Rush exits screen academy post
Move follows allegations of harassment, which actor denies
CANBERRA, Australia — Geoffrey Rush announced Saturday he’s stepping down as president of Australia’s screen industry academy, days after a theater company revealed it had received a complaint against the Oscar-winning actor of “inappropriate behavior.”
Rush has denied any inappropriate behavior at the Sydney Theatre Company. Media reports this week said the allegation dated from Rush’s starring role in the leading Australian theater’s staging of William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” two years ago.
Rush said he stepped down as president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts ahead of the academy’s annual televised awards in Sydney on Wednesday.
“Certain recent media reports have made untenable allegations concerning my standing in the entertainment community. It is unreasonable that my professional colleagues should be somehow associated with such allegations,” Rush said in a statement through his lawyer Nicholas Pullen.
“In the circumstances, I have decided to step aside in my ambassadorial role as president of AACTA effective immediately and until these issues have been resolved,” he said.
AACTA said in a statement it accepted and respected Rush’s decision to voluntarily step aside.
The Sydney Theatre Company theater company has not disclosed details of the allegation. It said the complainant requested that the allegation be dealt with confidentially.