Michael Weatherly Apologizes to Eliza Dushku for Sexual Harassment on 'Bull' Set
CBS
TV

The actress herself has received roughly $9.5 million from CBS for the harassment, which includes a rape joke, comments about her appearance and a dirty quip about threesome.

AceShowbiz - Michael Weatherly was hit with sexual harassment allegation made by his former "Bull" co-star Eliza Dushku. The actress, who appeared in the first season of the drama, claimed that the actor repeatedly made sexual remarks and jokes, including remarks about her appearance and a rape joke.

According to The New York Times, Weatherly made a joke about engaging in a threesome with her and another man after her character held up three fingers in once scene. She also alleged that Weatherly said to the cast and crew that he would bend her over his leg and spank her.

Dushku believed that his "behavior was contagious" and created an unhealthy work space, thus she confronted Weatherly about his sexual remarks. But instead of getting her concern solved, the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star was written off the show. It prompted her to issue a formal complaint to the network regarding the issue.

She later entered into mediation with CBS, which resulted in the network agreeing to pay Dushku a confidential settlement of $9.5 million. The amount of money compensated for what she would have earned if she had stayed on as a cast member for four seasons.

Following the report, CBS issued a statement confirming the existence of a settlement, but did not disclose a specific amount of the money. "The allegations in Ms. Dushku's claims are an example that, while we remain committed to a culture defined by a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace, our work is far from done," so the statement read.

Weatherly himself has issued an apology for what he had done to the actress. "During the course of taping our show, I made some jokes mocking some lines in the script. When Eliza told me that she wasn't comfortable with my language and attempt at humor, I was mortified to have offended her and immediately apologized," he said. "After reflecting on this further, I better understand that what I said was both not funny and not appropriate and I am sorry and regret the pain this cause Eliza."

The actor, however, insisted that he had nothing to do with the decision to remove Dushku from "Bull". He wrote, "It's my recollection that I didn't tell anyone how they should do their job regarding the hiring and firing of anybody."

Meanwhile, Dushku declined to comment on the matter.

Follow AceShowbiz.com @ Google News

You can share this post!

You might also like
Related Posts