A seeming abuse of the gravity of sexual allegations notwithstanding, multiple accusations of sexual assault against male producers have cast a gloom on Hollywood, and this will, for a while, put a strain on whatever indulgent relationships that had existed among cast and crew members of the leading film industry in the world.
There is no doubt that some of the claims might be true, however, there appears to be a semblance of misconstrued intention in the casual familiarity among these creative colleagues.
Therefore, when you think of the sort of silent resentment or bipolar disorder in some people, you will learn to keep your jokes, hugs, playful spanks, and body gestures to the confines of your home.
Michael Douglas, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Seagal, and former president George Bush are among about 120 men in Hollywood who have been accused of one form of sexual assault or another, all claims coming after allegations of sexual harassment and rape against film producer Harvey Weinstein by Rose McGowan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd and dozens of others.
Although the trend has become alarming in the past one month, we can recall snippets of such events in recent times, especially going through series of litigation that brought American entertainer Bill Cosby to his knees for the better part of 2015-2016.
Until the Rose McGowan claims that indicted Harvey Weinstein, Cosby was a huge subject of sexual assault allegations, ranging from rape, drug facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery, and child sexual abuse, to sexual misconduct, with the earliest incidents taking place in 1960.
As a result of these allegations, many organisations have severed ties with the comedian, while previously awarded honors and titles have been revoked. Reruns of ‘The Cosby Show’ and other shows featuring Cosby have also been pulled from syndication by many organisations. Also, 25 colleges and universities have rescinded his honorary degrees.
To further underscore how allegations of sexual delinquency have taken a toll on the careers of people, Kevin Spacey got fired from Ridley Scott’s new movie, a month before its release. Spacey who earlier starred as J. Paul Getty in the film was replaced with Christopher Plummer.
Producer Ridley Scott had to cut out Spacey from the already produced movie despite the risk of missing its December 22 release date, and jeopardising its Oscar eligibility.
Crux of the matter was a wave of sexual assault allegations made against Spacey by more than a dozen people, including multiple accusations of assault on underage victims.
Pundits say although, there have been other instances of recasting a role or conducting extensive reshoots after a film has wrapped, it is very rare and would usually only happens in the case of unexpected death — a case in study was Paul Walker’s brothers standing in for reshoots of ‘Fast &Furious 7’ after the death of the original cast.
Let’s take a look at Michael Douglas who was accused of masturbating in front of a former employee some 32 years ago.
Douglas who said the allegations were a “complete lie”, has had the support of his wife, but that has not taken away the trauma.
Here’s what the actor, who said he has been “so supportive of the women’s movement”, has to say: “The part that hurt the worst is having to share something like this to your wife and your children. My kids are really upset… they have to go to school worrying this is going to be in some article about me, being a sexual harasser. They’re scared and very uncomfortable.”
