Stunt Coordinator Joel Kramer Let Go By Talent Agency Following Allegations of Abuse From Eliza Dushku

On Saturday, Eliza Dushku alleged in a Facebook post that she was sexually assaulted by stunt coordinator Joel Kramer while on the set of True Lies. On Sunday, he was dropped from his agency, Worldwide Production Agency.

Deadline reports that WPA confirmed Kramer is no longer their client:

“WPA has elected to part ways with Joel Kramer based on the allegations of misconduct now being reported. Such behavior is unacceptable and entirely at odds with the the standards of conduct we demand of ourselves, and expect from our clients,” the agency’s president and general counsel Richard Caleel said in a statement to Deadline.

In Dushku’s post, she claims Kramer invited her to a “pool party” for the stunt crew. When she arrived at his hotel room, he was the only one there. She says he went into the bathroom then emerged naked:

I remember what I was wearing (my favorite white denim shorts, thankfully, secured enough for me to keep on). I remember how he laid me down on the bed, wrapped me with his gigantic writhing body, and rubbed all over me. He spoke these words: “You’re not going to sleep on me now sweetie, stop pretending you’re sleeping,” as he rubbed harder and faster against my catatonic body. When he was ‘finished’, he suggested, “I think we should be careful…,” [about telling anyone] he meant. I was 12, he was 36.

A number of people have come forward to confirm Dushku’s story as one she told at the time. Her agent while filming True Lies, JoAnne Colonna, was referenced in Dushku’s post; she says she told Colonna what happened, and Colonna in turn contacted True Lies executive producer Rae Sanchini:

“I’d called Rae multiple times because there was such inappropriateness going on the set,” Colonna told Deadline. “There was sexual talk to and at her at various occasions. She was a very feisty, precocious 12-year-old, a tomboy, they may have felt she was one of the boys but it was really inappropriate from the top.”

Sue Booth-Forbes, who served as Dushku’s legal guardian on set, agreed with Colonna’s account of the sexualized atmosphere, and that Colonna and Booth-Forbes both spoke to Sanchini about it. However, he denies any knowledge of the incident:

“I want to state for the record that, until yesterday, I was unaware of any instances or claims of sexual harassment or assault against Eliza. Had I known, I would have taken immediate and forceful action. My thoughts are with Eliza and I hope that by coming forward it will help her heal, as well as empower others to do the same.”

On Saturday, director James Cameron also denied any knowledge of the alleged assault, saying directors are “oblivious” to “inter-personal things that are happening on the set,” but that had he known there would have been “no mercy,” adding, “I have daughters.”

Close family friend Peter Conti also remembers Dushku’s distress at the time of the incident, and expressed confusion over what to do. Dushku was fearful and in Kramer’s hands on set. She claims she injured herself during a stunt not long after Kramer’s alleged assault, and implies in her Facebook post that it was retribution for Colonna’s attempted intervention. Conti said he got into a physical altercation with Kramer at the True Lies premiere, but feels regret for “not handling it differently.

“What clouded my judgment is that JoAnne repeatedly went to the producer and nothing happened. How the hell were they going to listen to me,” Conti added.

The New York Daily News reports that Kramer has denied all the allegations and is completely “flabbergasted” by Dushku’s story:

“I don’t know where this comes from. I am absolutely floored, she was a sweet kid I am absolutely in shock right now,” he said. “I don’t know why she would do this to me. It is not true.”