A new report also nots one incident in which EP/director Jeffrey Reiner allegedly asked Lena Dunham to have dinner with Wilson in order to convince her to 'show her t-ts.'
- Dec 19, 2019
AceShowbiz - Back in the summer of 2018, Ruth Wilson shocked fans with her sudden departure from Showtime's "The Affair". Futher making it suspicious, the Golden Globe winner said that she wasn't allow to detail her exit from the show. Now, a new report suggests that her decision to leave was driven by the show's "hostile work environment."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wilson, who has signed on an NDA, had always wanted to leave "The Affair" because of "ongoing frustrations with the nudity required of her, friction with [showrunner Sarah] Treem over the direction of her character, and what she ultimately felt was a 'hostile work environment.' " Sources also said that the actress took issue on "the frequency and nature of certain nude scenes."
It was also said that Wilson was often asked to be naked in scenes with one production source claiming that the goal was only to make it "titillating." At one point, Wilson allegedly ask on set, "Why do you need to see me and not more of him?" referring to a male co-star. Her complaints, however, were ignored and she was later labeled "difficult."
"There was a culture problem at the show from the very beginning and a tone-deafness from Sarah Treem about recognizing the position she was putting actors in," the insiders revealed. "Over and over again, I witnessed Sarah Treem try to cajole actors to get naked even if they were uncomfortable or not contractually obligated to."
Treem, however, denied the allegations. "I would never say those things to an actor. That's not who I am. I am not a manipulative person, and I've always been a feminist," she said in an statement. "I have devoted my entire professional life to writing about and speaking to women's issues, women's causes, women'S empowerment and creating strong, complex roles for women in theater and in Hollywood, on- and off-screen. It's what I think about, what I care about, it's what drives my life and work."
"The reason I even created 'The Affair' was to illuminate how the female experience of moving through the world is so different from the male one, it’s like speaking a second language," she continued. "The idea that I would ever cultivate an unsafe environment or harass a woman on one of my shows is utterly ridiculous and lacks a grounding in reality."
The men on set were also said to be making inappropriate comments such as "everyone is waiting for you" or "you look beautiful…." The nude scenes allegedly also were filmed in "plain view" with people "who didn't need to be" there present.
The report noted one incident during a filming in Montauk, New York. According to sources, EP/director Jeffrey Reiner asked Lena Dunham to have dinner with Wilson in order to convince her to "show her t-ts, or at least some v-g." Wilson reportedly used the incident to leave "The Affair".
Showtime has released a statement on the report, saying, "At its core, Showtime has always prioritized the discovery and support of new talent, by providing an inclusive platform for original voices, and a safe environment for them to do their best work."
The network added to FoxNews, "When confronted with a report of inappropriate behavior involving anyone within our offices or productions, we immediately initiate a process overseen by our compliance team in the case of our own shows, or in the case of series we license from others, we collaborate closely with the relevant production studio. In the instances that THR is referencing, appropriate and decisive action was taken."
While Reiner declined to comment, Cleta Ellington, an assistant director on the show and reportedly longtime associate of Reiner's, insisted that the discussion was not like how Jenni Konner, Dunham's former producing partner, described on now-defunct website Lenny Letter.
"Yes, we did discuss nudity, body doubles, the ins and outs of filming sex scenes, what the various networks expected, and even shared a nude picture of male genitalia after Lena accused 'The Affair' of not showing equal male nudity (the scene had previously aired on national TV the year before)," said Ellington. "But our candid conversation did not once ever pause in discomfort. I feel the Lenny Letter, which inexplicably erased me from the conversation, was a clickbait smear against a trusted colleague."
