Henry Ian Cusick, who plays Desmond on the ABC series Lost, has been accused of engaging in some pretty horrendous sexual harassment and sexual battery in a lawsuit filed by a former ABC entertainment employee. The plaintiff, Chelsea Stone, alleges that while working on set, Cusick groped and humiliated her, then caused her to lose her job and her child, thanks to a miscarriage she alleges was brought on by the extremely stressful situation Cusick created.
Plaintiff Chelsea Stone alleges that on or about Oct. 16, Cusick “placed his hand on her buttocks” and then caressed her back “while making moaning sounds.” He then put his face in her cleavage and wagged his head back and forth, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. He then touched her breasts with his hands and kissed her on the mouth, Stone says.
Stone also states that over the next few days, Cusick and other members of the staff and crew “became very hostile towards her.” She was fired a few weeks later, and miscarried a few weeks after that.
Those charges sound pretty severe. If someone I work with were to put his head in my tits and wag it back and forth– an activity I call “motorboating” that is reserved only for my significant other and my closest female friends– he’d have more than a lawsuit to contend with. He’d have that giant wheel from the middle of the island sticking out of his netherbits. I’d go straight up Ben Linus on his ass.
Whether or not the allegations are true remains to be seen, but I kind of hope that they’re false. The idea that such a large production company would bully a female employee to cover up the fact that one of their actors is a complete louse and nearly raped her is beyond disgusting– it’s terrifying.
“…nearly raped here…”
Nearly RAPED her? You are retarded.
Damn Mack….take a pill and shut up, This supposed to be fun.
First of all, talking about rape isn’t fun. And there is a huge difference between what he did and rape. I think another word would have been more appropriate.
i hope they are false too. that kind of stuff she says he was doing sounds pretty extreme.. I mean sexual harassment usually consists of making jokes and a little touching here and there.. but full on motorboating and kissing on the mouth? wtf..
Hell no! Desmond is one of my top five fave lost characters!
i agree, what he did (if he did indeed do it) was sexual harassment and not ‘nearly rape’. regardless of what you call it, he should be punished if it’s true. on another note, miscarriages are awful things…i guess i just doubt her miscarriage was a direct result of what allegedly happened.
I really, really, really hope this is false, cause I love Desmond =D
I really hope it isn’t true because it’s hideous and vile.
I don’t get it–when I read this story I think, did she just stand there and let him? I mean step away! Push him away! Say “get off or I’ll shove your balls down your throat!”. How many times and ways are you going to let someone fondle and molest you before take physical action?
Now I’m saying this as a woman who has fought off three rapes in my life. Each of them got a nasty surprise to find out what a fighter I am. I practically twisted one guys balls off. So I don’t get standing there while a man “motorboats” you. I would have grabbed his head and pulled out some clumps of hair.
…and the anti-male bullshit continues on the Beet.
Quote:
> “If someone I work with were to put his head in my tits and wag it back and forth– an activity I call “motorboating”
Really? You call it that? Let me guess, you call the thing you sit in front of and type into it “a computer”. Anything else you invent, you fucking genius?
Cue the eye rolling…*eyes roll*
Hey, I thought only Kelly called it “eye rolling”. Amazing.
What he did was absolutely vile but it’s not even close to rape.
Knowing how Lost likes deal to with actors who have criminal charges (Ex. Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros) Desmond will be killed off pretty damn soon if this is true.
I have worked on movie and tv sets for over 35 years. If you want to keep your well paying job and keep climbing up the ladder in an industry you love, you have to put up with all kinds of shit. What happed to this woman is not uncommon…production and crew members are a dime a dozen and they are treated as such. Complaints go right into your personnel file and the victim is usually the one who pays. That kind of stress can easily cause a miscarriage…trust me, I know.
Personnel file? What the fuck you talking you poser. Most of us in Film and Television are freelancers. There aren’t any “personnel files” unless you are on staff at a tv station.
you mean, kind of like how this woman worked at ABC? Right?
Also, to chime in, no – this wasn’t rape, but that doesn’t make it anymore acceptable.
I worked at two different studios and what Stickywicket says is the truth. You know what is going on right away, talent is talent and crew can be replaced in a hot second. The production team will circle the wagons and trash this woman’s reputation, get people to testify the way they want them to. It’s a different world with different rules depending on where you are in the food chain. Most people just take the money and move on to a different production. It’s not really glamorous except for a very few. What is it called… institutionalized insanity? Yup that’s it.
It helps to have a good sense of humor and high self esteem.
Oh you must have climbed over the fence every morning to get to set, because the rest of us have badges with photos from HR, you know where you fill out W-2’s, sign the employee handbook etc.
Sheesh.
“Nearly rape”?! Ermmm no. Dictionaries were a wonderful creation. Also in ANY business if you make a complaint it falls back on the person that did so! ‘Check your morals at the door’ isn’t just for Hollywood! The prison service suck for it too.
there’s no way this is true. for starters, something would have been done sooner. secondly, he wouldn’t do something that stupid on the set. most likely the case was he touched her ass or something insignificant like that and she’s hoping to get something out of it. maybe he just wasn’t nice to her in general and she got offended and wanted to hurt him. people lie, get used to it.