No.Nonsense.

With the recent allegations against actor, Timothy Busfield, we are again shining a spotlight on a silent shame in Hollywood, namely the victimization of children and a culture that protects its offenders.

Let me first say that all are innocent until proven guilty. In the past week, we have had the children say that Busfield did touch them and that he didn’t touch them. We have had him say that he probably tickled them and then say he doesn’t remember them. We’ve had him held without bail then days later released on his own recognizance. Frankly, I don’t know the truth.

What I do know is that his affectation is all wrong. I’ve watched multiple body language experts say that things are just off, leading them to believe that he is not being completely truthful in his denials of the charges.

What I also know is that his wife, actress Melissa Gilbert, decried her own experience of being 15 and having to kiss 23 year old Dean Butler on the set of Little House on the Prairie at the same time she knew her husband was being investigated for these accusations. I don’t expect her to call him out publicly since they are married but don’t post a video of the contents of her refrigerator while he is in the wind for five days after the arrest warrant was issued.

Whether Busfield is ultimately convicted or exonerated in this case, the fact that he has a total of eight accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct over the past 30 years, two of those with underage girls, begs the question of how he was allowed to continue on his rise to fame with the viewing public none the wiser. I posit that it’s because the powers that be would prefer to sweep such allegations under the rug and act as if they don’t exist.

Last year’s docuseries Quiet on the Set delved deep into the sexualized culture on the sets of the various Dan Schneider shows on Nickelodeon. A network designed for kids was rife with sexual innuendo in their shows. From Ariana Grande simulating masturbation with a potato to a joke on Jamie Lynn Spears that looks quite like an ejaculation to the face, Schneider thought it funny to have an underlying sexuality to the gags in his shows. That culture led to a set that housed a dialogue coach who was convicted of molesting child actor Drake Bell and a production assistant (who sadly I knew from his previous life) who is on his second prison sentence for child pornography. He has said publicly that he always knew he was a pedophile, yet he was given a job on a set with children. The victimization of Bell resulted in he, himself, being convicted of statutory rape. The abused became the abuser.

Then there is the director of the X-Men movies, Brian Singer, who had accusations from two different underage boys. Kevin Spacey had multiple accusers. Woody Allen, Michael Jackson, R Kelly, and James Franco faced their own accusations of inappropriate sexual contact with minors. Harvey Weinstein, Danny Masterson, and Bill Cosby all went to prison for raping women after years of “don’t ask, don’t tell” where their reputations were known but they were allowed to skate on through their careers.

What all of this demonstrates is that the moneymaker is given a free pass in the victimization of others as long as the dollars keep rolling in. It is only when their bank runs dry that they are held accountable. This mindset has to stop.

I acknowledge that false allegations exist and there are those who will use such allegations for a big payout. I also know that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it is likely a duck. Hollywood’s continued denial of these claims and blindness to the trauma of these victims is deplorable. There needs to be absolute transparency in every single accusation. Have serious investigations instead of the gloss-overs that do nothing more than give the perception that the industry cares. Take significant steps to protect the children and hold those who would victimize them accountable, to the fullest extent of the law.

Only in publicly calling out the bad actors, pun intended, will we see a change in the culture. Until that change happens, it is incumbent upon us as viewers to vote with our wallets.