Director Oliver Stone responded Tuesday to sexual harassment accusations made by actress Melissa Gilbert, who claimed that the director tried to humiliate her during an audition for the 1991 Jim Morrison biopic “The Doors.”
The accusation was made Monday on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM talk show, when Gilbert said Stone wanted her to do a scene he said he wrote just for her which involved saying, “Do me, baby,” repeatedly while on her hands and knees. Gilbert said she refused to do it and left the audition room in tears, and that she believed he did it to get back at her for embarrassing him at a club.
“He was ragging on television… he was telling everyone how television was crap and he’d never do it,” she said. “And then all these girls came running up to me because they had seen me on ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ And they left and he was dumbfounded, and I said, ‘You see, a*****e? That’s television!’ And I guess he never forgot it.’”
Stone and “The Doors” casting director Risa Bramon Garcia denied Gilbert’s account in statements sent to TheWrap. They said that the role Gilbert auditioned for, Jim Morrison’s girlfriend Pamela Courson, was a role that involved sexual scenes, but that steps were made to make sure the auditions were a safe environment. The role was played in the film by Meg Ryan.
“We auditioned dozens of actors for roles in ‘The Doors’ and it was made clear from the outset that our film was going to be a raunchy, no-holds-barred rock ‘n’ roll movie,” Stone said. “Anyone auditioning was told the scenes would be rehearsed and performed from a script, with my casting director, Risa Bramon Garcia, present throughout the process to ensure a safe environment for all actors who auditioned.”
“The auditions process for ‘The Doors’ was challenging given the nature of the material and the subject of the film. However, every actor who auditioned came in voluntarily and was aware of the provocative material prior to engaging in their scenes,” added Garcia. “No actor was forced or expected to do anything that might have been uncomfortable, and most actors embraced the challenge, recognizing Oliver Stone’s vision and the creative process.”
“In my experience, there was no attempt to personally offend any particular actor. I always have and still do go out of my way to create a safe and creative space for actors in the audition room. It was no different on The Doors.”
Stone made headlines last month when he commented on the downfall of Harvey Weinstein following his own accusations of sexual harassment, which are currently being investigated by American and British police. Stone said Weinstein “shouldn’t be condemned by a vigilante system” and that it was “not easy what he’s going through either.”