{"id":494,"date":"2018-01-13T21:16:46","date_gmt":"2018-01-13T21:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.jobanmagazine.com\/en\/?p=494"},"modified":"2018-01-13T21:16:46","modified_gmt":"2018-01-13T21:16:46","slug":"eliza-dushku-alleges-she-was-molested-during-production-of-true-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.jobanmagazine.com\/en\/2018\/01\/13\/eliza-dushku-alleges-she-was-molested-during-production-of-true-lies\/","title":{"rendered":"Eliza Dushku Alleges She Was Molested During Production of True Lies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Actress\u00a0Eliza Dushku<\/strong>\u00a0accused\u00a0In a\u00a0Facebook post<\/a>\u00a0on Friday night, stunt coordinator\u00a0Joel Kramer<\/strong>\u00a0of sexually molesting her on the set of\u00a0True Lies<\/em>\u00a0when she was 12 years old, and he was 36. she wrote, \u201cAt the time, I shared what happened to me with my parents, two adult friends and one of my older brothers. No one seemed ready to confront this taboo subject then, nor was I.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Buffy<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Dollhouse<\/em>\u00a0star said Kramer, had gained her and her family\u2019s trust over the course of the shoot, and alleged that he used it to lure her into a hotel room alone with him.<\/p>\n

I remember, so clearly 25 years later, how Joel Kramer made me feel special, how he methodically built my and my parents\u2019 trust, for months grooming me; exactly how he lured me to his Miami hotel room with a promise to my parent that he would take me for a swim at the stunt crew\u2019s hotel pool and for my first sushi meal thereafter. I remember vividly how he methodically drew the shades and turned down the lights; how he cranked up the air-conditioning to what felt like freezing levels, where exactly he placed me on one of the two hotel room beds, what movie he put on the television (Coneheads); how he disappeared in the bathroom and emerged, naked, bearing nothing but a small hand towel held flimsy at his mid-section. I remember what I was wearing (my favorite white denim shorts, thankfully, secured enough for me to keep on). I remember how he laid me down on the bed, wrapped me with his gigantic writhing body, and rubbed all over me. He spoke these words: \u201cYou\u2019re not going to sleep on me now sweetie, stop pretending you\u2019re sleeping,\u201d as he rubbed harder and faster against my catatonic body. When he was \u2018finished\u2019, he suggested, \u201cI think we should be careful\u2026,\u201d [about telling anyone] he meant. I was 12, he was 36.<\/p>\n

I remember how afterwards, the taxi driver stared at me in the <\/small><\/strong>rear view mirror when Joel Kramer put me on his lap in the backseat and clutched me and grew aroused again; and how my eyes never left the driver\u2019s eyes during that long ride over a Miami bridge, back to my hotel and parent. I remember how Joel Kramer grew cold with me in the ensuing weeks, how everything felt different on the set.<\/small><\/strong><\/p>\n

And I remember how soon-after, when my tough adult female friend (in whom I had confided my terrible secret on the condition of a trade that she let me drive her car around the Hollywood Hills) came out to the set to visit and face him, later that very same day, by no small coincidence, I was injured from a stunt-gone-wrong on the Harrier jet. With broken ribs, I spent the evening in the hospital. To be clear, over the course of those months rehearsing and filming True Lies, it was Joel Kramer who was responsible for my safety on a film that at the time broke new ground for action films. On a daily <\/small><\/strong>basis he rigged wires and harnesses on my <\/small><\/strong>12 year old body. My life was literally in his hands: he hung me in the open air, from a tower crane, atop an office tower, 25+ stories high. Whereas he was supposed to be my protector, he was my abuser.<\/small><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why speak out now? I was 12, he was 36. It is incomprehensible. Why didn\u2019t an adult on the set find his predatory advances strange \u2014 that over-the-top special attention he gave me. Fairly early on he nicknamed me \u201cJailbait\u201d and brazenly called me by this name in a sick flirty way in front of others (at the time, I remember asking one of my older brothers what it meant). Sure, I\u2019ve come to understand the terrible power dynamics that play into whistle-blowing by \u201csubordinates\u201d against persons in power, how difficult it can be for someone to speak up. But I was a child. Over the years I\u2019ve really struggled as I\u2019ve wondered how my life might have been different if someone, <\/small><\/strong>any one grown-up who witnessed his sick ways, had spoken up before he lured me to that hotel room.<\/small><\/strong><\/p>\n

Years ago, I had heard second hand that Joel Kramer was \u201cfound out\u201d and forced to leave the business. I learned recently that in fact he still works at the top of the industry. And a few weeks ago, I found an internet photo of Joel Kramer hugging a young girl. That image has haunted me near nonstop since. I can no longer hide what happened.<\/small><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hollywood has been very good to me in many ways. Nevertheless, Hollywood also failed to protect me, a child actress. I like to think of myself as a tough Boston chick, in many ways I suppose not unlike Faith, Missy, or Echo. Through the years, brave fans have regularly shared with me how some of my characters have given them the conviction to stand up to their abusers. Now it is you who give me strength and conviction. I hope that speaking out will help other victims and protect against future abuse.<\/small><\/strong><\/p>\n

With every person that speaks out, every banner that drops down <\/small><\/strong>onto my <\/small><\/strong>iphone screen disclosing similar stories\/truths, my resolve strengthens. Sharing these words, finally calling my abuser out publicly by name, brings the start of a new calm.<\/small><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Dushku\u2019s post, she said that Kramer had nicknamed her \u201cJailbait\u201d on set and even jokingly used the nickname in the presence of other crew members. She also alleged that she had been injured on set after one of the adults she had told about the incident visited the production. \u201cTo be clear, over the course of those months rehearsing and filming True Lies, it was Joel Kramer who was responsible for my safety on a film that at the time broke new ground for action films,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWhereas he was supposed to be my protector, he was my abuser.\u201d Dushku also wrote that she\u2019d heard years ago that he\u2019d been \u201cfound out\u201d and had left the industry, learning only recently that he was still working. This year he did stunt coordination work for\u00a0Blade Runner 2049<\/em>\u00a0and an episode of CBS\u2019s\u00a0Star Trek: Discovery<\/em>, according to IMDB.<\/p>\n

Reached by phone Saturday, Kramer called Dushku\u2019s allegations of sexual misconduct \u201catrocious lies.\u201d Kramer told\u00a0Vanity Fair<\/em>\u00a0that he and some of the\u00a0True Lies<\/em>\u00a0crew had taken Dushku swimming and for a sushi dinner. He denied luring Dushku to his room, molesting her, or calling her \u201cJailbait.\u201d He also said he did not recall Dushku having been injured on set, but said she could have bruised herself. \u201cI would not want anyone to get hurt on my set, especially a minor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actress\u00a0Eliza Dushku\u00a0accused\u00a0In a\u00a0Facebook post\u00a0on Friday night, stunt coordinator\u00a0Joel Kramer\u00a0of sexually molesting her on the set of\u00a0True Lies\u00a0when she was 12 […]<\/p>\n

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