Eliza Dushku Claims She Was Sexually Molested At Age 12 By A Stunt Coordinator

Early on Jan. 13, Eliza Dushku, best known for her work in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Bring It On, shared her own #MeToo story on Facebook. In a lengthy post on the actor's official page, Eliza Dushku claimed she was sexually molested by a stunt coordinator while filming True Lies in the early 1990s. The actor explained she was 12 years old at the time of the alleged sexual abuse, and she named stunt coordinator Joel Kramer as her alleged abuser. She also referred to him as "one of Hollywood's leading stunt coordinators" at the time. (Bustle reached out to Kramer's agent for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.)

UPDATE 1: A rep for Kramer told Bustle via email,

"We are aware of Ms. Dushku’s serious allegations. We are carefully monitoring the situation for corroboration and/or more facts before commenting further or taking action."

UPDATE 2: During a phone call with TheWrap, Kramer reportedly denied the allegations of sexual abuse:

“Wow. That’s news to me. I never sexually assaulted her. She’s a sweet girl. We all looked out for her, that’s surprising.”

EARLIER: Throughout the Facebook post, Dushku discussed her alleged experiences with Kramer both on and off the film set. She detailed the events of the alleged abuse, and though she does not offer additional names, mentioned that she initially disclosed the trauma to family and close friends. One of these friends, whom she described as "older" and "tough" in the Facebook post, reportedly came to the True Lies set to confront Kramer about his alleged actions. That day, Dushku was injured while performing a stunt and had to be hospitalized. Kramer was apparently in charge of the set's many stunts, and she claimed that the injury from a stunt gone wrong was "no small coincidence." (Bustle asked Kramer's agent for comment on this as well.)

Dushku's full post about the alleged sexual abuse is below:

"No one seemed ready to confront this taboo subject then," Dushku wrote, "Nor was I." The actor continued,

"I am grateful to the women and men who have gone before me in recent months. 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."

Dushku chronicled her alleged experiences on the True Lies set in gut-wrenching detail, making clear that she felt confused and powerless at the time, but now questions the lack of intervention by other adults on set. "Why speak out now? I was 12, he was 36. It is incomprehensible," she wrote in the Facebook status. She went on to ask, "Why didn’t an adult on the set find his predatory advances strange — that over-the-top special attention he gave me?" Lest anyone question how adults were to know, Dushku claimed, "Fairly early on he nicknamed me 'Jailbait' and brazenly called me by this name in a sick flirty way in front of others (at the time, I remember asking one of my older brothers what it meant)."

After detailing the events of her alleged assault, the actor revealed that she later heard that Kramer's alleged predatory history had caused him to be "forced out" of the industry. Later, Dushku said she discovered this was not the case. According to IMDb, Kramer has worked as a stunt coordinator as recently as 2017, on projects including Blade Runner 2049 and Star Trek: Discovery.

Dushku also shared the positive impact her fans have had on her throughout her career, and how their responses to her work helped propel her to come forward. She wrote,

"I like to think of myself as a tough Boston chick, in many ways I suppose not unlike Faith, Missy, or Echo. Through the years, brave fans have regularly shared with me how some of my characters have given them the conviction to stand up to their abusers. Now it is you who give me strength and conviction. I hope that speaking out will help other victims and protect against future abuse."

Dushku ended her Facebook status on that confident note, writing that "her resolve strengthens" every time she sees a notification that another alleged Hollywood abuser has been outed as such.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit online.rainn.org.