Eliza Dushku Alleges Sexual Assault While Filming True Lies

She says she was 12 when a stuntman molested her
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 13, 2018 3:19 PM CST
Eliza Dushku: Stuntman Sexually Assaulted Me at 12
In this April 5, 2016 file photo, actress Eliza Dushku poses at the premiere of the film "Be Here Now (The Andy Whitfield Story)," at the UTA Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif.   (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Eliza Dushku says she was sexually assaulted by a stunt coordinator working on the Arnold Schwarzenegger film True Lies when she was only 12 years old, TMZ reports. “I remember, so clearly 25 years later, how Joel Kramer made me feel special, how he methodically built my and my parents’ trust, for months grooming me,” she wrote Saturday on Facebook. She says the then-36-year-old stunt coordinator got her into his hotel room by telling her parents he was going to let her swim in the hotel pool. Dushku says Kramer—who would call her "Jailbait" on set—undressed, got on top of her on the bed, and rubbed his body on her until he ejaculated. Says says he then told her, "I think we should be careful," meaning she shouldn't tell anyone.

Dushku says she did tell a few people, but “no one seemed ready to confront this taboo subject then, nor was I.” She says after one friend she told confronted Kramer—who was in charge of rigging Dushku—she had her ribs broken in a stunt "by no small coincidence." "He was supposed to be my protector, he was my abuser," Dushku writes. She says she's coming forward now because of others in Hollywood doing so and because Kramer continues to get work on projects like Westworld and Furious 7. True Lies costar Jamie Lee Curtis tells People she didn't know about the incident, which she calls "very sad and disturbing." Kramer tells the Wrap that Duskhu's claims are "absolute lies" that "could ruin my career." "I never sexually assaulted her," he says. "She’s a sweet girl." Dushku says she hopes "speaking out will help other victims and protect against future abuse." (More Eliza Dushku stories.)

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