‘My dad was a pedophile’
Anthony Newley shock
The son of the late singer/songwriter/actor Anthony Newley says his father was a “pedophile” who tainted his childhood by exposing him to sex at a young age.
Sacha Newley, 52 — whose mother is actress Joan Collins — said the rumors about the “Goldfinger” and “Willy Wonka” songwriter’s sexual preferences were true: His dad was disgustingly turned on by innocent kids.
“He was a pedophile. My father was drawn to youthfulness,” Newley told the UK’s Sunday Times ahead of the release of his memoir, “Unaccompanied Minor.”
“He thought innocence was an aphrodisiac,” Sacha said of his dad. “That was his sexual proclivity, and it’s a very dangerous, destructive thing.”
Sacha did not accuse his dad of molesting him or his sister, Tara, but said he put them in inappropriate situations during Hollywood parties and in his professional life.
The son claimed that unabashedly autobiographical X-rated film his dad produced in 1969 was “a confession of pedophilia” that led to his folks’ messy divorce the next year.
In the flick — “Can Heirony- mus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?” — Anthony plays a middleaged musician who recounts his sexual exploits to his wife and children, including his obsession with the apparently underage Mercy Humppe character.
Collins played his wife, called Polyester Poontang, and Sacha and sister Tara portrayed the couple’s kids.
“My mother was destroyed by that film: It was the end of their marriage,” Sacha told the Times, adding that the movie, which was written and directed by Anthony, revealed to Collins his ghastly side.
“My father was a great, flawed talent. He was a classic sex addict,” Sacha added.
Collins, now 84, denied Sunday that her former husband liked young girls.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is absolutely untrue,” she said in a statement, according to the Independent of Britain. “I have nothing further to add.”
Sacha’s sister, Tara, 54, said: “I was shocked by my brother’s comments. From my end, I don’t recognize the man he is describing. I had an incredibly close relationship with my father and am deeply upset by these false allegations.”