this episode,” Mitchell started, “we would like you to know that we see your entire feedback, and we all know how excited you all are for the rewatch… however earlier than we get into that, we do assume it is vital that we are saying one thing about Stephen Collins.”

“All types of abuse, sexual abuse of any type — it is inexcusable. Victims of abuse should be proven compassion, and they need to be given help,” Gallagher added.

“As we rewatch these episodes,” Rosman defined, “it will be not possible to not discuss Stephen, as a result of he was such an enormous a part of the present and our lives. However we wish to be clear that we didn’t have any inappropriate experiences with Stephen.”

Collins’ crimes in opposition to youngsters first got here to mild in 2012, after TMZ launched an audio clip from a remedy session involving Collins and his soon-to-be ex-wife, actress Faye Grant, which heard Collins confess to molesting an 11-year-old relative of his first spouse, Marjorie Weinman.

An investigation into Collins’ conduct was launched by the Manhattan Particular Victims Squad, and in December 2014, Collins shared particulars of three separate incidents by which he molested underage women with PEOPLE.

“Forty years in the past, I did one thing terribly flawed that I deeply remorse,” Collins mentioned in his 2014 assertion. He confessed to molesting three totally different minors in 1973, 1982, and 1994. “I’ve not had an impulse to behave out in any such manner” because the final assault, he mentioned, and had “been working to atone for it ever since.”

After Collins’ confession, reruns of seventh Heaven have been pulled from syndication, Collins resigned from his spot on the SAG-AFTRA board, and was dropped from his expertise company.

“Stephen won’t be becoming a member of us on this podcast,” Mitchell made clear to listeners, “and we don’t excuse or condone his conduct. Our hope for this podcast is to reconnect with you, our followers, to relive some ’90s nostalgia, and to share our fondest recollections of seventh Heaven.”

In closing, Gallagher shared, “We all know that that is tough, and we perceive that it may be triggering. However we simply wish to say that we love you guys, and we’re so grateful for all of the love and help that you simply, our neighborhood, have proven to us … Hopefully, you guys will stick to us as we proceed on this journey.”

seventh Heaven adopted the lives of the Camden clan, a household of 9 dwelling in fictional Glen Oak, California helmed by the reverend and his on-screen spouse Annie, performed by Catherine Hicks. The collection additionally starred Jessica Biel, Ashlee Simpson, Tyler Hoechlin, and Haylie Duff.