Paul Reubens’ lawyer, Dan Dannheiser, kind of predicted what was to come after the comedian’s 1991 arrest. According to the New York Daily News, Dannheiser had told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, “He [Reuben] does a lot of things with kids over the world, and his career will be over when the story runs.” Although Reubens had support from loyal fans, his career never truly bounced back.
After his arrest in 1991, Reubens took a break from the spotlight. He eventually went on to do several more acting gigs, just not as Pee-wee Herman, according to IMDb. In 2004, he revealed that he never fully understood the repercussions of being in the legal situation he was in. He told NBC News, “I certainly wasn’t thinking to myself you’re a children’s show host. Your show is still on television. I wasn’t making those lists. I felt like they were insinuating like, well, I was sitting in you know, a darkened movie theater, in my Pee-Wee suit.” Still, he confessed that he was mortified by the situation.
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And it wasn’t just the 1991 arrest that affected Reubens’ career, because he was later involved in a child pornography case in 2004, per NBC News. It seemed that with all his legal troubles, the image of Pee-wee Herman was tainted. However, he did attempt to revive the character several times years later, but it was never as successful as it had been in the 80s.
