‘Seagal sat me down and unzipped his pants’
ACTRESS Portia de Rossi has claimed Hollywood actor and producer Steven Seagal unzipped his trousers during a private office audition.
The Australian actress, 44, claims the 65-year-old star began to expose himself in front of her and sexually propositioned her before she fled.
Rossi, wife of US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, wrote on Twitter: “He told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants. I ran and called my agent.”
The Scream 2 star said her agent was “unfazed” and replied: “‘Well, I didn’t know if he was your type’.”
Following the claims, DeGeneres, 59, supported her partner tweeting: “I’m proud of my wife.”
Rossi’s claims come after The Good Wife actress Julianna Margulies said she was sexually harassed by Seagal who intimidated her with a gun in a hotel room. She said: “I never was raped. And I never was harmed. And I don’t know how I got out of that hotel room… I sort of screamed my way out.”
The actress said she was 23 at the time, when she got to the hotel at 10.40pm and found herself alone with him. “He made sure that I saw his gun,” she said. “I had never seen a gun in real life.”
Last month, US news show Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero said she too was repeatedly pressured to audition alone with Seagal at his home for a role in the 1997 movie Fire Down Below.
Guerrero claims the actor and producer made her perform in front of him as he sat on a throne in a silk robe. Later, her manager told her Seagal wanted to offer her the lead in the film but that she would need to return to his home that night for another private audition. She declined, and the role went to another actress.
Recent allegations against the actor come a decade after former Playboy model Jenny McCarthy claimed she was propositioned by the star.
Seagal denied her claims but so far has not responded to the latest allegations.
He said how important it was for us to have chemistry off screen PORTIA DE ROSSI ON SEAGAL’S ‘AUDITION’