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CNN Live Today

Celebrity Dramas

Aired January 03, 2003 - 10:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The man who once played Pee-Wee Herman faces a pretrial hearing today on child porn charges. Harvey Levin, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice" joins us now with more.
Is it porn, or is it heart?

HARVEY LEVIN, EXEC. PROD., "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Hi, Carol.

That is the question. We have some information to share with you about this case that we found out about.

And, frankly, Carol, I think it's troubling. Let me just set this up for you. About a year ago, a 14-year-old boy went to the LAPD and said -- made charges against Paul Reubens' Pee-Wee Herman. That boy was discredited. But during the investigation, they searched Paul Ruebens' home. They seized 20,000 items. He has an extensive collection of adult erotica. There were 70,000 items that were not even touched. Among those items were child porn. Now a lot of this was 30, 40, 50, even 100 years old. Legal at the time, we're told, that it was made.

But here is the capper, Carol, "Celebrity Justice" has learned that one of the items that Paul Ruebens is being prosecuted for is the Rob Lowe videotape that was made in 1988, that sex tape, that became infamous. The city attorney of Los Angeles is using that tape to prosecute Paul Reubens, which is really incredible. I don't know if you know about that tape.

LIN: Yes, I remember, that was -- it was shot during one of the political conventions, I think, and it was alleged that Rob Lowe was having sex with one or two 16-year-old girls?

LEVIN: I think there were two people, and I think one of them, allegedly, underage. I talked to a friend of mine who is a producer for a cable news show, and he said, oh, my God, I could get prosecuted, too, because I have one of those in my garage. These things were everywhere, and the city attorney is using this. When you charge somebody with child pornography, you ruin their lives, and a lot of people should have their lives ruined. But when you think about using it for something like this, for the Rob Lowe videotape, it really is a little troubling.

And remember, the district attorney of Los Angeles sat on this case for 11 months, and then rejected it two weeks before the statute of limitations ran. The city attorney got the case. And they just, boom, abruptly filed charges against this guy.

LIN: What is the fuel behind the fire?

LEVIN: I wish I could answer that. I wish I could answer that. And I don't know. We're going to be looking into it. But I tell you, we do know this, that we're told behind the scenes that the city attorney also intends to bring up Paul Reubens' criminal case in Florida in the early '90s, where he allegedly -- where he exposed himself in a movie theater, that they want to bring that up as well. So there is a full-court press, in a literal and figurative way to get this guy. The question is, is it legit? And this Rob Lowe video, I got to say, raises some serious red flags.

LIN: He is getting celebrity support, right? Courtney Cox and her husband, David Arquette, are standing up and speaking on his behalf.

LEVIN: And you know what, before I found out about this, about this Rob Lowe tape and about some of the other items, I was a little surprised, because these are bigtime Hollywood stars who appeared on the television show "Extra," and really voiced support for Paul Reubens. I have a feeling you have you'll see more of that, because it's so easy to paint somebody with a scarlet letter when you file kiddie porn charges against them.

But this is going to be a very interesting case. I just found out about this last night. I'm told this could come out today in the hearing.

But I have got to tell you something, this is really going to take some twists and turns, Carol. We're going to be talking about this for a while.

LIN: And I'm wondering, does this kind of have Hollywood cleaning out its closets now? People have got to wonder, like you were saying, about someone you know who said, hey, I have this Rob Lowe video in my garage, does that mean that I am a criminal, too?

LEVIN: Just think of this logically for a second, Carol, Rob Lowe wasn't prosecuted for this videotape, and he made it, apparently. So if he wasn't prosecuted, how does somebody get prosecuted for possessing it? It's just startling to me. It is really startling to me, just the whole backdrop of this. I've been hearing things about it. There's something more to this prosecution. And my show, "Celebrity Justice," is going to start digging and looking, because there's just something there.

LIN: It almost sounds personal. Here is a guy, what is the last thing that Paul Reubens did? He's not one of Hollywood's highest profile people.

LEVIN: He is not. And you know what, this is something that was thrown in the prosecutor's lap. The city attorney got this case with two weeks to go before the statute of limitation ran. You got to realize, in this city, if you're perceived as soft on celebrities when you're a prosecutor, you're in big trouble with the public. I don't know if that factored into it, because it had to happen so fast. I don't know what is behind it. But there's just -- they're going to, the defense is going to allege here, that he didn't know some of this stuff was in there, because he had so much material. They took less than 1 percent to use as the prosecution in this case. He had a big collection, and they started picking it apart, and they're saying stuff that was vintage art, at least some of it, is now the basis of a 2003 prosecution.

LIN: Interesting.

LEVIN: It's just very -- interesting is a good word.

LIN: That's right. I mean, what do you do if you have a painting with a cherub in it? Is that considered pornography today?

LEVIN: It's such a good question. I mean, when you said earlier, a lot of people are going to be cleaning out their closets, maybe so. I mean, maybe that's the message this kind of prosecution sends. And what is legit and what isn't legit. I'm telling you, Carol, this seems like kind of an offbeat case. But this could end up having really important overtones for not just celebrities, but for the public, depending on what happens with this criminal prosecution.

LIN: We'll be interested in following it. Thank you very much, Harvey, for giving us that scoop.

Harvey Levin, have a good weekend.

LEVIN: You, too.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 3, 2003 - 10:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The man who once played Pee-Wee Herman faces a pretrial hearing today on child porn charges. Harvey Levin, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice" joins us now with more.
Is it porn, or is it heart?

HARVEY LEVIN, EXEC. PROD., "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Hi, Carol.

That is the question. We have some information to share with you about this case that we found out about.

And, frankly, Carol, I think it's troubling. Let me just set this up for you. About a year ago, a 14-year-old boy went to the LAPD and said -- made charges against Paul Reubens' Pee-Wee Herman. That boy was discredited. But during the investigation, they searched Paul Ruebens' home. They seized 20,000 items. He has an extensive collection of adult erotica. There were 70,000 items that were not even touched. Among those items were child porn. Now a lot of this was 30, 40, 50, even 100 years old. Legal at the time, we're told, that it was made.

But here is the capper, Carol, "Celebrity Justice" has learned that one of the items that Paul Ruebens is being prosecuted for is the Rob Lowe videotape that was made in 1988, that sex tape, that became infamous. The city attorney of Los Angeles is using that tape to prosecute Paul Reubens, which is really incredible. I don't know if you know about that tape.

LIN: Yes, I remember, that was -- it was shot during one of the political conventions, I think, and it was alleged that Rob Lowe was having sex with one or two 16-year-old girls?

LEVIN: I think there were two people, and I think one of them, allegedly, underage. I talked to a friend of mine who is a producer for a cable news show, and he said, oh, my God, I could get prosecuted, too, because I have one of those in my garage. These things were everywhere, and the city attorney is using this. When you charge somebody with child pornography, you ruin their lives, and a lot of people should have their lives ruined. But when you think about using it for something like this, for the Rob Lowe videotape, it really is a little troubling.

And remember, the district attorney of Los Angeles sat on this case for 11 months, and then rejected it two weeks before the statute of limitations ran. The city attorney got the case. And they just, boom, abruptly filed charges against this guy.

LIN: What is the fuel behind the fire?

LEVIN: I wish I could answer that. I wish I could answer that. And I don't know. We're going to be looking into it. But I tell you, we do know this, that we're told behind the scenes that the city attorney also intends to bring up Paul Reubens' criminal case in Florida in the early '90s, where he allegedly -- where he exposed himself in a movie theater, that they want to bring that up as well. So there is a full-court press, in a literal and figurative way to get this guy. The question is, is it legit? And this Rob Lowe video, I got to say, raises some serious red flags.

LIN: He is getting celebrity support, right? Courtney Cox and her husband, David Arquette, are standing up and speaking on his behalf.

LEVIN: And you know what, before I found out about this, about this Rob Lowe tape and about some of the other items, I was a little surprised, because these are bigtime Hollywood stars who appeared on the television show "Extra," and really voiced support for Paul Reubens. I have a feeling you have you'll see more of that, because it's so easy to paint somebody with a scarlet letter when you file kiddie porn charges against them.

But this is going to be a very interesting case. I just found out about this last night. I'm told this could come out today in the hearing.

But I have got to tell you something, this is really going to take some twists and turns, Carol. We're going to be talking about this for a while.

LIN: And I'm wondering, does this kind of have Hollywood cleaning out its closets now? People have got to wonder, like you were saying, about someone you know who said, hey, I have this Rob Lowe video in my garage, does that mean that I am a criminal, too?

LEVIN: Just think of this logically for a second, Carol, Rob Lowe wasn't prosecuted for this videotape, and he made it, apparently. So if he wasn't prosecuted, how does somebody get prosecuted for possessing it? It's just startling to me. It is really startling to me, just the whole backdrop of this. I've been hearing things about it. There's something more to this prosecution. And my show, "Celebrity Justice," is going to start digging and looking, because there's just something there.

LIN: It almost sounds personal. Here is a guy, what is the last thing that Paul Reubens did? He's not one of Hollywood's highest profile people.

LEVIN: He is not. And you know what, this is something that was thrown in the prosecutor's lap. The city attorney got this case with two weeks to go before the statute of limitation ran. You got to realize, in this city, if you're perceived as soft on celebrities when you're a prosecutor, you're in big trouble with the public. I don't know if that factored into it, because it had to happen so fast. I don't know what is behind it. But there's just -- they're going to, the defense is going to allege here, that he didn't know some of this stuff was in there, because he had so much material. They took less than 1 percent to use as the prosecution in this case. He had a big collection, and they started picking it apart, and they're saying stuff that was vintage art, at least some of it, is now the basis of a 2003 prosecution.

LIN: Interesting.

LEVIN: It's just very -- interesting is a good word.

LIN: That's right. I mean, what do you do if you have a painting with a cherub in it? Is that considered pornography today?

LEVIN: It's such a good question. I mean, when you said earlier, a lot of people are going to be cleaning out their closets, maybe so. I mean, maybe that's the message this kind of prosecution sends. And what is legit and what isn't legit. I'm telling you, Carol, this seems like kind of an offbeat case. But this could end up having really important overtones for not just celebrities, but for the public, depending on what happens with this criminal prosecution.

LIN: We'll be interested in following it. Thank you very much, Harvey, for giving us that scoop.

Harvey Levin, have a good weekend.

LEVIN: You, too.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com