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This morning a tape was leaked to TMZ in which Stephen Collins, best known as the pastor and dad on "7th Heaven," admits to molesting three girls. By this afternoon, Collins was banned from networks, dropped from productions and even lost his gig on the SAG-AFTRA board.According to Variety, family channel UP TV announced that they pulled reruns of "7th Heaven" from its programming schedule altogether, because the channel was "deeply concerned for the families that are potentially affected by these disturbing allegations." TV Guide Network said that they're also dropping the remaining "7th Heaven" reruns from its schedule. It's not just the family-friendly crowd that's dropping him. He was also fired from the cast of Seth MacFarlane’s "Ted 2."
Collins, 67, hasn't released a statement, but he has resigned from SAG-AFTRA’s board today.
He is supposed to appear on an upcoming episode of "Scandal" but Buzzfeed says that so far no one from ShondaLand has commented on how the allegations against him would affect the show.
Collins' estranged wife Faye Grant recorded her husband during a therapy session, and the recording is the subject of an NYPD investigation. The couple are going through a prolonged, nasty divorce. The NYPD notes that his is not the first time they've investigated Collins on suspicion of molesting children. The LAPD said they're also taking a look at the case, since Collins mentions in the tape molesting a girl in Los Angeles who was a neighbor. LAPD says they had heard similar allegations before, too:
Just in: #LAPD says it received info in 2012 about Stephen Collins "regarding allegations of criminal behavior." A case was opened. (1/3)
— Kate Mather (@katemather) October 7, 2014
#LAPD says no victim was ever "verified" following 2012 allegations involving Stephen Collins. Case was no longer active. (2/3)
— Kate Mather (@katemather) October 7, 2014
But #LAPD is now reviewing 2012 case involving Stephen Collins "to make sure we didn't miss anything," Officer Nuria Vanegas says. (3/3)
— Kate Mather (@katemather) October 7, 2014
UPDATE 10/8: Scandal has fired him, too. ABC told TMZ that he will no longer be reprising his role as a news anchor. He had appeared on the show for one episode in Season 2 and was scheduled to come back. No more.
