Max Landis, the filmmaker behind movies like Netflix's Bright and son of director John Landis, has been accused of emotional and sexual abuse by eight women.
Landis is the subject of a new exposé published by The Daily Beast on Tuesday after rumors of Landis' alleged misconduct spread in 2017 and after an anonymous woman accused him of sexual assault in February.
In it, an anonymous woman referred to as Julie alleges Landis "choked me until I passed out" and would "hold me down and rape me while I said 'no' over and over." A woman referred to as Veronica alleges that Landis "pinned me" to a bed "face-down, and began touching my crotch through my leggings," also saying she later woke up "to him performing oral sex on me" after she had made clear she was not interested in sex.
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Ani Baker accuses Landis of pulling her head toward his crotch while she protested and in another instance putting his hands around her throat and threatening to kill her. A woman referred to as Kerry similarly says Landis once "choked me and told me he wanted to kill me." And Dani Manning recalls Landis allegedly "[smacking] food out of my hand" and "[choking] me to the point where my eyes were blacking out."
Another woman, referred to as Lainey, says that Landis "bullied and emotionally abused" her. Several women accused Landis of alleged abusive behavior on film projects as well, including Tasha Goldthwait, who described "physical, sexual, and verbal abuse" on the set of Me Him Her, Landis' directorial debut. And a woman who dropped a 2008 sexual assault allegation against Landis confirmed she made the claim, directing The Daily Beast to a friend who says she witnessed the alleged assault.
Landis, who has reportedly written a thriller that MGM is developing with Idris Elba to star, has not responded to the allegations. Read the full article at The Daily Beast.
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