Eliza Dushku Slams ‘Bull’s Michael Weatherly & CBS for ‘Deflection, Denial and Spin’
Last week, news broke that former Bull star Eliza Dushku and CBS had reached a $9.5 million settlement. The payment came after after the actress had reported Michael Weatherly for inappropriate behavior on set, only to be written off the show in what she believed to be retaliation.
Now, Dushku is breaking her silence about the New York Times report, offering more of her perspective on how Weatherly acted on set — allegedly making lewd comments and sexually harassing her on multiple occasions — and the situation that has ensued since she reported the behavior. In an op-ed for for The Boston Globe, the actress slams Weatherly and Bull showrunner Glenn Gordon Caron for their recent comments about the settlement, which she says have “amounted to more deflection, denial, and spin.”
“This is not a ‘he-said/she-said’ case. Weatherly’s behavior was captured on CBS’s own videotape recordings,” she writes. She adds that Weatherly “had a habit of exaggerated eye-balling and leering” at her.
“What is hardest to share is the way (Weatherly) made me feel for 10 to 12 hours per day for weeks,” Dushku details. “This was classic workplace harassment that became workplace bullying. I was made to feel dread nearly all the time I was in his presence. And this dread continues to come up whenever I think of him and that experience.”
She also claims he bragged about his close friendship with the now-disgraced former CEO of CBS, Les Moonves, who was fired over allegations of sexual misconduct in late 2018. “He regaled me with stories about using Moonves’s plane, how they vacationed together, and what great friends they were,” she says.
She also says she believes that, after confronting Weatherly about his behavior, he texted CBS TV President David Stapf about getting her written off the show.
“Retaliation is illegal, not to mention unfair and painful,” she writes. “After I addressed it, Weatherly doubled down and ratcheted up his retaliation. Following our conversation and up until the season wrapped weeks later, he barely spoke to me, making it clear he was icing me out.”
Caron was also was allegedly involved in her character’s departure. She continues, “[He] wrote me off the show within 48 hours of my complaints about Weatherly.”
As part of her settlement, Dushku says the network agreed to “designate an individual trained in sexual harassment compliance to monitor Weatherly and the show in general.”
Dushku also wanted a meeting with Steven Spielberg, the head of Amblin Television, which co-produces the legal drama. She says she hasn’t been able to arrange that meeting yet.
Conversation5 Comments
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Comments & looks made you feel dread? Put your big girl panties on & get over yourself. That's life! Get cornered in the stockroom by your naked boss. Or have to stand on a table & scream for help because a drunk customer is trying to grope you. That is harassment.Take your 9+ million, quit whining & go away.
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Boy, am I torn about this one...I don't like Dushku and I LOVE MW, so I admit I may a biiiit prejudiced. Not having seen any of this in person, I find it hard to believe that MW's sexual harassment wasn't just his usual "smart-ass" attitude coming through. Thing is, it's the smart-ass persona I find so damn sexy! I mean. Come on, even the NAME----BULL! ;-) hope, though, all things considered, that the show isn't on its way out. You know how angry bulls behave...lol
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If what she says is true I'm sorry - no one should have to put up with that and I know this from experience - also, women often do not stick up for each other which i hope is beginning to change - with that said - I don't like her. I'm glad she's gone and I don't care why.
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Maybe I'm being naive, but 'he was eyeballing me' or looking at me strangely.
And she got $19 million for that.
He said he wanted a threesome with me.
In the good old days a woman would have said ''not interested of you're involved' and kept going.
Look, the MeToo movement is a good one.
It's different from what the original creator of the movement had intended, but I suppose it gives women a voice they thought they didn't have.
.My observation is this:
Unless the movement defines itself and soon, it's going to obsolete.
There are too many women who are using MeToo as a.sledge hammer.
Dushku first claed Weatherly came on to her inappropriately, then she complained that he ignored her
As a woman, we used to observe those women as really into a guy but didn't want anyone to know.
MeToo define yourself or your members are going to be the death of you..
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I agree. Women who suffer true sexual harassment should speak up & the offenders suffer the consequences of their actions. But, off color comments? Come on. Grow up & handle it. CBS shouldn't have paid her that obscene amount of money. Women are taking advantage of true victims by behaving like this over comments.
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