‘THEY SAID “OH WE SHOULD JUST HAVE SEX”. I HAD TO LAUGH IT OFF’

Ruth O’Neill, model and Entertainment TV presenter who has worked in Los Angeles

MOST of my encounters happened in LA. I’ve never had a full-on assault but I’ve had people meet me and say, “oh let’s go back to my hotel” or “let’s go out for drinks or dinner” instead of coffee during the day. If they asked me back for a drink in their place afterwards I’d just tell them that my flatmate is expecting me. Once you shut it down straight away or laugh it off, they know where they stand. But I’ve had really inappropriate comments made over dinner with producers or executives in my first year in LA. Like, “Oh we should just have sex”.

I was only 22 and starting out. I just started laughing, they could see by my reaction they weren’t getting anywhere. In LA, your first year in is known as “clueless” because that’s when you’re seeing that side of things for the first time. When you live and work there you can either get sucked in or you keep your values and integrity. A big part of the entertainment industry is networking so it’s knowing what is being “too friendly”. The movie industry is more male dominated so it was more prevalent there. That’s all industry type of stuff but then I’ve also had my ass grabbed in nightclubs or a guy rubbing my leg on public transport. It’s not okay.

On the business side of things, I never really came across it again once I started working in TV. I was also very lucky I worked for all female bosses too, both in LA and Ireland.