Apprehending reports about sexual harassment allegations against him, Hollywood actor Michael Douglas has pre-emptively denied the claims in an interview to Deadline.
The two-time Academy Award winner said that two publications, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, reached out to him to comment on allegations against him by a former employee pertaining to events going back three decades.
The former employee, Douglas said, had accused the actor of using “colourful language” in front of her, speaking raunchily with his friends in front of her, ensuring that she did not find a job in the entertainment industry after he fired her from his company and masturbating in front of her.
Douglas said he may have used colourful language around her, but not directed at her, and she may have overheard some private conversations. But he vehemently denied allegations that he touched himself in front of her or tried to jeopardise her career.
“She was a lady who was involved in development at my company, and we just didn’t have a good development record in the time she was there, so I just moved on. I never blackballed her,” he said. “Finally, masturbating in front of her? I don’t know where to begin. This is a complete lie, fabrication, no truth to it whatsoever.”
Explaining his decision to reveal the allegations even before they were publicised, he said, “I had the choice of waiting for a story to come out, one that will clearly get picked up by other newspapers and magazines, and then I have to sit there and try to defend myself. Or, try to share with the public, a little ahead of the story, my thoughts and concerns.”
Douglas’s statements come in the wake of a massive backlash against sexual harassment in Hollywood. Starting with the exposes on film producer Harvey Weinstein in October, there have been an avalanche of accusations against numerous men, including actor Kevin Spacey, filmmakers Brett Ratner and James Toback and comedian Louis CK, among others.
The latest celebrity to face sexual harassment allegations is James Franco. In light of the accusations, The New York Times cancelled an event scheduled for Wednesday with the actor and his brother Dave Franco on their 2017 release The Disaster Artist.
The accusations against James Franco first emerged after his Best Actor win at the Golden Globes on Sunday for his performance in The Disaster Artist. Soon after the ceremony, actress Ally Sheedy, in a now-deleted tweet, hinted that the actor had behaved inappropriately with her, though she did not give out any specifics.
This was followed by more detailed allegations by actresses Violet Paley and Sarah Tither Kaplan.
James Franco denied the allegations on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on the night following his Golden Globe win.
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