7th Heaven Cast Address Stephen Collins’ Sexual Abuse on Podcast

The cast of 7th Heaven are speaking out against their former TV dad, Stephen Collins.

Ahead of dissecting the pilot of the hit WB/CW drama, Beverley Mitchell, David Gallagher and Mackenzie Rosman prefaced a new episode of their podcast, Catching Up with the Camdens, with a note about Collins, who, in 2014, admitted to sexually abusing three minors.

“Before we get into this episode, we want you to know that we see all of your comments and we know how excited you all are for the rewatch, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” said Mitchell, who played Lucy Camden, at the start of the episode. “But before we get into that, we do think it’s important that we say something about Stephen Collins.”

“All forms of abuse, sexual abuse of any kind, it’s inexcusable. And victims of abuse need to be shown compassion and they should be given support,” added Gallagher, who played Simon Camden.

Related: ‘7th Heaven’ Cast Through the Years: Where Are They Now?

The cast of 7th Heaven has come a long way since the series ended in 2007 after 11 seasons. The WB drama ran from August 1996 to May 2007, with the later seasons airing on The CW. Stephen Collins and Catherine Hicks starred as reverend Eric Camden and his wife, Annie, respectively. Barry Watson (Matt), […]

Rosman, best known for playing Ruthie Camden, said, “As we rewatch these episodes, it would be impossible not to talk about Stephen because he was such a big part of the show and our lives. But we want to be clear, we did not have any inappropriate experiences with Stephen.”

Mitchell assured fans that Collins, 76, “will not be joining us on this podcast.”

“We do not excuse or condone his behavior,” Mitchell added. “Our hope for this podcast is to reconnect with you, our fans, to relive some ‘90s nostalgia and share our fondest memories of 7th Heaven.”

Collins played family patriarch Reverend Eric Camden on 7th Heaven, which ran for 11 seasons from 1996 to 2007. The drama follows the lives of Collins’ character, his wife Annie, and their children. The ensemble cast also included Jessica Biel, Barry Watson and Catherine Hicks.

In December 2014, Collins admitted to sexually abusing three underage girls after TMZ published an audio recording of him revealing his transgressions in a marriage counseling session with his ex-wife, Faye Grant. He said the three incidents took place between 1973 and 1994.

Related: Hollywood’s Sexual Misconduct Scandals

While Hollywood may appear to be all glitz and glam on the surface, the industry has seen its fair share of scandals through the years. The New York Times and the New Yorker first published investigative pieces in 2017 that accused disgruntled movie producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual assault and harassment. Soon after, Weinstein stood trial and was […]

“I’m a flawed person,” Collins said in an interview with Katie Couric at the time. “In the church, it’s actually one of the things I love about the church … it’s really one of the main things about the Christian faith, is you know, Christ said in so many ways, ‘Bring me that… which about you is broken, bring it,’ and most people are broken in some way.”

He continued: “Most people get to, or have to, or choose to hide it. This came out. I didn’t choose this to come out. I didn’t want to have to deal with these things publicly … I had dealt with them very, very strongly, and committedly, in my private life, but I think, I’m a human being with flaws and I’ve done everything I can to address it.”