Though famous, Marty Weiss is perhaps far from your Hollywood celebrity archetype. This is because the former child talent manager has been in the headlines for very disturbing reasons. Weiss’ scandal is one of the many reasons industry stakeholders have begun calling for better background checks of people who work with young actors. Here’s a detailed insight into the career of the child talent manager and convicted pedophile.
There is a dearth of information about Marty Weiss’ birthdate, birthplace, parents, family background, early life, and education. However, it is believed that the former child talent manager was born sometime in 1963. For his career endeavours, It is uncertain when exactly Weiss ventured into showbiz but he gained fame in Hollywood as a talent manager whose company represented child actors back in the 80s. While in active practice, Marty Weiss helped his clients land prominent roles on Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel. Some of his clients featured on hit shows like Good Luck Charlie as well as iCarly. More recently, Marty’s clients have also appeared in Jack and Jill, The Muppets, as well as several other TV commercials.
Riveting Facts About Marty Weiss
Evan Henzi’s Pedophilia Allegations
The entertainment industry was shocked in 2012 when news emerged that Marty Weiss was one of the Hollywood-types preying on child actors. This was after one of the talent manager’s former client and victim, Evan Henzi spilled the beans to the police alleging that Weiss sexually assaulted him when the boy was just a pre-teen.
According to Evan, Weiss sexually assaulted him about 30-40 times over a three-year period until he stopped working as his manager. Weiss conned Henzi by intimidating and threatening his career. The talent manager claimed the lewd acts were common practice in the entertainment industry and warned the victim against reporting to anyone else, his career would be ruined.
A further attestation to Evan Henzi’s claim was that Marty Weiss was known as a party clown who was very social with his clients at the time. Some of his clients testified to knowing him as someone who often blurred the line between professional and personal behavior. For instance, boys had sleepovers in Weiss’ home and the talent manager also took road trips with his underage clients, who were not accompanied by their parents.
Suspicious that other underage boys may have been victimized too, an 18-year-old Henzi went to Weiss’ apartment one day in November 2012, confronted the talent manager about the alleged abuse and taped their conversation. The teen went to the police with the tape reporting in an affidavit that he was sexually assaulted by Weiss.
His Arrest and Dissolution of His Talent Management Company
Weiss was then arrested and the police searched his apartment for any other incriminating evidence but found none. Soon after his arrest, Marty dissolved his management company, and by implication, freed all clients from their contracts. The talent manager who pleaded not guilty to eight counts of lewd acts with a child and sodomy was later sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation, forced to register as a sex offender, and required to go into treatment.
Marty’s Conviction, Sentencing, and Release
Part of the court’s judgment also required Weiss not be in the company of any minor without the child being accompanied by an adult. His sentence was made light because Weiss made a plea bargain and thus, six other charges against him were dropped in exchange. Marty Weiss eventually spent six months in jail before he was released for good behavior, and was made to sign the sex offenders’ register.
Corey Feldman’s Allegations
https://t.co/eAwCtHSQ0W STILL FRIENDS AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS? Please read the info on the YouTube video page before commenting on any photos. Yes, I was on set. No, I never harmed Haim or Feldman. pic.twitter.com/GdxkLLiRM6
— Marty Weiss 🏳️🌈 (@mwmtalent) July 21, 2018
Five years later, a child actor-turned-singer Corey Feldman named Marty Weiss as one of his alleged pedophile abusers. Feldman who had vowed for years to expose those who molested him as a child and on a mission to end pedophilia within the industry disclosed this in an interview.
During the November 2017 interview, Feldman alleged that Weiss molested him when he was a young actor in the 1980s. He also named former actor Jon Grissom as one of his abusers. Prior to that, Feldman first made child molestation accusations against the child talent manager and convicted sex offender in his book Coreyography. Although there are no new abuse charges, Marty Weiss’ scandal is one of the reasons industry stakeholders are calling for better background checks of people who work with young actors.
