Jamie Lee Curtis has praised Eliza Dushku for opening up about being sexually molested by stunt coordinator Joel Kramer on the sets of True Lies, when she was a minor, saying the actor “has awakened us to a new, horrific reality”.
In a Facebook post, Dushku alleged that she was sexually harassed by Kramer, who was in-charge of her safety on the film sets.
Curtis, who played the then 12-year-old actor’s mother in the James Cameron directorial, penned a column in Huffington Post saying she had shared the story with her privately a few years ago.
“I was shocked and saddened then and still am today. We have all started to awaken to the fact that the terrible abuses now commonplace in daily news reports have been going on for a very long time… Eliza’s story has now awakened us from our denial slumber to a new, horrific reality. The abuse of children,” she wrote.
The actor said learning about the incident was a “terrible” experience for her.
“Many of us involved in ‘True Lies’ were parents. Jim, Arnold and myself. Parents of daughters. What allegedly happened to Eliza, away from the safety net of all of us and our purview is a terrible, terrible thing to learn about and have to reconcile.”
Curtis hopes affected people will continue to share their stories and that “all abusers will be held accountable”.
She added, “All of us must take some responsibility that the loose and relaxed camaraderie that we share with our young performers has carried with it a misguided assumption that they are adults in an adult world, capable of making adult choices.”
Cameron had also praised Duskhu for her bravery in speaking out and said had he had any inkling about such behaviour, “there would’ve been no mercy”.
Meanwhile, Kramer has denied Dushku’s claims calling them as “atrocious lies”.
He has been fired by his agency, Worldwide Production Agency following molestation allegations.
“WPA has elected to part ways with Joel Kramer based on the allegations of misconduct now being reported. Such behavior is unacceptable and entirely at odds with the the standards of conduct we demand of ourselves, and expect from our clients,” the agency’s president and general counsel Richard Caleel said in a statement to Deadline.