Actor Eliza Dushku has revealed that she was sexually assaulted at the age of 12 while working on James Cameron’s True Lies. In a lengthy statement on her Facebook page, the Buffy alum detailed being sexually molested by Hollywood stunt coordinator Joel Kramer on the set of 1994 film.
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Dushku divulged why she wasn’t able to confront Kramer immediately and her overall struggles when it came to disclosing her experience, until now. “I am grateful to the women and men who have gone before me in recent months,” she wrote. “The ever-growing list of sexual abuse and harassment victims who have spoken out with their truths have finally given me the ability to speak out.”
The former Buffy The Vampire Slayer star described how the then 36-year-old groomed her and manipulated her parents, leading to a night where she stayed with him before he “methodically drew the shades and turned down the lights,” among other things, in a Miami hotel room. This was before “he disappeared in the bathroom and emerged, naked, bearing nothing but a small hand towel held flimsy at his mid-section.”
“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.”
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Dushku admitted that in the wake of the Hollywood scandals, which has exposed the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, Bryan Singer and so many others, she wanted to step forward now as she heard Kramer was still working “at the top of the industry.” She said that she could “no longer hide what happened” and thanked those who came out with their own sexual harassment stories before her, which she felt gave her the “strength and conviction” to finally speak out.