Today we're talking about a celebrity.
It's actually the second celebrity we've talked about in these interviews, and I can't tell you who either one is, because I have no interest in being sued...again...so...
Just google "Acting School" and "Oscar Nominee" and whatever scandal pops up is probably the one we're talking about here.
When this scandal arose, I reached out to one of the women involved on Twitter, and within a few hours, we were on the phone.
Here's the interview:
ME: Thank you for getting back to me.
THEM: Thank you for contacting me.
ME: How has the past twenty-fours been?
THEM: Stressful. I'm--This is all pretty stressful, but it's--It's about what I expected.
ME: I'm going to be really careful and, um, tread carefully with what we talk about here, because I don't want to get either of us in too much trouble.
THEM: Okay.
ME: So if there's anything you'd rather not answer or talk about, just let me know.
THEM: Thank you.
ME: There is a lawsuit against this school and the people who owned, but you are not necessarily one of the people in the lawsuit, correct?
THEM: Correct.
ME: How did you hear about the school?
THEM: A friend told me about it.
ME: Did she also take classes there?
THEM: Yes. She stopped before I did though.
ME: And when did you start talking classes there?
THEM: I'm not sure I should answer that.
ME: That's okay.
THEM: Specifics are--
ME: No, that's fine. Let's just get right into it. What was your experience at the school like?
THEM: It was--At first, it was very exciting. I was going to be learning from a--from a very successful actor. That was exciting to me. I--I started taking the class, because I wanted to learn. Truly. And, um, I think--I know other people were there, because they thought it would lead to them getting a career or getting roles.
ME: Were they lead to believe that by the people running the school?
THEM: It couldn't be, um, spoken about in a--in a blunt way, because that would be illegal. It is illegal. But it was definitely told to us that, uh, that our participation in the school--our enrollment--if we did well--would result in us getting roles.
ME: In projects the founder--one of the founders of the school--was involved with?
THEM: Yes.
ME: Do you know if anyone did receive employment as a result of attending the school?
THEM: I'd rather not speak to that.
ME: Okay. But you didn't receive employment?
THEM: I didn't, but that wasn't really on my mind at the time.
ME: The thing that's been talked about a lot are the sex scene classes.
THEM: Yes.
ME: Were you in one of those classes?
THEM: I was.
ME: And you had to audition?
THEM: Yes.
ME: What was the audition like?
THEM: Mine was--They could be a little different depending on, um--But mine was me taping myself--I had to make a tape--where I was, um. It was of a sexual nature. There were things I had to do on tape. The tape was then submitted to [The Celebrity Teacher] for his approval. Um. Once he approved, I could get into the class.
ME: So he had a tape of you--
THEM: Yes.
ME: And what was the class like?
THEM: We were pressured to perform sexual acts with other students in the class.
ME: Did anybody object?
THEM: Not in the--not while I was in the class. No.
ME: Did you think about objecting?
THEM: I wish I had. I was--It was one of those things where you're waiting for someone else to do it. And everyone's just so excited to be in the class with him. To be learning from him. Nobody seems upset at all, and, you know, you just go with it.
ME: What was the supposed benefit of this?
THEM: Breaking down boundaries. Taking down your walls. Learning to be more open.
ME: Did the celebrity teacher ever try to engage in sex with students?
THEM: He would touch us sometimes. To--He said it was directing us.
ME: Did he ask if he could?
THEM: Once or twice, he did.
ME: And what are you thinking as all this is going on?
THEM: I just felt so uncomfortable. I--And now I'm mad at myself for not just--not just walking out. It's very--The whole thing feels very, like, um, like this is what they warn you about. When you try to make it in this industry. It's so--the regular story you get, right? And I fell right into the trap of it anyway. That's what really bothers me.
ME: That's the main thing people are focused on--the sex scenes class, but there are allegations of other kinds of harassment as well.
THEM: Yes.
ME: Are you okay with talking about that?
THEM: I guess what I would want to say is that it wasn't--Nobody was, um, insulting me personally or calling me names. It wasn't like that--for me. For me, it was being made aware that, um, that I wasn't talented because I wasn't some seventeen-year-old girl.
ME: Yeah, age seems to be a real issue with the founder of the school.
THEM: It is. It very much is. I don't think anybody would tell you--I don't think it's a secret that he likes underage girls. He's been caught--texting them and--
ME: You're referring to the scandal that happened when he was on Broadway?
THEM: Yes.
ME: How did that not just cancel him?
THEM: We weren't cancelling people then, I guess.
ME: But we know about it and we're cancelling people now--
THEM: He's a very smart man. He's very, very good at protecting himself. In ways that--I think other celebrities maybe aren't? He knows how to present himself in a way that makes people feel like, 'Oh, he's really an okay guy' or--
ME: Can you elaborate on that?
THEM: I think that if you look at his career--and I've done that a lot since this all started coming about--If you look at his career, you see that he's always putting out different versions of himself. The idiot. The stoner. Is he gay? Could he be gay? Oh, he's vain. He's just a vain a**hole. Oh, he's in on the joke. He gets it. He gets that he's a jerk so he can't be that big a jerk, right? And he just keeps switching back and forth.
ME: He tries to control the narrative.
THEM: He doesn't try. He's very good at it. And he's allowed to do it.
ME: Did you have any one-on-one experiences with him?
THEM: He liked to comment on my breasts.
ME: Did he?
THEM: He said I needed to go a size up.
ME: Gross.
THEM: I--I was like--I mean, what do you say to that? And he was like, 'Listen, I'm just telling you what everyone else is saying behind your back. This is how it is. This is the real world.'
ME: So did you take him seriously?
THEM: I did, but I also didn't want to get a breast enlargement--or implants--so I told him, sort of as a joke, that, uh, I couldn't afford them, because I was spending all my money on the class.
ME: It was expensive?
THEM: Couple hundred bucks a month.
ME: Wow
THEM: One of my friends at the time said, 'You know, when you do porn, they're supposed to pay you.'
ME: So after you said--
THEM: He offered to pay for them, by the way. The surgery.
ME: You're kidding.
THEM: No. Said I could pay him back. He was really into the idea.
ME: So how did you get around that?
THEM: I told him--Around that time I had to go back home to Chicago, so I was like, 'Oh, maybe when I get back.' That's what I said.
ME: But you were already done?
THEM: I was--I was done with everything. I just--I got in a really bad place in my--in my mind. I had to do a lot of work to even--to get myself to the point where I can be on the phone talking with you, because I just felt like, 'Okay, this thing I love to do--it really is that hard. It really is that bad. There really are people like him out there running things and not having there be, uh, any consequences to it.'
ME: Do you think there'll be real consequences now?
THEM: No.
ME: You don't?
THEM: No. I think--I don't think he'll ever be who he was at the top of his game, but he's not going to jail. He might pay out some money, but he'll still get work. He'll still be able to, uh, get projects off the ground. He's still got a lot of really, uh, high-powered friends. So no, I don't think this is some big shift--I think he'll just start telling a different story.
ME: Are you still acting?
THEM: I am now--again--yes.
ME: Are you worried about speaking out against him in terms of your career?
THEM: Yes.
ME: But you're doing it anyway?
THEM: Yes.
ME: Why?
THEM: Because it might be my voice that does it. That gets it done. You know, someone said, and I think it's true, 'If a hundred voices aren't loud enough, try a hundred and one.' Maybe I'm a hundred and one. If not, I'll find more voices. There's always more to find. That's the sad part.
ME: Thank you for talking with me.
THEM: Thank you giving me the chance to talk.
Them is an actress living in Chicago.
It's actually the second celebrity we've talked about in these interviews, and I can't tell you who either one is, because I have no interest in being sued...again...so...
Just google "Acting School" and "Oscar Nominee" and whatever scandal pops up is probably the one we're talking about here.
When this scandal arose, I reached out to one of the women involved on Twitter, and within a few hours, we were on the phone.
Here's the interview:
ME: Thank you for getting back to me.
THEM: Thank you for contacting me.
ME: How has the past twenty-fours been?
THEM: Stressful. I'm--This is all pretty stressful, but it's--It's about what I expected.
ME: I'm going to be really careful and, um, tread carefully with what we talk about here, because I don't want to get either of us in too much trouble.
THEM: Okay.
ME: So if there's anything you'd rather not answer or talk about, just let me know.
THEM: Thank you.
ME: There is a lawsuit against this school and the people who owned, but you are not necessarily one of the people in the lawsuit, correct?
THEM: Correct.
ME: How did you hear about the school?
THEM: A friend told me about it.
ME: Did she also take classes there?
THEM: Yes. She stopped before I did though.
ME: And when did you start talking classes there?
THEM: I'm not sure I should answer that.
ME: That's okay.
THEM: Specifics are--
ME: No, that's fine. Let's just get right into it. What was your experience at the school like?
THEM: It was--At first, it was very exciting. I was going to be learning from a--from a very successful actor. That was exciting to me. I--I started taking the class, because I wanted to learn. Truly. And, um, I think--I know other people were there, because they thought it would lead to them getting a career or getting roles.
ME: Were they lead to believe that by the people running the school?
THEM: It couldn't be, um, spoken about in a--in a blunt way, because that would be illegal. It is illegal. But it was definitely told to us that, uh, that our participation in the school--our enrollment--if we did well--would result in us getting roles.
ME: In projects the founder--one of the founders of the school--was involved with?
THEM: Yes.
ME: Do you know if anyone did receive employment as a result of attending the school?
THEM: I'd rather not speak to that.
ME: Okay. But you didn't receive employment?
THEM: I didn't, but that wasn't really on my mind at the time.
ME: The thing that's been talked about a lot are the sex scene classes.
THEM: Yes.
ME: Were you in one of those classes?
THEM: I was.
ME: And you had to audition?
THEM: Yes.
ME: What was the audition like?
THEM: Mine was--They could be a little different depending on, um--But mine was me taping myself--I had to make a tape--where I was, um. It was of a sexual nature. There were things I had to do on tape. The tape was then submitted to [The Celebrity Teacher] for his approval. Um. Once he approved, I could get into the class.
ME: So he had a tape of you--
THEM: Yes.
ME: And what was the class like?
THEM: We were pressured to perform sexual acts with other students in the class.
ME: Did anybody object?
THEM: Not in the--not while I was in the class. No.
ME: Did you think about objecting?
THEM: I wish I had. I was--It was one of those things where you're waiting for someone else to do it. And everyone's just so excited to be in the class with him. To be learning from him. Nobody seems upset at all, and, you know, you just go with it.
ME: What was the supposed benefit of this?
THEM: Breaking down boundaries. Taking down your walls. Learning to be more open.
ME: Did the celebrity teacher ever try to engage in sex with students?
THEM: He would touch us sometimes. To--He said it was directing us.
ME: Did he ask if he could?
THEM: Once or twice, he did.
ME: And what are you thinking as all this is going on?
THEM: I just felt so uncomfortable. I--And now I'm mad at myself for not just--not just walking out. It's very--The whole thing feels very, like, um, like this is what they warn you about. When you try to make it in this industry. It's so--the regular story you get, right? And I fell right into the trap of it anyway. That's what really bothers me.
ME: That's the main thing people are focused on--the sex scenes class, but there are allegations of other kinds of harassment as well.
THEM: Yes.
ME: Are you okay with talking about that?
THEM: I guess what I would want to say is that it wasn't--Nobody was, um, insulting me personally or calling me names. It wasn't like that--for me. For me, it was being made aware that, um, that I wasn't talented because I wasn't some seventeen-year-old girl.
ME: Yeah, age seems to be a real issue with the founder of the school.
THEM: It is. It very much is. I don't think anybody would tell you--I don't think it's a secret that he likes underage girls. He's been caught--texting them and--
ME: You're referring to the scandal that happened when he was on Broadway?
THEM: Yes.
ME: How did that not just cancel him?
THEM: We weren't cancelling people then, I guess.
ME: But we know about it and we're cancelling people now--
THEM: He's a very smart man. He's very, very good at protecting himself. In ways that--I think other celebrities maybe aren't? He knows how to present himself in a way that makes people feel like, 'Oh, he's really an okay guy' or--
ME: Can you elaborate on that?
THEM: I think that if you look at his career--and I've done that a lot since this all started coming about--If you look at his career, you see that he's always putting out different versions of himself. The idiot. The stoner. Is he gay? Could he be gay? Oh, he's vain. He's just a vain a**hole. Oh, he's in on the joke. He gets it. He gets that he's a jerk so he can't be that big a jerk, right? And he just keeps switching back and forth.
ME: He tries to control the narrative.
THEM: He doesn't try. He's very good at it. And he's allowed to do it.
ME: Did you have any one-on-one experiences with him?
THEM: He liked to comment on my breasts.
ME: Did he?
THEM: He said I needed to go a size up.
ME: Gross.
THEM: I--I was like--I mean, what do you say to that? And he was like, 'Listen, I'm just telling you what everyone else is saying behind your back. This is how it is. This is the real world.'
ME: So did you take him seriously?
THEM: I did, but I also didn't want to get a breast enlargement--or implants--so I told him, sort of as a joke, that, uh, I couldn't afford them, because I was spending all my money on the class.
ME: It was expensive?
THEM: Couple hundred bucks a month.
ME: Wow
THEM: One of my friends at the time said, 'You know, when you do porn, they're supposed to pay you.'
ME: So after you said--
THEM: He offered to pay for them, by the way. The surgery.
ME: You're kidding.
THEM: No. Said I could pay him back. He was really into the idea.
ME: So how did you get around that?
THEM: I told him--Around that time I had to go back home to Chicago, so I was like, 'Oh, maybe when I get back.' That's what I said.
ME: But you were already done?
THEM: I was--I was done with everything. I just--I got in a really bad place in my--in my mind. I had to do a lot of work to even--to get myself to the point where I can be on the phone talking with you, because I just felt like, 'Okay, this thing I love to do--it really is that hard. It really is that bad. There really are people like him out there running things and not having there be, uh, any consequences to it.'
ME: Do you think there'll be real consequences now?
THEM: No.
ME: You don't?
THEM: No. I think--I don't think he'll ever be who he was at the top of his game, but he's not going to jail. He might pay out some money, but he'll still get work. He'll still be able to, uh, get projects off the ground. He's still got a lot of really, uh, high-powered friends. So no, I don't think this is some big shift--I think he'll just start telling a different story.
ME: Are you still acting?
THEM: I am now--again--yes.
ME: Are you worried about speaking out against him in terms of your career?
THEM: Yes.
ME: But you're doing it anyway?
THEM: Yes.
ME: Why?
THEM: Because it might be my voice that does it. That gets it done. You know, someone said, and I think it's true, 'If a hundred voices aren't loud enough, try a hundred and one.' Maybe I'm a hundred and one. If not, I'll find more voices. There's always more to find. That's the sad part.
ME: Thank you for talking with me.
THEM: Thank you giving me the chance to talk.
Them is an actress living in Chicago.
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