Hollywood is Falling Like a House of Cards Over Sexual Allegations & Charges

By - November 3, 2017
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It has been only a few weeks since the sexual assault charges against Harvey Weinstein exploded in the national news. Since that time, there have been many new allegations made against other powerful men in Hollywood and elsewhere every week. Many prominent actors and actresses have been coming forward with stories that have put some Hollywood A-listers in a bad light. Others are involved in the media, entertainment, music and journalism industries.

Below is a list of the men who have been accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault, inappropriate touching, unwanted advances and other sex crimes so far after the Weinstein allegations broke. It is almost certain that this list will continue to grow as time goes by.

Harvey Weinstein

Weinstein’s alleged actions first hit the news in early October when the New York Times released a story that revealed several allegations of sexual harassment against the legendary movie producer. Weinstein films have won many Academy Awards and been nominated for many more.

The story in the Times covered 30 years of sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact allegations against Weinstein by several women. One of them was Ashley Judd. Another was Gwenyth Paltrow. The story also covered eight settlements that Weinstein had agreed to with accusers over the years.

The Weinstein story initiated a flood of new sexual harassment allegations from many other women who said that Weinstein had sexually assaulted or raped them. Weinstein for his part has denied claims of non consensual sex. He has been fired from his company and his wife has filed for divorce.

Kevin Spacey

The first person to make allegations against Kevin Spacey was actor Anthony Rapp. He accused Spacey of making sexual advances towards him in 1986 when he was only 14. Rapp alleged that the famous actor approached him in a bedroom at a party and picked him up and put him on the bed.

Spacey said that he could not remember the incident as he was probably drinking. In the same tweet, he came out as a gay man. That earned him considerable criticism; his critics argued that his sexuality has nothing to do with sexual assault allegations.

Spacey is the star of the Netflix series House of Cards. After the sex allegations went public, Netflix stated that the next season of the show was the last. While that decision had been made months ago, production of the last season was stopped once more allegations against Spacey surfaced.

This week, new allegations have come out that Spacey sexually harassed people on the set of House of Cards. The new allegations involve eight people who worked on the show. They claim that Spacey repeatedly sexually harassed them on set; one claimed that the actor had sexually assaulted him.

All of his accusers on House of Cards spoke to CNN anonymously because they fear repercussions at work. They claimed that the actor’s sexual harassment had created a toxic work environment especially for young male crew members.

Spacey just completed work on the film All the Money in the World, where his portrayal of J. Paul Getty was being mentioned as Academy Award worthy. The seriousness of the allegations against Spacey may put a damper on that talk.

Dustin Hoffman

In late October, writer Anna Graham Hunter alleged in a Hollywood Reporter interview that Dustin Hoffman had groped her on the set of the movie Death of a Salesman in 1985. She was a 17 year-old intern at the time.

Hoffman released a statement this week that apologized for anything that he did that made her feel uncomfortable.

Oliver Stone

The famous director has been accused by the actress Carrie Stevens of groping her at a party years ago. She made the allegation in a tweet, after Stone defended Weinstein early on in the sexual charges made against him.

Eli Wiesel

The Nobel Prize-winning author and human rights advocate was accused of groping a 19 year old female in 1989. Wiesel died in 2016 so this story cannot be confirmed or denied.

James Toback

The Hollywood screenwriter and director who has made films such as The Gambler and Bugsy has been accused of sexual harassment by several women, according to the LA Times. The women stated that the director would lure them to hotel rooms or movie trailers for auditions or interviews. But the meetings would become sexual in nature quickly.

Toback told the LA Times that he had not met the women, and if he had, it might have been for five minutes and he could not remember the meetings. Some of the women who have accused him include Selma Blair and Rachel McAdams.

Ben Affleck

The famous actor and director was one of the very first to denounce Weinstein. But them he was accused of seuxal harassment after old videos surfaced of the show MTV’s Total Request Live, where actress Hillarie Burton said that Affleck groped her. Affleck admitted that he had done it and apologized.

Casey Affleck

A director launched an online petition this month to bar Casey Affleck from presenting the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 2018 Academy Awards because of the sexual harassment charges against him.

The director Cameron Bossert initiated the petition after the Weinstein allegations surfaced last month. Casey Affleck has been accused of sexual harassment several times in the past. Two women filed sexual harassment lawsuits against him in 2010 on the set of the film I’m Still Here, which he directed.

Jeremy Piven

The actor Jeremy Piven has been accused of groping reality star Ariane Bellamar on at least two occasions. He released a statement last week that denied the allegations. He stated that he denies what he termed to be ‘appalling allegations’ that are being spread about him.

Bellamar stated in a series of Tweets last week that he forcefully groped her on the set of the series Entourage and also at the Playboy Mansion. She also noted that Piven had sent her sexual and threatening text messages. Bellamar is a former Playboy model.

Piven was scheduled to appear on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert in a prerecorded interview last week that has since been shelved indefinitely after the allegations surfaced.

Tyler Grasham

The well-known Hollywood agent has been accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault, including sodomy, by actor Tyler Cornell. The Los Angeles Police Department has started a criminal investigation into Grasham, after Cornell filed a complaint.

Other accusers against Grasham include film editor Lucas Ozarowski; legal affairs manager Michael Podraza; and Brady Lindsey, an actor.

Grasham was fired from major talent agency ACA not long after several men accused him of sexual abuse. Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard left the talent agency the same day that the talent agent was fired.

Brett Ratner

Brett Ratner, a top producer and director of films such as Rush Hour and The Revenant, is facing allegations that he sexually harassed or assaulted at least six women over two decades.

One actress – Natasha Henstridge – who was in the series Species and in the film The Whole Nine Yards, stated that Ratner forced her to perform oral sex on him more than two decades ago. Another named Olivia Munn stated that Ratner had masturbated in front of her when she brought food to his trailer.

Last week, Ratner stated that he was stepping away from all Warner Brothers-related work, which is the studio he has a $450 million agreement to finance films.

Chris Savino

Nickelodeon fired Savino, the creator of the show The Loud House after at least 10 women accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. His accusers also said that Savino would threaten to damage the careers of women he was no longer intimate with.

Savino posted on his Facebook account that he was sorry and ashamed. He added that it was not his intention to act in such a way but he now understood that his actions had made others uncomfortable.

Roy Price

Price was the head of Amazon Studios, and he quite five days after he was put on leave when a producer accused him of sexually harassing her. Price was suspended after the story ran in The Hollywood Reporter, which detailed many of the sexual harassment allegations that were made against him by Isa Hackett, who is a producer for the Amazon show The Man in the High Castle.

The sexual harassment allegations are related to an incident in 2015 at Comic Con, where Price allegedly made lewd comments to her even though she rebuffed him.

Journalist Mark Halperin

More than a dozen women also have accused Washington DC journalist Mark Halperin of sexually assaulting or harassing them. Some of the incidents allegedly occurred when he was political director at ABC News.

At first, five women accused him of sexually propositioning employees for sex, as well as kissing and grabbing a woman’s breasts against her will, and other types of offensive touching. A few days later, more women stated in the media that Halperin had masturbated in front of an ABC News employee, and another said that he threw her against a window in a restaurant before he tried to kiss her.

Halperin has released statements to the media apologizing for pursuing relationships with women he was working with, but that he realized now that many of his actions were inappropriate and painful for others.

Halperin is a highly regarded journalist who was the co-author of the book Game Change, which was eventually made into a movie that starred Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin.

Other notable names that have been accused of sexual harassment and/or sexual assault in recent weeks:

Terry Richardson

The famous fashion photographer is known for his work’s sexually explicit tone. He has been accused by several models since 2010 that he graphicly abused them, including inappropriate touching and sexual harassment during shoots. Conde Nast International has stopped working with Richardson as of Oct. 24.

Lockhart Steele

Creator of the sites Curbed and Racked, he has been accused of sexual harassment by ex-Vox employee Eden Rohatensky. Vox has fired Steele.

Hamilton Fish V

The New Republic publisher has been hit with sexual harassment charges from several female employees at the magazine and website. He is now on a leave of absence.

Andrew Kramer

The executive from Lionsgate has been hit with sexual harassment accusations by his former assistant. He has been fired from Lionsgate.

Leon Wieseltier

Wieseltier is a former New Republic editor, and has been accused of sexual harassment by several female colleagues. He has admitted to some of the offenses and funding for the new magazine he was to launch has been pulled.

Twiggy Ramirez

The bassist from Marilyn Manson is facing rape charges. He has been fired from the band.

Ethan Kath

The producer and performer from Crystal Castles is accused by Alice Glass, his former bandmate, of sexual assault. He is denying the allegations.

Robert Scoble

A well-known tech blogger who has worked for Fast Company. He has been accused of sexual assault but he has disputed the account from his accuser.

Andy Dick

The comedian has been accused of sexual harassment by several people who worked with him on the film Raising Buchanan; he has been fired from the film.

Michael Oreskes

A leading editor at NPR, Oreskes is facing accusations of sexual harassment from several women. He has since resigned his position.

Matt Mondanile

The ex-guitarist for the band Real Estate is facing sexual misconduct charges from several women. He is denying the allegations.

Andy Signore

The creator of Screen Junkies and the Honest Trailers series is facing sexual harassment charges from five women. He recently was fired by Defy Media.

John Besh

A celebrity chef and the co-owner of the Besh Restaurant Group has been accused of sexual harassment by 25 women in the time they worked for the restaurant group. Besh stepped down from the restaurant group on Oct. 23. He said that he is working to rebuild his marriage and to come to terms with his actions. Besh also stated that he regrets the harm that may have come to those who work at the restaurant group.

Will this list continue? Likely.