Following the release of Charlize Theron’s Bombshell, which focused on the scandal surrounding Fox Network’s then-CEO and chairman, Roger Ailes, the actress shared light on her early days in Hollywood. While reflecting on the seriousness of the subject that the film was dealing with, the Mad Max actress opened up about the time when she was allegedly assaulted by a high-profile director.
However, even though the director that was accused of s*xual misconduct allegations by the actress remains anonymous to this day, Theron claimed that she did once reveal his name before.
Charlize Theron opened up about being s*xually assaulted during her early days in the industry
Reflecting on the premise of Bombshell, which revolves around the true story of Megyn Kelly, who accused Ailes of s*xual harassment, Theron opened up on going through a similar experience. While speaking about the situation, Charlize Theron revealed that during her initial days in the industry, she was allegedly harassed by a high-profile director after she visited his home for an audition process. She explained the scenario in detail by stating,
“I should’ve [turned around and left]. I didn’t. But he had a very healthy ego, he felt very good about himself. Then we sat down and started talking. He sat very close to me, that was strange. The drinking bothered me, I was like, ‘This doesn’t feel right. And then at one point, he put his hand on my knee and that’s when I just went, ‘Oof’.”
Although the name of this director hasn’t been made public, Charlize Theron claimed that she did disclose his name earlier while speaking about the incident with another media outlet. However, to her surprise, they decided to protect the director by not revealing his name.
Charlize Theron claimed that the journalist allegedly tried to protect the director’s name
While reflecting on the situation, the actress revealed that when she was asked if she ever had a “casting couch experience”, Theron didn’t back away from revealing her alleged experience with the director. However, despite disclosing his name, the journalist made sure that the director’s name was protected. The Mad Max star stated,
“I actually did disclose his name. You don’t know that because every time I disclosed his name, the journalist made the decision to not write his name, and it goes to show just how deeply systemic this problem is.”
But despite being stopped from revealing his name before, the actress believes that there will be a right time and place when she will open up about the whole incident and reveal the name of the director.
Bombshell is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: NPR