‘The Last of Us’ Star Ashley Johnson & 6 More Accuse ‘Critical Role’s Brian Foster of Sexual and Physical Abuse
The Last of Us star Ashley Johnson and six other women have sued Brian Foster — Johnson’s ex-boyfriend and former Critical Role costar — accusing him of domestic violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual battery, assault, and stalking.
“The women unfortunate enough to have crossed his path were subjected to a common thread of physical and sexual violence as well as mental and emotional abuse,” a complaint filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday reads, according to People. “Foster has left a trail of victims whose lives he sought to control through various lies, threats, intimidation, and manipulation.”
Bryan Freedman, the plaintiffs’ attorney, elaborated on the suit in a statement to People, saying, “The police officer who reviewed the evidence was so concerned for Ashley Johnson’s safety that he went on his own to a judge to get an immediate emergency protective order against Brian W. Foster. Since then, six additional women have come forward. This lawsuit is filed to both remedy the abuse Foster has inflicted on my seven clients as well as to prevent others from being victimized by Foster’s pattern of mental, emotional, and physical abuse.”
Ashley Johnson in The Last of Us (Credit: HBO)
According to Variety, Johnson said in the suit that her relationship with Foster started in 2012 and that he soon moved in with her. By 2015, however, Foster would go into a “violent fit” on a “nearly daily basis,” which involved breaking glass, punching through glass doors, breaking a gate, slamming doors, and getting in Johnson’s face screaming obscenities at her such as ‘stupid bitch,’ ‘f—king stupid,’ ‘f—king useless,’ ‘useless bitch,’ ‘f—king bitch,’ ‘f—king c—t,’ and more,” the complaint alleges.
The complaint also claims that Foster’s alleged misconduct was “fueled by chronic abuse of drugs and alcohol,” with Johnson adding Foster started drinking more after he was fired from Critical Role in 2021, per Variety.
Johnson and Foster split this March, but he allegedly refused to move out of their home, started carrying around “two airlift pistols modified to appear as real guns” and “a garrote,” and threatened to release private information about Johnson unless she paid him $150,000. Johnson then got the emergency protective order against Foster, and he was removed from her home in May, Variety adds.
Foster violated the order when he looked Johnson out of her house and “commandeered Johnson’s home security cameras and microphones to monitor her and track her comings and goings,” the complaint claims, per People.
The complaint also alleges that Foster groped Johnson’s sister, one of the other plaintiffs, and that he made “inappropriate sexual advances” toward other women and “groped them without consent,” Variety reports.
In a court filing in August, Foster claimed he toted the airguns to protect the couple’s dogs from coyotes and that the garrote was a pocket saw, he denied trying to extort Johnson, and he said that he has no recollection of his alleged groping of Johnson’s sister, according to Variety.
A representative for Critical Role told Variety the company had “no knowledge” of Foster’s alleged behavior, adding, “It is heartbreaking to us that some of our colleagues went through this, and we’re committed to supporting them however we can.”
Foster hasn’t yet commented on Tuesday’s complaint, but the plaintiffs in the suit said that they “will neither tolerate being abused by Foster nor will they be deterred by his ongoing and pervasive threats and behaviors.”
The complaint adds, “After years of suffering Foster’s abuse and after being pushed towards an emotional breakdown as a result, Plaintiffs have had enough.”
