SCHULTZ ACCUSERS SPEAK OUT
CO-FOUNDER RESIGNS FROM THEATRE AFTER ACTRESSES GO PUBLIC WITH SEX ACCUSATIONS
Prominent Soulpepper theatre co-founder Albert Schultz resigned Thursday hours after four actresses alleged he sexually harassed them for years. The women held a news conference Thursday morning to announce they are suing Schultz, who was also the theatre’s artistic director, and the company. They told a bank of news cameras and reporters that it was terrifying coming forward but felt they had no choice.
“Albert Schultz is the face of Soulpepper: He had the power to cast or not cast an actress,” said Tatha Swann, a lawyer for the women. “There was fear to make a complaint. The power dynamic was extreme.”
The day before, when the allegations became public, Schultz, 54, said he would defend himself vehemently against the women’s lawsuits in which they say he groped them, exposed himself, pressed against them, or otherwise behaved inappropriately with impunity for years.
None of their allegations has been tested in any court and neither Schultz nor Toronto-based Soulpepper has filed a statement of defence.
The lawsuits by Kristin Booth, Hannah Miller, Diana Bentley and Patricia Fagan prompted Soulpepper on Wednesday to order Schultz to step down from his posts pending an internal investigation. Schultz’s wife and company executive director, Leslie Lester, volunteered to step down in the interim, the company’s board of directors said. Later Thursday, the board announced Schultz’s immediate resignation.
The allegations against Schultz and the theatre company’s alleged failing to deal with them come after Soulpepper revealed in October that it had severed ties with longtime guest artist Laszlo Marton, who it said had engaged in sexual harassment.
Booth derided Soulpepper for bragging publicly in October about its policies against sexual harassment.
“I never once saw a policy on sexual harassment,” Booth said. “Knowing the culture there, the hypocrisy of that statement is what motivated me to come forward so that this does not happen to one other young woman coming up into that company.”
Miller said working conditions at Soulpepper are not safe for actors whose jobs lead them to be open and vulnerable.
“There’s a sanctity of the theatre that is being violated,” Miller said. “For women out there who are young actresses who are at the start of their career, have the strength to deserve what you deserve, and that is a safe work environment and a safe place for you to make art.”
The allegations prompted four other artists to say on Thursday they had resigned as a show of solidarity with the complainants, who have all agreed to be publicly identified.
Ted Dykstra, who along with Stuart Hughes, Michelle Monteith and Rick Roberts resigned from the theatre company as a symbol of support, said they would not work again with Soulpepper unless Schultz is fired.
“I don’t really think choice is involved,” Dykstra said. “I can’t work there knowing what I know. I know these women and I believe these stories.”
The lawsuits come as the entertainment industry reels from a growing list of sexual harassment and assault allegations that followed accusations against Hollywood giant Harvey Weinstein last year. Weinstein’s spectacular fall from grace sparked a social media outpouring of women speaking out about what they had endured.
“The #metoo campaign has showed us that for the first time people are listening and that people care,” Fagan said.
Founded in 1998, Soulpepper bills itself as Toronto’s largest not-forprofit theatre company and Schultz has played a key role in its repertoire.
He is also executive producer on the hit CBC TV series Kim’s Convenience, a television actor with roles on shows including Street Legal and Alias Grace, and was honoured with an Order of Canada in 2013.
Soulpepper also provides training for aspiring actors and theatre artists.
Swann said she expects “there’s going to be a huge impact on (Soulpepper’s) production, and I think this is something that has to happen in order to send a message.”
“What we hope to see is that (Schultz) is removed from his role and that Soulpepper does an internal cleaning, that they put in policies that have teeth and enforce them to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” the lawyer said.