Denial by Rush of Stone’s sex claim
OSCAR winner Geoffrey Rush has denied acting inappropriately towards a fellow actor eight years ago in an Australian theatre production, saying he never intended to cause her distress.
Rush was responding to allegations made by Yael Stone, now 33, who stars in the acclaimed US television series Orange is the New Black.
The claims centre on the stage production The Diary of A Madman, in which Stone played opposite Rush between 2010 and 2011 in Sydney and later in Brooklyn, New York.
Stone has told The New York Times that Rush danced naked in front of her in a dressing room “in a playful, clownish manner”.
She alleges he used a small mirror to spy on her in the shower and sent text messages that “became more sexual in nature but always encased in this very highfalutin intellectual language” to which, she says, she “enthusiastically and willingly” responded.
“I’m embarrassed by the ways I participated,” Stone told the Times. “I certainly wouldn’t engage as the person I am now in the way I did when I was 25”.
Of the shower incident, Stone says “I said words to the effect of ‘Bugger off, Geoffrey’.”
“I was walking a very delicate line where I needed to manage these uncomfortable moments but never, never offend him.”
Rush, in a statement to the Times on Monday, said the allegations of inappropriate behaviour were “incorrect and in some instance have been taken completely out of context”.
“However, clearly Yael has been upset on occasion by the spirited enthusiasm I generally bring to my work.
“I sincerely and deeply regret if I have caused her any distress. This, most certainly, has never been my intention.”
Rush said he abhorred any behaviour that might be considered as harassment or intimidation.
Rush this year sued Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph for defamation over allegations it made about his behaviour towards one of his co-stars in a separate production. The case outcome is still pending.
Stone, who is the mother of a baby girl, appeared on ABC Television’s 7.30 last night.
AAP