After “The New York Times” went public with a “secret settlement” involving Eliza Dushku and her sexual harassment claims alleged against Michael Weatherly on the set of the CBS show Bull, the actress has broken her silence on the matter and details the level of harassment and bullying she experienced while being on the series.
Eliza Dushku wrote an impassioned 2,300-word account for the “Boston Globe” that calls out Michael Weatherly, Bull writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron, and CBS. The details of her experience are pretty devastating and it disputes Weatherly’s previous statements on the matter that he merely “made some jokes mocking some lines in the script” and Caron’s insistence that she wasn’t written off the drama due to protesting Weatherly’s alleged actions. CBS eventually paid Dushku $9.5 million in the settlement which would’ve been the amount of her contract had she continued on the show as a series regular for six seasons.
Here is an excerpt from Dushku’s piece from the Boston Globe:
“Weatherly’s harassment went far beyond mere jokes (some of which was captured on tape by the production): “The tapes show his offer to take me to his ‘rape van, filled with all sorts of lubricants and long phallic things’ … There was also his constant name-calling; playing provocative songs (like ‘Barracuda’) on his iPhone when I approached my set marks; and his remark about having a threesome. He made the threesome remark to me about himself and me in a room full of people. Minutes later, a crew member sidled up next to me and, with a smirk, said in a low voice, ‘I’m with Bull. I wanna have a threesome with you too.’ … For weeks, Weatherly was recorded making sexual comments, and was recorded mimicking penis jousting with a male costar, this directly on the heels of the ‘threesome’ proposal, and another time referring to me repeatedly as ‘legs.’ He regularly commented on my ‘ravishing’ beauty, following up with audible groans, oohing and aahing’ … As was caught on tape, after I flubbed a line, he shouted in my face, ‘I will take you over my knee and spank you like a little girl’ … There was daily undeniably demeaning conduct that is unacceptable in an absolute sense.”
Dushku went on to say that this had nothing to do with her not understanding “boyish humor” and that she has a tough skin but what was on display simply wasn’t another case of “locker room talk”:
““I grew up in Boston with three older brothers and have generally been considered a tomboy. I made a name for myself playing a badass vampire slayer turned tough LA cheerleader; I have worked with numerous leading men, including Robert DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio, even CBS’s own David Boreanaz. I can handle a locker Room Talk. I have been on HowarD Stern and was hired by Kevin Smith for a film where I Wore a black leather cat suit and played a member of an international diamond-thief-gang-ring. I do not want to hear that I have a ‘humor deficit’ or can’t take a joke. I did not over-react. I took a job and, because I did not want to be harassed, I was fired.”
Dushku goes on to say that the “boys club” is alive and well at CBS and claimed that Weatherly “bragged about his friendship with CBS chief executive Les Moonves.” The former CBS chief executive has been at the center on his own misconduct claims which led to him being ousted from the network and has led to a lot of these internal investigations about the conduct at CBS and its shows.
“He regaled me with stories about using Moonves’ plane, how they vacationed together, and what great friends they were. Weatherly wielded this special friendship as an amulet and, as I can see now, as a threat.”
Dushku explains that Weatherly’s harassment was frequent and that it’s no coincedence that she was let go soon after she tried to be diplomatic and discuss with Weatherly that they create an environment on set that would make everyone comfortable. Dushku also states that she’s lucky she had videotaped proof to back up her claims.
“Weatherly sexually harassed and bullied me day-in and day-out and would have gotten away with it had he not been caught on tape, and had the CBS lawyers not inadvertently shared the tapes with my counsel, Barbara Robb. Reflecting on the whole ordeal, it often makes me think with sadness of the majority of victims who do not have the benefit of the fortunate evidence — the tapes that I had.”
In the end, despite her $9.5 million settlement this was not about the money for Dushku. This was about changing the culture and preventing this from being the new normal:
“CBS ultimately paid me $9.5 million earlier this year to settle the allegations — an amount that represented a portion of what I would have earned had I finished my potential six-year contract. But this wasn’t just about money; I wanted a culture change”
Dushku said as part of her settlement, she asked that CBS “designate an individual trained in sexual harassment compliance to monitor Weatherly and the show in general.” She also asked to meet with Steven Spielberg, whose company, Amblin Television, co-produced Bull, to talk about her experience, assuming “that if anyone could make changes, it would be Spielberg.” This meeting has yet to take place.
Michael Weatherly, Bull writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron, and CBS have not made additional comments since Dushku’s piece broke yesterday. Interestingly enough, CBS has been running numerous adds about having people in place at the network who are trained to deal with sexual harassment compliance and that can’t be a coincidence. CBS is under major fire as their workplace culture is in the spotlight for not stopping behavior such as this and Iw wouldn’t be surprised if more stories about misconduct broke in the weeks ahead.
