Ex-employee accuses Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas made headlines just a week ago when he decided to pre- emptively deny any sexual misconduct allegations that might have been coming his way.
At the time, in an interview with Deadline, he explained that he knew a former employee intended on coming forward with accusations against him. He said, “I’m bewildered why, after 32 years, this is coming out, now.”
On Thursday, that story came out in a detailed account for The Hollywood Reporter, in which author Susan Braudy accused the actor of sexual harassment when she worked for him in the 1980s running the New York office for his production company, Stonebridge Productions.
She claims he masturbated in front of her, often used sexually charged language around the office, made “demeaning comments about her appearance and graphic discussions regarding his mistresses and more.”
In an interview with Today on Friday, she said, “He thought he was the king of the world and that he could humiliate me without any repercussions.”
Braudy recalled one particular incident, when the pair were having a one- onone script meeting in his apartment. “He slid down to the floor, unbuckled his belt and put his hands inside his trousers,” she said. “I could see what he was doing. He began to sort of, fondle himself. I was very scared.”
After the alleged incident, Braudy said Douglas asked her to sign a nondisclosure agreement, which she refused to do. He fired her six months later.
In his i nterview with Deadline, Douglas admitted to using profane language while working with who we can now safely assume was Braudy, but denied “being a sexual harasser.”
“I’m certainly regretful if she was offended by the language in the ’ 80s,” he said. “Finally, masturbating in front of her? I don’t know where to begin. This is a complete lie, fabrication, no truth to it whatsoever.”
He said he believes she is making these claims three decades later because “she is disgruntled her career didn’t go the way she hoped and she is holding this grudge. It has caused tremendous stress to me for something I believe I have nothing to regret or feel responsible for.”
In response to his denial, Braudy said to THR, “I believe this is part of the problem, as is his pretext of victimization. These are some reasons why so many women don’t come forward with their stories — lord knows it’s taken 30 years and a movement for me to gather my courage.”