The lawyer of Stephen Collins has addressed claims that the 7th Heaven star admitted to molesting and/or exposing himself to a number of underage girls decades ago.
Mark Vincent Kaplan has released a statement in response to the allegations which stem from an audio recording believed to have been released by Collins’ estranged wife Faye Grant, something which she denies. The pair are currently involved in divorce proceedings.
The statement said: “Over the course of my representation of Stephen in the divorce case, Faye has repeatedly threatened to give this audiotape to the media unless Stephen agreed to pay her millions of dollars, more than that to which she was legally entitled.
“When these demands were rebuffed, Faye attempted – without success – to peddle the tape in numerous ways to numerous different people. It appears that she has finally found an audience or this tape – not surprisingly, on the eve of the trial in the divorce case where, again, she is seeking millions of dollars more than that to which she is legally entitled.”
Stephen Collins and Faye Grant.
The audio, obtained by TMZ, has prompted a criminal investigation and is said to refer to incidents stemming back to the 1970s. Kaplan explained: “Though we would like to address the tape itself, the circumstances dictate that we must regrettably refrain from doing so at this time.”
Since the news of the recording broke, Collins has reportedly been dropped from Ted 2 and resigned from his post on the National Board of Screen Actors Guild. Grant has also released a statement to E! News, denying that she leaked the clip which was allegedly recorded during a therapy session back in 2012.
She said: “I woke up today to learn that an extremely private recording I handed over to the authorities in 2012 per their request in connection with a criminal investigation was recently disseminated to the press. I had no involvement whatsoever with the release of the tape to the media.”
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department confirmed this week that they received a “formal complaint” and that it is being investigated by the Manhattan Special Victims Squad.
