British actress and sex scandal that’s toppled Harry Potter film mogul
A POweRfUl Hollywood studio chief has been forced to resign following revelations he had a ‘casting couch’ affair with an aspiring British actress. warner Bros chairman and chief executive Kevin Tsujihara had already apologised to his company after leaked text messages revealed he had tried to advance the career of Charlotte Kirk after an affair with her. His boss, warnerMedia chief executive John Stankey, said yesterday it was ‘in the best interest’ of the company, its staff and partners that Mr Tsujihara go. warnerMedia had begun an investigation into claims that the 54-year- old married studio boss and the 26-year- old actress from Kent began a relationship after a 2013 sexual rendezvous in a los Angeles hotel. Miss Kirk subsequently won small parts in the warner Bros films Ocean’s 8 and How To Be Single. However, the text messages revealed that – after meeting Mr Tsujihara – she put pressure on him and other movie executives to be considered for better roles. Mr Tsujihara, the first Hollywood studio chief of Asian extraction, was one of the most powerful figures in the industry. During six years running warner Bros, he had been credited with a clutch of successful superhero films and for persuading JK Rowling to collaborate on a string of Harry Potter spin-offs. warnerMedia had already looked into claims of an affair but had to launch a new inquiry after the text messages were made public. Mr Tsujihara had previously insisted he had no involvement in Miss Kirk winning any parts his films. earlier this month, however, he said: ‘I deeply regret that I have made mistakes in my personal life that have caused pain and embarrassment to the people I love the most. I also deeply regret that these actions have caused embarrassment to the company.’ In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Miss Kirk insisted: ‘It was not castingcouch sex. Kevin might have thought I was on his casting couch but my sense of self-worth is such that I thought I was just having sex with a man I fancied. ‘If I’d been a man I would have had a pat on the back. Instead, because I am a young woman, I am accused of being a slut and a conniving, calculating one at that.’ last night Miss Kirk said that she was ‘deeply saddened’ by Mr Tsujihara’s resignation, adding: ‘Our relationship ended many years ago. The release of the story was nothing to do with me. In fact, I tried to prevent it. whatever differences we may have had were long since forgotten.’
The actress, who trained at the Italia Conti stage school in london but moved to los Angeles at 19, was 21 when she was introduced to Mr Tsujihara by ex-boyfriend Jamie Packer, billionaire son of tycoon Kerry Packer, according to the texts obtained by the Hollywood Reporter.
Producer Jamie Packer had been close to signing a $ 450million (£340million) deal with warner Bros when he sent a text message to the actress in September 2013.
Offering her the ‘opportunity of a lifetime’, he told her to come to a los Angeles hotel where he introduced her to Mr Tsujihara who later promised to arrange meetings between Miss Kirk and his studio’s executives, according to the texts. But the roles failed to materialise.
According to the text messages, Mr Packer and his partner Brett Ratner became embroiled in the scandal as they dealt with Miss Kirk’s growing frustration. Mr Tsujihara is one of the biggest names in Hollywood to fall since allegations against Harvey weinstein led to the #MeToo movement.