Corey Feldman: "Where Were All These People the Last 10 Years" of Corey Haim's Life?

Late actor's best friend and fellow former child star says he appreciates outpouring of support, but says society should be held accountable

By Natalie Finn Mar 11, 2010 2:35 AMTags

Corey Feldman deeply appreciates the outpouring of sentiment from Hollywood in the wake of his "brother and best friend" Corey Haim's untimely death.

But Haim's longtime pal and fellow child star turned struggling twentysomething turned redemption-seeking thirtysomething remains angry, hurt and sad at the same time.

"Where were all these people the last 10 years," Feldman asked, when Haim was living with his ailing mom in her apartment and too broke to own his own car?

Feldman, in an interview with Larry King Live, said Wednesday that society should be held accountable for the shoddy way Hollywood—and the media— treats its young stars once they're no longer marketable.

"Where were all these people to lend a handout, to reach out to him and say, you're a legend, you're an amazingly talented wonderful person who's never really gone out of his way to hurt anyone, other than himself?" Feldman said pointedly.

"In this entertainment industry, in Hollywood, we build people up as children, we put them on pedestals, and then, when we decide they're not marketable anymore, we walk away from them."

Speaking from personal experience, Feldman said that while he got himself cleaned up after struggling with drugs, his Two Coreys counterpart had a harder time, and by the time he was ready to face life sober again, "there was no one there to pull him up."

As for Haim's history of substance abuse, which Feldman admitted is "long and detailed," the Stand by Me star said that, first and foremost, he wants people to stop jumping to conclusions.

"At the end of the day, until the coroner's report comes out, until we have specific evidence, until we know exactly what the toxicology reports say,  nobody knows and nobody's going to know" what caused his friend's death, Feldman said.

He said that he talked to Haim three or four days ago and that things were on an upswing. The two had attended a Super Bowl party at the Playboy Mansion and Haim had been dating VH1 star Daisy de la Hoya.

"He was actually giving me some advice about something that I was upset about," Feldman said, recalling their final conversation. "He was being very positive...Recently, he's been in the best frame of mind that he's ever been."

And just in the last two weeks, Feldman said, Haim had started seeing a treatment specialist.

He wouldn't reveal what sort of medical regimen the specialist had put Haim on, only saying it's possible that the new drugs "might not have corresponded properly with the medications he was currently taking."

The pair of them had recently been negotiating the idea to make their first movie together in nine years, a sequel to License to Drive called License to Fly, Feldman said.

He said funeral plans haven't been made yet but that he and Haim's family "want to plan a sizable memorial. I would like to see Hollywood pay their respects."

"Hopefully he's going to be remembered as a beautiful, funny, enigmatic character who brought nothing but life and lights and entertainment and art to all of our lives."

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Check out some of Corey Haim's career highlights in our tribute gallery.