The actor, who starred in the 1994 film, says he's 'shocked and saddened for Eliza but I am also proud' of Eliza, who says that stunt coordinator Joel Kramer sexually assaulted her when she was 12.
- Jan 16, 2018
AceShowbiz - Arnold Schwarzenegger has expressed his sympathy for Eliza Dushku after she claimed that "True Lies" stunt coordinator Joel Kramer sexually assaulted her when she was working on the 1994 film. She was 12 years old at the time.
Arnold, who starred in the action flick directed by James Cameron, tweeted, "Tom, you bet your ass all of us would have done something. I'm shocked and saddened for Eliza but I am also proud of her - beyond being a great talent and an amazing woman, she is so courageous."
Tom, you bet your ass all of us would have done something. I’m shocked and saddened for Eliza but I am also proud of her - beyond being a great talent and an amazing woman, she is so courageous. https://t.co/EJJbkdior2
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) January 16, 2018
His tweet was in response to Tom Arnold's tweet. Tom, who was also a cast member of "True Lies", previously wrote in support of Eliza, "I promise you @JimCameron @Schwarzenegger @jamieleecurtis would’ve done something too. We all love & are proud of @elizadushku #metoo."
I promise you @JimCameron @Schwarzenegger @jamieleecurtis would’ve done something too. We all love & are proud of @elizadushku #metoo https://t.co/4rmjfWqj39
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) January 14, 2018
Meanwhile, their co-star Jamie Lee Curtis wrote in an essay for The Huffington Post, "I was shocked and saddened then and still am today. We have all started to awaken to the fact that the terrible abuses now commonplace in daily news reports have been going on for a very long time. Unconscionably, those reports frequently come along with claims by the perpetrators that, as adults, those perpetrated against had some part in it. Eliza's story has now awakened us from our denial slumber to a new, horrific reality. The abuse of children."
Director James Cameron has also weighed in on the issue. He said at the TCA's winter press tour, "Eliza is very brave for speaking up. I think all the women are that are speaking up and calling for a reckoning now. I think this has been endemic throughout human systems, not just Hollywood."
He added, "Because Hollywood deals with women who are victims 10-15-20 years ago who are famous today, so they get to have a louder voice when they come forward. Bravo for them for doing it and I'm glad Eliza did that. It's just heartbreaking that it happened to her."
Eliza opened up about the ordeal in a Facebook post on Saturday morning, January 13. According to her, Joel molested her in a Miami hotel room, where he "laid me down on the bed, wrapped me with his gigantic writhing body, and rubbed all over me."
She went on sharing, "I remember vividly how he methodically drew the shades and turned down the lights; how he cranked up the air-conditioning to what felt like freezing levels, where exactly he placed me on one of the two hotel room beds, what movie he put on the television ('Coneheads'); how he disappeared in the bathroom and emerged, naked, bearing nothing but a small hand towel held flimsy at his mid-section."
Joel denied the allegations, saying in a phone interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the claims were "atrocious lies." He said he was "floored" and that Eliza's claims were hitting him "like a sledgehammer."
He went on claiming, "We took care of her like she was our kid. I don't ever remember being alone with her. 'Luring' her up to my hotel room is just crazy." He added that the sexual assault allegation was "just untrue."
Following Eliza's claims, two other women later accused Joel of sexual assault. Stuntwoman Laura Albert told Deadline that it happened when she brought her 15-year-old sister and her sister's friend, 16, to the set of "Virus" in early 1997. She said that Joel "had lured the girls to go swimming at the pool in his hotel" after a day on set and go-karting after production ended.
Joel allegedly "pulled his d**k out and said, ‘You cannot handle this.' " Laura said her sister left, but the other girl stayed and had sex with Joel, who was 39 at the time.
Responding to this, Joel denied inviting the two girls to the pool, saying that they showed up on their own. He also said that the 16-year-old girl went to his hotel room uninvited. "She came in and we fooled around but no intercourse," he said, adding, "Yes all was consensual."
Another stuntwoman claimed Joel forced her to perform oral sex on him in the late 1970s or early '80s. "When I got into Joel's vehicle, instead of driving me to the other place, he drove us up into the hills on the south side of Ventura Boulevard into a quiet residential area. He pulled his vehicle over, unzipped his pants, pulled out his penis," the accuser who remains anonymous said.
"He grabbed me by the back of my head and forced my face down onto his penis and came in my mouth. He then released my head and cleaned himself up. I must have as well. I really don't remember if he gave me tissues. I cannot remember if words were exchanged of any type, but he did drive me to the other place, where the group had gone."
Joel called the allegations a "fabrication" and claimed he's a victim of a "witch hunt."
