Elijah Wood on child abuse in Hollywood: 'There are a lot of vipers in this industry'

"The Lord of the Rings" star Elijah Wood has spoken out about the issue of child abuse prevalent in Hollywood, citing the Jimmy Savile scandal. The long-time entertainer faced hundreds of sexual abuse allegations following his death.

"You all grew up with Savile – Jesus, it must have been devastating," the 35-year-old actor, who started his career in Hollywood at the age of 8, told Sunday Times. "Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organised. There are a lot of vipers in this industry, people who only have their own interests in mind." (via People)

Wood added: "There is darkness in the underbelly – if you can imagine it, it's probably happened." The actor went on to say that he avoided this underbelly thanks to his mother who was "far more concerned with raising me to be a good human than facilitating my career."

"I never went to parties where that kind of thing was going on. This bizarre industry presents so many paths to temptation," he said. "If you don't have some kind of foundation, typically from family, then it will be difficult to deal with."

Wood also has reasons to believe that these sex crimes continue to be a problem in Hollywood. "From my reading and research, I've been led down dark paths to realise that these things probably are still happening," he said. "If you're innocent, you have very little knowledge of the world and you want to succeed, people with parasitic interests will see you as their prey."

Highlighting an even bigger issue within child abuse in Hollywood, Wood stated: "What upsets me about these situations is that the victims can't speak as loudly as the people in power." "There's the tragedy of attempting to reveal what is happening to innocent people."