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2 months ago
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The 7th Heaven cast is tackling the tough issues head-on while diving into their ’90s family drama series.
As stars Beverley Mitchell, David Gallagher and Mackenzie Rosman launched their rewatch podcast Catching Up with the Camdens this week, they prefaced the pilot episode with a disclaimer about their TV dad Stephen Collins‘ 2014 admission to sexual abuse of 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. “But before we get into that we do think it’s important that we say something about Stephen Collins.”
Gallagher added, “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.”
Rosman continued, “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 that we did not have any inappropriate experiences with Stephen.”
“Stephen will not be joining us on this podcast and we do not excuse or condone his behavior,” Mitchell assured listeners. “Our hope for this podcast is to reconnect with you, our fans, to relive some 90s nostalgia and to share our fondest memories of 7th Heaven.”
Gallagher concluded, “We know this is difficult and we understand that it can be triggering but we just want to say that we love you guys and we are so grateful for all the love and support that you, our community, have shown to us. So, hopefully you guys will stick with us as we continue on this journey.”
In October 2014, TMZ posted an audio recording that appeared to be Collins confessing to sexual conduct with multiple minors. That December, he admitted in a statement to People that he sexually assaulted three underaged girls, although he was never charged.
7th Heaven ran for 11 seasons from 1996 to 2007 on The WB and The CW, following Reverend Eric Camden (Collins), his wife Annie (Catherine Hicks) and their children Matt (Barry Watson), Mary (Jessica Biel), Lucy (Mitchell), Simon (Gallagher) and Ruthie (Rosman).
