McLachlan says co-star ‘goosed’ him
GOLD Logie-winning actor Craig McLachlan has told a court his former co-star used to “goose” him by sticking her fingers up his buttocks, and pulled down his pants while on the set of The Rocky Horror Show in 2014.
McLachlan is suing his former co-star Christie Whelan Browne, the ABC and Fairfax Media for defamation in the NSW Supreme Court.
The 56-year-old claims the media companies and Whelan Browne defamed him by publishing stories in January 2018 that he says falsely portrayed him as having harassed and bullied female performers in the 2014 run of the musical. He denies the allegations. McLachlan took to the witness stand on Tuesday afternoon, when he told the trial Whelan Browne asked him to
take “quasi porno shots” when they met on the set of a production of Grease in 2005.
He said their relationship was “terrific”, full of “lots of laughs” and the pair got on “fabulously well”.
The court was told that after a performance together, Whelan Browne pulled McLachlan backstage and asked him to take photos with her in “porno-style” positions.
McLachlan said the positions shown in the photos were Whelan Browne’s choice and he declined to pull her hair when she asked him to. He said it was her sense of humour and for “personal use”.
When it came to being cast together on The Rocky Horror Show in 2014, McLachlan said the pair were “excited” to be doing the show together.
The court was told the cast used to “clown around” and were “physically and verbally affectionate towards each other”.
McLachlan told the court the atmosphere between the entire cast was friendly and affectionate, with people constantly hugging, “smack each other’s bottoms” and sitting on each other’s laps.
The entertainer told the court Whelan Browne was known to be the “goosing queen of the cast”.
“She did it to me, to other cast members,” he said.
McLachlan will continue to give evidence on Wednesday.