An interview from 1988 featuring Shirley Temple and Larry King from Larry King Live is currently making the rounds on social media, and the internet was shocked when the late child actress called out pedophilia in Hollywood at the time, which is allegedly still ongoing to date.
She specifically called out MGM Studios for her negative experiences, noting that she preferred Fox. She recalled how her mother— Gertrude Temple, also faced sexual assaults whenever she accompanied her to auditions. The late icon also reiterated her encounters in her autobiography, Child Star.
Shirley Temple called out pedophilia in Hollywood and the perpetrators
Shirley was candid about her experiences with top personnel at MGM studios as a child, recalling how producer Arthur Freed exposed his private part to her at 12. She showed up with her mother to discuss a movie, but the latter was asked to wait with Louis B. Mayer while Shirley was taken into Arthur’s lonely office.
After the meeting, Gertrude took her by the hand as they silently made for the parking lot. Feeling unsafe, Shirley let her mother know what happened minutes before, and to her surprise, Gertrude was equally sexually assaulted in Mayer’s office.
The Hollywood legend’s reactions to her experiences
Per her experience in Arthur’s MGM office, Shirley recalled feeling clueless and shocked about such a brazen display of pedophilia. She then burst into hysterical laughter, which annoyed Arthur so much that he panicked and ordered her to get out.
Long before this experience, Shirley was already a favorite of older depraved men as a 3-year-old, when she starred in Baby Burlesks. The way the men handled her in the movie— gawking at her and making her sit on their lap was quite telling. She was also physically and psychologically under pressure to work—- even as a preschooler, with punishment awaiting whenever she faltered.
