Eliza Dushku details alleged sexual harassment on the set of CBS's Bull
Actress Eliza Dushku is breaking her silence about the sexual harassment she was allegedly the victim of on the set of the CBS show Bull.
The New York Times last week reported that CBS reached a $9.5 million settlement with Dushku after she complained about being sexually harassed by the show's star, Michael Weatherly. She didn't comment for that article, but Weatherly did, as did producer Glenn Gordon Caron. In a new op-ed for The Boston Globe, Dushku says she didn't comment because she wanted to "honor the terms of my settlement with the network" and thought Weatherly and Caron would do the same. Instead, she says they provided the Times with "deflection, denial, and spin." So now it's her turn to speak.
Dushku says CBS offered her the co-lead on Bull and told her she would become a series regular after a three-episode role in the first season. But she claims she was subjected to constant sexual harassment and bullying from Weatherly, who allegedly called her "legs," played suggestive songs as she approached, and said he wanted to spank her and take her to his "rape van." In a statement to the Times, Weatherly said he apologized after Dushku confronted him. But Dushku says he instead told her that "no one respects women more than I do." At that point, Weatherly reportedly went to the president of CBS Television and got her written off the show.
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Weatherly had apparently complained that Dushku lacked a sense of humor, but she flatly rejects the idea that his behavior was just playful joking. "I do not want to hear that I have a 'humor deficit' or can't take a joke," she writes. "I did not overreact. I took a job and, because I did not want to be harassed, I was fired." Read the full essay at The Boston Globe.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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